A Triad for Revival

Posted on November 18, 2020 by Pete

So, if I’m doing the math right and Daniel was in his mid to late teens when we was scooped up and relocated to Babylon (Dan. 1:3-6, 605 BC) then, when he has the vision recorded in Daniel 9 in the first year of Darius the Mede (Dan. 9:1, 539 BC), Daniel’s probably in his early 80’s. And he’s still doing devo’s! He still reading and learning from “the books” (9:2).

And after 65+ years in exile, he sees in “the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet” that the desolation of Jerusalem was prophesied to be seventy years (Jer. 29:10). The end of exile is near. And it intrigues me that this man, who gets the sovereignty of God and believes that God will do what God says He’ll do, instead of selling his house, packing his bags, and getting in line for the first camel-train outta Babylon, instead is moved to prayer — deep prayer.

Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking Him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the LORD my God and made confession . . .

(Daniel 9:3-4a ESV)

A reminder that God prepares His people when fulfilling His promises. He readies the heart in order to revive the soul.

And hovering over Daniel’s pray to “the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love” as he confesses the sin, rebellion, and open shame of an exiled people (9:4-8), I’m struck by one sentence in particular which seems to hold some keys for preparing the heart in anticipation of seeing the promises of God fulfilled — an apparent triad for revival.

As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us; yet we have not entreated the favor of the LORD our God, turning from our iniquities and gaining insight by Your truth.

(Daniel 9:13 ESV)

Prayer, Penitence, and Pondering would seem to be some keys for preparing to see God move according to His promises.

Seeking God’s favor, even though He’s promised His favor, would seem to be integral to realizing God’s favor. Daniel confessed that after six decades in exile their prayers may have become more focused on asking for comfort in a foreign land than for a return to God’s promised land. That their temporary time-out had taken on a permanence that had caused their yearning for home to fade. Thus, they no longer sought God’s ultimate favor. They had fallen from the needful habit of truly humbling themselves and praying, “Thy kingdom come.” Prayer is a key for realizing God’s promises.

What’s more, in preparation for the restoration he saw in Jeremiah’s revelation, Daniel saw the need for a clean heart. To not only confess their sin but turn from their sin. Daniel’s list is long: we have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly, we have rebelled, we have not listened, we have not obeyed. And Daniel’s pleas for forgiveness were founded solely on God’s mercy and grace.

Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of Your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for Your own sake, O Lord, make Your face to shine upon Your sanctuary, which is desolate. . . . For we do not present our pleas before You because of our righteousness, but because of Your great mercy. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act.

(Daniel 9:17, 18b, 19a ESV)

Penitence, it would seem, is vital for knowing God’s promises.

And finally, Daniel confesses that they needed to seek to “gain insight from Your truth.” Comfortable and wrapped up in their present pursuits, they failed to unroll the scrolls and be reminded of God’s future plans — failed to discern the significance of the signs of the time. They weren’t living in anticipation of God’s next great move because of their inattention to God’s revealed word. Forgetting their future for failure of meditating on God’s faithfulness. God prepares His people for the fulfillment of promise as they read and ponder and gain insight from His holy word.

Prayer. Penitence. Pondering. Would seem to be at least one triad worth considering for those who would seek revival.

Not according to our righteousness, but according to His grace.

Not just for our good, but ultimately for His glory.

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A Kept Man

Posted on November 17, 2020 by Pete

Okay . . . honestly I’m a little unsure about that title. While it’s catchy and perhaps an appropriate play on words given what I’m chewing on this morning, the cultural idea of being “kept” is kind of shady. A “kept woman”, or “kept man” for that matter, is someone granted a certain lifestyle in exchange for certain “favors.” But the word “kept” is the word that’s in my Bible. And, not just in my ESV translation, but in every translation I referenced other than the KJV where it’s translated “preserved.” So, call me a bit of a risk taker, but I’m staying with the title, . . . and the thought, . . . and, I submit, with biblical language. This morning I’m noodling on the blessing of being a kept man.

Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James,
To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:
May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.

(Jude 1-2 ESV)

Sometimes, when overwhelmed by the way things are, it’s prudent to pause, be still, and remember who you are. And this morning I’m taking such a pause, reflecting on the declaration of God’s word that I am called, beloved, and kept.

Called. Chosen in God the Son “before the foundation of the world”, that I “should be holy and blameless” before God the Father (Eph. 1:3-4). Not because of anything I would ever be and despite everything I would eventually do. But just because God, in His Sovereign purposes, determined to move in this sinner’s hard heart and redeem him through overflowing grace. Pause. Reflect. Worship.

Beloved in God the Father. Loved to the uttermost by the Creator. Sacrificially loved, as the Father sent His one and only Son to earth as a Lamb. A Lamb offered up once for all in payment for the debt of sin I could never pay. Wholly loved, as my rescue came also with an adoption, being made more than just a freed slave from sin, but brought into His house as a child of God and a joint heir with Christ. Patiently loved, as I stumble through the work He has begun in me, being transformed increasingly into the likeness of the Son while I battle daily with the flesh. A slow process to be sure. But the love of God has determined that I should be a child of God and so I am, and so shall I be.

Called. Beloved. But it’s the thought of being kept that so captures this sinner’s saved heart.

Depending on the translation you’re reading, those who are called and beloved are either kept for Jesus Christ or kept by Jesus Christ. Both are true. But while the idea that I am being preserved by Christ evokes thanksgiving, to think that such divine effort would be made to carefully guard the new life I’ve been given for Christ lights up the awe-o-meter.

Mercy would rescue me and ensure my passage to a promised land. But it’s a love that I can’t fathom which would have a God who is all-sufficient in Himself desire me for Himself.

“Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, may be with Me where I am, to see My glory that You have given Me because You loved Me before the foundation of the world.” ~ Jesus

(John 17:24 ESV)

Kept for Jesus. That having be given to Him we would one day be with Him. Not that He needs us, but that He wants us. Not that we deserve Him, but that He desires us. Trophies of grace for His glory. Children through adoption for His delight.

I’m a kept man. Kept by Jesus. Kept for Jesus.

Kept in His steadfast, unfailing love. Kept by the Spirit, the power of God and the seal guaranteeing the promise.

Kept by His grace. Kept for His glory.

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Wash My Feet (2017 Remix)

Posted on November 16, 2020 by Pete

Often, I think I jump to what I need to do rather than just chew on what He’s done. I rush to practical application, brushing past the wonder of incarnation. Ready to imitate, before I take time to meditate. Such is the case as I read the opening verses of John 13 this morning.

I imagine that a hush fell over the room as Jesus got up from supper, took off His outer garment, and took up the towel. That all eyes must have been fixed on the Master as, without a word, He filled the basin with water, and started washing the disciples feet. And that, while Simon may have been the only one to articulate the question, they were all thinking, “Lord, do you wash my feet?”

What they didn’t know at the time is what John, through the Holy Spirit, reveals to those would later read his account of that final meal. That Jesus determined to serve His disciples in such a lowly manner “knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going back to God” (13:3). At that moment Jesus was fully aware of His deity, His authority, and His destiny. If ever there was a time to stand before them as Lord, and command them as Master, this was the time. But first He would kneel at their feet and serve them. Because He had purposed to love them to the end.

. . . when Jesus knew that His hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.

(John 13:1 ESV)

That’s what Jesus does. He loves His own to the end. He is with them not only as they run the race, but until they cross the finish line. Draws alongside during the battle, until victory is finally won. Having started a good work in His own, He is committed to seeing it through until the day He comes again to gather His own to Himself. And if along the way, it means washing their feet (and it does), He does that too.

Peter said to Him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered Him, If I do not wash you, you have no share with Me.” Simon Peter said to Him, Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean . . ”

(John 13:8-10 ESV)

Jesus told Peter the washing was necessary. That getting dirt on his feet was inevitable. That if Peter were going to continue to abide with Jesus, it would be necessary to pull out the towel, from time to time. Not that Peter would need to again be fully bathed, but would continually need to be ministered to through the basin. Jesus being prepared to continually wipe off the feet of those He already declared completely clean.

Made clean, completely clean, through His finished work on the cross. The shed blood of Christ removing the stain of sin and transgression forever. But the water of the Word needing to be applied often to deal with the defiling effect of the ways of this world and the weakness of the flesh. Jesus willing, again and again, to take up the towel and basin and wash away our failure that we might continue in fellowship with Him. Determined to love us, and love us to the end.

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

(1John 1:8-9 ESV)

I know I need to follow the Master’s example. That just as He humbles Himself to wash my feet, I need to humbly draw alongside and serve others. That a servant is not great than his master. And that there is a blessing in knowing these things and doing these things (13:16-17).

But before I go there, I need to sit here and humbly confess, Lord Jesus, I need You to wash my feet.

Before I go and do, there is merit in remembering what He has already done and availing myself of what He is continually willing to do. Before I act, maybe it’s best to be still, to simply adore, and to humbly appropriate.

To know the love of God, as manifest in the Son of God who, through Spirit of God, has determined to love me and love me to the end.

O’, the wonder of grace. To Him be all the glory.

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Heaven Rules

Posted on November 13, 2020 by Pete

Talk about losing an election. Talk about being shown the exit from the seat of power. Talk about a humbling. Talk about God’s unearthly effort to reveal Himself to an arrogant, self-glorifying ruler. Then you’re talking about King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.

Hovering over Daniel 4 this morning and the thrice repeated explanation of why Nebuchadnezzar was suddenly deposed from office, driven from among men, sent out into the fields for a timeout, and became a vegan (4:32).

” . . . to the end that the living may know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom He will and sets over it the lowliest of men.”

(Daniel 4:17 ESV)

The Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to who He will. There it is in verse 17, again in verse 25, and again in verse 32. Or, as restated by Daniel with but two words — two words that echo in my brain and capture my heart — Heaven rules!

“And as it was commanded to leave the stump of the roots of the tree, your kingdom shall be confirmed for you from the time that you know that Heaven rules.”

(Daniel 4:26 ESV)

It really would be just a timeout for the glory-seeking king. God having determined to preserve “the stump” and “roots of the tree” so that Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom might be restored to him when he had learned the lesson — the lesson that Heaven rules.

And I find myself praying this morning for all those wrapped up in this crazy political season, that we all would learn the lesson, or as the case might be, remember the reality that Heaven rules.

From past presidents, to presidents elect, to us plain people, how we need to have “reason returned” (4:34) to us so that we can put our current chaos in the context of the Most High, confessing anew that God rules the kingdoms of men and gives it to whom He will.

Heaven rules. Yes it does.

By the grace of God. For the glory of God.

. . . and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored Him who lives forever,

for His dominion is an everlasting dominion,
and His kingdom endures from generation to generation;
all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing,
and He does according to His will among the host of heaven
and among the inhabitants of the earth;
and none can stay His hand
or say to Him, “What have You done?”

(Daniel 4:34b-35 ESV)

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Six More Words

Posted on November 12, 2020 by Pete

John explicitly gives two reasons for writing his first letter. First, so that “joy may be complete” (1Jn. 1:4). There’s some question as to who’s joy is being talked about; whether it’s “our joy”, the joy of those proclaiming the good news and welcoming new believers into the family of God or, if it’s to complete “your joy”, that those who have believed might enter into their new life in Christ to the full. Either way, the joy, it would seem, is connected with the second reason John gives at the end of his letter:

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life”

(1John 5:13 ESV)

At the core of joy in Christ is knowing we have eternal life. And such knowledge comes not from the memory of having made a profession of faith, but from seeing and recognizing all the evidences of faith. It’s what we know from what we’ve been taught and from what we can observe in our lives that gives us the confidence that we really are in Christ and sealed for eternity. Twenty times in this short letter John talks about what “we know” or about what “you know.”

For example, we know that we know Him because we keep His commandments (1Jn. 2:3). We know that, just as Christ is righteous, that those who seek to practice righteousness have been born of Him (2:29). We know that He appeared to take sins away (3:5) and we know that when He appears again we’ll be like Him (3:2). We know that we’ve passed from life to death because we love other believers (3:16). We know we abide in Him and He in us through the Spirit He has given us (4:13). There’s a whole lot, John says, that we know mentally, and we know experientially, that gives us the confidence that we really are who we say we are in Christ, sons and daughter of God. And all this so that we might know we have eternal life. And that, so our joy may be complete.

So, it’s not surprising that John would conclude his letter (1Jn. 5:18-20) with three more “we know’s”: 1) We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning for Christ protects them; 2) We know that we are from God and not from the world which lies in the power of the evil one; 3) We know that the Son has come to give us understanding so that we can know “Him who is true” and abide in “Him who is true.” And He who is true is God’s Son Jesus Christ, the true God and eternal life.

And you think that would be it. That with such a declaration of what we know to be true of Christ, John would, as it were, drop the mic. That the music would crescendo as the words are left to echo in our hearts and minds, “He is the true God and eternal life!”

Yes and Amen! Hallelujah!

But John doesn’t stop there. He continues with six more words.

Six more words which we’re left to chew on. The necessary response to all we know. The required holy determination that’s to be ours in order to protect what we know. The warning that must be heeded if we are to continue to live in what we know so that our joy might be complete.

Little children, keep yourselves from idols. (1John 5:21 ESV)

Idols. Anything that supplants the supremacy of God in my life. Anything that so captures my regenerate heart that it supplants the One who regenerated it. Anything that competes for my allegiance to Christ. Anything that interrupts my abiding in Him. Anything I hold to for my identity other than who I am as an image-bearer of God and as a trophy of grace in Christ.

Little children, with everything you know, because of everything you know, keep yourselves from idols.

Search me, O God, and know my heart! (Psalm 139:23a ESV)

By Your grace. For Your glory.

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An Overcomer

Posted on November 11, 2020 by Pete

Woke up this morning feeling somewhat defeated. Not a good way to start the day. And I’m not even really sure why. Perhaps it’s a combination of feeling a bit panicked at what’s on my to do list, a bit discouraged by some of the things I know are floating around in my own heart and what’s still on God’s to do list, a bit overwhelmed with headlines of numbers increasing and recounts being demanded, all mixed with coming up way short of the recommended 8 hours of sleep per night over the past few nights. Whatever it is exactly, I’m starting the day with a case of the good morning blues.

Maybe that’s why the following has caught my attention this morning:

For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world —  our faith.

(1John 5:4 ESV)

Sometimes you just need to be reminded that you are an overcomer.

Not because you’re on top of your to do list. Not because the likeness of Christ has been fully formed in you and God is done with His to do list. Not because a vaccine is finally in place or there is harmony and acceptance of who has won. Not even because you’re sleeping like a baby. But that you are an overcomer simply because you have been born of God.

Your victory independent of your performance. More than a conqueror even when you feel like you’re behind in the battle. Prevailing not because of your power but because of His promises. Triumphant not because you stand atop the hill with your sword raised, but because you bow at the foot of the cross with it’s shadow enveloping you. Your success mutually exclusive of the world’s sanity, or lack thereof.

Victorious because you’ve been born again. Born again because you believe “that Jesus is the Christ” (1Jn. 5:1). Victorious not because of feeling, but because of faith.

Our faith — not how much we have believed, but in Whom we have believed — this is the victory that has overcome the world. And will even overcome our good morning blues.

By God’s replenishing grace. For God’s redeeming glory.

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As He Is So Also Are We

Posted on November 10, 2020 by Pete

It’s one of those “in the shadow” verses. A verse which, at least in my experience, more often than not is eclipsed by the better known verse which follows it. So often, I can be in such a rush to get to the “money verse” and glory in it that I gloss over it’s lesser known predecessor and miss the glory it emits. Not this morning. Rather than chewing afresh on 1John 4:18, “perfect love casts out fear”, I’m savoring more of a first-time taste from a truth statement in the verse before it.

So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in Him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as He is so also are we in this world.

(1John 4:16-17 ESV)

Let me see if I can summarize what’s running through my head . . .

This section of John’s first letter, 1John 4:7-21, deals with a command to obey: “let us love one another” (v.7) . . . “whoever loves God must also love his brother” (v. 21). But, at the heart of getting this “to do” done, it’s less about a discipline and more about a dynamic. God is love (v.7). That love was manifest in God sending His Son so that we might have new life through the Son (v.9). If then, God is love and God loves with such redeeming grace, and we live through Him by the Spirit He has given us (v.13), then it is only logical that we will be marked by the love of God, as well (v.11). Thus, loving the brothers and sisters comes not just from a determined action on our part, but just as much, if not more, from a determined abiding on God’s part.

. . . if we love one another, God abides in us and His love is perfected in us.

(1John 4:12b ESV)

It’s a dynamic more than a determination. And, says John, it is the confidence we have for the day of judgment — our love for one another is the evidence of the reality of God abiding in us and we in Him. And how is that possible?

. . . because as He is so also are we in this world.

At first I read that and thought it was a call to action statement. That when we act just like Jesus acts then we can have confidence on the day of judgment. But it doesn’t say that. Rather, it says, as He IS so also ARE we.

Okay, so let the brainstorming and meditating begin. How IS Jesus? So ARE we.

He is perfect. So are we, in Him. He is righteous. Us too, His righteousness credited to our account (Rom. 4:22-25). He is in heaven, raised in power. Yup, that goes for us as well, as we’ve been raised up and seated with Him in heavenly places (Eph. 1:20, 2:6). He is the beloved Son of God. Behold what manner of love that we should be called children of God; “and so we are” (1Jn. 3:1). And the list goes on, if we’ll take some time and chew on it a bit.

As He is so also are we. That’s our confidence. That’s the essence of God abiding in us and us abiding in Him. That’s the source for loving others as ourselves. Loving others simply manifests that abiding reality. And that abiding reality becomes the motivating reason for us to want to love as we’ve been loved.

Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

(1John 4:11 ESV)

To be sure, the flesh gets in the way far too often, and the world continually tries to conform us to its image, but that’s what the cross is about. Thank God for the cross! While we have such a standing, we are still undergoing our sanctification. And in the process of being made more like Jesus, we wear a well-worn path to the place of forgiveness and cleansing. But at the end of the day, the day of judgment, our confidence lies not in how well we did, but in the reality that as He is so also are we.

Because of His abundant grace. All for His everlasting glory.

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The Cost of Christ as King

Posted on November 9, 2020 by Pete

Seeing is believing. And many, when they saw Lazarus walk out of the tomb — grave clothes and all, having been buried for four days — “believed in Him” (Jn. 11:45). They believed in Jesus. They believed that this Raiser-From-The-Dead must be who He claimed to be, “the resurrection and the life”, and that whoever believed in Him, “though he die, yet shall he live” (Jn. 11:25). They believed that the One who commanded “Lazarus, come out”, was the Messiah. They believed He was the hope of the nations. Yes, John writes, many believed.

So, the irony never ceases to amaze me that, because Jesus irrefutably raised a man from the dead, the council of chief priests and Pharisees knew that now they must put Jesus to death. Huh? First, seems pretty unjust to sentence someone to death because they have just given the gift of life to another. But even more head-scratching, wouldn’t it have occurred to them that someone who has power over death might just have power over His own death? That even if He laid down His own life at their hands, that He’d also have the power to take it up again? I’m thinkin’. Jesus said as much (Jn. 10:17-18).

But the council was, in a sense, believing too. The evidence was mounting that Jesus just might be the Messiah. That Jesus could, in fact, be the King. But they weren’t ready, willing, or able to accept the cost of Christ as King.

So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this Man performs many signs. If we let Him go on like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”

(John 11:47-48 ESV)

If Jesus really was the Messiah it was going to mess up the comfortable gig these guys had secured with those governing the land.

For if He was the Messiah, and He was to be the King, and He was actually modeling what the kingdom was gonna look like on earth — not a kingdom of pomp and power, but of peace and persuasion; not a kingdom of turning the tables on one’s enemies, but of loving them; not a kingdom of ruling through governmental structures but of reigning through redeemed hearts; not a kingdom marked by climbing the structures of power in order to reign, but of serving others in order to be ranked among the greatest in the kingdom — if this was the sort of kingdom Jesus was going to lead, then, “Count us out!” said the council.

They weren’t prepared to upset the apple cart with the Romans, even if Jesus was the fulfillment of the promise. They weren’t prepared to let go of their position of power and privilege within their nation, even if the kingdom of heaven had come. They were willing to be religious, but only in so far as it secured their place and comfort in the land in which they lived. The cost of Christ as King was more than they were prepared to entertain.

But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.”

(John 11:49-50 ESV)

For them, maintaining their status quo with the culture was of more importance than declaring all out allegiance to such a King. Better to work towards maintaining a favorable disposition from Caesar and those in power then accepting the consequences of being ambassadors of another place under the rule of another Prince.

[Jesus] began to say to His disciples first, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees . . . ”

(Luke 12:1b ESV)

Our hope lies not in being on the right side of the governing authorities. Our hope lies solely in the Man who raises the dead to life.

“Do you believe this?”

She said to Him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

(John 11:26b-27 ESV)

Because of grace. For His glory.

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We Should Love One Another

Posted on November 6, 2020 by Pete

I know I should probably open my bible in the morning before I open my laptop, but that’s not my morning routine. Get up, get a coffee, flip open the laptop and check out the latest headlines on my news feed, open my bible, open my reading app, proceed to engage with the living word of God. That’s how I roll most mornings.

So, something I read in my bible this morning is providing a filter for what greeted me this morning on my screen — a blue and red line with a big blue and red number on either side indicating a standing against that magic number 270. But the numbers that come to mind as read in 1 John aren’t the numbers above the line, it’s the small numbers below the line, the popular vote. It’s a tight-race, a real barn burner. Gonna be a photo finish, looks like. Right now there’s half the votes (and a smidgen) on the blue side and, essentially, half the votes on the red. And you know that there are believers –real believers convinced before God they have stewarded their vote properly — on both sides. So, with that in mind, I’m chewing on these words:

For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. . . We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. By this we know love, that He laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.

(1John 3:11, 14-16 ESV)

Doesn’t matter what side of the line we’re on, what color we’re painted by the world, at some point, when a call’s been made, the church on this side needs to look over at the church on the other side and ask itself, What do I see? How should I react? What should it look like going forward?

The message that we have heard from before democracy was even a thing, or before any ideological positions became so entrenched, is that we should love another. To not do so is to abide in death, to live as though we were never born again.

I don’t need to agree with my brother or sister, but I do need to love them. Not just with obligatory phileo love, brotherly love, but with all-in, give myself wholly agape love, sacrificial love. With a love modeled after the One who laid down His life for us. So, regardless of what end of the spectrum I position myself, I need to look to the other end, love my brother, be ready to lay down my life for my sister.

The world’s not gonna do that after this election. If we follow it’s lead, not only will we be part of what I fear will be a serious problem, but we’ll deny our claim that the kingdom of heaven transcends the kingdom of men. What’s more we’ll dim our light that is so needed in this dark place. We’ll cover up our saltiness in a land that not only needs preservation, but someone to model what flavorful life, life to the full, really looks like.

We should love one another . . . we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers . . .

Regardless of what color the world paints us. Regardless of who wins or loses.

We should love one another. It’s the message modeled on the cross of Christ. It’s the message we’ve heard from the beginning. It’s the message that, if we’ll believe it, will serve us well unto the end.

Tangible evidence before a lost world of the impact of His abundant grace.

Tested and proven true by our King for God’s eternal glory.

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And So We Are

Posted on November 5, 2020 by Pete

Identity. Much discussion these days on our identity.

For many, over the past several weeks the focus has been whether there’s an (R) or a (D) after someone’s name. People so labeled by partisan politics that to attach a letter to someone is to attach a list of attributes to them that we “know” must be true about them — what they believe, how they’ll behave, the degree to which they should be trusted (or even respected). Leave politics and we’ve found other other ways to identify one another these days, such as masks or no masks, or where we stand on even uttering a three-word phrase like “Black Lives Matter.” Not to mention a culture increasingly bought into identity based on sexual or gender preference. What’s an ambassador for the kingdom to do? How do we navigate these crazy times when we know that the ultimate identifier which binds us all, rather than divides, is the Imago Dei — that all bear the image of the God who created them?

This morning, as I hover over the opening verses of 1John 3, I think part of the answer to how we work through identity with others in this world is to never lose sight of our own identity as believers. To know who we are.

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.

(1John 3:1 ESV)

And so we are. Those are the words I’m chewing on this morning.

Called the children of God because WE ARE the children of God.

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

(Galatians 4:4-5 ESV)

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.

(Romans 8:15-16 ESV)

Sons and daughters of God. That’s our identity. But our identity isn’t intended to primarily reflect everything about us. Who we are is meant to display something wonderful about God. As my favorite rendering of 1John 3:1 puts it:

Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us . . .

What manner of love. What foreign kind of active affection. What unfathomable measure and quality of goodwill and benevolence. Sacrificial. Unconditional. Immutable. Eternal.

As we grasp who we are we plumb the depths of a transcendent love. We begin a lifelong exploration to comprehend a love that “surpasses knowledge” and is able to fill us “with all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:17-19).

Now we’re ready to engage an identity-confused world. Looking past the world’s labels and identifications, we can see the imprint of our beloved Father on every lost, confused, and broken soul. Knowing what it is to be loved with such manner of love, we’re compelled to share that love in hopes that God, in His kindness, would lead others to repentance also.

Children of God.

And so we are.

By His grace. For His glory.

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