The Paradox of Our New Life and Putting Away Childish Things – Purity 872

The Paradox of Our New Life and Putting Away Childish
Things – Purity 872

Purity 872 10/26/2022 Purity 872 Podcast

Good morning,

Today’s photo of the stark contrast between what I
believe to be winter wheat and a field of corn ready to be harvested comes to
us from yours truly as I captured this scene while out walking along Waite Rd
in Easton NY back on October 14^th.  

Well it is Wednesday and all though there is no “hump”
in today’s photo I thought that the stark line of contrast between the old and
the new crops could adequately visually represent the midpoint of our work
week.  

And the thing about looking at a midpoint of
transition is that the lesson we learn from it has a lot to do with our
perspective.   In today’s photo we could
look at that fresh young winter wheat and think that represents our youth and
look at the corn, that is past its prime, as old age and it is only waiting for
the “grim reaper” to come take it away.  

Now while there is obviously some truth in seeing things
that way, that we grow, age, and die, the Christian disciple understands that there
is more to the story of our lives than what we can easily discern with our
observations of life on earth.   In

John
11:25-26 (NKJV) – Jesus said to Martha
²⁵   “I
am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he
shall live.
²⁶  And
whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

So although none of us are as “green” as we used to be and are
increasingly approaching the time we will be “harvested”, there is a fresh new
life in God’s kingdom waiting for us.   

The world would tell us that we are running out of life, but
the truth, for the Christian, is that we are increasingly getting closer to the
culmination of the life God is preparing us for, a life in His presence that
goes on forever. 

Many are concerned with the “end times” but for the Christian
Christ’s return will be a new beginning.

As much as the “end times” and the contemplation of our
physical death and new lives in heaven or the new heavens and new earth can
capture our imaginations, the Lord hasn’t revealed those things to us perfectly
just yet and while they should give us hope rather than fear, Christ’s final
words to us didn’t tell us to “hold on to the end and wait for heaven. Christ said
in

Matthew
28:18-20 (NKJV)
¹⁸  …, “All
authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
¹⁹  Go
therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
²⁰  teaching
them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you
always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.  

So Christ told us that He was sharing His authority with us to
go and make disciples in all the word and He made a point to tell us to baptize
them and to teach them to observe, to actually do, what He has commanded
us.  And He encouraged us with the
assurance that He would be with us, even to the end of the age.  

So when I look at today’s photo, I look at the scene from
right to left.  I see that fading cornfield
as my past life of confusion, worldliness and sin, and I see that fresh green
winter wheat as my new life in Christ which is alive, growing, and thriving
even when the changing season may cause you to think that the times of new
growth are over.  

The world system tells us that we are continually past our
prime and that “life as we know it” is increasingly over.  You can buy “over the hill” themed birthday
supplies for almost any age.  I saw a 30^th
birthday cake with a tombstone that said “Here lies my youth”.  Yup it’s all over, your 30! 

But that’s a narrative that starts in child hood, when we
think 13 (remember when your older friends or siblings became “teenagers”), 16,
18, 20 or 21 is old, and it never ends.  Our
world system is always lamenting our increasing age because it doesn’t know the
hope that the Christian should know. The world doesn’t know that this life is a
preparation ground, a stage, for the establishment of God’s kingdom.  

Paradoxically, as much as the world seems to love youth, our
experience teaches us that youth is not necessarily something we want to covet.  When we look back, we should see just how
ignorant, foolish, and inexperienced we were and be grateful that we no longer
live there. We know better now and that’s a good thing.  

And this really plays out in the life of a Christian Disciple.
The Apostle Paul wrote:

1
Corinthians 13:11 (NKJV)
¹¹  When I was a child, I
spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I
became a man, I put away childish things.

When
we become mature in Christ, we put away the childish things that we so
desperately held onto in our ignorance that we thought were important, were
good, or would fulfill us.   As we grow
in our faith our understanding become mature and reveals that the things we
though would fulfill us or make us happy, like material possessions, euphoric
experiences, or worldly accomplishments, are revealed as things that are
shallow and temporary and as we go through time we see that those things are
the things that are fading away, not us. 
Those things are the things that should lament the passage of time as
their glory fades away as their ability to last and fulfill us are revealed to
be limited if not an out right lie.  

As
we let go of those childish things, our peace increases as the weight of
carrying them though life with us is relieved. As we place our value on the
things that ultimately matter and that will last, our relationship with God and
with our fellow disciples that we have hope for, we don’t fear the passage of
time and instead rejoice over the increase in our knowledge and experience we
gain of the Lord’s meaning and purpose for our lives.   

As
we keep walking and talking with God, we can know Him more and we can
understand the truth behind verses like:

Psalm 23:1 (NKJV)
¹  The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

When we follow the Lord, The Good Shepherd,
we don’t lack for anything because In Him, in Christ, we have everything we
need.  And we can know the truth of

 

Psalm 23:6
(NKJV) that tells us:
⁶  Surely goodness and mercy
shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever.

This path of Christian Discipleship, following
Jesus, is a path where we continually experience the goodness and mercy of the
Lord all of the days of our lives and when we walk out those days we can have
peace knowing that we will one day dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

——————————————————————————————————

Today’s Bible verse comes to us from “The NLT Bible
Promise Book for Men”.

This morning’s meditation verse is:

Psalm 9:18 (NLT2)
¹⁸  But the needy will not be
ignored forever; the hopes of the poor will not always be crushed.

Today’s Bible verse assures us that the needy will not be ignored
forever, and that hopes of the poor will not be crushed.

If you read Psalm 9, the previous verse describes the fate of the
wicked, who ignore God, as going down to the grave.  So the implication here is that these “needy”
and “poor” who will not be ignored forever, and whose hopes won’t be
crushed,  do not ignore God.   Psalm 9 encourages us all rather to praise
the Lord because we know Him and His goodness and even if we find ourselves in
times of need or may be poor our ultimate hope is fulfilled in our relationship
with Him.  

We will not go “down to the grave” but will be saved. 

While we are never guaranteed lives free of suffering and filled
with riches, Christians are given the richness of life that comes from being in
the Lord’s presence and having that assurance that our hopes will not always be
crushed because one day we will see God face to face and spend eternity with
Him.

 

___________________________________________

As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org where I
always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to
assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk.

Today we continue sharing from Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s
“Discipleship”, also known as “The Cost of Discipleship”

As always, I share this information for educational
purposes and encourage all to purchase Bonhoeffer’s books for your own
private study and to support his work.  This resource is available on
many websites for less than $20.00.

The
Sermon on the Mount

Matthew
5

On
the “Extraordinary”
of Christian Life

Woman – concludes

 

Jesus does not demand
that his followers get married. But he sanctifies marriage according to the law
by declaring it to be unbreakable. Even in cases where one party divorces the
other because of infidelity, he prohibits the other from remarrying. With this
commandment Jesus liberates marriage from selfish evil desire and intends for
it to be conducted as a service of love, as is possible only in following him.
Jesus does not disapprove of the body and its natural desires. But he rejects
the lack of faith that is concealed in it. Thus he does not dissolve marriage,
but strengthens and sanctifies it by faith. Those who follow him maintain their
sole allegiance to Christ even in their marriage by practicing discipline and
self-denial. Christ is Lord even of the followers’ marriage. This causes the
marriage of disciples to be something different than civil marriage, but,
again, this is not contempt for marriage, but precisely its sanctification.

It appears that Jesus
contradicts Old Testament law by demanding that marriage be indissoluble. But
he explains his conformity with Mosaic law (Matt. 19:8). “Because of the
hardness of their hearts” the Israelites were permitted to divorce. That means
it was permitted only to keep their hearts from even greater wantonness. But
the intent of Old Testament law agrees with Jesus in that its main concern is
the purity of marriage, marriage conducted in faith in God. This purity, that
is, chastity, is preserved in community with Jesus, in discipleship.

Because Jesus is
solely concerned with the complete purity, that is, the chastity, of his
disciples, he must also praise complete renunciation of marriage for the sake
of God’s realm. Jesus does not make either marriage or celibacy into a required
program. Instead, he frees his disciples from πορνεία,
infidelity within and outside of marriage, which is a sin not only against
one’s own body, but a sin against the very body of Christ (1 Cor. 6:13–15).
Even the body of the disciple belongs to Christ and discipleship; our bodies
are members of his body. Because Jesus, the Son of God, assumed a human body,
and because we are in communion with his body, that is why infidelity is a sin
against Jesus’ own body.

Jesus’ body was
crucified. The apostle says of those who belong to Christ that they have
crucified the flesh with its passions and desires (Gal. 5:24). Thus, the
fulfillment of even this Old Testament commandment becomes true only in the
crucified, martyred body of Jesus Christ. The sight of that body, which was
given for us, and our communion with it provide the disciples with the strength
for the chastity which Jesus commands.^[1]

—————————more
tomorrow————————

Join our
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Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship