nature of God – Like An Anchor

Pauline Introductions, Part 2: How Does Paul Talk About God?

5 April, 20254 April, 2025Marissa

Today’s post is the second in a three-part series. In these posts, we’re looking at the introductions of Paul’s epistles and examining how Paul talks about himself, how Paul talks about God, and how Paul talks about us in the introductions to his letters. We’ll be focusing on the epistles he wrote to church communities rather than the pastoral epistles (Timothy, Titus) or the letter to an individual (Philemon). This series will also exclude Hebrews since there’s a good chance Paul wasn’t the author. That leaves us with nine letters: Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, and 2 Thessalonians.

If you’re wondering why I didn’t post this two weeks ago like I typically would, I broke my foot and I’ve been struggling to keep up with everything that needs doing. Subscribe to my newsletter if you want to stay up-to-date on news like that and changes in post schedules.

Grace and Peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ

All of these introductions except two have Paul using the phrase, “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:3; 2 Cor. 1:2; Gal. 1:3; Eph. 1:2, Phil. 1:2; 2 Thes. 1:2, NET) There’s a similar phrase in 1 Thessalonians 1:1, and Colossians 1:2 just says, “Grace and peace to you from God our Father!” (Paul mentions Jesus elsewhere in the introduction, just not as part of this phrase). We could call this Paul’s standard greeting, and it tells us several things about how he views God.

For Paul, God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ are a source of grace and peace. There are a lot of other things that God supplies us with (love, mercy, and justice, just to name a few), but grace and peace are the ones Paul uses in his salutations. According to “Grace to You and Peace: An Analysis of the Pauline Letter Openings” by JPT Aquino, “Paul used the epistolary conventions of his time” in the way that he structured his letters (p. 2) but he chose his own signature opening phrase to communicate “the theology that underlies his letters, as well [as] his life and ministry” (p. 109). As we think of Paul’s focus in his letters, “grace and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” does seem like a good introduction to what he typically emphasizes. He focuses a lot on God’s grace toward us, the internal peace He gives us, and the peace that He wants to see between those in His church.

This phrase also gives us hints about how Paul understands the nature of God. As in the rest of the Bible, Paul sees God the Father and God the Son as the central figures in the God-family, which They invite us to join in a process we understand through analogies of birth, adoption, and marriage. Both the Father and Jesus have always existed as God, but now that Jesus came as the Messiah, we know these two God-beings as God the Father (Matt. 11:27; John 14:6-11) and the Lord Jesus Christ (Matt. 16:16; Phil. 2:9-11; 1 John 3:5). You might remember from the first post in this series that Paul introduces himself as an apostle commissioned by the Father and Jesus; they’re the reason for his ministry and the Ones that he’s representing as he writes these letters.

Image of a man reading the Bible overlaid with text from Gal. 1:3-5, NET version: “Grace and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever! Amen.” — Image by Matt Vasquez from Lightstock

Source of the Gospel

From Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God. This gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, concerning his Son who was a descendant of David with reference to the flesh,who was appointed the Son-of-God-in-power according to the Holy Spirit by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans 1:1-5, NET

Paul only mentions the gospel in the salutation to one letter. He also brings it up in the prayers for churches that make up what I think of as the second half of his introductions in several other letters, but those have to do with our response to the gospel so we’ll save that for the Part 3 post in a couple weeks (Eph. 1:13; Phil. 1:5-7; Col. 1:5-6; 1 Thes. 1:4-5).

In Romans, though, Paul lays a foundation for talking about what God’s good news is doing in us by describing it as “the gospel of God” that “he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, concerning his Son.” There is to be no confusion: the gospel is about Jesus, who is the Son of God, and what He and the Father are doing and have done for us. It’s also not a new thing; the gospel that Paul preaches is something that God promised in the scriptures we now call the Old Testament. Christianity wasn’t a new religion, it’s just what people started calling those who understood that Jesus is the Messiah/Christ and followed Him as He showed the way to continue following God faithfully.

The One Who Calls and Chooses

God is the one who called Paul to be an apostle (Rom. 1:1; 1 Cor. 1:1), called us to belong to and fellowship with Jesus (Rom. 1:6; 1 Cor. 1:9), and called us to be saints (Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor 1:2). He also chose us (Eph. 1:4; 1 Thes. 1:4) and is the one who “began a good work” in us (Phil. 1:6). All the things that Paul is (which we talked about in the previous post) and all the things that we are (which we’ll talk about in the next post) happened because God made choices. He chose to call us into His family, offer us eternal life, and make us holy (that’s what the word “saint” means).

Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ. 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
Ephesians 1:3-5, NET

This focus in the intro to Paul’s letters on God the Father’s and Jesus Christ’s action in our lives carries through the rest of Paul’s writings. He’s constantly pointing to Them and what They are doing. Take Philippians, for example. Right at the start of the letter, Paul focuses on “the onewho began a good work in you” and who “will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 1:6, NET). We’re here, reading Paul’s letters to learn more about God, because He started working in us and He won’t give up until He’s brought us to perfection. A little later in this same letter, Paul wrote, “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” (Phil. 2:12-13, NET). We’re participating in our salvation, but God’s doing the work and as long as we don’t reject Him, He’ll make sure we succeed.

Continuing in Philippians, Paul also talked about rejecting human credentials, power, or prestige and focusing only on the calling of God. Paul encouraged all his readers to join him: “with this goal in mind, I strive toward the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore let those of us who are ‘perfect’ embrace this point of view” (Phil. 3:14-15, NET). Just as Paul put the calling of God at the forefront of many letters, so we should put God’s calling at the forefront of our lives.

Rescuer and Helper

Image of a man sitting on a couch writing on a pad of paper, overlaid with blog's title text and the words, "What can we learn from looking at the first things Paul wanted his readers to see when they read his letters?" — Image by StartupStockPhotos from Pixabay

In several of his introductions, Paul emphasizes the redemptive work that God accomplishes in saving and sanctifying His people. We are “sanctified in Christ Jesus” (1 Cor. 1:2). He “gave himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age according to the will of our God and Father” (Gal. 1:3, NET). It is “In him” that “we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our offenses, according to the riches of his grace” (Eph. 1:7, NET).

God’s aid didn’t stop with accomplishing our redemption, though. He is all-in when it comes to the work of bringing children into His family. Jesus’s work of sanctifying, rescuing, and redeeming His people is ongoing, and it includes love (Rom. 1:7; 1 Thes. 1:4), grace (1 Cor. 1:4; Eph. 1:6-7; Phil. 1:7), and comfort.

Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles so that we may be able to comfort those experiencing any trouble with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4, NET

Even just looking at the openings of Paul’s letters, we see the depth of his devotion to God, the awe he feels for the Father and Son, and the wonder of God’s incredible work in our lives. God’s grace, peace, calling, and salvation are at the forefront of Paul’s mind and his letters. In one of these letters, Paul wrote, “Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1, NET). One of the ways that we can imitate him is by similarly prioritizing God and cultivating a relationship with Him that’s at the center of our lives and our focus.

Featured image by StartupStockPhotos from Pixabay

Song Recommendation: “What A Beautiful Name” by Hillsong Worship

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

Giving to God the Things Made in His Image

5 November, 20224 November, 2022Marissa

Last week when I was studying one way women reflect God’s image, a familiar verse caught my eye in a new way. It’s a verse we usually quote when talking about why you need to pay your taxes. A group of people came to Jesus asking, “Should we pay taxes?” hoping to trick Him into saying something that would get Him into trouble (Matt. 22:15-22). Jesus does answer that question, but it’s not the only thing He talks about in this verse. He uses their wicked attempt to entrap Him to teach a valuable spiritual lesson.

“Show me the coin used for the tax.” So they brought him a denarius.Jesus said to them, “Whose image is this, and whose inscription?” They replied, “Caesar’s.” He said to them, “Then give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
Matthew 22:18-21, NET

Jesus answered a question they thought would back Him into a corner in a way that left them marveling (v.22). Then on top of that, He gave them–and us–a deep lesson to ponder. The thing stamped with Caesar’s image belonged to Caesar. The things stamped in God’s image belong to God.

Made In His Image

When Jesus pointed out that we should give “to God the things that are God’s,” He isn’t just talking about paying God our tithes or owing Him things like worship, praise, and thankful offerings. We do owe Him those things (Mal. 1:6-8; 3:6-18), but the context here has to do with giving someone the things which bear their image.

Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness, so they may rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move on the earth.”

God created humankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them,
male and female he created them.
Genesis 1:26-27, NET

We are made in God’s image. We are what we’re supposed to be giving to God. Just as the coins stamped with Caesar’s face showed that the money circulating came from and ultimately belonged to Caesar, we’re “stamped” with God’s image. We come from Him and belong to Him.

Image of a man reading the Bible, with text from Malachi 1:6, WEB version: "A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, then where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is the respect due me?" — Image by Matt Vasquez from Lightstock

Owe Him Our Lives

Paul also teaches about the idea that we owe all of ourselves to God. “You are not your own,” he writes, “for you were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Cor. 6:19-20, WEB). Here, the focus is on the service we owe Jesus as our redeemer–the one who saved us from death and now has a claim on our lives. We also owe Him and the Father service as our creator. We’re loyal to God and serve Him because “our citizenship is in heaven” (Phil. 3:20, NET). We belong to God and, following Him, our lives are on a path toward spending eternity in His kingdom.

Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice—alive, holy, and pleasing to God—which is your reasonable service.Do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve what is the will of God—what is good and well-pleasing and perfect.
Romans 1:1-2, NET

We would be dead–or we wouldn’t even exist–if it wasn’t for God. It’s reasonable and logical (G3050 logikos) to present ourselves to God as a sacrifice. Not a dead sacrifice laid once on an altar, but an ongoing, holy life devoted to following the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God. That’s how we give ourselves–the things made in God’s image–back to God: by serving Him faithfully.

Image of a young woman reading the Bible, with text from Titus 2:14, NET version: "He gave himself for us to set us free from every kind of lawlessness and to purify for himself a people who are truly his, who are eager to do good." — Image by José Roberto Roquel from Lightstock

Everything is Already His

God has the right to demand anything He wants of us. And yet all He asks is that we give Him things that are already His. It is–as Paul said of us being living sacrifices–a reasonable request.

“The God who made the world and everything in it, who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by human hands,nor is he served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives life and breath and everything to everyone.From one man he made every nation of the human race to inhabit the entire earth, determining their set times and the fixed limits of the places where they would live,so that they would search for God and perhaps grope around for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.For in him we live and move about and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we too are his offspring.’So since we are God’s offspring, we should not think the deity is like gold or silver or stone, an image made by human skill and imagination.Therefore, although God has overlooked such times of ignorance, he now commands all people everywhere to repent”
Acts 17:24-30, NET

Here, Paul presents a reasonable case to the Athenians. They already worshiped an “unknown god,” so he uses that to introduce the one true God (Acts 17:16-23). They already know the writings of Cretan philosopher Epimenides and Cilician Stoic philosopher Aratus, so the idea of being God’s created children ought to be familiar (NIV footnotes on v. 28). The big, stunning new idea here is that the “Lord of heaven and earth” is the only real God. He can’t be represented by “an image made by human skill” or contained “in temples made by human hands.”

People like to make gods in their own image. Much like the Greeks and Romans, we often imagine a God who’s flawed like us, or who needs something from us, or who does chaotic things without reason, or who could be swayed to do things our way if we could just find the right bribe. But that’s a backwards idea. God is the one who makes us in His image. We belong to Him and we need to do things His way, not the other way around.

Courage in Knowing

Image of a woman looking into a piece of mirror with the blog's title text and the words "We're stamped with God’s image, marking us as belonging to Him. If our lives are oriented properly, we'll be giving ourselves to Him." — Image by StockSnap from Pixabay

Sometimes, the idea that we belong to God and owe Him everything rankles us. Humanity’s independent spirit often rebels against the idea that we have a Creator to whom we owe our existence. It’s easier in some ways to believe that we just happened; the product of lucky chaos and millennia of evolution. But God reveals that He created us in His own image. We’re precious and we’re made for a purpose.

We can see owing all of ourselves to God as stifling, or as encouraging. Jesus modeled the latter response. In John’s gospel, we learn this about Jesus’s mindset going into the Passover right before His crucifixion.

Just before the Passover Feast, Jesus knew that his time had come to depart from this world to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now loved them to the very end. The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, that he should betray Jesus. Because Jesus knew that the Father had handed all things over to him, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, he got up from the meal, removed his outer clothes, took a towel and tied it around himself. He poured water into the washbasin and began to wash the disciples’ feet.
John 13:1-5, NET

Jesus knew He was facing a horrible death. He also knew “he had come from God and was going back to God.” Though it’s different for us, we also know we’ve “come from God.” For Jesus, He was God already and had been with the Father forever before coming into this world as human. For us, we came into existence through the creative work of both Father and Son. We’re also heading toward God, though for Jesus He was “going back” and for us we’re looking forward to being there for the first time. Despite the differences in why we can say we’ve come from God and are going toward God, we can have the same focus Jesus did here.

Knowing we’re made in God’s image opens our eyes to marvelous truths and gives us courage for whatever we face in this life. We can love “to the very end” and keep following God’s will, knowing that we belong to Him and He cares for us. We know we are special to Him. We know He made us for a purpose, which involves looking fully like Him in the future if we follow Him faithfully now (1 John 3:1-3). We also know that we owe Him all of ourselves. We’re stamped with His image, marking us as belonging to Him and (if our lives are oriented properly) we’ll be giving ourselves to Him as well.

–

Featured image by Med Ahabchane from Pixabay

Song Recommendation: “In His Eyes” by 1 Girl Nation

Helper: One Way Women Reflect God’s Image

29 October, 20221 November, 2022Marissa

There’s an infamous verse in the King James Version of the Bible with phrasing that sets some people’s teeth on edge. Here, God says, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.” We’ve sometimes read this as “help-meet” as if it’s all one word and is somehow demeaning women as nothing more than an assistant or something. Really, though, “help” and “meet for him” are two separate words and they mean something different than you might htink.

“Help” comes from the Hebrew word ezer, which we’ll be spending most of our time with in this study. “Meet for him” is an old Englishy phrase that means comparable to or suitable for. It’s from the Hebrew word neged, which speaks of something conspicuously placed before someone, as well as something beside or parallel to something else (Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament [TWOT] 1289a; Brown-Driver-Briggs H5048). For example, God commanded “read this law before all Israel in their hearing” (Deut. 31:11, WEB) once every seven years during the Feast of Tabernacles. His law is important, and so He wanted it placed before His people to regularly remind them of what to focus on.

Setting negad aside for now, let’s go back to the word translated “helper.” The really interesting thing about the word ezer is that with just one exception, it’s only used to describe women and God. The word shows up 21 times in the Hebrew Bible. Twice it’s used in Genesis 2 to describe women. Once it refers to God scattering away anything else His people might try to rely on for help (Eze. 12:14). All the other times, ezer describes God.

Image of people holding hands and praying, with text from Psalm 20:1-2, WEB version: "May Yahweh answer you in the day of trouble. May the name of the God of Jacob set you up on high, send you help from the sanctuary, grant you support from Zion" — Image by Claudine Chaussé from Lightstock

Reflecting God’s Image

Right from the get-go, God makes it clear that He created both man and woman in His image. Though God is consistently described as masculine, both men and women bear His image and reflect who He is. We also have the same spiritual potential as “fellow heirs of the grace of life” (1 Pet. 3:7, NET).

Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness, so they may rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move on the earth.”

God created humankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them,
male and female he created them.
Genesis 1:26-27, NET

In addition to being made in God’s image, we’re also supposed to grow into reflecting His character. We don’t look or act exactly like God right now, but He wants us to in the future (1 John 3:1-3). God the Father wants us “to be conformed to the image of his Son” and “put on the new man who has been created in God’s image—in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth” (Rom. 8:29 Eph. 4:24, NET). We’ve “borne the image of the man of dust”–we’re human, just like Adam and Eve– and now we should “also bear the image of the man of heaven” (1 Cor. 15:49, NET).

One of our main goals as Christians is to become like God the Father and Jesus Christ. We’re already like them in a few ways since we’re made in their image, but we’re supposed to become more and more like them the longer we’re in a covenant relationship with them. Studying God’s character traits helps us understand Him better and it also helps us understand what we’re supposed to be like.

Image of people holding hands and praying, with text from Psalm 121:1-2, WEB version: "I will lift up my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from My help comes from Yahweh, who made heaven and earth." — Image by Prixel Creative from Lightstock

The Lord As Our Helper

Most of the 21 uses of ezer are found in the Psalms . Here, the writers talk about God as their help. Often, He’s described as help and shield. He shows up as a helper when we need a deliverer to protect and save us.

Our soul has waited for Yahweh.
He is our help and our shield.
Psalm 33:20, WEB

But I am poor and needy.
Come to me quickly, God.
You are my help and my deliverer.
Yahweh, don’t delay.
Psalm 70:5, WEB

You who fear Yahweh, trust in Yahweh!
He is their help and their shield.
Psalm 115:11, WEB

There’s a lot of martial imagery here. It makes sense; the root word for ezar “generally indicates military assistance” (TWOT 1598). Yahweh is our shield and deliverer. The connection between helper and battle is even more pronounced when God describes Himself to Israel as “your help.” All of us who are honest will admit we need help, particularly the sort of help God provides. And look at what a powerful sort of help this is:

“You are happy, Israel!
    Who is like you, a people saved by Yahweh,
    the shield of your help,
    the sword of your excellency?
Your enemies will submit themselves to you.
    You will tread on their high places.”
Deuteronomy 33:29, WEB

In addition to God’s role as help being linked with protecting and fighting, it’s linked with happiness. When He’s talking to His people, He says they are a happy “people saved by Yahweh, the shield of your help” (Deut. 33:29, WEB). When they turn away from Him, He tells them, “You are destroyed, Israel, because you are against me, against your help” (Hos. 13:9, WEB). If we go against God, our help, then we face destruction. But when we stay close to Him, we’re safe and happy (Ps. 146:5).

Image of a smiling woman with her hand raised in worship with text from Psalm 146:5, WEB version: "Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in Yahweh, his God" — Image by Pearl from Lightstock

Deborah’s Example

If we were just reading those verses that talk about God as help, shield, sword, and protector, we’d likely link ezer with God as a Warrior and assume helper is a masculine role. But God uses it for women at creation (Gen 2:18, 20). It’s not used to describe human beings in a positive way again, but we can’t dismiss this verse lightly. This is how God describes His intention when creating women. We weren’t afterthoughts because He forgot to create a female version of the human animal. No! He carefully sculpted man in His own image, then carefully sculpted woman from man (also in His own image).

We don’t usually think of women in the Bible as offering military assistance. One notable exception is Deborah, so let’s take a look at how she modeled God’s image as a help to those around her. You’ll find her story in Judges 4-5. She led Israel when King Jabin of Canaan was oppressing Israel. He’d been a problem for 20 years before God called someone to do something about it.

Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, judged Israel at that time. … the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. She sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedesh Naphtali, and said to him, “Hasn’t Yahweh, the God of Israel, commanded, ‘Go and lead the way to Mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun? I will draw to you, to the river Kishon, Sisera, the captain of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into your hand.’”

Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.”

She said, “I will surely go with you. Nevertheless, the journey that you take won’t be for your honor; for Yahweh will sell Sisera into a woman’s hand.” Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh.
Judges 4:4-9, WEB

Deborah and Barak went to war together, along with 10,000 men. It doesn’t look like she strapped on armor and fought, but she was there to help. King Jabin’s military commander Sisera met them with 900 chariots and an unnamed number of other fighters described as “all the army.” Israel won the battle decisively. Only Sisera escaped, and then only for a short time. He took shelter in Jael’s tent since he knew her husband had a peace treaty with Jabin, and Jael killed him by driving a tent peg through his head. Deborah and Barak’s victory song celebrates Jael for her military assistance (though I recommend not following her model today if you’d like to help someone). Also in this song, we learn more about Deborah’s role.

Warriors were scarce;
they were scarce in Israel,
until you arose, Deborah,
until you arose as a motherly protector in Israel.”
Judges 5:7, NET

There are some questions about how to translate this section, but it looks like Deborah arose as a leader and protector in Israel to fill a gap when other warriors and rulers were scarce. God used her as a help that the whole nation needed.

Women As Helpers

Image of two women's clasped hands with the blog's title text and the words "r we aid someone facing a spiritual battle, encourage someone to keep going, or stand up for what's right, we're modeling God's role as 'help.'" — Image by Jantanee from Lightstock

What about us today? Deborah is an Old Testament example, and the idea of women as leaders, protectors, and warriors might not seem like it shows up in the New Testament at first glance. But there’s actually quite a bit of evidence for women teaching, leading, and protecting in the church. Paul mentions several at the end of his Romans letter.

Now I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a servant of the church in Cenchrea, so that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints and provide her with whatever help she may need from you, for she has been a great help to many, including me.

Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risked their own necks for my life. Not only I, but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them. Also greet the church in their house. Greet my dear friend Epenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in the province of Asia. Greet Mary, who has worked very hard for you. Greet Andronicus and Junia, my compatriots and my fellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles, and they were in Christ before me.
Romans 16:1-7, NET (emphasis added)

Here, Paul mentions four women who played a key role in the church. Phoebe was “a great help to many” in her role as a servant or possibly a deaconess (“servant” here is the same word that’s translated “deacon” in 1 Tim. 3:8, 12). Prisca, also called Priscilla, and her husband worked alongside Paul, hosted a church, and taught God’s way accurately (Acts 18:2-3, 24-26; 1 Cor. 16:19). Mary worked hard enough for the church that Paul noted her in this letter. Junia is a prisoner for her faith, just like Paul was at this time. The Greek wording used here is ambiguous; either the apostles took note of her or she was considered an apostle (Misreading Scriptures with Western Eyes, p. 172).

We could turn to other examples as well, but that seems sufficient to show that women in the New Testament still help in powerful ways. In addition, we’re involved with fighting spiritual battles, just like every follower of God throughout history. For both men and women, you’re a warrior even if you never pick up a physical sword or strap on armor. God puts His own armor on you and arms you with the Shield of Faith and the Sword of the Spirit. Whenever we aid someone facing a spiritual battle, encourage someone to keep going, or stand up for what’s right, we’re modeling God’s role as a help.

–

Featured image by Jantanee from Lightstock

Song Recommendation: “Onye-Inyeaka (My Helper)” by Mr. M & Revelation (lyrics translation in comments on YouTube)

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

The Beginning of Being Like God

6 March, 20215 March, 2021Marissa

As we draw closer to the Passover and continue examining ourselves (as I talked about in last week’s post) I keep thinking about how vital our understanding of God is to understanding ourselves. Paul tells us to examine, evaluate, and discern ourselves (1 Cor. 11:28-32), but in order to do that we need the help of God’s spirit, as Paul talks about earlier in 1 Corinthians. To see ourselves clearly and know what needs to change (and how to make that change), we need a wisdom that we can only get by understanding God.

Understanding, Wisdom, and Fear

I like to study 1 Corinthians at this time of year because (as I wrote about in more detail a couple years ago), this epistle references the Exodus story, Passover, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread over and over. Before Paul begins talking directly about Passover, he expands on the idea that the wisdom of God is very different than what human beings speak of as wisdom (1 Cor. 1:18-31, quoting Jer. 9:23-24). Knowing and understanding the Lord is far more important than having wealth, power, or worldly wisdom. Echoing a sentiment expressed throughout scripture, Paul tells us a proper perspective on God is where true wisdom begins.

The beginning of wisdom is to fear the Lord,
and acknowledging the Holy One is understanding.
Proverbs 9:10, NET

The idea that we ought to fear a God of love seems odd to many of us, mostly because we think of fear in the sense of being terrified of something scary, dangerous, or bad. But I think the more we learn about God, the more we realize that our love for Him must also be mixed with awe, reverence, and even fear. A devotional book that I’ve been reading puts it this way:

when we approach the Holy One with casual familiarity, we do not take Him as seriously as we ought, and we do not take our sin as seriously as we ought. Fear–not of punishment but of the overwhelming greatness of God–sees Him correctly. When this fear grips us, we begin to understand the enormity of the gospel and of our God. That understanding begins to rearrange our lives. And that is what wisdom is all about.
CHRIS TIEGREEN, 365 POCKET DEVOTIONS, DAY 40

Understanding God leads to wisdom, which leads to us changing our lives. The more we know Him, the more we’ll want to be like Him, and the more clearly we’ll see what we need to keep working on in order to move closer to that goal. Wisdom begins with fearing the Lord, and change happens as we start to become wise.

The Beginning of Being Like God | LikeAnAnchor.com — Image by Shaun Menary via Lightstock

Knowing God through His Spirit

After Paul explains that God’s people don’t often seem wise in the world’s eyes (and if they do, they’re not supposed to glory/boast about it), he starts to talk about “the wisdom of God hidden in a mystery.” God has decided to share with us deep, wonderful things that other people haven’t even imagined, and he has “revealed these to us by the Spirit” (1 Cor. 2:7-10, NET).

For who among men knows the things of a man except the man’s spirit within him? So too, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things that are freely given to us by God. And we speak about these things, not with words taught us by human wisdom, but with those taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual things to spiritual people. … we have the mind of Christ.
1 Corinthians 2:11-13, 16, NET

This is where we get wisdom–from God’s spirit working inside us and making our minds like Christ’s mind. The closer we draw to God the more we understand Him, and the more we understand Him the more in awe we are. And the more all of that comes together as we grow and change and learn, the more we become like God.

Wisdom Can Change Us

Real, godly wisdom is an incredible thing. Last year, I spent months studying and writing about wisdom in a series of 10 posts. We could write whole books about Godly wisdom, but a quick summary of the things God reveals about His wisdom can be found in James’s epistle.

Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct he should show his works done in the gentleness that wisdom brings. … the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and not hypocritical. And the fruit that consists of righteousness is planted in peace among those who make peace.
James 3:13, 16-18, NET

A proper perspective on God is the starting place for this kind of wisdom. And much like fear is the beginning of wisdom, I think we can also say that wisdom is a beginning to being like God. Notice how much of this description of godly wisdom involves character traits we can develop and/or actions that we can take. If we want to examine ourselves, this is an excellent place to start. As we consider God’s goodness and greatness, learning more and more about who He is and how we can be like Him, we ought to meditate on the characteristics of His wisdom. Every aspect of “the wisdom from above” is a part of God; are they also a part of us?

Featured image by Pearl via Lightstock

Examining Ourselves by Examining God

27 February, 202126 February, 2021Marissa

Every year before Passover, Christian and Messianic Jewish believers who follow Jesus’s instruction to keep this day “in remembrance of me” also follow Paul’s instruction to examine ourselves. Before we eat the unleavened bread and drink the wine as Jesus did “on the night in which he was betrayed,” we must examine ourselves. It’s a serious matter, for “the one who eats and drinks in an unworthy way eats and drinks judgment to himself if he doesn’t discern the Lord’s body” (1 Cor. 11:23-31. WEB).

As I ponder the question of self-examination today, about 4 weeks before Passover, I’m struck by something Job says near the end of the book bearing his name. After all his trials, all the discussions with his friends, and all of God’s replies, Job says,

I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
but now my eye has seen you.
Therefore I despise myself,
and I repent in dust and ashes!”
Job 42:5-6, NET

It’s easy to look at ourselves and think we’re doing okay unless something comes along to shake up that self-perception. Job thought he was a righteous man. He was even right about that, as God points out when He describes Job as “a blameless and upright man” at the beginning of the story (Job 1:8, NET). But Job still had room for improvement, and the more he learned about God the more fully he realized how much he still had to learn. The better we can see God, the less impressive we are to ourselves.

Heading Toward His Perfection

It is important to regularly “put yourselves to the test to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves!” (2 Cor. 13:5, NET). We can’t accurately evaluate ourselves, though, unless we understand the standard we’re measuring ourselves by. In other words, if we don’t have some idea of what we are supposed to be we don’t know how well we’re doing.

See what sort of love the Father has given to us: that we should be called God’s children—and indeed we are! For this reason the world does not know us: because it did not know him. 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 3:1-3, NET

God is calling us into His family and we are His children right now. We’re also growing and changing, becoming more and more like Him. At least, that’s what should be happening. And if we’re going to examine ourselves to see how much progress we’re making on becoming like God, we need to know what it means to be like Him. We won’t achieve perfection in this life, but we should be heading there. And if we want to know what perfection looks like, we just need to look to God for an example of how we’re supposed to be.

Examining Ourselves by Examining God | LikeAnAnchor.com — Image by Chris Mainland via Lightstock

Glimpsing His Unsearchable Riches

I keep talking about the need to see and understand God as if that’s something we could actually do as human beings. While we are invited to know Him in an increasingly familiar way, part of knowing Him involves realizing that our minds can’t warp themselves around His fullness. His thoughts are not like our thoughts (Is. 55:8-9) and “the riches both of wisdom and the knowledge of God” are so deep we’ll never plumb them all (Rom. 11:33).

I find this an encouraging realization. We’re never going to hit a point where there’s nothing left to work on, no way to grow, or nothing more to learn. The more we follow God, the more we get to engage with Him in a dynamic, growing relationship.

But just as it is written, “Things that no eye has seen, or ear heard, or mind imagined, are the things God has prepared for those who love him.” God has revealed these to us by the Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.
1 Corinthians 2:9-10, NET

By God’s spirit inside us, we get an increasingly clear picture of what it means to be like God. We even get to put on “the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:6-16). The better we know Him, the better we understand who we are meant to be and what we are supposed to do on the way toward being that person. That’s why I say that if we want to examine ourselves, we need to “examine” God. Self-examination is vital, but that process isn’t all about us even though the word “self” is in there. It’s about becoming like God.

To Fix Ourselves or to Be Like God

Putting on God’s nature often goes against our ingrained impulses. We are so used to reacting in certain ways (like anger if someone shouts at us, or spite if we’re ill treated) that trying to fix our human nature might seem impossible. And it is if we try to do that on our own. Thankfully, we’re not on our own and we don’t have to start from scratch.

“We have two options: we can try to reform the sinful human nature, or we can ask God for His nature. The former approach has never in history proven successful. Our only remaining option is to ask God.”
Chris Tiegreen, 365 Pocket Devotions, Day 78

Trying to make ourselves like God without putting on His nature is a futile endeavor. We need a more drastic change than just trying to be good or nice people. It reminds me of a C.S. Lewis quote, where he talks about the need to transform rather than just improve. Using the sort of agricultural analogy Jesus was so fond of in His parables, Lewis says,

“If I am a field that contains nothing but grass-seed, I cannot produce wheat. Cutting the grass may keep it short: but I shall still produce grass and no wheat. If I want to produce wheat, the change must go deeper than the surface. I must be ploughed up and re-sown.”
C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, book IV chapter 8

Returning to the topic of self-examination, the goal of that is not to fix ourselves by our own efforts. It’s to look for evidence of Jesus Christ in us (2 Cor. 13:5). It’s to identify areas where we’re not yet like God and ask Him to change us. The focus should be on God–who He is and who He wants us to be in Him–as much (or even more) than on ourselves.

The more we learn about God and seek to know Him, the more clearly we see ourselves. When we turn away from the Lord, our minds can deceive us into thinking we’re something different than we are. But when we turn to the Lord, who can “probe into people’s minds” and “examine people’s hearts,” we can then see ourselves as He sees us (Jer. 17:5-10, NET). We may, like Job, abhor what we see and need to repent, but there are blessings that follow something like that because God responds so positively to sincere repentance. When we look at ourselves in light of God’s goodness and realize we still aren’t perfect, it leads to humility. And when we take that humble attitude to God and ask Him to share His mind and nature with us, He will respond to our self-examination by transforming us.

Featured image by Inbetween via Lightstock