Getting A Heart Transplant from God

3 February, 20242 February, 2024Marissa

One of the many things consistent through the whole Bible, Old and New Testaments, is that God is deeply concerned with the state of His people’s hearts. As early as the flood, “it grieved Him in His heart” to see “that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of man’s heart was continually only evil” (Gen. 6:5-6, WEB). The heart-state of mankind didn’t get much better as the years went on. Later, of ancient Israel, God said, “Oh that there were such a heart in them that they would fear me and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!” (Deut. 5:29,WEB). He’s longed for a heart-level relationship with people since He created us, but for centuries our hearts weren’t in it.

One of the big promises about the New Covenant was that God said to His people, “I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh” (Eze. 36:26, WEB). The author of Hebrews talks about this happening in us today as God writes His laws on our hearts because of Jesus mediating the New Covenant (Heb. 8:6-11; 10:14-16). Interestingly, this discussion of new hearts and new spirits is deeply connected to the change in how New Covenant believers relate to the law of God compared to Old Covenant believers.

Image of an autumn leaf with a heart shapecut out of it overlaid with text from Jer. 31:33-34, WEB version: “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” says Yahweh:
“I will put my law in their inward parts, and I will write it in their heart.
I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” ... “they will all know me, from their least to their greatest,” says Yahweh. — Image by Rebekka D from Pixabay

The Whole Inner Person

We often think of the mind as associated with thought and the heart only being emotion, but in Hebrew the heart symbolized all of a person’s inner workings. While leb has the same concrete meanings that it does in English, it is also “the richest biblical term for the totality of man’s inner or immaterial nature” (Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament [TWOT], entry 1071a). This includes the personality and mind, with leb standing for “emotion, thought, or will” (TWOT).

That has some interesting implications for how we interpret key Biblical passages. Take this one, for example: “The heart is deceitful above all things and it is exceedingly corrupt” (Jer. 17:9, WEB). This does not, as I’ve heard some say, simply mean you can’t trust your emotions or “follow your heart” in the modern sense of the phrase. It means humanity’s whole inner nature–both emotions and thought–is corrupt. At least, it’s that way until our hearts are healed and transformed by God.

“I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh; that they may walk in my statutes, and keep my ordinances, and do them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.”
Ezekiel 11:19-20, WEB

We need a “heart transplant” to make us more like our heavenly father. Remember in Deuteronomy, when God said, “Oh that there were such a heart in them that they would fear me and keep all my commandments always”? When He established the New Covenant, it included a way to fix that heart problem. And because there’s a change in our hearts–our entire internal makeup changing from human and fleshy to godly and spiritual–the way we interact with God and His way of life changes as well.

“It’s one thing to do good because we’re told it’s good and therefore we obey. It’s quite another to do good because we’re good deep down inside and goodness is what naturally flows out. That’s the new heart we’re promised and the new nature we’re given by God’s spirit.”
Chis Tiegreen, One Year Hearing His Voice devotional, Day 29

I came across this quote in my devotional for this year, and it’s what prompted me to write this post. The topic of God working in us and changing us is one we talk about often, but I liked the idea of looking at it from this perspective. It helps us understand a lot of the New Testament writers’ perspectives when we think of this change in heart involving a change in our inner nature. The goal is to become perfect like our “heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt. 5:48. NET). When that happens, we’ll be good inside the way that God is good.

Image of a heart with light shining out of it overlaid with text from Heb. 10:21-22, NET version: "and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in the assurance that faith brings, because we have had our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water." — Image by 愚木混株 Cdd20 from Pixabay

Paul’s Struggle With the Carnal Heart

Of course, the process of becoming perfect like God doesn’t happen all at once. It doesn’t even fully happen in any human lifetime. Jesus authors or begins our faith and He is in the process of working with us to bring it to completion, but that won’t be fully realized until His return and our change from flesh to spirit (Heb. 12:2; 1 Cor. 15:42-53). But we get to begin that change now, and that’s something Paul talks about in several of his letters, particularly Romans and Galatians.

In Romans, Paul talks about how we needed the law “when we were in the flesh” with active “sinful desires” because the law lets us know what sin is and the grave consequences of it (Rom. 7:1-12). Now, though, we have “died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you could be joined to another, to the one who was raised from the dead, to bear fruit to God” (Rom. 7:4, NET). Now, if we stopped there, we might conclude there’s no law now under the New Covenant because we have Jesus and we don’t need anything else. But Jesus Himself said He wasn’t here to destroy the law but to fulfill it (i.e. to fill it up to its fullest extent). Paul’s actually talking about a struggle here between the flesh, which needs to obey God’s law, and the spirit, which should just be good because it’s like God.

So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good. Did that which is good, then, become death to me? Absolutely not! But sin, so that it would be shown to be sin, produced death in me through what is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful. For we know that the law is spiritual—but I am unspiritual, sold into slavery to sin.For I don’t understand what I am doing. For I do not do what I want—instead, I do what I hate.But if I do what I don’t want, I agree that the law is good.But now it is no longer me doing it, but sin that lives in me. For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For I want to do the good, but I cannot do it.For I do not do the good I want, but I do the very evil I do not want! Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer me doing it but sin that lives in me.
Romans 7:12-20, NET

Paul is talking about the same problem that God identified with so many people in the Old Testament. Their hearts are corrupt, they are “unspiritual, sold into slavery to sin.” They might even agree that the law is good, but when “nothing good lives in” your “flesh” then you’re not going to be truly good even if you obey the law most of the time. As Paul said earlier in Romans, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23, NET).

So, I find the law that when I want to do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God in my inner being. But I see a different law in my members waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.For the law of the life-giving Spirit in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. For God achieved what the law could not do because it was weakened through the flesh. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Romans 7:21-8:4, NET

Now we see Paul discussing God’s solution to the problem. Through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, the Lord is transforming us so we can walk “according to the Spirit” instead of “according to the flesh.” In other words, He’s replacing our heart of stone and giving us a heart like His. Circling back to the Tiegreen quote about obeying because we’re told to do good vs obeying because we are good, I think Paul’s statement, “I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin” applies. The part of Paul being transformed and made perfect has God’s law written on his heart; he serves God in the spirit and doesn’t need an external law to make him fulfill “the righteous requirement of the law.” But the part of Paul that’s still human needs that “law of sin” (i.e. God’s law that pointed out what sin is and condemns it) to show him the difference between right and wrong.

Working With God to Build Relationship

Image of a crown-of-thorns ring on a Bible casting a heart-shaped shadow, overlaid with blog's title text and the words, "God wants a heart-level
relationship with people, but our hearts on their own don't want to connect with Him or follow His ways. We need new hearts." — Image by James Chan from Pixabay

Because of the heart-work that God is doing in us, we can choose to “live by the Spirit and … not carry out the desires of the flesh” (Gal. 5:16, NET). In this passage in Galatians, Paul then goes on to detail the “works of the flesh” (sins) and the “fruit of the spirit” (godly character) so we can make sure we’re on the right track (Gal. 5:16-6:8). Remember, we’re still not perfect yet. While we can trust our hearts more and more as they’re transformed by God (see 1 John 3:21), we still need to examine ourselves and ask for God’s perspective on us to make sure we’re not getting off-track (1 Cor. 11:28-32; 2 Cor 13:5-6).

So then, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence but even more in my absence, continue working out your salvation with awe and reverence,for the one bringing forth in you both the desire and the effort—for the sake of his good pleasure—is God.
Philippians 2:12-13, NET

God invites us to work with Him on transforming our hearts. We get to work on our salvation as He’s working in us. We even get to participate in purifying our hearts (Jas. 4:8). It’s part of the relationship He longs to build with us. If He just did everything for us–or if we could do everything on our own–we wouldn’t be building relationships with Him. And that’s His ultimate goal: to grow the God-family by welcoming new family members into the oneness that the Father and Jesus already share. The “heart transplant” He offers us is just one step toward that goal.

Featured image by Photo Mix from Pixabay

Song Recommendation: “Heartbeat of Heaven” by Jean Watson

Click here to learn more about these books or to order a copy.

Three Ways to Join A Family

19 August, 202318 August, 2023Marissa

I’ve started reading a new book that I’m really excited about. Misreading Scripture with Individualist Eyes: Patronage, Honor, and Shame in the Biblical World by E. Randolph Richards and Richard James aims to provide readers in Western cultures with cultural information that’s helpful when properly interpreting the Bible. There’s a lot of topic overlap with Relational Faith by Brent J. Schmidt, which I reviewed earlier this year, and I was eager to see how different authors approached the subject.

Misreading Scripture with Individualist Eyes is a follow-up to Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes: Removing Cultural Blinders to Better Understand the Bible by E. Randolph Richards and Brandon J. O’Brien. That’s one of my favorite non-fiction books and I’ve referenced it several times on this blog (most notably in reference to temples and to women’s roles in church). I heartily recommend Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes and though I’m only 30% finished with Misreading Scripture with Individualist Eyes I suspect it will become a new favorite as well.

The topic I want to share with you today comes from “Chapter 1. Kinship: Being in a Family.” In collectivist cultures, the family is incredibly important. There are three ways to join a family or kinship group: birth, adoption, and marriage. As I read this chapter, it struck me that God uses all three of those methods to describe how we enter into His family.

Image of a group of people holding hands in a circle overlaid with text from 1 Peter 2:17, NET version: “love the family of believers” — Image by Claudine Chaussé from Lightstock

“I” or “We”

I read a publication from a church once that went to great pains to explain when the Bible says God adopts us into His family, it doesn’t really mean adoption because we’re actually born into His family as His literal children. It’s been years, but I never forgot how irritated I was by that distinction. First, the Greek word does mean adoption, and if the Bible uses both birth and adoption to explain how we become God’s children, why wouldn’t we use both today? Second, I worried how someone who was adopted into their own human family think when reading that this church doesn’t think adoption means you’re really part of the family.

I share this to illustrate one of the ways that we can misinterpret things through a Western, individualist lens. We like things to be neat and separated; you can enter a family through birth or adoption, but not both. We also think of the individual as the basic unit of society rather than family (i.e. we conceptualize ourselves primarily as “I” rather than “we”). Our kinship groups are pretty lose, and no one is really surprised if you get married without intending to have kids or if you don’t have a relationship with your cousins, aunts, uncles, or even siblings and parents. If someone asks, “Who are you?” a Westerner is likely to respond by talking about their personality, achievements, interests, and work rather than by talking about their family and community.

Collectives are defined by the things they share with others, things such as shared blood, shared interests, shared history, shared land, and shared loyalty. They define their core identity as being part of a group, in distinction to other groups.

This is what we mean by collectivism. Collectivist people understand their identity from the group they are part of. It is about identity, which is why people in collective societies live their lives oriented toward their group.
Misreading Scripture with Individualist Eyes, Richards and James, p. 22

Richards and James are careful to point out that these are generalizations; not all collectivist or individualist cultures are identical. But these generalizations help Western individualists understand how different the Biblical culture was than what we’re familiar with today. If you’re one of my readers who lives in a collectivist culture, you probably have a much easier time relating to the collective aspects of Bible culture than a typical American or other Westerner.

Going back to my opening example, we shouldn’t think of the Bible’s explanation for how we become God’s children as something we need to put into one box or the other (i.e. birth vs. adoption). Biblical writers use being born as children and adopted as children to describe the process of becoming part of God’s family. They also use marriage symbolism. It’s not an either-or situation. It’s three analogies to help us understand more about what’ happening here.

Ways to Enter A Family

Suppose you were trying to describe the most beautiful sunset you’ve ever seen. You might give some literal descriptions–it was orange and pink with purple clouds, it was over a wheat field. But you might also decide the literal isn’t doing it justice and use similes, analogies, and metaphors–it was like a beautiful painting, it looked like cotton candy, it gave me the same feeling as when I look out over the ocean. Those metaphors are all very different. Paintings, cotton candy, and oceans are not the same thing. But we can use those different descriptions to describe the same sunset.

I think that’s part of what’s going on when Bible writers describe the way God makes us part of His family. Birth, adoption, and marriage are not equivalent to each other, but they all help us understand the same concept. God is bringing human beings into His family. We are becoming part of His kinship group.

In the biblical world, kinship terms were not tossed about … casually because kinship ordered society. Across the ancient Mediterranean world, one entered into a family, a clan, a tribe by birth, adoption, or marriage.
Misreading Scripture with Individualist Eyes, Richards and James, p. 34

That seems pretty obvious, but what struck me is that these three ways to enter a family are the three ways that God explains how we become His children. By describing the process of us entering God’s family in all three ways, God reinforces how much He wants us as part of His family. He shows that we’re going to become His family in every possible way, with all the rights and responsibilities accorded to those who are born, adopted, or marry into a family.

Image of a father and baby overlaid with text from 1 John 2:29; 4:7, WEB version: “If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him. ... Beloved, let’s love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves has been born of God, and knows God.” — Image by Lawrence Crayton from Pixabay

Birth

Birth was not just a matter of biology, though it included that. Birth was the way ancients received their identity. … When Jesus says to Nicodemus, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again” (Jn 3:3), he is saying something very profound. To see the kingdom of God, you need to belong to a new family.
Misreading Scripture with Individualist Eyes, Richards and James, p. 38

We receive a new identity when we become Christians. Just as we’re no longer of the world, our primary identity is no longer determined by anything physical (including our human biology). This is an essential step in becoming children of God. Jesus told Nicodemus, “I tell you the solemn truth, unless a person is born of water and spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must all be born from above'” (John 3:5-7, NET). We must be baptized with both water and the spirit to become children of God. This rebirth into a new family is something the Father accomplished through Jesus Christ.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he gave us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,that is, into an inheritance imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. It is reserved in heaven for you, who by God’s power are protected through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. …

You have been born anew, not from perishable but from imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God.
1 Peter 1:3-5, 23, NET

There is great mercy involved in God birthing us into His family. He chose to give us new lives. We were buried with Jesus in baptism, dying to our old selves, and we come up from that water with new life (Rom. 6:1-4; Col. 2:12). As such, God expects that we will then walk in that newness of life, living as children who inherit His character traits. John talks about this frequently in his first epistle.

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been fathered by God, and everyone who loves the father loves the child fathered by him.By this we know that we love the children of God: whenever we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God: that we keep his commandments. And his commandments do not weigh us down, because everyone who has been fathered by God conquers the world. …

We know that everyone fathered by God does not sin, but God protects the one he has fathered, and the evil one cannot touch him.
1 John 5:1-4, 18, NET

When we are born of God (also translated “begotten” or “fathered”), we take on new identity. We become part of His family, we will eventually “be like Him,” and even today we strive to be righteous the way He is righteous (1 John 3:1-10). We keep God’s commandments because we love Him and we know that’s how we do things in this family.

Image of new parents with a baby overlaid with text from Romans 8:14-17, NABRE version: “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry, ‘Abba, Father!’ The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ” — Image by Stephanie Pratt from Pixabay

Adoption

Modern Westerners usually adopt so that they (the family) can care for the (young) child. In the ancient biblical world, people adopted so that the adopted son could care for the family. … Families [without an heir] chose a man to adopt as a son because they deemed him worthy of caring for the family. … adoption for this purpose was commonly called “adoption to sonship.” …

Adoption in the biblical world carried very real implications for the kinship of those adopted and the families they joined. The adopted members were placed into the family, they inherited in the family, and these realities shaped their lives and the lives of the family’s descendants.
Misreading Scripture with Individualist Eyes, Richards and James, p. 39, 40, 41

God the Father already has a firstborn Son to inherit all things: Jesus Christ. We’re not adopted to be the heir, but we are adopted to share in the inheritance of our Elder Brother. Adoption describes a process of taking someone who was formerly outside a kinship group and making them part of the family. It’s a good analogy for our relationship with God, particularly for Gentiles. Jewish believers might have thought they already stood to inherit God’s promises and didn’t need adopted into His family (though Paul says that wasn’t true; every New Covenant believer is adopted), but for those without Israelite heritage the imagery of adoption likely brought extra tears of joy to their eyes.

But when the appropriate time had come, God sent out his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,to redeem those who were under the law, so that we may be adopted as sons with full rights.And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, who calls “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if you are a son, then you are also an heir through God.
Galatians 4:4-7, NET

For he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him in love.He did this by predestining us to adoption as his legal heirs through Jesus Christ, according to the pleasure of his will—to the praise of the glory of his grace that he has freely bestowed on us in his dearly loved Son.
Ephesians 1:4-6, NET

Can you imagine how much it would have meant to believers in Rome, Galatia, and Ephesus to read Paul’s letters and learn they’ve received “adoption to sonship” from God Himself? It should still hit us with the same force today. God did not owe us anything because of our birth or ancestry. He chooses us as His heirs, calling each of us to join His family and inherit alongside our elder brother Jesus. This is an incredible blessing, which comes with all the rights (and responsibilities) of being God’s children and legal heirs.

Image of a happy couple overlaid with text from Ephesians 5:31-32, NET version: “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and will be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. This mystery is great—but I am actually speaking with reference to Christ and the church.” — Image by Mohamed Chermiti from Pixabay

Marriage

The Bible assumes that we understand that marriage forged kinship links between many more people than just the husband and wife. … Ancients made such decisions collectively. Parents and other relatives were deeply involved.
Misreading Scripture with Individualist Eyes, Richards and James, p. 42, 44

Individualists often balk at the idea of arranged marriages, but they were commonplace in the biblical world. And when we think about it, our future marriage with Jesus as Christians follows that same pattern. In a parable, Jesus tells us, “The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son” (Matt. 22:2, NKJV). We have veto-power in this arrangement (i.e. we can say we don’t want to marry Jesus) but we don’t get to choose a different bridegroom. We need to trust that the Father knows what is best for us, just like Jesus trusts Him to select who will be part of the Bride.

The analogy of marriage to explain how we become part of God’s family adds another layer of meaning to what we’ve already learned from birth and adoption. In this analogy, the church is the Bride. This means we have specific roles and responsibilities in the family in addition to those of born and adopted children.

We’re to submit to our husband Jesus in everything (Eph. 5:22-33). We’re to make ourselves ready to be “a companion for him who corresponds to him” (Gen. 2:18, NET); “a helper comparable to him” (Gen. 2:18, WEB). We must be absolutely faithful to Him, as Paul pointed out when he said, “I am jealous for you with godly jealousy, because I promised you in marriage to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ” (2 Cor. 11:2, NET).

Then I heard what sounded like the voice of a vast throng, like the roar of many waters and like loud crashes of thunder. They were shouting:
“Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God, the All-Powerful, reigns!
Let us rejoice and exult
and give him glory,
because the wedding celebration of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready.
She was permitted to be dressed in bright, clean, fine linen” (for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints).
Then the angel said to me, “Write the following: Blessed are those who are invited to the banquet at the wedding celebration of the Lamb!” He also said to me, “These are the true words of God.”
Revelation 19:6-9, NET

The Father and Jesus are wholly committed to the project of “bringing many children to glory” (Heb. 2:10, WEB). Even right now, “we are God’s children” and in the future “we will be like him” (1 John 3:1-3, NET). Birth, adoption, and marriage analogies all help us understand how we become part of God’s family.

These analogies also teach us about our roles and responsibilities in God’s family. As God’s born children, we inherit His nature and spiritual DNA, and we ought to become more and more like Him the longer we live. As His adopted children, we inherit a place in His kinship group and become part of His covenants, as well as inheriting the responsibilities that go along with that. And as Jesus’s affianced bride, we’re making ourselves ready to work alongside Him into eternity. The vastness of what God offers us by birthing, adopting, and marrying us is astonishing. We ought to place a very high value on these gifts and live with a consciousness that we are part of God’s wonderful family.

If you would like to purchase Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes or Misreading Scripture with Individualist Eyes, you can click here to visit the Amazon store (please note these are affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a small commission if you click on the link and make a purchase).

Featured image by David Clark Photography from Lightstock

Song Recommendation: “Wedding Day” by Casting Crowns

The Glory, Importance, and Victory of Other People

4 February, 20233 February, 2023Marissa

While I was writing last week’s post, I noticed I’d come back yet again to the idea of other people’s importance to our lives with God. I feel like I’ve been writing about that a lot lately, starting with “The Glorious Weights We Carry” over a month ago, then in “Building People Up in Christ,” “The Reason For Relationship,” and most recently “The Crown of Victory.”

It’s clear that God cares deeply for people. We all benefit from His love immensely as recipients of grace, mercy, salvation, and ongoing relationship. Yet as human beings, we have a tendency to think about how much God cares for me and how His love changes my life. We think less often about what His care for all people means for how we should interact with others. But we’re supposed to become like God, and that means learning to see other people the way He does.

As I’ve studied the Bible over the past month, it struck me that the glory we anticipated is connected to other people. When Jesus builds us up, He expects us to respond by building others up. The type of relational oneness that Jesus and the Father want with us is the same type of oneness we should want to have with others in God’s family. Even the crown of victory we’re promised after faithfully completing our mortal lives is linked with other people who are also living lives of faith. Our individual lives with God are inescapably contextualized by our relationships within His church.

Carrying Others’ Glory

If we’re going to follow Jesus’s example, then we need to spend a lot of time focused on helping other people toward a good outcome. Paul says, “Carry one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2, NET). The word translated “burdens” here is baros (βάρος), the same Greek word that’s translated “weight” in this verse: “For our momentary, light suffering is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison” (2 Cor. 4:17, NET). I suspect C.S. Lewis was connecting these two scriptures when he spoke of our neighbor’s glory in a sermon from 1941.

It may be possible for each to think too much of his own potential glory hereafter; it is hardly possible for him to think too often or too deeply about that of his neighbour. The load, or weight, or burden of my neighbour’s glory should be laid daily on my back, a load so heavy that only humility can carry it, and the backs of the proud will be broken. It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations.
C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory, p. 8

I often think about this sermon, and this passage in particular. We know that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” and as a result “whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life” (1 Tim. 1:15; John 3:16). God deeply desires for all people to know the truth, repent, follow Him, and receive salvation (1 Tim. 3:4; 2 Peter 3:9). If we want to be like God, then we should deeply desire that as well. We need to remember that the people all around us have the same glorious potential that God grants to us.

So we must not grow weary in doing good, for in due time we will reap, if we do not give up.So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who belong to the family of faith.
Galatians 6:9-10, NET

We’re supposed to be doing good to other people. God never intended for there to be quarreling, backbiting, pettiness, and rivalries among His people. We’re supposed to care so much about other people, especially those in “the family of faith,” that we’ll carry their burdens and shoulder the weight of their glory along with our own.

Image of people in a circle holding hands overlaid with text from Colossians 3:12-14, NET version: “Put on therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, if any man has a complaint against any; even as Christ forgave you, so you also do. Above all these things, walk in love, which is the bond of perfection.” — Image by Claudine Chaussé from Lightstock

Build Others Up First

In 1 Corinthians, Paul counsels his readers to “flee from idolatry” in the context of whether or not they should eat meat sacrificed to idols. Paul answers that specific question like this: you’re free to eat the meat as long as you’re not participating in idol worship and thereby having dinner with demons (1 Cor. 8:1-13; 10:14-33). But Paul also points out there’s a much deeper issue here. The question is about an individual choice, but that doesn’t matter nearly as much as the question of how the choice to eat this meat affects other people.

With regard to food sacrificed to idols, we know that “we all have knowledge.” Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. … With regard then to eating food sacrificed to idols, we know that “an idol in this world is nothing,” and that “there is no God but one.” …

But this knowledge is not shared by all. … be careful that this liberty of yours does not become a hindrance to the weak. For if someone weak sees you who possess knowledge dining in an idol’s temple, will not his conscience be “strengthened” to eat food offered to idols? So by your knowledge the weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed.If you sin against your brothers or sisters in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.
1 Corinthians 8:1-2, 4, 7, 9-12, NET

Paul shifts the conversation. The most important thing here isn’t whether you have the freedom to eat the meat sold in the market place without asking about its backstory. The thing you need to worry about it how your choice affects other people in the family of faith.

“Everything is lawful,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is lawful,” but not everything builds others up.Do not seek your own good, but the good of the other person. … So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.Do not give offense to Jews or Greeks or to the church of God, just as I also try to please everyone in all things. I do not seek my own benefit, but the benefit of many, so that they may be saved.
1 Corinthians 10:23-24, 31-33, NET

I’m a Star Trek fan, so this makes me think of Spock’s statement that “The good of the many outweighs the good of the one.” That’s the attitude Paul is describing here. What does it matter whether you get to eat meat in the grand scheme of other people’s salvation? If you decide to do something because it’s technically allowed, even though you know it’s going to hurt someone else who might be “weaker” in the faith, then you’re sinning against Jesus Christ Himself. When we love as God loves, we’ll focus on the things that build other’s up before we focus on our own desires. In fact, just a little later in this same letter, Paul says, “Let all things be done to build each other up ” (1 Cor. 14:26, WEB). We need to make doing good to others the main goal of our actions and interactions, particularly in the church.

Copying Christ’s Attitude

Last week when we were studying the crowns of victory that God promises us for living faithfully, we looked at two verses where Paul describes other people as our glory, joy, and crown (Phil. 4:1; 1 Thes. 2:19-20). This description emphasizes that there’s no competition among believers. Even though our Christian lives are described like an athletic game that we need to strive to win, we’re not competing against other believers but alongside them.

Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort provided by love, any fellowship in the Spirit, any affection or mercy,complete my joy and be of the same mind, by having the same love, being united in spirit, and having one purpose. Instead of being motivated by selfish ambition or vanity, each of you should, in humility, be moved to treat one another as more important than yourself. Each of you should be concerned not only about your own interests, but about the interests of others as well.You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had
Philippians 2:1-5, NET

Image of two people holding hands with the blog's title text and the words "If everything goes according to plan, we'll be spending eternity with other people in God’s family of faith. We can't wait until then to care about them, though. We need to be loving, encouraging, prioritizing, and building each other up now." — Image by Jantanee from Lightstock

Paul goes on to describe Jesus’s attitude as humble, service-oriented, sacrificial, and obedient (Phil. 2:6-11). Just like He and His servants admonish us to do, Jesus built other people up. He put their needs first, whether that meant correcting them sternly or showing unexpectedly generous mercy (Matt 16:22-23; Luke 7:36-48). He even died for all of us. And He expects those who follow Him to be similarly humble, forgiving, service-oriented, and sacrificial (Eph. 4:31-32; Col. 3:12-13; 1 John 3:16).

He died for us so that whether we are alert or asleep we will come to life together with him.Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, just as you are in fact doing.
1 Thessalonians 5:10-11, NET

Notice that while Paul charges his readers to encourage and build each other up, he also points out they’re already doing this. We might already be doing this as well, but a reminder is always good to help us continue doing the right thing. Supporting others in God’s family is important enough that even if we’re already doing it, we need reminders of it’s importance.

If we’ve stopped encouraging and building each other up–for example, started avoiding some people at church because we don’t like them–then we can take Paul’s words here as a nudge to get back on track. There will be people in God’s family and our local church groups we don’t get along with very well. There may even be some that, in extreme cases, we need to stop associating with for our mental or spiritual health (Rom. 16:17-18; 1 Cor. 5:11; 2 Thes. 3:6-14). However, that’s the exception rather than the rule. God’s intention and command is for us to live in peace with others in the church and invest in good relationships with them.

Let’s consider how to provoke one another to love and good works, not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
Hebrews 10:24-25, WEB

Nearly two thousand years ago, the apostle John wrote, “Little children, these are the end times” (1 John 2:18, WEB). That was true then, and we’re even closer now. This makes the admonition in Hebrews to assemble together and encourage each other as the Day of the Lord approaches even more urgent. (Of course, this includes the caveat, “if it’s possible to assemble;” health problems, location, and persecution can make assembly in person very difficult or impossible for some of us.)

If we can get together with other believers and participate in a church group, though, we should. We simply don’t have time to waste bickering, competing, or holding petty things against each other. We need to forgive, to encourage, to show love when we speak truth, and build each other up. And we ought to enjoy spending time together. If everything goes according to plan, we’ll be spending eternity with these people. That thought should make us excited–it’s what Jesus and the Father want, and it’s what we should want as well.

Featured image by Ben White from Lightstock

Song Recommendation: “City On The Hill” by Casting Crowns

Mercy for the Unloved: A Story In Hosea, Peter, and Paul

17 December, 202216 December, 2022Marissa

I love reading the book of Hosea. It’s the sort of love story we might be very tempted to say must be fictional if we weren’t convinced of the Bible’s authenticity. It starts out like this:

When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, he said to him, “Go marry a prostitute who will bear illegitimate children conceived through prostitution, because the nation continually commits spiritual prostitution by turning away from the Lord.”
Hosea 1:2, NET

If this was the very first thing God said to you directly, you might privately wonder if it’s really Him. This just doesn’t sound like a good idea, though it’s an excellent illustration of how the nation of ancient Israel treated the Lord. Even the children’s names tell a story that continues all the way into the New Testament.

So Hosea married Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim. Then she conceived and gave birth to a son for him. Then the Lord said to Hosea, “Name him ‘Jezreel,’ because in a little while I will punish the dynasty of Jehu on account of the bloodshed in the valley of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel. At that time, I will destroy the military power of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.”

She conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the Lord said to him, “Name her ‘No Pity’ (Lo-Ruhamah) because I will no longer have pity on the nation of Israel. For I will certainly not forgive their guilt. But I will have pity on the nation of Judah. I will deliver them by the Lord their God; I will not deliver them by the warrior’s bow, by sword, by military victory, by chariot horses, or by chariots.”

When she had weaned “No Pity” (Lo-Ruhamah), she conceived again and gave birth to another son. Then the Lord said: “Name him ‘Not My People’ (Lo-Ammi), because you are not my people and I am not your God.”
Hosea 1:3-9, NET

Continuing to read Hosea reveals a fascinating story. On one level, you have Hosea and Gomer’s love story (if you have trouble wrapping your mind around that or are just curious about imagining the feelings involved, I highly recommend the book Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers). On another level, you have God’s expression of great love for His own unfaithful bride, and what that reveals about His long-term plan. That second story carries into the New Testament as well; Peter and Paul both quote Hosea and reference the lesson from Gomer’s illegitimate children’s names to teach a lesson about how God is working today.

Image of a circle of people holding hands overlaid with text from Hosea 2:1, 23, WEB version: “Say to your brothers, ‘My people!’ and to your sisters, ‘My loved one!’ ... I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; and I will tell those who were not my people, ‘You are my people;’ and they will say, ‘My God!’” — Image by Claudine Chaussé from Lightstock

My People! My Loved One!

Before jumping into the New Testament, lets look at what else God has to say about Lo-Ruhamah and Lo-Ammi in His message to Hosea. The first names He gives them aren’t the end of the story.

However, in the future the number of the people of Israel will be like the sand of the sea that can be neither measured nor numbered. Although it was said to them, “You are not my people,” it will be said to them, “You are children of the living God!” Then the people of Judah and the people of Israel will be gathered together. They will appoint for themselves one leader, and will flourish in the land. Certainly, the day of Jezreel will be great!

Then you will call your brother, “My People” (Ammi)! You will call your sister, “Pity” (Ruhamah)!
Hosea 1:10-2:1, NET

Even while asking Hosea to illustrate in heartbreaking detail how much unfaithful Israel hurt their Lord and Husband, God points to a time when He will reconcile with His people. The changes in the children’s names signify a change in the relationship between God and humanity.

“However, in the future I will allure her;
I will lead her back into the wilderness,
and speak tenderly to her.
From there I will give back her vineyards to her,
and turn the ‘Valley of Trouble’ into an ‘Opportunity for Hope.’
There she will sing as she did when she was young,
when she came up from the land of Egypt.
At that time,” declares the Lord,
“you will call, ‘My husband’;
you will never again call me, ‘My master.’
For I will remove the names of the Baal idols from your lips,
so that you will never again utter their names! ….

“I will commit myself to you forever;
I will commit myself to you in righteousness and justice,
in steadfast love and tender compassion.
I will commit myself to you in faithfulness;
then you will acknowledge the Lord.
Hosea 2:14-17, 19-20, NET

Isn’t this a beautiful picture? Not only does God change His people’s names so they are “My people,” “My loved one!” (Hos. 2:1, WEB). He also changes the land’s name so the “Valley of Trouble” turns “into an ‘Opportunity for Hope’” (Hos. 2:15, NET). Then He even changes the name they’ll know Him by, so “that you will call me ‘my husband,’ and no longer call me ‘my master’” (Hos. 2:16, WEB).

In Hebrew thought and language, “The concept of personal names … often included existence, character, and reputation” (Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, entry 2406). When someone names a child or when God renames someone, it’s “often descriptive of the parent’s wishes or expectations for the personality that was to mature” (TWOT 2406). The name changes here are about changing who we are and how we relate to God. They reveal God’s heart. He wants us to be His beloved people and he wants a husband-wife relationship with us more than a master-servant one. These name changes are also Messianic–they point to something that Jesus did when He died for us.

Image of hands clasped over a Bible overlaid with text from 1 Peter 2:9-10, WEB version: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. In the past, you were not a people, but now are God’s people, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.” — Image by Jantanee from Lighstock

Peter and Paul on the People of God

Paul and Peter both quote Hosea’s book in their writings, specifically referencing the name changes for Lo-Ruhamah and Lo-Ammi. Let’s start with Peter, since reading the general epistles provides good background information for understanding Paul. For more on this epistle, see my post Crash-Course In Peter: Pre-Reqs for Paul, Part Two. Peter writes to Jewish and Gentile believers and connects both of them to a long history of faith. One of several scriptures he references to back up that point comes from Hosea.

So as you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but chosen and precious in God’s sight, you yourselves, as living stones, are built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood and to offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it says in scripture, “Look, I lay in Zion a stone, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and whoever believes in him will never be put to shame.”So you who believe see his value, but for those who do not believe, the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,and a stumbling-stone and a rock to trip over. They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may proclaim the virtues of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. You once were not a people, but now you are God’s people. You were shown no mercy, but now you have received mercy.
1 Peter 2:4-10, NET (italics and bold in original)

The NET translation puts references to the Old Testament in italics and direct quotes in bold to make it easy to see which parts of the NT directly link back to OT scriptures. Here, Peter quotes or alludes to Is. 28:16, Ps. 118:22, Is. 8:14, Ex. 19:5-6; Is. 43:20-21; Mal. 3:17, and Hos. 1:6, 9; 2:23. Paul does a very similar thing in the book of Romans (I also wrote a Crash Course in Romans post, so you can check that out or read the whole letter if you want context to these statements).

You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who has ever resisted his will?” But who indeed are you—a mere human being—to talk back to God? Does what is molded say to the molder, “Why have you made me like this?” Has the potter no right to make from the same lump of clay one vessel for special use and another for ordinary use?But what if God, willing to demonstrate his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the objects of wrath prepared for destruction?And what if he is willing to make known the wealth of his glory on the objects of mercy that he has prepared beforehand for glory—even us, whom he has called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? As he also says in Hosea:

“I will call those who were not my people, ‘My people,’ and I will call her who was unloved, ‘My beloved.’”
“And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’
there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’”

And Isaiah cries out on behalf of Israel, “Though the number of the children of Israel are as the sand of the sea, only the remnant will be saved, for the Lord will execute his sentence on the earth completely and quickly.”Just as Isaiah predicted,

“If the Lord of Heaven’s Armies had not left us descendants,
we would have become like Sodom,
and we would have resembled Gomorrah.”

What shall we say then?—that the Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness obtained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith, but Israel even though pursuing a law of righteousness did not attain it. Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but (as if it were possible) by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone,just as it is written,

“Look, I am laying in Zion a stone that will cause people to stumble
and a rock that will make them fall,
yet the one who believes in him will not be put to shame.”
Romans 9:19-33, NET (italics and bold in original)

Here, Paul quotes many of the same scripturas Peter did: Is. 29:16; 45:9; Hos 2:23; 1:10; Isa 10:22-23; 1:9; 28:16; 8:14. He’s also making a similar point. Not only did Jesus’s sacrifice redeem those who are physical descendants of Israel who believe in Him as the Messiah, but He is also making those who were once part of other nations His beloved people.

Hope for All God’s People

Image of two people's hands clasped together with the blog's title text and the words "In Hosea, God promised to take a people that were not His and on whom He no longer had pity and transform them into something new. Then, as Peter and Paul discuss, He followed-through on that promise when Jesus's sacrifice opened the way of life to all people." — Image by Jantanee from Lightstock

Much like in 1 Corinthians, where Paul expects his readers to connect quotes and allusions in that letter to the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Peter and Paul both assume their readers have an understanding of the Old Testament scriptures. Their Jewish readers would have heard the scriptures read at the synagogues their entire lives, and Gentile converts were expected to make a regular practice of listening to those as well (Acts 15:19-21). They would recognize these quotes. The most Biblically literate among them would also put the quotes in context, drawing on the original writer’s whole message when they interpreted Peter’s and Paul’s writings.

Christianity really isn’t a new religion that started after Jesus died–it was the next step in God’s plan that He’d been working on since before the beginning of our world. Peter and Paul reinforce this by quoting prophecies God gave in Hosea with fulfillment in the New Testament church. In Hosea, God promised to take a people that were not His and on whom He no longer had pity and transform them into something new. Then, as Peter and Paul discuss, He followed-through on that promise when Jesus’s sacrifice opened the way of life to all people. Those of a nation that had been chosen by God then rejected Him now had a chance to enter a covenant with Him again. Those who hadn’t been part of the family before are now welcomed in with open arms.

It’s an incredible message of hope. God follows through on His promises. He doesn’t leave those who are unloved and haven’t received mercy in that state. He calls them Beloved and pours out His mercy on them when they come to Him through Jesus Christ. Those promises are still in effect today. We can trust that God loves us this passionately; that He chooses us and claims us for His own special people. Just like He promised so long ago.

Featured image by Inbetween from Lightstock

Song Recommendation: “Out of Egypt” by Carolyn Hyde

Partakers of the Divine Nature

29 January, 202228 January, 2022Marissa

The Bible tells us truly amazing things about the future God plans for people who follow Him. These include descriptions of us actually being like God Himself as part of His family. Here are just a few of the scriptures that make this wonderful, bold claim about who we are are in the present and who God means for us to be in the future:

you are gods (Psalm 82:6; John 10:34-36)
we are children of God (Rom. 8:16, WEB)
you may become partakers of the divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4, NET)
we will be like him; for we will see him just as he is. (1 John 3:2, WEB)

To many Christians, the idea of being part of God’s family and sharing in His nature is such a familiar teaching that it might seem more obvious than awe-inspiring. The Orthodox church calls it “Theosis: Partaking of the Divine Nature.” The non-denominational Protestant evangelical site GotQuestions.org says, “As partakers of the divine nature, believers are made part of the family of God.” The 7th-day sabbath-keeping group that I attend with, United Church of God, writes in one of their booklets that we’ll be “spirit-born divine beings who are part of Elohim, the universe-ruling family of God!”

For a wide variety of Christians, the idea that we’ll be part of God’s family is a well-established doctrine. To others, though, it might seem a bit blasphemous to claim such a thing is even possible (much like the Jewish people reacted with horror to Jesus saying in John 10:34-36 that He is the Son of God). Though sonship for believers is a scriptural claim, it’s one that ought to boggle our minds a little.

We’re intimately familiar with our flaws and all the reasons that we’re not particularly well-qualified to become gods. And yet God, who knows us better than we know ourselves, still wants you, me, and as many human beings as possible to literally become part of His family. He actually plans to entrust us with His divine nature, making us “like him” and able to “see him just as he is.”

Image of an open Bible with light shining on the pages, with text from Philippians 3:20-21 WEB version: “For our citizenship is in heaven, from where we also wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will change the body of our humiliation to be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working by which he is able even to subject all things to himself.”

In the Image of the Heavenly

I used to get nervous about the idea of living forever with God. Eternity is a really long time. What if I get bored? What if it’s an endless stream of awkwardly feeling as if I don’t belong here and I don’t know what I’m supposed to be doing? Do I want to be stuck with myself for literally the rest of eternity? I wasn’t sure I liked myself enough for that.

It turns out we don’t need to worry about any of those sorts of worries. We’re not going to be living forever in the exact same way that we’re living now. Part of the reason for this change is that human beings can’t live forever as we are–God “alone possesses immortality and lives in unapproachable light, whom no human has ever seen or is able to see” (1 Tim. 6:16, NET). Something needs to change dramatically before we’ll be able to live forever with God. That “something” includes our nature (from flesh to spirit) and our character (from human nature to divine nature) (1 Cor 2:10-16; 15:12-58).

And just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, let us also bear the image of the man of heaven. Now this is what I am saying, brothers and sisters: Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I will tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a moment, in the blinking of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. …
So then, dear brothers and sisters, be firm. Do not be moved! Always be outstanding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
1 Corinthians 15:49-53, 58 NET

God created humankind in His image (Gen. 1:26-27). We didn’t do so well at imitating Him, though, and both Adam and Eve sinned, starting a long history of people failing to live up to God’s righteous standard. God had a plan for dealing with that, though, and it culminates in what Paul describes here. Jesus, “the man of heaven,” makes it possible for us to fully take on God’s nature. We’ll go through a change much like He did after dying as a human being, when the Father raised Him with a spiritual body. Our new future bodies will follow the same spiritual pattern. We don’t know what all that will mean yet (our human minds can’t fully wrap around what it means to be spirit beings) but it’s going to be a lot different and better than how things are now.

Living as His Children Today

Image of an open Bible with light shining on the pages, with the blog's title text and the words "How does the Bible describe the incredible future God plans for us? and what does that mean for His children today?"

So far in this post, I’ve mostly focused on what taking on God’s divine nature will mean in the future. That’s when this change will fully go into effect. It starts now, though.

Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that whenever it is revealed we will be like him, because we will see him just as he is. And everyone who has this hope focused on him purifies himself, just as Jesus is pure.
1 John 3:2-3, NET

This is one of the verses we started with put into fuller context. In this letter, John is writing to a broad Christian audience. Before getting to this point in the letter, he’s talked about us having fellowship with God, walking in His light, repenting of our sins, and keeping God’s commandments. Everyone walking in covenant with God (even though we don’t do so perfectly and need to keep repenting and asking forgiveness) is God’s children right now. We aren’t spirit yet, but we do have God’s spirit in us changing the way we live our lives today as God actively remakes us into His image.

For those who live according to the flesh have their outlook shaped by the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit have their outlook shaped by the things of the Spirit. For the outlook of the flesh is death, but the outlook of the Spirit is life and peace, because the outlook of the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to the law of God, nor is it able to do so. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, this person does not belong to him. …
So then, brothers and sisters, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh (for if you live according to the flesh, you will die), but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God … and if children, then heirs (namely, heirs of God and also fellow heirs with Christ).
Romans 8:5-9, 12-14, 17 NET

This is just part of Paul’s discussion in Romans that covers how our lives ought to change since God invites us into His family, and I highly recommend reading all of Romans 8 now, if you have time. The incredible transformation that God promises us is already in progress. The more all-in we are with God by following Him and asking Him to make us more and more like Him, the more dramatic this change will be. Our lights will shine in the world. People will look at us and see Jesus’s character as we grow more and more like Him.

May grace and peace be lavished on you as you grow in the rich knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord! I can pray this because his divine power has bestowed on us everything necessary for life and godliness through the rich knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and excellence. Through these things he has bestowed on us his precious and most magnificent promises, so that by means of what was promised you may become partakers of the divine nature, after escaping the worldly corruption that is produced by evil desire.
1 Peter 1:2-4, NET

–

Featured images by Lamppost Collective via Lightstock

Song Recommendation: When the Stars Burn Down (Blessing and Honor) by Rebecca St. James

Titles of Jesus Christ: Firstborn and Heir

11 July, 202010 July, 2020Marissa

Who is Jesus Christ? Some consider Him a prophet, some a teacher who had some good things to say about peace and love, others say He was a madman. As Christians, we know Him as the Son of God who died to save us from our sins, rose again, and continues to be actively involved in our lives. But what does it really mean that He’s God’s Son, and why does that particular title matter to us?

God, having in the past spoken to the fathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, has at the end of these days spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds. (Heb. 1:1-2, all scriptures from WEB translation unless otherwise noted)

Firstborn’s Birthright

In Old Testament times, being a firstborn son was a big deal. You were the bekor (H1060), eldest son and therefore the bekorah (H1062, birthright) was yours. You received a double portion when the father divided his inheritance (Deut. 21:15-17). There was a special blessing involved (Gen. 27). It was so important that any disruption to this birthright was cause for Biblical writers to take special note (Gen. 25:31-34; 48:9-19; 1 Chr. 5:1-2).

According to a message I recently watched on YouTube titled “Hebrews: Yeshua’s Amazing Qualifications,” the rights of the firstborn traditionally included a few other things as well. The eldest son acted as the family’s spiritual leader, acquired spiritual favor and honor, and inherited the blessings of Abraham. Heirship involved authority over the father’s possessions. Before there was a Levitical priesthood (which Yahweh accepted in place of the firstborns, as noted in Num. 3:12-13, 41; 8:16-18), the firstborn would even act as priest for the family.

Many parallels between Jesus and the Hebrew firstborns are easy to spot. He is the family’s spiritual leader, acting as “head of all things to the church” under the Father’s authority (Eph. 1:15-23). He is also High Priest of an order that supersedes the Levitical order as the Levites superseded what came before (Heb. 7:11-28). And that’s not where the parallels end. Read more →