Grace and Priorities

 

Yesterday I nearly did something for the first time — make a quilt in one day. But my new machine ran out of bobbin thread, and because it has updated technology, rewinding the bobbin required reading the manual, which is one of the most complex documents ever… so I made supper and watched a movie instead.

I’d slept in yesterday too, so had about one-hour less day than usual and then did it again this morning. Sometimes such things make me want a do-over. In golf, they call this a mulligan. The Spirit nudged me to read Callaway’s devotional, and it was about mulligans! He illustrated with a story I’d not heard before…

A man named John Newton was first mate on an English slave ship in a world of violence, rape, and oppression. He rejected God and mocked the faith of any believing crewman. At one point, his own wicked behavior landed him in chains, where he found himself at the mercy of the very slaves he was selling. They could have beaten him or cursed him. Instead, they took pity on him. Did this soften his heart?

Perhaps. While sailing back to England, a terrible storm took the life of one of the sailors, and the question began to haunt Newton: If you die tonight, where will you spend eternity? Remembering those slaves and the words “Christ died for sinners,” Newton fell to his knees and begged forgiveness.

He later wrote, “I see no reason why the Lord singled me out for mercy unless it was to show, by one astonishing instance, that with Him nothing is impossible.”

Today, this man’s hymns are sung around the world, and at the top of the hit list is his most famous: “Amazing Grace.”

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see…

His epitaph reads, “John Newton…once an infidel and libertine, a servant of slaves in Africa, was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, preserved, pardoned, and appointed to preach the faith he had long labored to destroy.”

My desire for a do-over for a couple days that needed less sleep and more action is nothing compared to the mercy and grace of God who transforms the life of a sinner. Being forgiven is one thing; being given new life as well is incredible.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. (1 Peter 1:3)

PRAY: With that thought from You, Lord, I head into this day with a greater sense of purpose. Without You, what would I be doing? Loafing? Wasting time watching something senseless on TV? Who knows? But with You, I know what to do next, and after I worship in song and pray in faith, I know that You will lead me into whatever else You have in mind for my day. Thank You for amazing grace that enables me to make better decisions than the priorities I would pick for myself — and then wonder about my own sanity and judgment. Your choices are always wise and give me peace and a sense of purpose. Bless Your holy Name.
 

Overwhelming Truth

The preacher asks, “Why am I here?” He then answers that the desire and purpose of God is that we should reflect the image in whom we were created, yet more than that, reflect the image of the One in whom we were re-created.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. . . . and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 2:10 & 4:24)

This morning I read again in Charnock a description of what that means. It takes my breath away and calls me to worship. His writing is restated here, with some changes since he wrote in 1853 and even though his thoughts are eternal, they need a bit of editing. Charnock says…

The effects of redemption proclaim God's great goodness. We are delivered from the corruption of our nature, the ruin of our happiness, the deformity of our sins, and the punishment of our transgressions. He frees us from the ignorance that darkened our minds and the slavery to sin that enchained us. 

When He came to make Adam after his crime, instead of pronouncing the sentence of death he merited, God utters a promise no man could have expected. God's kindness rises above His provoked justice, and while He put Adam and Eve out of paradise, He gives hope of regaining even a better eternal home. God is more ready to pour out the blessings of His goodness than charge them with the horror of their crime.

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. (Genesis 3:15)

God's goodness pardons us from more transgressions than there are moments in our lives. His goodness overlooks as many follies as there are thoughts in our hearts. He not only relieves our wants, but restores our dignity. What a great testimony of His goodness to instate sinners with the highest honors rather than merely supply our present necessity. In an admirable pity He is inclined to redeem us, and in incomparable affection He resolved to exalt us. 

What can be desired more from Him than His goodness has granted? He sought us when we were lost and ransomed us when we were captives. He pardoned us when we were condemned and raised us when we were dead. In creation He reared us from nothing yet in redemption He delivers our understanding from ignorance and vanity, our wills from impotence and obstinacy, and our whole person from a death worse than that nothing He drew us from by creation.

God's liberality in the gospel infinitely surpasses what we admire in the works of nature. His goodness in redemption is more astonishing to our belief than His goodness in creation is visible to our eye. There is more of his bounty expressed in this verse, “So God loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son” (John 3:16), than there is in the whole volume of the created world! In creation, heaven spoke and the earth was formed. In redemption heaven Himself sank to earth and was clothed with dust to reduce man’s muck to its original state.

For this, God parts with his dearest treasure. His Son eclipses His choicest glory. For this, God must be made man, eternity must suffer death, the Lord of angels must weep in a cradle, and the Creator of the world must hang like a slave. He must be in a manger in Bethlehem, and die upon a cross on Calvary. Unspotted righteousness must be made sin, and unblemished blessedness be made a curse. 

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. (Titus 2:11–14)

PRAY: What else can I say but “O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.” (Psalm 51:15) The reality of redemption described by this writer, Steven Charnock, has a greater impact on my heart than the magnificence of the Rockies, the color and beauty of flora and fauna, and even the wonder of babes and children and people created in Your image. May I praise You night and day, in sickness and well-being, and with all of my heart. 

Put off the old way…

People who immigrate to another country face several challenges. Food differences is one of them. One family still serves what they ate in their former home, but their children like the food in their new country. Another person who has been here several years and applying for citizenship goes to markets for food from her former culture and she will not even try many foods from this new culture.

This illustrates the challenge to change that faces new Christians. We are told to worship God and that we are ambassadors of heaven (our new home) living in this world. While we are here, we are to live according to our new identity, even in how we think, and abandon our former way of life.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:1–2)

Mind renewal means learning to think with the mind of Christ, a wonderful gift from God to enable adjustment to living in this world. The Bible says we must consider it a ‘foreign’ culture compared to our new life in Christ. This is not just about Sundays or meal times but all the time. This is a challenge, even a battle.

For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete. (2 Corinthians 10:3–6)

Complete obedience is a clue to how long this might take. Living in the flesh means governing my own life without considering the will of God. I was nearly thirty when God gave me new life so had many years of living in that ‘culture’ before He changed my citizenship. Learning His ways is one challenge; living them and thinking as He thinks increases the challenge. He says “take every thought captive” and “being ready to punish every disobedience” — which translates into learning and doing to the point that His will becomes as natural and my old way of thinking had been.

This is not about a new snack every now and then to adjust to being a new person. This is a full-meal deal of learning to think how Christ would think if He was in my circumstances. In other words, I’m to feed on Him and be nourished by the true Bread of Life that comes from heaven, not by the old ways of thinking.

When David sinned, he prayed, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10) This is part of it; rejecting that old way and confessing each time I choose it, then asking God to forgive and cleanse me. He tells me to reject all that is sinful:

But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. (Colossians 3:8–10)

PRAY: Lord, the battle for my mind is also a battle for my habits, even my thoughts. I realize the power of the old self with its subtle yet deceitful desires, and also the need to be continually renewed in the spirit of my mind. I’m so thankful that You tell me to put on the new self, created after Your  likeness but also that You also enable it. With You, every day is a new day for increasing righteousness and holiness.

Revival vs. Renewal?

 

These days many Christians are praying for REVIVAL. In the OT, two Hebrew words are translated into that English word. One of them means becoming well or alive after being ill or dead. The other similarly means “to return, go or come back to a place, condition, or activity where one has been before.” These words are used nearly 400 times. Its Greek equivalent and variations is used just over 50 times in the NT.

When applied to God reviving His people from spiritual deadness, the psalmist asks:

Psalm 85:5–7. “Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger to all generations? Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you? Show us your steadfast love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation.”

The Lord’s answer could very well be these words:

Isaiah 57:15–19. For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite. For I will not contend forever, nor will I always be angry; for the spirit would grow faint before me, and the breath of life that I made. Because of the iniquity of his unjust gain I was angry, I struck him; I hid my face and was angry, but he went on backsliding in the way of his own heart. I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will lead him and restore comfort to him and his mourners, creating the fruit of the lips. Peace, peace, to the far and to the near,” says the Lord, “and I will heal him.”

And our response should be like the prophet’s prayer:

Habakkuk 3:2. “O Lord, I have heard the report of you, and your work, O Lord, do I fear. In the midst of the years revive it; in the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy.”

Interestingly, the idea of spiritual revival is not given space in the NT. Before Christ came, God’s people had problems with backsliding. They were saved from sin’s bondage in Egypt and given a new life in a new land with laws to guide them in living as His children, yet they failed repeatedly and needed restoration. When Jesus came, lived, died, rose again, and ascended to heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit to live in us, giving all who believe a new life. The term is “born again” and because of this rebirth, we are like babes, starting out in Christ and living each day in a continual renewal. The old is put off and the new has come:

2 Corinthians 5:17. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

Colossians 3:8–10. “But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.”

This renewal is make possible by the power of God’s Word. He changes the way we think. This is not a revival or a return to a former way, but a newness that transforms a person’s life!

Romans 12:2. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Even to old age, this renewal is continual. 2 Corinthians 4:16 confirms it: “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.”

GAZE INTO HIS GLORY. Revival and renewal give me two images. One is that of a good child who starts acting like a brat and is disciplined to go back to being a good child. The other is that of a new baby who is growing to adulthood. There is stumbling and mistakes along the way, but that person is renewed, not revived back to being a baby but picked up and helped to continue the process of maturing.

The words seem the same but the idea of revival is more of an OT term whereas renewal is how the NT describes spiritual growth. I do pray for revival in the sense that I want God to draw His people into a deeper relationship with Him. I might be using the wrong word in those prayers, but I’m certain God knows what I mean!

LATER: My hubby said this was "hard to understand" and my reply is this: The OT required God to revive His erring people, but the NT requires God's erring people to repent. When we talk about or pray for revival we want God to wake up the church but need to remember that He does this in us through our repentance, not some sort of 'zap'. He fills us with His Spirit in renewal but our part is vital. 1 John 1:9. Unless we give up our sins, we are stuck in our deadness.