The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in 1 John 4:16b-17,
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
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“Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him.”
John says God's love is made complete in us “because in this world we are like him”! Fashion that! In the previous chapter John made the point that we live a different kind of lifestyle (we no longer continue in a lifestyle of sin) because God’s seed remains in us.
If we listen to what John is telling us, as opposed to a preconceived template of what we might expect to find as we read our Bibles, John is not telling us to love to be good Christians – he is telling us we love because we are Christians. God is love, therefore, because we are like God in this world, we love too!
“In this world we are like him.” Such an incredible thing! Paul tells us in Romans 8:29, “For those God foreknew [believers] he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” Not just in the sweet bye and bye, but right here in the now! In this world we are like him!
My thought this morning is that since “in this world we are like him” and we love because he is love, Christians are the most interesting and fascinating people in the world. Our God certainly is interesting and fascinating and if we are like him in this life. it stands to reason. I’m not saying we take on deity as Christians, neither does John or Paul. What they say is that our character and nature conforms, over a period of spiritual growth, to that which is like God. It is his seed that remains in us and because God has foreordained we be conformed to the likeness of Jesus Christ, we do just that.
John talks of the confidence we have in this verse. We have confidence as we look ahead to judgment day. Why? Because we know what lays ahead for us as believers. In this life we are the most confident of people. Because God knows the end from the beginning and has revealed some of that to us, we are confident. Our God we serve is a transcendent, sovereign, omniscient and all powerful God. He has no wrinkle of insecurity and as we mature in him, we grow in our confidence as well. Not because we are transcendent, sovereign, omniscient and all powerful, but because he is and we are his. We reflect the confidence our faith in God brings us.
In my mind there are so many other aspects of God that are reflected in his people here on earth today. Our God is a joyful and happy God, and so are his people. Our God is a kind, caring and merciful God, and so are his people. Our God is an honest and fair God, and so are his people. I challenge any believer to take a hard look in the mirror and honestly answer the question, “Since I have become a follower of Jesus Christ and now indwelt with the Holy Spirit do I not see these changes within me?”
As I say, I think Christians are the most interesting and fascinating people in the world because our God is interesting, fascinating and beautiful in character and nature.
John says God's love is made complete in us “because in this world we are like him”! Fashion that! In the previous chapter John made the point that we live a different kind of lifestyle (we no longer continue in a lifestyle of sin) because God’s seed remains in us.
If we listen to what John is telling us, as opposed to a preconceived template of what we might expect to find as we read our Bibles, John is not telling us to love to be good Christians – he is telling us we love because we are Christians. God is love, therefore, because we are like God in this world, we love too!
“In this world we are like him.” Such an incredible thing! Paul tells us in Romans 8:29, “For those God foreknew [believers] he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” Not just in the sweet bye and bye, but right here in the now! In this world we are like him!
My thought this morning is that since “in this world we are like him” and we love because he is love, Christians are the most interesting and fascinating people in the world. Our God certainly is interesting and fascinating and if we are like him in this life. it stands to reason. I’m not saying we take on deity as Christians, neither does John or Paul. What they say is that our character and nature conforms, over a period of spiritual growth, to that which is like God. It is his seed that remains in us and because God has foreordained we be conformed to the likeness of Jesus Christ, we do just that.
John talks of the confidence we have in this verse. We have confidence as we look ahead to judgment day. Why? Because we know what lays ahead for us as believers. In this life we are the most confident of people. Because God knows the end from the beginning and has revealed some of that to us, we are confident. Our God we serve is a transcendent, sovereign, omniscient and all powerful God. He has no wrinkle of insecurity and as we mature in him, we grow in our confidence as well. Not because we are transcendent, sovereign, omniscient and all powerful, but because he is and we are his. We reflect the confidence our faith in God brings us.
In my mind there are so many other aspects of God that are reflected in his people here on earth today. Our God is a joyful and happy God, and so are his people. Our God is a kind, caring and merciful God, and so are his people. Our God is an honest and fair God, and so are his people. I challenge any believer to take a hard look in the mirror and honestly answer the question, “Since I have become a follower of Jesus Christ and now indwelt with the Holy Spirit do I not see these changes within me?”
As I say, I think Christians are the most interesting and fascinating people in the world because our God is interesting, fascinating and beautiful in character and nature.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
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