Faith and Inheritance

A passage and an explanation:

-----------------------------------

"I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the

Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.

That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way."

-Ephesians 1:17-23

"This, then, is the order: enlightenment, knowledge, faith, experience. It is by enlightenment that we know, and by faith that we enter into the enjoyment of what we know. Our faith-experience is therefore largely conditioned by our heart-knowledge. Further, the more we know, the greater our spiritual capacity becomes and the greater our responsibility to claim our inheritance by faith. Thus, when a person is newly born of the Spirit, his grasp of God's purpose for him is usually very limited and his experience is limited in proportion. But as the Holy Spirit enlightens the eyes of his heart, vistas begin to open up before him of which at first he had scarcely even dreamed. He begins to see and know the hope of God's calling, the riches of God's inheritance and the greatness of God's power. He is challenged to embrace by faith the fullness of God's purpose for him.

The tragedy is that often our faith does not keep pace with our knowledge. Our eyes are opened to see more and more of the wonders of God's purpose for us in Christ, but we hang back from appropriating it by faith. This is one of the ways in which we lose the fullness of the Spirit, not necessarily by disobedience but by disbelief. Our lungs develop, but we do not use them. We need constantly to repent of our unbelief and to cry to God to increase our faith, so that, as our knowledge grows, our faith may grow with it and we may continuously lay hold of more of the greatness of God's purpose and power."

- Baptism and Fullness, John Stott, 81-82

Although not directly spoken to, this excerpt from Baptism and Fullness also speaks to the distinction between blind faith and faith, between stupidity and trust based on knowledge revealed by the Holy Spirit.

Thank you Lord for not leaving us in ignorance and for providing a way out.

Science and Miracles

God and Biases

"The historic confession of the Church has been that biblical revelation gives us truth in the sense that it gives us an accurate account of what is 'out there,' whether we are considering the character of God or His purposes, or the nature of created life, or the end to which human history is going. Its correspondence to what is there is secured by the fact that it is God who has given it. Because this is so, it is objective in the sense that its content is not open to revision or change. It must always be interpreted and every interpreter carries within himself or herself the biases which social location, ethnicity, class - and, we must add, sin - generate. Yet even these biases are themselves subject to the correction of God's truth if it is objective and it is knowable. Furthermore, if it is God who has revealed it, then in its reach it is both unvarying and universal, the same for all people in all places and at all times. And if it is the biblical God of holiness who has revealed it, it will set up antitheses with all that is untrue and all that is wrong for that is what God's holiness does."

- David Wells, Above All Earthly Powers, 88

God is bigger than our biases and He will teach us and reveal Himself to us despite our weaknesses, near -sightedness, and shortcomings. God's special revelation is universally true, gracious, loving, compassionate, serving, and accommodating. This is one of the many manifestations of God's abundant mercy, grace, and desire to be known. He longs to lavish love and value on us, taking us from glory to glory as we increasingly reflect the glory He has given us back to Himself.

Stumbling and Redemption

The other day I was struck by our frailty and our finiteness as human beings. I was struck by it in the context of peers reading Scripture. As Christians, we all go to the Word in brokenness, and it heals us, speaks to us, and changes us no matter what we bring to it. Working through the Word, the Holy Spirit speaks to our spirits and transforms us into the likeness of Jesus more and more. Not only this, it gives us hope, reminding us of the glorious day when we shall see Him face to face and be like Him. We know, but only in part now. How wonderful when we will know fully because we will be fully known.

"If the Lord delights in a man's way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumble he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand." Psalm 37:23-24

If "stumble" in the above passage is a reference to sinning, then the "Lord delights in a man's way" must not refer to someone being perfect and the Lord delighting in this independent perfection. No, I believe the answer lies earlier in the chapter:

"Trust in the Lord and do good, dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun." Psalm 37:3-6

And in some verses following:

"The days of the blameless are known to the Lord, and their inheritance will endure forever. In times of disaster they will not whither; in days of famine they will know plenty." Psalm 37:18-19

The Lord delights in us trusting Him, committing our way to Him, and delighting in Him, not being perfect independently.

"In your ways oh God, redemption is so much better than perfection. In your ways oh God, over and over you prove yourself faithful. Over and over you prove yourself a redeemer." Kristene Mueller, Redemption

"Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven - for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little." Luke 7:47

My unworthiness of God's grace necessitates my acceptance of it. I am holy and blameless in His sight. This is such a hard truth to believe, especially when we stumble. My shame and guilt are taken away by His gaze. When I am in God's gaze, God is beside me, giving me the strength to diffuse lies. He is always for my best self-interest - mirroring the glory He bestows on me back to Him. Praise God.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On a completely different note, I want to share some cool music. The video below is the music of a "hang instrument," which is something I saw a lot of last summer and summers before abroad. I find it really relaxing. Enjoy!