I am a father to four wonderful people. When they were
little, my desire for their lives had little to do with getting an Ivy League
education or aiming for the executive suite in some corporation. More than
anything, I prayed that they would become spiritually and emotionally whole
people, capable of deep love, knowing God, and productive in their place in
this world.
Hopefully, even in our imperfection, their Mom and I loved them, taught
them, and modeled a kind of life for them that helped to shape their character
and values. Today, they are people who are making the corners of the world
where they live better and brighter. It makes a Dad glad!
Did you know that
your Heavenly Father desires a rich life for you? He wants to bring all of
His children to the potential placed in them by His design. In Hebrews there is
a short phrase tucked into the 2nd chapter about His efforts through
Christ on our behalf: He is “bringing many sons to glory.” After discussing the potential of humanity,
made lower than the angels, but given the stewardship of Creation, the writer
points out that men and women who are broken by sin, frustrated by the Fall, have not yet fulfilled the destiny, not
yet becoming who their Creator made them to be.
Then, there is this: "But we see Jesus, who was made a
little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he
suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. In bringing many sons (and daughters) to glory, it was fitting
that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author
of their salvation perfect through suffering." (Hebrews 2:9-10, NIV)
When Jesus came, His mission went beyond making it possible
for us to hope for Heaven, in the sweet by and by! to think that the Christian
life is just about eternal insurance falls so far short of the truth. God’s Son
came to walk with us, to suffer alongside of us, to offer Himself a sacrifice
for sin, so that we enter the Kingdom of
God and reclaim our destiny as children of the Father. When we are filled
with Spirit, a new quality of life overtakes us and there is a kind of ‘glory’
that comes from us that makes us noble, loving, whole people in whom the goodness
of God is revealed.
That chapter includes these lines about the spiritual freedom
of the Christian. "Since the
children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his
death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and
free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death."
(Hebrews 2:14-15, NIV) The mystery and wonder of the Incarnation, Christ Jesus
becoming fully Man, speaks to the fact that God did not stand aloof and urge us
to reach up to Him. He came to us, suffered with us, and now leads us to
freedom because we have no fear of the Evil One or even of death itself! "Therefore, it was necessary for Jesus
to be in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be
our merciful and faithful High Priest before God." (Hebrews 2:17, NLT)
Today, I want to encourage you to pray, “Lord, lead me to a
life that reveals Your glory.” That does not mean becoming famous, rich, or
successful in the usual ways. We aspire to live like Jesus, to love, to show
compassion, to be a person of excellence in the use of the gifts we are given.
He is leading the way. He is working in us, for us. Believe, receive, live!
Here is a word from the Word. "But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is
freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness
with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the
Spirit." (2 Corinthians 3:16-18, NIV)
_______
Let the beauty of
Jesus
Be seen in me;
All His wonderful
passion
And purity.
O Thou Spirit divine,
All my nature refine,
‘Till the beauty of
Jesus
Be seen in me.
-
Albert Orsborn
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