Summary: "because we are in christ, everything that happens to him happens to us. Jesus loves us as his body"
there are several ways to describe our logical relationship to christ. (our emotional relationship...that can take up books and books :) )
the most succint description is 'in', but we can also say we are servants of Christ, or his slaves, or sons of God, or children of God. I will focus on the slave/servant idea.
In a servant/master relationship, the servant is the property of the master, inside the master, if you will. Everything that happens to the master as a whole also happens to the servant. So if the entirety of Jesus is killed for sin and raised to life, so are those who are slaves to Christ.
So, take this to heart because it's amazing - in a certain sense we reign with christ. revelation 20:6 "they [us saints] will be priests of God and of christ and will reign with him for a thousand years]
Isn't that cool!
Everything that happens to Christ happens to us - taken with a grain of salt because we're still human and crying with unworthiness every day.
Now, we are also in christ in the sense that we are his body. Nice.
Marriage is often cited as being like the relationship between Christ and the church. [I, for one, have to think over that one for a while] Ephesians 5:28 "in the same way [as Christ loves the church], husbands ought to lvoe their wives as their own bodies."
so think about how you love your own body. and not like "yes, I look pretty attractive", but do you enjoy moving, running, living? do you throw a ball with exact aim and you say to yourself "wow! :) I love my body!" I don't know what girls would think - I suppose you aren't particularly enthralled by throwing balls, but I bet you can imagine something. it is fun to live and move!
In the same way, Christ delights in us as his body. He enjoys using us. He takes care of us, like a well-oiled machine. he will also work and exercise us, temporary pain but long term gain and pleasure for the body.
Ha! I just had this idea. Jesus is up in heaven, and he really wants to come down and enjoy being human, but he can't exactly show up on earth in a blaze of glory. so instead, he says to himself "I'll live inside of my people!"
God is in you, by the way, the light of God and christ shine through you. Actually, he may shine with real physical manifestations. some say that when people come to Christ, their eyes actually become brighter. cool, huh?
ok, so just know that you're in Jesus, and in for all the benefits and adventures he goes through, and also know that Jesus loves you as his body, he uses you and is in you too, shining and working brilliantly.
07 August 2010
woods in rain, fufillment of nature
this happened on 7/14/10, but I haven't got around to recording it until now! :)
pouring rain like none other at our house. I decided to traipse through the rain in bare feet and see what I could find. at least 12-18 square yards of standing water - like a rain forest. I took a safari into our woods and found the hugest ferns ever. with water on huge leaves everywhere, it was halfway to avatar.
then I thought "if this is what creation looks like after the fall...what will it look like after the restoration!"
oh by the way, "the creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of god to be revealed." Romands 8:19. We were appointed masters and owners of creation. when we get restored, so will it. So I'm thinking Avatar and better. woot woot!
pouring rain like none other at our house. I decided to traipse through the rain in bare feet and see what I could find. at least 12-18 square yards of standing water - like a rain forest. I took a safari into our woods and found the hugest ferns ever. with water on huge leaves everywhere, it was halfway to avatar.
then I thought "if this is what creation looks like after the fall...what will it look like after the restoration!"
oh by the way, "the creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of god to be revealed." Romands 8:19. We were appointed masters and owners of creation. when we get restored, so will it. So I'm thinking Avatar and better. woot woot!
goals emo+dat
Summary "goals for Christ followers are based off of reality, not preferences. Those goals have both logical and emotional basis."
reference "values and psyche change" from July 22.
In today's world, we call things 'good' or 'bad'. What do we mean by that? Generally, I think we're trying to reach a certain state of existence. Socially, we're aiming for world peace, coexistence, free health care for everyone (ok, not really), happiness in general, etc. Personally, we're just looking for appeasement being happy.
The problem with this mindset is that different people have conflicting goals. And even if we were all in this together, how do we decide what goal is the best? I mean, what fundamental property of the universe says that we should all be happy? And even if happiness was the end goal, how much happiness is enough?
Think about that.
Now, what if goals, 'good' and 'bad' were based off of realities, not things we hope for?
What if we do good things, and not do bad things, because that's the way we were designed? God designed us to seek our own happiness by seeking the greatest source of happiness, himself.
Do not strive for some ethereal goal that's just 'out there'. Strive to be in sync with the natural order of the universe. Fulfillment. Obedience. Peace and rest.
Don't get pantheistic here. God is real and divine/human and living and personal.
But seek him! seek a knowledge of the natural order of the universe, because he is the creator, sustainer, the pinnacle top of it all. and he loves us too!
ok, here's the emotional/factual duality.
factual: God is the absolute of the universe, the most powerful being, a huge monolith of existence that transcends all understanding. we seek god because he designed us that way.
emotional: we have God, the holy spirit, inside of us. vivid awesome! romance, epic, delight... God not only designed us to seek him, he gave us emotional satisfaction for doing so, emotional craziness when we get close to God.
emotion and data at the same time.
it's true, and we love it!
reference "values and psyche change" from July 22.
In today's world, we call things 'good' or 'bad'. What do we mean by that? Generally, I think we're trying to reach a certain state of existence. Socially, we're aiming for world peace, coexistence, free health care for everyone (ok, not really), happiness in general, etc. Personally, we're just looking for appeasement being happy.
The problem with this mindset is that different people have conflicting goals. And even if we were all in this together, how do we decide what goal is the best? I mean, what fundamental property of the universe says that we should all be happy? And even if happiness was the end goal, how much happiness is enough?
Think about that.
Now, what if goals, 'good' and 'bad' were based off of realities, not things we hope for?
What if we do good things, and not do bad things, because that's the way we were designed? God designed us to seek our own happiness by seeking the greatest source of happiness, himself.
Do not strive for some ethereal goal that's just 'out there'. Strive to be in sync with the natural order of the universe. Fulfillment. Obedience. Peace and rest.
Don't get pantheistic here. God is real and divine/human and living and personal.
But seek him! seek a knowledge of the natural order of the universe, because he is the creator, sustainer, the pinnacle top of it all. and he loves us too!
ok, here's the emotional/factual duality.
factual: God is the absolute of the universe, the most powerful being, a huge monolith of existence that transcends all understanding. we seek god because he designed us that way.
emotional: we have God, the holy spirit, inside of us. vivid awesome! romance, epic, delight... God not only designed us to seek him, he gave us emotional satisfaction for doing so, emotional craziness when we get close to God.
emotion and data at the same time.
it's true, and we love it!
christ the man-king
Summary: "Jesus Christ is both human - like you can sit down and chat, and the king of the universe"
Jesus Christ is human. We know that. But humans aren't just weak sinners, we talk, we run around, we work, etc. Jesus is just like us. Yes, he is much more than just like us, but he is like us. You could sit down across a table at Perkins and talk to this guy. He would say thing like "Don't worry, I'm always here." and "Isn't the weather beautiful today?"
He is human, you can chat with him, best friend.
But now you're best friend is the king of the universe.
AWESOME!
You still have those conversations, but it makes you very humble and very grateful. You can still rant and cry about the things that hurt you, he is still a personal healer, but he is also lord of creation. and that makes it soooo much better!
salute the king with tears of unworthiness!
and then hug him.
Jesus Christ is human. We know that. But humans aren't just weak sinners, we talk, we run around, we work, etc. Jesus is just like us. Yes, he is much more than just like us, but he is like us. You could sit down across a table at Perkins and talk to this guy. He would say thing like "Don't worry, I'm always here." and "Isn't the weather beautiful today?"
He is human, you can chat with him, best friend.
But now you're best friend is the king of the universe.
AWESOME!
You still have those conversations, but it makes you very humble and very grateful. You can still rant and cry about the things that hurt you, he is still a personal healer, but he is also lord of creation. and that makes it soooo much better!
salute the king with tears of unworthiness!
and then hug him.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)