Thanks to our lovely independence from our British friends :), I have an especially welcome holiday today. It's been an extremely long week with last weekend's wedding (my daughter's best friend), packing and moving from my office of 6.5 years, and cleaning.
It seems like cleaning has been the general theme of the week. I wanted to leave my office clean for it's next occupant so some scrubbing and cabinet wiping was in order. I wanted my new work space to be clean as well, so once again, out came the paper towels! A young friend is trying to get her "new" repo house ready for move in, but she works full time, has an out of town husband, and is pregnant - so a bit of cleaning help was again in order. Late last night, after the weeks work was over, I decided it was time to file taxes. Cleaning again as I went through the paperwork and chose what to keep and what I could throw away.
As I look at my "to do" list for the weekend I am not surprised to find more cleaning! The list includes laundry, dishes, house, garage, yard and more taxes. (Don't worry, there's some fun on the list too!) Like I said, cleaning is the weekly theme! More to the point though, I think there's some spiritual cleaning that needs to take place as well, some washing with the pure water of the Holy Spirit and the Word. The stress of the week, of the last few months, has left a layer of grime on my soul not unlike what I found in the waiting lab space. It's not that they didn't clean in preparation for my coming. The kind men had given it a cursory cleaning to prepare for my arrival the week before, but in the intervening days a new layer of dust accumulated. And then there were those hidden corners, nooks and crannies, and drawers that no one remembered to open.
My spiritual life is a lot like that with a new layer of dust from the stress of the week, places where I have not been able to willingly trust and walk in faith. I think that there are a few drawers that have gone unopened for a while as well and some hidden corners that need some light before they can be scrubbed clean.
Psalm 51:6,7 "Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts; and in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow."
Yes, it is a season for cleaning. Come Holy Spirit and apply Your truth; wash me so that I am clean.
It seems like cleaning has been the general theme of the week. I wanted to leave my office clean for it's next occupant so some scrubbing and cabinet wiping was in order. I wanted my new work space to be clean as well, so once again, out came the paper towels! A young friend is trying to get her "new" repo house ready for move in, but she works full time, has an out of town husband, and is pregnant - so a bit of cleaning help was again in order. Late last night, after the weeks work was over, I decided it was time to file taxes. Cleaning again as I went through the paperwork and chose what to keep and what I could throw away.
As I look at my "to do" list for the weekend I am not surprised to find more cleaning! The list includes laundry, dishes, house, garage, yard and more taxes. (Don't worry, there's some fun on the list too!) Like I said, cleaning is the weekly theme! More to the point though, I think there's some spiritual cleaning that needs to take place as well, some washing with the pure water of the Holy Spirit and the Word. The stress of the week, of the last few months, has left a layer of grime on my soul not unlike what I found in the waiting lab space. It's not that they didn't clean in preparation for my coming. The kind men had given it a cursory cleaning to prepare for my arrival the week before, but in the intervening days a new layer of dust accumulated. And then there were those hidden corners, nooks and crannies, and drawers that no one remembered to open.
My spiritual life is a lot like that with a new layer of dust from the stress of the week, places where I have not been able to willingly trust and walk in faith. I think that there are a few drawers that have gone unopened for a while as well and some hidden corners that need some light before they can be scrubbed clean.
Psalm 51:6,7 "Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts; and in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow."
Yes, it is a season for cleaning. Come Holy Spirit and apply Your truth; wash me so that I am clean.
29 comments:
A loving Father refines His children with fire. Sounds cruel, but it's actually affection our Father has for us which brings His purging, and discipline.
Those who are not His children are not cared for as such.
The sanctification is a process, and will continue throughout our lives. Even when we are old and close to death.
As gold is refined through heat. so we too. And there are no 24 karat Christians. Maybe 8 karat, or 14 karat. The 24 karat pure gold is one the otherside, when we reach glory with our Lord, and He returns to consume all evil, and make all things fresh and new.
Have a wonderful holiday, and thanks for the good post.
Good thoughts, Susan.
Reminds me of the time Jesus washed the disciples' feet, and his exchange with Peter.
Yes, I love Psalm 51. And 1 John tells us that as we walk in the light as God is in light, the blood of Jesus keeps cleansing us of all sin. But sometimes we do fail to walk in that light, I know of course that I do. And the same book tells us that we do the same, in the hope of anticipation of Christ's appearance.
Glad your long week is ended. And "Amen!" to your prayer. I'm tired myself, little more than napping too much of the day. But good to have days like that.
Hope your holiday is a good, relaxing one.
In Albania we would be thrown into jail for burning our kids or cleansed them with blood. It sounds awful. I don't get that stuff about gold, it doesn't make sense.
Welcome Dimitri. So, you have left Albania now and reside in the UK?
It is good that your government protects children now, especially given the violent history of your country.
The language Don Sands uses is metaphorical; although I'm sure you already knew that. He is quoting scripture to comfort me, reassuring me that Jesus, the Christ, the Son of the Living God, will use the recent trials of my life to make me more like Himself.
Goodness Susan, you get all sorts on your blog! I too think Donsands is going a tad far burning his children!
Hope you have recovered from the change of job. Happy Independence Day! Don't clean, have a rest and a stiff gin!
Lorenzo,
I'll add my "Amen" to Susan's on what Don is saying. It is metaphorical.
God is dealing with wayward Israel who he had set apart according to the promise made to Abraham, to be a blessing to all the nations. But they were not fulfilling that. And indeed, only in Jesus, who fulfills Israel's calling, is it fulfilled. And then the promise and calling goes on in God's people who are in Jesus.
As Don points out, this work is God's loving work to all his children in Jesus. Ongoing. We need it all the time; it is indeed a process. To have our sins and sinfulness "burned" from us spiritually is not comfortable, but necessary, and indeed for our final comfort. And that others might see Jesus in us who are God's children.
In meditating more on what Don said:
God's work of cleansing, judging, purifying is for the good of those who receive Jesus as the Sacrifice who Himself took the final judgment for people's sins.
But that same work of cleansing, judging and purifying will be to the undoing of all who do not receive Jesus as the Sacrifice for their sins, but choose to continue in their own ways.
Hello Llama!
Not much cleaning today, I promise. That will have to wait until next week as I have spent my lovely day so far reading, blogging and playing the piano. My shoulder is still very stiff and sore but I went over a year without being able to sit and play without severe pain! So, I am very grateful.
I do have to go to the grocery and cook though for a party this evening - I'm looking forward to it - friends, food and fireworks!
Purification by the fire of life's trials? Goodness, where would be be if God didn't bring something good out of things that are so very hard for us to go through?
Better to have a loving Father refine us now spiritually with fire for our good. Rather, than, as in the case of those who do not know Christ, who will be burned like chaff with unquenchable fire by an angry God! (Matthew 3:12)
I never did (still don't) get why people say God is angry in passages like that. All I see is His justice. He set the rules so He gets to set the consequences. But even the justice which may seem harsh to some is always is balanced by His incredible mercy and grace in that He provided a way out, a way for the penalty to be paid in full.
Hi Susan,
I'm sure you understand the meaning of "propitiation": To take away wrath.
Christ "propitiated" the Father on our behalf (Romans 3:25-26). He suffered to take away God's anger at us sinners. But for those who do not put their faith in Christ: "The wrath of God abides upon them." (John 3:36)
That means that God is ALWAYS angry with all sinners who are not in Christ, and his wrath toward them never lets up. His anger toward them is never quenched until it is quenched (propitiated) in Christ. He’s angry God toward all sinners who are not in Christ.
"..who Himself took the final judgment for people's sins." -Ted
Amen to that Ted. What a Savior!
"And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind" Eph. 2:1-4
God has a wrath, and so does the Lamb of God Rev. 6:16.
And yet God is full of mercy and love for sinners, and has no pleasure in judging the wicked.
I truly don't think we can understand the fullness of the doctrine of God's judgment, but we can know that Christ did become a curse for us, and was judged so that we could be spared, and even ransomed.
"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Rom. 8:1
Now there is no condemnation! Only love from a merciful Father and Lord.
Litl-Luther,
It's true that God is (now) angry with sinful humans who rebel against His law written on their hearts (cf. Don's aforementioned passage, Eph. 2:1-3). However, though I may be neglecting some passages, the majority of NT references to God's "wrath" refer to a day of future judgment, the "wrath to come."
"You turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come" (1 Thess. 1:9-10).
For other references to God's wrath as being largely a future event, see Matt. 3:7; 10:15; 11:22, 24; 13:30, 38-43; 49-50 (and Synoptic parallels); Romans 5:9, 10 ("shall we be saved" is future); Ephesians 5:6; Colossians 3:6; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10; 2:6-10; 2 Peter 3:6-10; Revelation 20:7-15. (I do think that in a way what Jesus warned the Jews of in the Gospels was in one sense fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem and the subsequent occupation of Israel by foreign powers.)
Just as justification is God's verdict in the present of what will be true of us in the future at the day of his judgment, so is Jesus' propitiatory work also a completed work in history which provides the basis for our present deliverance from future judgment.
We need to keep in mind that, though by nature we are idolaters and transgressors and will thus inherit the wrath to come (Eph 2:1-3), now is the time of God's patience where through the gospel sinners are brought to repentance and children of wrath become children of God (2 Peter 3:8-9; 2 Corinthians 6:1-2). The NT language is NOT that God so HATED the world that he gave his only Son, but that he so LOVED the world that he gave his Son to be a wrath-bearing sacrifice (John 3:16).
SUSAN: I do not think that we can set God's "justice" over and against his "anger" or "wrath." Justice is the consequence of breaking his covenantal laws. It's true that sin is lawbreaking. But the essence of the law is relational; we are called to love God with our whole being. And the love which God requires is not external obedience to his laws, but heart-full, trusting submission to God and delight in him above all else. So "justice" is not over on one hand and "anger" on another, because the essence of God's law (and the consequences of breaking it) is relational.
P.S. I hope you get the printer installed okay!
In at least largely agreeing with what Andrew is saying (and Don in his last comment), yet speaking for myself here:
Because of God in Christ having reconciled the world to himself (2 Cor 5), I believe we can say that God now sees sinners like the father saw the prodigal son, in Jesus' parable.
If we're to be like God toward sinners, than we'll have to be like Jesus, who wept over them, indeed warned them (of future judgment both in this life and in the final judgment), welcomed them, asked the Father to forgive them (echoed in Stephen's words at his own stoning).
So I take it that God loves sinners, and offers what Christ did in taking upon himself all evil, and it being destroyed in him by his death, and this having God's "Amen" by his resurrection- to mean that God indeed has loved and loves sinners: past, present and future, and offers them salvation through and in Jesus.
But that God still judges in the present the wicked, and especially those who oppress the poor and afflicted. And that God judges sinners in letting them go their own way. So that while God may hate some of the wicked now because of what they are doing, his judgment on sinners is generally one accompanied with love for them. Who is to say who can't be saved?
God in his essence is love (a holy love, to be sure), the love reflected in the eternal Trinitarian union of Father, Son and Spirit. So that all he does is an expression of love.
...so that God may hate some of the wicked now- I'm thinking of those who oppress the poor and afflicted....
Can you love someone and be angry with them? Yes. Of course God's relationship to humans is unique. But surely that simple statement is still true.
Helps us understand why God never takes pleasure in the death of the wicked. He would rather they would repent and live.
Good points Andrew. I don't disagree with you.
Andrew, have you ever noticed that there is "particularity", even in John 3:16? James White brings this out well. God so loved the world that "the believing ones" would have eternal life. His love, even in that famous verse, is focused on those who will believe — which is probably why while in His High Priestly prayer in John 17 right before and in anticipation of His death Jesus refused to pray for the world but only for those who would believe in Him.
Will God really burn you like chaff if you don't know Jesus? Surely knowing Jesus is a gift? How can you burn the people you don't give the gift to?
It's the same with sin. Are you guilty if you don't have a conscience? Someone once told me that adultary isn't a sin if you don't enjoy it. What do you think?
Lorenzo,
Related to what Andrew was saying,
Isn't sin essentially self-centered, and idolatrous- at its core? Sin is turning all of God's gifts and life in on one's self. It's all about me and what I want. Sounds idolatrous as well, doesn't it?
But God is in charge and God is the One to be worshiped and in Whose Love we are to live.
And we are poor gods. Besides we can't order the world as God can. So sin ends up being self-destructive, at least God's image in us is further defaced.
If we refuse this Life God offers to us in Christ, a life that begins to turn us right side out, and ends up rescuing the world from its being upside down now- then we simply end up not being a part of God's good kingdom in Jesus that eventually is to take over the earth, setting all things right, and making all things new- in Jesus.
Lorenzo,
You ought to read your own C.S. Lewis' The Great Divorce. It's a great book, the divorce being between heaven and hell, but really the book has more to do with this life than the life to come. It could help you sort this out. Also if you haven't, you should read his book Mere Christianity.
Also, Lorenzo, "The Great Divorce" is an interesting and entertaining book to read. Told in a very imaginative way, which shouldn't surprise us, it being from C.S. Lewis.
Although I think it's good to have the book and read it (one of those books to reread from time to time), I found this audio reading of it, which I borrowed from the library, superb. (sorry, Lorenzo, I couldn't find the UK Amazon link)
Hi Lorenzo,
Doesn't the horrible suffering Jesus had to endure to save people indicate how serious sin is to God? If people could be saved without putting their hope in Jesus, then Jesus completely wasted His time in dying. It is actually an insult to Christ and His sacrifice for us to think that people could possibly get to Heaven apart from what He did for us.
Hi Susan! Thanks for stopping by our family blog:) I come over and take a peek at your blog too from time to time since Jess told me about it!
You have a very special ministry here in blog world!
Keep writing!
Your Sister in Christ,
Nikki
Yes Ted. I like C.S. Lewis very much, especially The Screwtape Letters.
It's just all this anger I can't get my head round. My priest tells me God is a loving, forgiving and compassionate father. He has never talked about burning us.
What I was actually trying to get at, is if people don't realise they are sinning, then surely it's not a sin. Sin, by it's very nature, must be pre-meditated.
So, if it's not pre-mediated, is it still a sin? Doesn't 'malice aforethought' also play a part?
I know that if one of my children did something I thought was wrong, but they had done it innocently, I would not be angry. So why should God be angry with His children when we do stupid things without thinking?
Hi Llama,
Screwtape Letters is my all time favorite piece of fiction. It's probably closer to reality than fiction, though.
As to sin - my understanding is that it does not need to be premeditated. I think we are held accountable for sins of omission as well as commission. Scary thing to think of being held accountable for all, isn't it. At least it is for me. It is comforting though to know that the Holy Spirit is aware of all the motives of the heart and can and does reveal those hidden things to us so that they can be confessed and forgiven.
As to loving, forgiving and compassionate - absolutely yes. However He is also righteous and just alongside those other attributes. That can never be forgotten either. So often I think, people err on one side or another - they see only part and not the whole. It is as LLuther said - His intolerance of sin required a perfect sacrifice and His incredible love, mercy and grace provided one. It is a truer picture of God I think when we realize that there was a reason Christ had to die and that without His sacrifice none of us would ever see heaven.
Lorenzo -- As for not knowing you're sinning or not consciously transgressing in a relationship, does this negate its wrongness? I see what you are saying; it's something I've thought through and wrestled with before. But Jesus makes it pretty clear that it is actually our unconscious, automatic behaviors and thoughts which belie our true condition:
33"Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. 34You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. 35The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. 36But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. 37For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned" (Matthew 12:33-37).
Jesus says that our "careless," unmeditated words and actions are what show our true condition. When we snipe at others, lie, justify ourselves, belittle, gossip, etc. -- things we just do nearly automatically -- this "bad fruit" shows that we have "bad hearts" filled with evil.
Additionally, God has given us all consciences; his law is "written on our hearts" (see Romans 2:14-15, if you have a Bible). If we do something bad or unloving and aren't even aware or it or don't feel remorse, that may mean that our self-love has become so great and our consciences so dull that we never even noticed or cared!
Triston: Yes, I have noticed "particularlity" in the Gospel of John. The fourth Gospel, I believe, provides a strong basis for the Reformed view of election and the Covenant of Redemption within the Trinity.
However, John 3:16-17 says this: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him." The Jews' rejection of Jesus did serve as the "last straw" which brought the breaking off of their branches which did not abide in Christ. But it was not Jesus' ministry per se nor his intention to purposely condemn the Jews. Jesus wept over their demise and their refusal of him(see Luke 13:34).
So though we know that only those who voluntarily receive Jesus receive the loving salvation-work of God and that the rest who reject Jesus remain as "children of wrath," the clear teaching of this text for Jesus' mission is that of love, life, and salvation, not death and condemnation. That day is yet to come.
"the clear teaching of this text [Jn. 3:16-17] for Jesus' mission is that of love, life, and salvation, not death and condemnation."
True Andrew. Again, I do agree with you.
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