Adoption in Love: The Beauty of the Gospel

"Everything the Father has is Mine. This is why I told you that He takes from what is Mine and will declare it to you." (John 16:15). 

The Holy Spirit is going to take what is Jesus' and share it with us! What do the Father, Son, and Spirit have? Unity, delight, joy, love, hope, and wonder. Within their connection there is no shadow, no fear, no shame, no worry or anxiety. They share other centered love and delight. They are creative, and they take great joy in goodness. 

The plan from the beginning of creation was to include us in the relationship that the Father, Son, and Spirit share with each other. "For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to son-ship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will--to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves (Ephesians 1:4-6)."

The Father, Son, and Spirit created us out of love; not for some obscure purpose or goal, but for the simple joy of relationship. They created us to share with us the life that have together! A life of union, joy, peace, and love. In that passage it says that He predestined us in 'love', and that he chose us to be holy and blameless in His sight. Holiness isn't some sort of squeaky clean moral rightness. Holiness is how set-apart, unique, and wholesome the relationship is that they share. It is their life, their essence, their goodness and love that makes them holy. We are destined to be blameless so that we can stand naked and unashamed before each other and God, just like Adam and Eve did in the beginning. 

We do not have some sort of obscure practical purpose here on Earth. We were created out of love to exist in love; both with each other and with our creator. A dance of intimacy, wholeness, and goodness that produces joy! Our purpose is to live in the dance of His love and to participate in that relationship; nothing more, nothing less. 

The fall was humankind turning away from face to face interaction. It was a turning from the dependence and dance of other centered love to pursue independent existence. An existence that we were never created for. Eating from the tree of good and evil brought conscience into our existence, and with our conscience came shame. Instead of intimacy, vulnerability, and other centered love, we became ashamed, pretentious, and self-centered. We turned in on ourselves in our hurt and pain. We couldn't see God for who He actually was, and our guilty conscience tainted our perception of the world around us. Out of our desire to hide from ourselves, we ran from Him and His love. God became an evil being in our eyes because we could not bear to stand in His all consuming love. 

God never changed His original purpose. In love, we were predestined for adoption. This, the Father, Son, and Spirit would still accomplish; but because of our brokenness, it was going to be adoption through pain and suffering. Pain for us, because we would have to be confronted with our deepest hurts and shame; pain for God because in order to unite us to Himself He would have to enter into our brokenness and blindness.  Our pain and shame caused us to reject and hate the God of pure love. Because He is love, He would do anything to reconcile us to Himself, to show us who He really is, and to show us how loved we are by Him. How He did that is what we call the Gospel!

Jesus entered into our world; in the likeness of sinful flesh he entered into our sense of separation. He was the light in the darkness, the image of the invisible God. He came to show us who the God of Israel actually was, our loving Father. He came to His own, but we did not recognize Him. Jesus did not make sense to our minds, our hurts, and our shame. Jesus came and declared that 'no one knew the Father'. We were messed up, blind, and confused. No one knew the Father but the son, and if we wanted to know the Father we would have to come to Him. 

Jesus was not accepted, and not understood; instead He was spurned. Jesus submitted Himself to our anger and frustration. Out of our angst, pride, and hurt, we killed the loving God that created us, holds us, and sustains us. Jesus took all of our sin as we vented our frustration by crucifying Him as a criminal on the cross. We could not handle who He was, and what He represented. Our shame and pride could not stand in His presence. He died under our bondage, under our hurt, on account of our transgressions. He hung on cross and entered into our blindness, 'My God my God why have you forsaken me.' That was the first time Jesus had said 'God' rather than Father. He entered into our alienation, and in that place of feeling alone He met His Father face to face, "Into your hands I commend my spirit." 

Jesus, just like Adam, represented all of us. He united Himself with us at our worst, dying for us while we were dead in our own sins. The apostle Paul talks about this mystical union we have with Christ. When He died we all died, when He rose we all rose, when He ascended we all ascended. On the cross Jesus adopted us into the relationship He has with the Father, not when were are at our best, but when we still were rejecting Him. We are united to Him because He chose to adopt us. Our faith is the waking up to that reality. The Apostle Paul met Jesus and he declared that, 'God was pleased to reveal His son in me.' 

Jesus told us that the Holy Spirit would come and share with us what is His. That on the day of the Spirit we would come to realize that Jesus is one with the Father, that He is in us, and that we are in Him (John 14:20). We have been wrapped up in the Father's embrace, into the holy life of God. Our walk of faith is to see Christ in us the hope of glory who is producing Himself in us, sharing the intimate embrace of the Father in our deepest places of hurt, rejection, and isolation. We are no longer separate from God even in our darkness, for the light still shines there. God was in Christ reconciling the whole world to Himself (2 Corinthians 5:19).

Now the question is how do we participate in that relationship? What is our walk of faith? How do we see and experience our union. Where is God in our hurt, confusion, and pain? That we will look to tackle in the next blog post! 

Life To The Full

"The Thief comes only to kill and steal and destroy; I came that they might have life, and have it abundantly (John 10:10)."

From the Garden of Eden to Revelation, God's one focus is to give us the abundant life He has created us for. There isn't some abstract reason or purpose that God wants us to join Him in, He has always been and always will be purposed towards one end; to give us life. This life isn't abstract either, it is real, something we all yearn for and recognize on a fundamentally human level. This life He has for us is about love, connection, freedom, true pleasure, fellowship, joy, and hope.

Creation:
God created us to live in the Garden of Eden with Him and with each other in unbroken fellowship, other centered love, and joyous discovery. We were created to be completely vulnerable without any distrust, hurt, anger, or pain in our lives; to be completely naked and unashamed. Simply put we were created for life and life was created for us. We were created to wonder, to enjoy each other, to create, and to live life like God does; in unbroken fellowship, unconditional love, and never ending joy.

The Fall:
This was the turning point, the destruction and complication of the life we were intended to live. Shame entered our relationships, hurt, distrust, and fear became present in our connection with each other and with God. Death, non-life, began to dictate how we lived, what we lived for, and how we interacted with each other. Comparison, envy, entitlement, pride, and anger entered our world. We formed our conception of purpose, existence, and even God out of that hurt. God's purpose for us never changed, He set out to reach us in our hurt and shame to liberate us from the shackles of death so that we could live once again in freedom, love, and hope.

The Gospel:
God reveals His love for us, showing us that our value doesn't come from the broken systems of the world but from Him. He reveals that our true origin, our point of reference, is found in Him and not in our parents or in the ways we seek to identify ourselves in the world. Jesus reveals that we were created for life like He experiences with the Father and Spirit, and that we were designed to thrive in a certain way. We see Him standing in contradiction to the way of the world; His vibrant life, His truth is the light of life shining in the darkness of death.

 He meets our deepest needs, our deepest insecurities, and confronts our best efforts of making something of ourselves by accepting us despite our behavior. He forgives us our trespasses because He wants us to live shame free. He submitted His life to our hurt, allowing he dysfunction of non-life kill Him, thereby taking the sin of the world into His own body for one purpose only; to give us life. Not some abstract life, but very real, very human, very tangible. Love, peace, purpose, justice, security, and hope.

Jesus came to reveal who the Father actually is. When we see Jesus we see the true nature and character of God. When we see Him we recognize His likeness in ourselves. When we know the truth the truth sets us free. Jesus came to give us life, to set us free from death, plain and simple. The Gospel reveals what life is and isn't about. It gives us meaning and purpose. Life isn't about entertainment, success, or shaping our lives to match the opinions and expectations of others. Life is about meeting God in our daily lives recognizing His voice in our circumstances and relationships. Life is about sharing in His love, joy, peace, and purpose. Life is about Jesus, Jesus is life.

Faith in Jesus:
Believing in Jesus is believing that God is for us and not against us; a radically new understanding to what our shame filled consciences cause us to see God as. We see that we are forgiven from all our mistakes, sins, and agreements we have made with death. Our faith is saying no to the way of the world, to non-life, and saying yes to life in all it's fullness. We believe that we are like Him, created for love, peace, service, rest, joy, hope, purity, and goodness. We see that the law was never about rules, but it was actually about abundant life. It is our shame and guilt that cause us to sin and live in ways that produce hurt, anger, division, uncertainty, and fear. It is Christ's forgiveness that sets us free from bondage to have the light of 'life'!  "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:1-2)." 

Having Faith in Jesus is very different from having faith in God. Having faith in 'God' is relatively meaningless to our lives. Jesus defines God, defines us, and defines life. God is ambiguous and distant without Jesus. Our lives are meaningless and without hope without Jesus. Jesus reveals God's true nature, Jesus is God's mind made up about us. As I believe in Jesus I see my own identity reflected and defined in Him. Life has it's true reference point in Jesus, it is in Him that we find life's clear definition. Jesus is God, when we see Him we see the Father. "Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent (John 17:3)."

Loving God:
Loving God is knowing that He is the giver of life. He is our champion, our redeemer, and our savior from death. Every good gift comes from above from the Father of lights, and we know He is leading us in the way everlasting. We love Him because He loves us, He is sharing His life with us, giving us hope, compassion, and love. He is teaching us to love with Him, to hurt with Him, and to be angry with Him. We love God because He has come to give us life, and He is everything that is good, true, and holy. We do not exist apart from Him, anything in us that is good comes from Him, and His promises are all about our good and our abundant life. In Him we live, move, and have our being.

We love God by agreeing with Him in the context of our daily lives. We learn to love connection, hope, and security so, we work alongside Him to experience those things in our relationships. He reveals to us the destructiveness of sin, so we agree with His voice in fleeing from it. Loving God involves loving abundant life. It is taking time to see Him in creation and in our own lives. Loving Him is loving our neighbors.

The Kingdom:
"The kingdom of God is not of eating or drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17)." The kingdom is not about rules. It is about the abundant life of God taking root in our lives, permeating our thoughts, emotions, and interactions with love. It is an internal kingdom in terms of how we function as human beings, but it is a external kingdom in how we relate with the world around us and with God. We live in the kingdom when we live the way we are designed to, when we function like we are supposed to, and when we relate with others in accordance to the reality of who God is and who we are.

The 'Glory of God':
The glory of God is nothing less than His life and light being expressed and experienced in our day to day life. We glorify God by lifting His name high in our choices and relationships. His name is simply His essence, His character, who He is. The glory of God is real connection, hope, joy, peace, purity, and love; it is wonder, harmony, creativity, and purpose. Giving God glory is recognizing His goodness, His loving care, and acknowledging how He is sharing His life with us.

The Holy Spirit:
The HS is given to us to teach us, to remind us, to direct us, and to empower us; ultimately the Holy Spirit is the spirit of life. He is all about producing God's life, the life of our design, in us. Just look at the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5!

Hearing God's voice and being obedient:
Both God's voice and Satan's voice are so woven into the very fabric of our lives that we don't recognize them even though they are always present. God's voice is speaking to our hearts and minds through our experiences, emotions, and interactions; leading us to listen to His will, and trust that He knows what is best for our lives. He shares his life in us by giving us compassion, love, and anguish over sin and suffering. His voice is the quiet whisper leading us into everlasting life, leading us away from sin that is so destructive to our lives, and leading us to establish love and connection in our relationships. His is the voice when we are tempted to hurt, lash out, complain, or sin that compels us to act in love. We choose whether or not to agree with Him, and obey Him.

Our Life and Mission as Christians:
Our mission as Christians is to bring the kingdom of God to earth by destroying the works of the devil. In other words our lives are transformed by who Jesus is, what He reveals, and the forgiveness He gives us. That life, the life of love, joy, hope, and peace influences the world around us.  We agree with His voice, with His life, and our lives take on the qualities of heaven. We live our lives walking with the Holy Spirit, who everyday is speaking to us, leading us to have compassion on those around us, to love in specific ways, and to communicate the forgiveness of God in the midst of real life. This will lead us to come against the works of the devil. We will value people outside of their behavior, we will love people even when they are difficult, and we will fight to see the abundant life of God manifest here on Earth.

Evangelism, spreading the good news of Jesus, is the the proclamation of life itself. It is the declaration or worth, of forgiveness, and of love. The good news of the Gospel is hope when we're hopeless, peace when we're anxious, acceptance when we feel unacceptable, and life in all it's fullness.

We pray to submit ourselves to Him, to learn His ways, and to see the goodness of God work in the lives of those around us. We pray because as we focus on Him and invite Him into our lives His voice becomes stronger and more clear; directing our steps, and leading us to impact those around us with His love. We worship Him, because He is altogether good, we do not have any existence apart from Him, and because we become like what we worship. As we interact with God we are transformed evermore into His likeness, becoming like Him, living like Him, relating like Him, and loving like Him.

Being a Christian is living with God, the giver of life. It is about living in, towards, and for His will and purpose for humanity. This is hard to do, but so very natural and human at the same time. It is standing for life, for goodness, for love, for forgiveness, for value. It is working alongside God, learning to hear and respond to His voice, to live the abundant life He has designed us for. It is declaring the good news of who Jesus is, what He has done for us, and what He reveals to us.

Heaven:
In this world we see in a glass darkly, in other words we don't see clearly. We still have thought patterns, temptations, and struggles that prevent us from experiencing the fullness of life here and now. Even though we grow in our experience of abundant life, in the world there is still suffering, pain, sin, and hurt. People still agree with the devil who is out to destroy life and cause disconnect between us and God. We can still feel ashamed, and hurt, which poisons our lives with jealousy and striving.  Heaven is the promise to us that God will fulfill His ultimate plan, to restore all things to the fullness of life. No more pain, hurt, or sin, that is our promise, our hope, and our joy in the midst of hurt and pain that we experience here on Earth. God wants us all to come to know who He is, and to learn to love the life we are created for so that we want to be with Him for eternity; He will not force us to like it or join with Him however. It is our free choice to do so.