Think about what you’d like to change about yourself. Not just some of the superficial or inconvenient characteristics you may tolerate on a daily basis. I’m not talking about wishing you were taller or had a whiter smile or that you were a better singer. Take a moment to dig a little deeper to the heart issues that may plague your relationships or keep you from experiencing the truly abundant life Jesus promised. (John 10:10) Lying, insecurity, overindulgence, control issues, compulsions, selfishness. When you look back a few years, do you see growth? Are you different today than you were five years ago? Ten years ago? And how would you like to be five or ten years from now in those areas? If you’re like me, some days you feel like a new person entirely and other days it seems that nothing has changed at all. If you’re not like me in that regard, I envy you. I long for consistent growth toward my potential without the setbacks.
The process of becoming more and more what we were created to be is called sanctification. Becoming holy. Set apart from evil and devoted to God. We were knit together in our mother’s womb to reflect God’s glory and live in relationship with our Creator. But we were born into a sinful world with sinful tendencies and we all fall short of the beauty and delight we will enjoy in Heaven. With this life as a training ground for how and where we’ll spend eternity, we are invited to engage and participate in the process of becoming better and better reflections of God’s original plan for us.
So how does this work? And how can we enter into the process and become active participants?
Embrace Christ – The only way to begin the transformation process is to enter into a relationship with Christ by faith, and begin to walk in the truth and forgiveness He alone can offer. He is the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Him. (John 14:6) Apart from Christ you can do nothing; and that includes pursuing a life of righteousness and holiness. (John 15:5)
Engage the Word – Paul wrote these words to Timothy, his young protégé: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17) Jesus’ prayer for His disciples was that the Father would use the truth of His Word to make them more holy. (John 17:17) The only way to be in a place where we can be sanctified by the Word is to open our Bibles and make the Word a priority. Then we can know God’s will, be equipped to teach others, and see our journey through a perspective of objective truth, even when our circumstances or emotions may be fluctuating wildly.
Encounter the Spirit – When we practice spiritual disciplines like reading our Bibles and praying, we place ourselves in a position to hear from God and be open to and aware of the Holy Spirit’s power in our lives. “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 3:17-18) It is God’s Spirit that makes us more like Christ. (John 16) He guides the process that brings us into alignment with God’s standards, setting us apart from the sin that distracts us and molding us into the servants He wants us to be.
Then, when all the spiritual pistons are firing, we find a rhythm to life that brings joy in trials, growth in relationships, and purpose in our pursuits.
Take a look at these examples of how the prophet Jeremiah demonstrates an inextricable link between his identity as God’s child and knowing and loving His Word:
8 Whenever I speak, I cry out
proclaiming violence and destruction.
So the word of the LORD has brought me
insult and reproach all day long.
9 But if I say, "I will not mention him
or speak any more in his name,"
his word is in my heart like a fire,
a fire shut up in my bones.
I am weary of holding it in;
indeed, I cannot. (Jeremiah 20:8-9)
When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart's delight, for I bear your name, O LORD God Almighty. (Jeremiah 15:16)
And the author who wrote the longest psalm in the Bible about God’s Word:
“I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” (Psalm 119:11)
“My soul is consumed with longing for your laws at all times.” (119:20)
“33 Teach me, O LORD, to follow your decrees;
then I will keep them to the end.
34 Give me understanding, and I will keep your law
and obey it with all my heart.
35 Direct me in the path of your commands,
for there I find delight.
36 Turn my heart toward your statutes
and not toward selfish gain.
37 Turn my eyes away from worthless things;
preserve my life according to your word.
38 Fulfill your promise to your servant,
so that you may be feared.
39 Take away the disgrace I dread,
for your laws are good.
40 How I long for your precepts!
Preserve my life in your righteousness.” (119:33-40)
“Your statutes are my heritage forever;
they are the joy of my heart.” (119:111)
Both these men saw the strong bond between God’s Word and His calling on their lives to be the individuals He created them to be. Whether God was telling Jeremiah to pass along His message of wrath to His disobedient children, or if He was revealing His plan of redemption and restoration, the interaction with God and His Word changed the person He spoke to. That is true for us as well. When we engage God’s Word, allowing it to seep into the deepest parts of us, and seeing life through the perspective of perfect truth and holiness, we are changed. We are sanctified by the Word of truth. God’s truth becomes our truth, and our love for Him and His Word grows as we become like Him.
The 18th century British pastor and Bible commentator, Matthew Henry, wrote this concerning the concept of sanctification by the Word:
Those that through grace are sanctified have need to be sanctified more and more. Even disciples must pray for sanctifying grace; for, if he that was the author of the good work be not the finisher of it, we are undone. Not to go forward is to go backward; he that is holy must be holy still, more holy still, pressing forward, soaring upward, as those that have not attained. …That all needful truth should be comprised and summed up in the word of God. Divine revelation, as it now stands in the written word, is not only pure truth without mixture, but entire truth without deficiency. (Commentary on John 17:17)
May we all strive to be more and more conformed to the image of the One who redeemed us for His glory. And may we all be sanctified by the Word of Truth as we submit to its precepts and incorporate its beauty into our lives. And may God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:23)
• Read all of Psalm 119. (It’s a long one!) Highlight or write in a journal verses that describe the author’s attitude toward God’s Word. (This may also include words like law, precepts, statutes, commands, etc.) What words (both actions and attitudes) are associated with God’s Law? Which ones resonate with you? Why? Which seem foreign, but attractive to you? Why?
• Read John 17:14-19. Spend some time pondering the concept of sanctification as laid out by Jesus in this prayer. What does this process look like? How does it feel to be a part of it and experience it? What evidence of these concepts do you see in your own life?
No comments:
Post a Comment