Which comes 1st, grace or humility?

Which occurs first? Our seeing God as the Source of life, love, and all created things more clearly or our being weaned from an ¹inordinate delight in created things? 

Several places in scripture teach that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. This indicates humility comes ²before grace (i.e., the gift of ³God revealing Himself more fully to us) or at least it is the means of experiencing ongoing and increasing grace. 

We must recognize attempts at being our own God - our arrogant independence - do not work long-term, i.e., we must humble ourselves. We must die to live. Death to our attempts to save ourself comes before life. 

God is our greatest happiness. Anything that increases our union with Him is good, even (and maybe especially) pain.

For a discussion on the necessity of humility click here

 

How do we discover God's love in our pain? click here

For a further discussion on the primary role of pain click here

For a further discussion of how God uses evil for our good click here...and here.

The greater the evil the greater the opportunity for healing/

grace click here.

For a discussion on the key lesson from the book of Job, click here.

For a discussion on the value of paradox, click here.

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Footnotes:

¹Why do we hold on to and pursue created things so tenaciously? It allows us to temporarily cling to our independence from God. We want the delights of creation without the humility of admitting they are all gifts from our Creator or the necessity of our submission to and dependence on Him. 

²The old saying is you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. 

However, you can also salt its oats. 

The choice to not drink is up to the horse. Salting its oats is up to someone else. 

While the choice to humble ourselves precedes our experience of grace, pain is often a means by which we are humbled. We often have no control over painful circumstances, even though we have control over how we respond to them i.e. we can either humble ourselves in response to pain or become defient and rage at God for it.

³it is not because God is hiding that we can't see Him, but because our pride - our tenacious clinging to our independence - blinds us to seeing Him clearly. It takes humility to see and appreciate humility i.e. to see Christ as the humble servant He is. We can't see or grasp what Christ is truly like without humility because He is humble. 

Without humility we project on to God arrogance when He says we should honor and praise Him i.e. we don't see Him correctly. We suppress the truth in our unrighteousness i.e. our unbelief -  and value (worship) created things over our Creator (Rom 1:18-23).

Yes Christ is the Lion of Judah but he is also the Lamb of God who willingly humbled and submitted himself to the Father to be slain... and that for our sake and the Father's glory i.e. he did this for the sake of others. 

Advancing in pain

The age-old question is if God is good, why is there so much pain. 

But maybe the answer is not what we usually think. Maybe God allows pain to remain to humble us and help us see our need for Him, with the long-term goal of our spiritual advancement. 

While pain is ultimately the fruit of our rebellious distrust of God, He uses it. If God could not bring good out of evil, evil would not exist. Christ's death would be the ultimate example of this profound paradox. 

Acts 2:23 "this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men."

Therefore, we must not allow it to discourage or shame us, or ¹cause us to fall into self-pity e.g. "You're a loser! Why keep trying? Just quit!..." etc. 

But we must embrace pain and embrace God and His love for us in our pain and failures for our advancement to occur (God is for us, not against us. Nothing separates us from God's love...Rom 8:31-39). 

"...Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 

and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us..." - Romans 5:2-5 ESV 

As long as we look at failure and mistakes as losing and not stepping stones to winning, we will not embrace them with thanks, learn from them, and let them advance our maturity and walk with God. When we recognize or failures and mistakes are a key to our spiritual advancement, we embrace them with gratitude and experience more of God's grace, mercy, and love. 

Having our identity/value rooted in God as the bedrock of our existence - and the very Source of love itself - frees us from seeing failure as losing. The whole mindset of the Bible is that ²failure is a necessary stepping stone to progress and maturity. 

"When all kinds of trials and temptations crowd into your lives my brothers, don’t resent them as intruders, but welcome them as friends! Realise that they come to test your faith and to produce in you the quality of endurance. But let the process go on until that endurance is fully developed, and you will find you have become men of mature character with the right sort of independence..." - Jas 1: 2-8. J B Phillips translation. 

This is foundational to understanding and embracing pain instead of a avoiding it. 

The importance of humility

Another vital key to the value of failure is humility. To understand we will never reach the maximum potential we were created for without God (which failure helps us to see) causes us to look to Him in greater dependence. Greater dependence on God as the Source of life, love, and all things is the essence of humility. Only through humility can we reach the potential God intends for us and designed us for.

How do we discover God's love in our pain? click here

For a further discussion on the primary role of pain click here

For a further discussion of how God uses evil for our good click here...and here.

The greater the evil the greater the opportunity for healing/

grace click here.

For a discussion on the key lesson from the book of Job, click here.

For a discussion on the value of paradox, click here.

For a discussion on the necessity of humility click here

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Footnotes:

¹nor let pain embitter us. At the root of anger is the belief that we know better than God what is best for us and/or the world. Yet we are finite, not all-knowing or all-powerful. Only God is infinite in all things. 

And not only so, but he is also all-loving. He not only knows what's best (all-knowing) and does what's best (all-powerful) but wants it for us also (all-loving).

But many object and say, "how can God be all-loving and continue to allow all the pain in the world?" What's our proof that He is all-loving? He became a man just like us and fully embraced our pain so that we might ultimately be free of it forever.

²This is contingent on our seeing failure as a means by which God can advance us. If we do not, it will embitter us.

Why some are disillusioned with God

When does God not hear our prayers?

Whether God answers our request to be healed or delivered from difficult circumstances depends on why we are asking. If we wish to be healed (delivered) so we can better serve him, he will say yes. If we wish to be healed so we can ¹"spend it on ourselves," he will not. 

Our challenge is knowing the difference. If we think we are asking for the right reason and are not, we assume He does not care or love us if we don't get the answer we want. Then we become disillusioned with God. But this is our shortcoming, not God's. 

We incorrectly think God is a celestial Santa Claus or our heavenly servant or butler instead of the all-wise, loving, infinitely beautiful, and powerful Creator wbo sustains all creation and ²life. Someone to be adored and honored, not someone we can control and use for our own ends. 

"You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions." Jas 4:3 

Are love and life connected? How? Click here for a further discussion.

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Footnotes: 

¹ James 4:1-10  

[1] What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? [2] You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. 

You do not have, because you do not ask. [3] You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 

[4] You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? 

world = the systematic worldwide pursuit of humanity to find ²life in or through created things - such as wealth, fame, power, praise from others, sensual pleasures, etc. - instead of from, through, and in the Creator (Rom 1:21-23) 

Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 

Passionate pursuit of created things for ²life instead of the Creator is like a husband pursuing a woman other than his wife to fulfill his physical passions. In doing so, he is unfaithful to his wife and has made himself her antagonist. 

[5] Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? 

What kind of spirit has God put within us?  A spirit that longs (is passionate) for infinite love. Love that can only be satisfied by the Source of love - our Creator.  He will not share in our pursuit or loyalty to any other "lover" because He knows there are no other true lovers. Everything we seek for life outside of God Himself is temporary and comes up short. GOD alone is the Source of infinite love and we're designed for infinite, eternal love. To experience His love we must give Him all our loyalty and faithfulness, or we will pursue love outside of Him. 

[6] But he gives more grace. Therefore, it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” [7] Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 

Pride causes us to seek love independent of God for love or life. This is an invitation for the evil one to get a foothold in our lives. Humility shuts the door on his foot and opens the door to grace. When we open the door to grace, we invite God in.  

[8] Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. [9] Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. [10] Humble yourselves before the Lord, and HE will exalt you." 

Want to see God move on your behalf? Humbly recognize He alone is infinite ²life and the only true satisfier of our hearts longing for love. He knows best what we need most; we don't. 

²Are love and life connected? How? Click here for a further discussion.

good and bad "obedience"

Doing what God tells us to do (obedience) out of love for and trust in God is legit - as well as commanded by Christ himself. John 14:21-23

Doing what He tells us to do for any other reason is not. It is performance-based, operating in the flesh, etc.

The key is knowing why we act and not just how we act or what we do. For example, praying in itself isn't necessarily a righteous act. We can pray to impress others or solely for our personal benefit and not out of a desire to honor God and advance His purposes.

So why do we act... when are our actions legit? Always and only when done out of love for and trust in God so we would honor Him i.e. give him glory.

1. Sometimes we obey God out of loving affections for God

2. Sometimes out of faith alone.  

As long as we do so for his honor and glory and not to secure our own honor, we are to pursue him in faithful and loving obedience. 

We can never wait for feelings/affections or use lack of them as an excuse to not pursue him in faithful obedience. 

If we are to grow and experience more and more of the beauty, majesty, love and glory of God, obedience is not optional. It is the means by which our faith is exercised and we draw near to God.

NOTE, I did not say obedience is the means by which God draws near to us. We are exhorted to draw near to God, not the other way around. God being near to us is already set because of Christ's work on our behalf. God is 100% with us and committed to us if we are in Christ. Nothing we can do or not do will change this one iota. "It is finished" to use Christ's words. His loving us is never determined by our work...ever!

The beauty however, is God, in his grace and kindness, will often stir affections toward Him once we step out in faith for the right reason.

We obey so we can better honor and glorify God and be the most effective for Him in doing so.

Obedience, submission, and trust aren't about winning God's love for us, they're evidence of our love for Him.

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What about "waiting on the Lord?"

We only wait when it is not clear what Gods will is in a given circumstance. But when it is clear (e.g. his commandments), we act and don't look back.

Pain, humility, and knowing God

Is there any connection between knowing God, humility, and pain? At first we may not think so. 

Let's take a closer look. 

Since humility is key to knowing, seeing, and experiencing God, we should embrace and receive, with thanks, anything that helps humble us, including and maybe especially pain and suffering.  

Instead of bristling at pain and pursuing ¹anything we can find to distract or relieve us from it, we should embrace struggles and be grateful for them. They are a vital means of drawing us nearer to God. 

Knowing God is far more significant and beneficial than short-term relief from our struggles (though it often doesn't feel that way at the moment). Seeing and knowing this enables us to receive suffering with gratitude.

In short, the reason we are to be thankful for our struggles (vs complaining about them) is they ²can be and usually are a primary means of strengthening our understanding and relationship with God who is the source of life, love, and all things i.e. pain ²can be a very unpleasant means to the greatest and most desirable and pleasant end - our increased union with God and the joy and happiness we find in Him. So while the loss of things we rely on for comfort or pleasure are painful, they become the very means by which we are drawn closer to God, the Source of life, love, and all things. 

Thankfulness is the best indicator of humility. Humility is the key to seeing and knowing God in all His infinite love and glory.

How do we discover God's love in our pain? click here

For a further discussion on the primary role of pain click here

For a further discussion of how God uses evil for our good click here...and here.

The greater the evil the greater the opportunity for healing/

grace click here.

For a discussion on the key lesson from the book of Job, click here.

For a discussion on the value of paradox, click here.

For a discussion on the necessity of humility click here

__________________________ 

Footnotes:

¹drugs, alcohol, and sex are some of the more obvious and most common diversions. But diversions can also be more socially acceptable pursuits, such as recreation, career, entertainment, material possessions, food, power, control, fame, or anything else pleasant that will help distract us or relieve us from pain. Boredom is also a form of low-grade pain. 

This is not because pleasure in itself or those things among creation that bring us pleasure are bad. God created us for pleasure but in, by, and through Him. But when comfort or pleasure in itself (the opposite of pain) becomes a higher pursuit than God, it is contrary to our design of finding our greatest happiness in God and what He provides. 

²Actually pain and struggle is a primary means to our increasing maturity and greater union with God when received with thanksgiving. I say "can" because it depends on us trusting that God is using our pain for our ultimate good (even the pain caused by the failures and offenses of others). Otherwise, suffering will only make us angry and embitter us. 

"See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no 'root of bitterness' springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;" - Heb 12:15. No one likes being around a bitter and angry person - except maybe others who are the same way... "birds of a feather..." as the saying goes.  

It is worth noting that the author of Hebrews was writing to people going through intense persecution and suffering at the hands of others.

Hebrews 12:6-8 ESV

⁶For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” ⁷It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? ⁸If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons... 

Hebrews 12:11 ESV

¹¹For the moment, all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. 

Other passages that directly or indirectly address this vital truth... 

James 1:2-4 ESV

²Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, ³for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. ⁴And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.  

Ephesians 5:20

"...giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,"  

1 Thessalonians 5:18

"Give thanks in every circumstance, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." 

Colossians 3:17

"And whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him." 

Philippians 4:6

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." 

This last passage is particularly interesting because we often go to God in prayer for relief from difficulties, yet God says we should give thanks in those very kinds of prayers i.e. don't just seek God for relief, seek God himself and be grateful for everything that aids you in knowing Him better, especially difficulties. 

Romans 8:28-29 

"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. [29] For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers."

The good that God is achieving in all things (vs 28) - both hard and comforting - is making us more like His Son (vs 29), not necessarily improved circumstances.

Which is it... sinners or like God?!

God's love for ⁴us is without conditions. FULL STOP! i.e. to be fully accepted and embraced by God requires nothing from us. God's love for us is based on someone else meeting the requirements, ¹not us. Accepting the offer that Jesus met what God requires is the only thing required of us. 

However, that doesn't mean there is not a good reason for His infinite love for us. There is a major reason. He values and therefore loves us because we are like him - in His image. 

This has nothing to do with what we do but with who we are, who God made us to be. It is not our trying to make ourselves more acceptable and loveable to Him or others.

This is why He loved us before we lifted one finger for Him. In fact even while we were still in our state of rebellious distrust of Him.

"...but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us..." - Romans 5:8

"...But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—..." -  Ephesians 2:4-5 

Have you ever scratched your head wondering why he would value and love us while we were still in a state of rebellious distrust toward Him (i.e. "sin")? It is because our rebellion did not cancel out or erase our being like God, it only marred and suppressed it - though severely. 

This resulted in our spiritual sight and sense going completely dormant (until His Spirit opens our eyes). We are now "unplugged" from God (the source of all things), broken, and blind to seeing His infinite worth, beauty, and love. As a result, we ascribe the worst possible intent by God on why we struggle or experience loss and pain. The Bible describes this as being spiritually blind and dead to God. 

But our capacity for love, light, and life didn't go away and is still fully intact - we are still like God - even when we don't trust Him i.e. we still are designed to love and be loved and we long for this. We are hard-wired for love, if you will, because God is love and we are like Him, created to be in a community of love with Him. 

God values and loves our being like Him because we still have the capacity to fully partake of the community of love that God is as Father and Son in, by, and through the Spirit. 

This capacity for infinite love never went away; it only ceased to function properly i.e. it went dormant if you will. In our broken and spirituality-blind condition, we now long for the wrong things - instead of the only true thing that can fill our longing for love - because we are blind to the true Source of love and life - i.e. our Creator.

A recap and summary 

Our being in God's image is vital to how God sees us and who we are. This means there is good reason for Him to love us i.e. because of who we are, not what we do. 

We are not just rebellious - aka "dirty rotten sinners." This is true but only half the story - and the far lesser half - once we accept his offer. The more important half is we are still also like God with an infinite capacity to fully engage, delight in, and commune with the Infinite God and experience His infinite love, glory, and joy!!!

Being like God has nothing to do with what we do (our good deeds) for others (God and other bearers of His image) - when it comes to establishing a good standing with Him - but has to do with something about us - i.e. who we are, not what we do. 

God's love has nothing to do with something that comes from us or is offered by us - i.e. something we do in an attempt to earn His love or appease His disapproval. 

Our only requirement is to recognize that Christ did everything necessary to fully restore us to His Father and accept this as a free gift (the essence of the gospel - good news - of grace). 

Do you receive this? If you only know this in your head but haven't fully believed it, you only need to recognize He did everything necessary to restore you so He can pour out His love on you. A love He already has for you that you are blocking by your not believing this good news. Because nothing you can do will restore you to God...nothing - not your abilities or good deeds!!! 

Accept His offer of complete restoration. If you are sincere in accepting and receiving His offer of perfect love, He will legally and immediately restore you now, and ²completely upon His return.

"The Spirit and the Bride say, 'Come.' And let the one who hears say, 'Come.' And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price (you can't buy it or earn His acceptance of you)." - Revelation 22:17 

For God to have a relationship with us in the same way the Father and the Son have with each other, we had to be like him in one essential way i.e. we had to be able to receive and return love to God like God does between and among the Father and Son, in, by, and through the Spirit - i.e. God IS love. Love is the central and essential core of who God is!!! We are like Him i.e. we are hard wired for this same love. 

But love for God first, not just between each other. Our love for others must flow out of our love for God. This is why the greatest commandment is to love God first, then our neighbors. 

Does God need anything from us? No! He has Himself i.e. He is complete within Himself.

But when we say he loves us without conditions, that is not to say he doesn't have longings and desires for us and from us. He yearns to commune with us. Why? Because we are like God and God is love. He longs for us to experience the fullness of who He is so, like Him, we too experience it.

He is the source of love, life, and all things and knows our greatest meaning, purpose, and joy is found only in Him!! His calling us to love Him above everything else is because He knows He is our best and desires our best i.e. God is love.

James 4:5 says:

"Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, 'He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us' ”?

Nevertheless, His love for us is without conditions i.e. no deeds are required from us in order for His love to be set on us.

This is possible only because Christ fulfilled all the conditions ³required and necessary for him to remove the barrier between us and love us freely and fully. Even to the point that the Father loves us in the very same way He loves His only eternally begotten Son. Jn 17:23.

"I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me."

So does our love and pursuit of God matter since it's not required?

While there should never be ⁴expectations or conditions put on us for the gifts freely given to ⁵us or on others for the gifts we gladly give them, it is legitimate to enjoy and eagerly anticipate the appreciation from others for those gifts.

When gratitude is shown for the gifts we graciously receive, it delights the giver because they know their gift (and love) is not just accepted but also enjoyed and appreciated.

This reminds us of the 10 lepers that Christ healed and only one returned and showed gratitude. As a result, Christ engaged him further because he demonstrated by returning to Christ that he appreciated what Christ did. Lk 17:12-19.

To hope for and enjoy someone else's appreciation for what we give them is different than ⁵demanding their gratitude.

This also happens to be how God loves us and enjoys a relationship with us. God doesn't ⁶demand our obedience in exchange for His love. He delights in it. We are this way because God is this way. We are in his image.

In order for him to have this kind of love relationship with us we had to be like him as much possible without actually being him.

For a further discussion on why God loves rebels but not rebellion click here 

Are we rebels against God? Click here 

For a further discussion on the solution to our rebellion click here. 

For a further discussion on why God delights in our love click here.

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¹Who met them? Christ!!! For only He could, not us!

²The claims of Christ and His return!! and Knowing God but not fully yet.

³this is necessary because we fail to. No one fulfills the greatest commandment to love God with everything we are and have. Do you? I certainly don't!

⁴Expectations and conditions come from those who need love. God wants our love but doesn't need it. He is love as a community of love among the Father, Son, and Spirit. And when we are filled with His love we are the same way i.e. we don't need the love of others because we already have the perfect love of God.

⁵Who is "us." Is it humanity in general or us who have trusted Christ? It is both. God values all his image bearers by virtue of them being like him. But only those who accept his offer of restoration actually participate in and experience that love as we are designed to.

⁶We demand things from others only because we believe we must have them in order to be loved. God doesn't because He is already a community of love between the Father and Son in, by, and through the Spirit. He doesn't need us in order to be complete (whole) and therefore does not need to demand our obedience. 

However because He is love he delights in our entering into and participating in his love. He seeks - "requires" - us to love him because he knows that is where we are most complete and find greatest joy.

The claims of Christ and His return!!

Christ did everything necessary to completely ¹unwind and reverse all that is wrong in the world. 

Yet the world remains a mess.

Why?  

The reversal Christ gained is not automatic. Humanity must now take advantage of what is offered to experience something of it in this life. 

Plus, it is not 100% complete. Full restoration of all things will occur upon Christ's return.

 

Why don't people take advantage? 

Because they (we) either don't understand what Christ did and offers, don't believe it is true, or think it is necessary. 

However, the mess the world is in clearly indicates how necessary this reversal (renewal) is. 

We also refuse to acknowledge and receive what Christ has done and offers. We are too distrustful, arrogant, and self-absorbed. To use a Biblical description... we prefer being "our own god." We believe we can be our own savior, deliverer, and provider. 

How's that working so far? If we are honest with ourselves, it isn't.

Christ's claims

This reversal is not only necessary but also very real, if only because Christ said it was. But he didn't just say it, He did all that was necessary in history and time to reverse our mess and resolve our problem individually and collectively. 

But it was also because he made these ²claims, he was put to death.

The irony is Christ making the claims He did resulted in the very solution needed to fix things i.e. he was sentenced to death and died for making those claims so we could be free from death. I encourage you to ponder how ironic this is... and do it often.

This is the great paradox of Christ's message i.e. life comes through death. A paradox the nation of Israel missed and one we also miss today. People look for deliverance from difficult circumstances first - i.e. physical or political deliverance - when our need for spiritual deliverance is far greater. As Christ asked, what does it profit someone if they gain the whole world but lose their own soul? 

One of many of Christ's ²claims and predictions was he would be put to death but would also ³raise himself from death on the 3rd day. Which ⁴he did. No other religious leader ever predicted, much less did this before or since. His coming back to life was ³unique and only He accomplished this. 

His resurrection confirmed and verified everything he said about Himself was true. Either all of it was true, or none of it was. God would not support or acknowledge a fraud or liar, much less bring one back from the dead!

Christ's resurrection is why His claims should be heeded above anyone and everyone else's. 

What were Christ's other key claims? 

He made several, including: 

• Being the Son of God: 

Christ claimed to be the divine and eternal Son of God, equal in power and nature to God the Father (John 1:1-3,14,18, John 10:30, Philippians 2:6). 

• Being the Messiah: 

He claimed to be Israel's long-awaited Messiah or the Christ - the anointed one - i.e. sent by His Father to save humanity from ultimate death and destruction...spiritually first but literally in the future (John 4:25-26, Matthew 16:16-17). 

• Being the resurrection and the life: 

He claimed that He has the power to conquer death (which He did first by His own resurrection) and grant eternal life (resurrection from death) to anyone who believes in Him (John 11:25-26, Romans 6:9). 

• Being the only way to God: 

Christ claimed that He is the exclusive way to God, His Father and that no one can truly approach God except through Him (John 14:6, Acts 4:12). 

Why? Because He alone did what was necessary to restore us back to good standing with our Creator. Our seeking to be our own god cuts us off from experiencing all He is and offers as well as all we were designed to be. Something God warned about at the very outset of our existence. Christ did what was required to reverse all of this - our rebellion and all the fallout that has since followed.

• Being the true vine: 

Christ claimed to be the source of spiritual life and nourishment for believers, comparing Himself to the vine and believers to the branches (John 15:1-5). 

These claims, along with His teachings and miracles, formed the basis of His followers' belief in Him as the divine Son of God, our Savior and the only way back to God. 

Christ also claims to be alive today and that he will return to literally rule the earth and everything in it with truth, love, justice, and abundance. 

Because he is alive and said he will return, it is wise to ⁵study all he did and all he claimed to be. If what he said is true, our (your) present and eternal state and happiness depend on it. Something worth exploring, wouldn't you agree?

For a further discussion on why Christ must be the only way to God click here and here

For a discussion on Christ's central message click here 

What is the "good news?" Click here.

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¹So when will he fulfill the complete restoration he promised? 

For now, he reverses the legal consequences of our rebellious distrust of His claims i.e. there is no longer any judgment or condemnation for anyone who believes His claims and accepts his offer of forgiveness and restoration to His Father. 

"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich." - 2 Cor 8:9

What is fully extended to those who believe His claims is perfect acceptance by Him and His Father and their infinite love for us that can never be taken away. 

And ultimately he will eliminate the practical and physical consequences of the mess the world is in as well. These promises will be fulfilled when Christ returns to establish heaven on earth under his literal, physical reign. 

There will be no more pain or tears or death in the new life He will set up on earth. There will only be perfect flourishing, abundance, and the perpetual progression of joy, adventure, and creativity for His honor and glory. 

We will enter into a never-ending, increasing state of bliss and fruitfulness without barriers or limits, for we will be fully engaged and partake in Him, who is the source of life, love, and all things. 

²And what were the primary claims that resulted in His death? He was God who took on human form to live among us. He was the promised and long-awaited Messiah; the Christ; the only Anointed of God. It is in and through Him alone, we are restored back to good standing with God, His father and our Creator.  

Religion and "good" deeds do not and can not restore us to the Father. Only He could and does if we believe him and the claims he made about himself. He invites us to come and believe. 

³No other religion or religious founder made this claim, much less fulfilled it. NO ONE! 

⁴You may find the movie "A Case for Christ" helpful regarding this. It is a true story about an atheist named Lee Strobel who set out to debunk Christianity and Christ's claims.

⁵This blog may also help. I elaborate on most if not all points made here in other posts. 

 

Why the honeymoon doesn't last

How does a believers walk with God change after that initial honeymoon period when they first came to Christ?

Not long after becoming a believer things actually get harder for most believers. In some cases much harder.

Why is this? Doesn't God promise great or greater circumstancial blessings in a believers life when we walk with him? Yet life often gets harder not easier. Why?

Because the greatest blessings God promises are spiritual, not circumstantial (He doesn't promise there will be no "bumps in the road,") financial (good money), or physical (good health).

The ¹main blessing he wants to give us is a deeper relationship with him - who is life itself and giver of all things. This blessing is spiritual because it strengthens our dependence, walk, and joy in Him. To the extent we pursue Him in this way is the extent we may also experience circumstancial blessings as well. 

He seeks to wean us from the

¹pleasures of this world and our dependence on them - not necessarily give us more of them. He does this so we might grow deep spiritual roots into him and find Him our greatest joy, ¹instead of created things.

For things to get better (in Him) they often must 1st get worse (in life). Or as Christ said, "to live we must die." 

We must be weaned from ¹that which keeps us from the best thing - God himself, and a closer walk with Him - not grant us pleasant or comfortable circumstances.

The following quote by John Newton (author of the song "Amazing Grace") captures the essence of this in the following quote.

"Everything is needful that He sends. Nothing can be meaningful that He withholds."

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Footnotes:

¹It is not that he doesn't want us to enjoy and appreciate his creation. He absolutely does. But when the pursuit of the pleasures in this life become greater than our pleasure in God, we actually lose in the long run and miss out on the greatest pleasure of all; knowing and walking with God. 

The best thing God can do for us is deepen our walk with him and our joy in Him, not necessarily make our circumstances better or easier.

What Christ and unbelievers have in common

The disdain that many unbelievers have for "Christianity" is sometimes 100% justified.

How?

Their disdain is usually toward the pretense and hypocrisy among those who claim to believe in God. 

Yet Christ himself also disdained and even condemned this attitude and behavior. 

Pretense and hypocrisy are far too common among churchgoers. But why?

Because of a performance or works-based approach to "Christianity" - i.e. legalism - which is not true Christianity at all, but only gives the appearance of being Christian. In reality, it is the opposite of and opposed to the gospel of grace, the essence of Christ's message. 

Unlike a heart "ruled" by grace, performance-based "Christianity" is based on self-salvation which leads to pretense, pride, and hypocrisy. It rejects the necessity of the work of Christ to restore us to the Father - not rejection with their words necessarily (many say the "right things") but in their heart - and believes we can save ourselves without God and His Son, i.e. we don't need the righteousness of Christ assigned to us because of our unrighteousness. To believe this is to also believe our deeds are somehow better than Christ's. 

This is an insult to Christ and all He did to restore us to a right standing with His Father. In effect, we are saying Christ's work is useless, worthless, and unnecessary and ours is superior. 

This approach was also the very same issue Christ had with the self-righteous religious leaders of His day.  

How does this self-righteousness develop?

Many, who live in the Christian community and profess to be Christians, are aware of the high ¹moral standards Christ calls us to e.g. love your enemies, love God with all you are and have, always treat others as you wish to be treated, be grateful for all things at all times, especially the hard stuff etc. 

But they do not know (possess) the power necessary to live these out - i.e. a heart moved by love, not by ²mere will power. 

So on the outside and before others, they pretend to live by those standards because they know this is what is expected of a "good Christian." But behind closed doors, and out of the public eye, their true self is ³revealed. 

This is especially true for those closest to them, particularly their children, and why kids from a "Christian" home often rebel and walk away from this religiosity. 

The criticism often leveled at these so-called "Christians" is they expect others to do as they say but not as they do.

But outward "obedience" only, is not true obedience. True faithfulness springs forth from the heart of someone who knows they are truly unrighteous yet infinitely and perfectly loved at the same time. As a result, their righteousness (right conduct) is a response of loving faithfulness to God in return, not an attempt to earn God's acceptance.

As Christ said, "If you love me you will keep my commandments..."  It doesn't say keep my commands to win my love or impress me and others with your good deeds. 

This was the problem of the Pharisees during the time of Christ. They were all about appearance and pretense to gain the praise of men. They were not about substance - i.e. true faithfulness out of a heart moved by love for God. 

Ironically, those unbelievers who disdain hypocrisy are far more aligned with Christ in this one significant area than many who profess to be Christians.

For a fuller discussion about hypocrisy click here

Why does Christ consider the poor in spirit blessed? Click here.

For a discussion on self-righteousness click here

Should we pursue Jesus or morality? click here

Why religion comes up short click here

Why Christ came with grace not just truth click here

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Footnotes:

¹Also common among those who are legalistic is an overbearing and condescending emphasis on "right doctrine." These self-proclaimed "defenders of truth" can sometimes recite the various teachings in the Bible impeccably, sometimes better than some true lovers of Jesus, but it is from their heads, not their hearts. There is no grace or humility in their criticism of others. It is the fruit of arrogance, not of a humble heart that seeks to honor God by being faithful to His words.  

Those who are like this tend to always be on a spiritual witch hunt to expose those who do not cross their doctrinal "t's" and dot their theological "i's" perfectly according to them. 

However, correctly comprehending things is not the same as believing them. We can understand and even explain things perfectly but that doesn't mean we believe them. And faith in the work of Christ for us - i.e. the gospel - is central to being a true follower of Christ, not perfect doctrine.

²Our wills are certainly involved but not to "obedience" - i.e. outward conformity to prescribed behavior - but to faith. We must either believe the gospel of grace and God's infinite love that comes to us by it, or we do not believe it. This is the true and legitimate exercise of our will and the choice we are called to make. 

Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”- John 6:28-29

³And no one sees this better than our own kids or family. "Do as I say and not as I do" is a common attitude by parents when their kids or extended family push back on the inconsistency between their private life and their public life. This is common among those who are superficial in their Christianity and may be an indication that they are not a true follower of Christ at all. 

For any kids that had such parents growing up, don't miss the true message of Jesus and the good news he offers of crediting his good deeds to us as if we did them and the removal of the condemnation for our rebellion to Him. 

No shortcuts to maturity

Pain is a ¹necessary part of ²growth. We either experience it through... 

³Self-denial and submission to God's ⁴directives - necessary because of our brokenness and inclination towards ⁵rebellions distrust of God.

or 

As a result of living in a broken world among others who are also broken from their rebellion to God. 

There is no way around pain. It comes to us through the offenses of others in this broken world. There are also no shortcuts to being weaned from our own ⁶brokenness and the pain it causes.

"I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation (The meaning of tribulation in the original Greek - persecution, affliction, distress, pressure). But take heart (i.e. do not be fearful or lose hope); ⁷I have overcome the world.” - Jesus in John 16:33

The good news is God knows and understands our pain because Christ stepped into our broken world and suffered far more than we ever will - and for our benefit. 

And not only so but he also uses our pain and struggles for our good. In knowing this, we find peace - i.e. "...in me you may have peace." 

Though pain continues in this life, it no longer disturbs us in the way it did before. We now see how God uses it for a good purpose if we love and trust Him.

In Christ, we therefore live with ⁷hope in the midst of pain, not despair, anxiety or fear.

How do we discover God's love in our pain? click here

For a further discussion on the primary role of pain click here

For a further discussion of how God uses evil for our good click here...and here.

The greater the evil the greater the opportunity for healing/

grace click here.

For a discussion on the key lesson from the book of Job, click here.

For a discussion on the value of paradox, click here.

For a discussion on the necessity of humility click here

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Footnotes:

¹Pain reminds us that we were not designed to operate without God. The more we come to see and understand this the more we look to God for true life, and not to creation with all it's "creature comforts."

Coming to see and know God as the true source of life, love, and all things is at the heart of our transformation - growth. Pain often is a - if not the - primary means  by which this occurs if we receive it by faith as such, i.e. we do not become angered or embittered by our suffering, pain, or struggles but welcome them as our friends to help us grow deeper roots into God and find Him more and more as our true life and joy.

"When all kinds of trials and temptations crowd into your lives my brothers, don’t resent them as intruders, but welcome them as friends! Realise that they come to test your faith and to produce in you the quality of endurance. But let the process go on until that endurance is fully developed, and you will find you have become men of mature character with the right sort of independence..." Jas 1:2-3 JB Phillips

²We are so blinded by our selfishness we will never see how deep it runs until we are pressed beyond our ability to handle the pain it causes.

³God actually calls us to go through pain to advance us spiritually. We don't think of self-denial as a form of pain. However, self-denial is a call to turn away from those things we use to find comfort in and ease our pain, so we might pursue God as our comfort.

To expand on this, Christ says we are to take up our cross and follow him. The cross is a symbol of pain and death. Christ is calling us to take on and embrace pain in the same way He did in order to follow him. At first, we might think this is insane. Why would God call us to willingly take on and embrace pain when we spend all our lives trying to avoid it!?

When the world asks how can God be good and just, when He does not relieve all the pain and suffering in the world (including our own), it reveals the depth of our rebellion towards God. Pain is the organic fruit of our rebellious distrust and independence from God, not as deliberate punishment by some angry supernatural being. It only remains to wean us away from inappropriate dependence on the creation and turn us to dependence on the Creator for true life where it belongs and where we will flourish and experience life most. 

If we allow pain to do this, we will be saved in, by, and through our pain and suffering, i.e. It remains for the exact opposite of what we assume. God ultimately uses it to advance us spiritually, not harm us. But only if we receive it as from His hand for our advancement, not our harm. If we believe it is only for our harm we will not gain from it the good God intends.

⁴The primary directive is that we love God with all that we have and are and our neighbor as ourselves.

⁵Pursuit of something other than God for life is at the heart of our rebellion. This says these other things are more important or valuable than God i.e. they become our God. 

⁶The heart of our brokenness - selfishness - is our rebellious commitment to being our own god. We put greater trust in ourselves into gaining what is best than trusting God to do what is best for us. This is due to not believing God is who he claims to be... the Source of life, love, and all things. The result is the pursuit of creation itself and making it our god. 

How's that working for you so far? 

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.

For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things." - Rom1:18-23

Of course, today we do not worship birds, animals, and creeping things as they did back when Paul penned this. But these are representatives of creation. We naturally ascribe to created things - i.e. anything from our earthly existence - the value and glory that can only be ascribed to God. That is the application and underlying truth of this passage for us today, not the primitive worship of animals.

⁷How did Christ overcome the world? He embraced the world's pain and suffering (including ours) and allowed it to kill him so that we might not have to remain in pain and die. Then He overcame that pain by resurrecting so that we might also resurrect one day if we put our trust in Him.  

Pain and death do not have the final word, life does in and through Christ demonstrated and confirmed by his resurrection. Because he resurrected, we will also in him. This is our hope in our pain.