Category: PASSION Reflections

I Am an Image-Bearer of God

On By BrianIn Identity

Who am I? Last week we said that we are creatures made by God and dependent upon God. We are also image-bearers of God. God made us in his image after his likeness (Genesis 1:26-27). That means that I am like God in certain ways:

• I am a rational being – God made me like him to think. Consider the thought that went into creating the world. And then God gives Adam and Eve the task of having dominion over it (Genesis 1:26). In one day, Adam names the animals (Genesis 2:19). Consider the thought required to do all of that. God made us to think like he does. And so we ought to think! We ought to use the minds God gave us. We ought to learn. We ought to think through our actions. We ought to think.

• I am a relational being – God made me like him to love. God is three persons in an eternal loving relationship with each other. God shows his love for Adam and Eve as he provides for their needs and enters into a relationship with them. And God made us to love as he does. The two great commands are to love God and love people. We are to live in a relationship with God and the people around us. And those relationships are to be governed by love.

• I am an occupational being – God made me like him to work. Again consider the work that went into creating the world. And then God gives Adam and Eve the job of having dominion over it (Genesis 1:26). He creates a garden and tells Adam to take care of it (Genesis 2:15). God made us to work like he does. Whether it is a job, the raising of our families, or the chores around the house, God made us to work.

• I am a recreational being – God made me like him to rest. After 6 days of creating, God rested on the seventh day. He looked at his creation, and proclaimed it good. He enjoyed the results of his work. And we too are called to rest, to enjoy the work of our hands, the work of our minds. Rest from our labors is a good thing. God created us to rest like he did.

• I am a moral being – God created me like him to live uprightly. God is righteous, holy, pure, good – without any taint of evil. And we are to be holy as he is holy (I Peter 1:15-16). God commanded Adam not to eat of a certain tree, and Adam was to obey (Genesis 2:16-17). And God has given us commands that we are to obey. God made us to live uprightly.

I am like God – made in his likeness as a rational, relational, occupational, recreational, moral being. That is who I am. And I ought to live like it.

I Am a Creature

On By BrianIn Identity

Who am I? This is a huge question in our world. And many people are looking for the answer in all the wrong places. Who am I? The Bible has a lot to say about who we are. And the answer begins in creation: I am a creature.

I am a creature made by God. “So God created man” (Genesis 1:27). God made us. He is the Creator; we are the created – the creatures. There is an infinite difference between God and us. He is God; we are not. What’s more, we were formed from the dust of the ground (Genesis 2:7). We are living walking dirt.

And we are dependent dirt. He made us – our very existence depends on God. We depend upon God for food – we have food only because God created a world for us to live in that has food. We depend upon him for our abilities – he made us with mouths, eyes, ears, hands, and feet able to do numerous things. We are creatures made by God and dependent upon God.

My identity as a creature made by God and dependent on God calls for a response of humility. The cocky “look at me” attitude so common in our world is completely out of place – and downright foolish. What are we saying? Look at me – one big pile of dirt! I am dust boy. I am dust girl. Not very impressive. Not much to look at. We need humility.

And as a creature, I am not God. The world doesn’t revolve around me. God is not at my beck and call to answer my every whim. The people around me are not my personal slaves. Things don’t have to go my way. I need humility.

I am a creature made by God and dependent upon God – and my identity calls for humility.

Are You Ready To Speak?

On By BrianIn Book of Acts1 Comment

The opposition catches up with Paul in Acts 21, and a riot ensues. Paul is seized, dragged out of the temple, and beaten. The mob tries to kill him, but Paul is rescued by Roman soldiers. Battered, bruised, and bloody, he wants to speak to the hostile crowd. It doesn’t matter how he feels (read: lousy); he is ready to speak for the name of Jesus. It doesn’t matter that the crowd just tried to kill him; he wants to tell them about the Savior. In Acts 23, he is ready to speak to a hostile council testifying to his hope in the resurrection. In Acts 24-26, he is ready to speak the gospel before wicked pagan rulers. Later in Rome, he speaks to anyone who will listen.

Are you ready to speak?

No matter how you feel?

No matter who it is?

How intimidating they are?

How unlovely they may appear?

Are you ready to speak for Jesus?

What Worship Is

On By BrianIn Habit Miscellaneous1 Comment

In his commentary on Acts, R. Kent Hughes shares this excellent quote on the definition of worship.  To worship is:

To quicken the conscience by the holiness of God,
to feed the mind with the truth of God,
to purge the imagination by the beauty of God,
to open up the heart to the love of God,
to devote the will to the purpose of God.
– William Temple

Are You Ready To Sacrifice?

On By BrianIn Book of Acts

Upon arriving in Jerusalem, Paul is encouraged to participate with four other men in a vow involving the cutting of their hair, purification, and sacrifice. He is to pay for all of them. He agrees to do so. He is ready to sacrifice.

Andrew and Peter are mending their nets when Jesus comes along and calls them to follow him. They leave their nets behind and follow him. They were ready to sacrifice for Jesus.

As I posted two days ago, Chris Norman could have played NFL football, but God called him to go to seminary instead. He was ready to sacrifice for Jesus.

Are you ready to sacrifice?

Are you ready to sacrifice your dreams for better dreams?

Are you ready to sacrifice your plans for God’s plans?

Are you ready to sacrifice your time to share the gospel, to show the love of Christ to someone?

Are you ready to sacrifice your money to spread the gospel to other parts of the world?

Are you ready to sacrifice everything if God calls you to do so?

Are you ready to sacrifice for Jesus?

Are You Ready To Suffer?

On By BrianIn Book of Acts1 Comment

On his way to Jerusalem, Paul is warned that he will be imprisoned. His friends urge him not to go, but he responds, “I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 21:13). He was ready to suffer imprisonment and even death for Jesus.

Are you ready to suffer?

Perhaps God would call you to be a missionary in a village with no gospel witness or to a tribe that has never heard the name of Jesus. Are you ready to suffer?

God calls all of us to share the gospel. Are you ready to suffer?

We must hold to the truth of God’s Word in a world that increasingly is embracing the lies of the devil. Are you ready to suffer?

We may not suffer imprisonment or death like many of our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world. But are you ready to suffer ridicule? You may be hated for the name of Jesus. You may be avoided, shunned. You may even lose your job. Are you ready to suffer?

Jesus told us that if we would be his disciples, we must take up our cross daily and follow him (Luke 9:23). A cross is an object of suffering. We should expect suffering.

Are you ready to suffer for the name of the Lord Jesus?

The One True God

On By BrianIn Book of Acts, God & His Glory, Idolatry3 Comments

In a city full of idols, Paul stood up and proclaimed that there is one true God (Acts 17).  And in our world today full of idols, we too must stand up and declare that there is one true God.  And this one true God stands far above the idols of our world.

  • The one true God is the Creator (v24).  The earth and sky, the sun, moon, and stars, every tree, every blade of grass, every animal, every person was made by God.  Compare God to the idols of our day – created things every one.  Wealth, material things, the newest gadget – all created things.  Will you live for, trust in, and seek your significance in the Creator or the created?
  • The one true God is the Lord (v24).  Over heaven and earth.  He reigns over all he has made.  He is the king.  He rules with unlimited power over his creation.  Compare God to our idols with limited power at best.  Wealth, stuff, popularity – all with limited power.  Will you live for, trust in, and seek your significance in the Lord of unlimited power or an idol of limited power?
  • The one true God is self-sufficient (v24-25).  He doesn’t need anything or anyone – to exist, to continue, to act.  Compare God to our idols that are all fading.  Not one will last forever.  Our idols rot, rust, and wear out.  They are lost, stolen, taxed.  Will you live for, trust in, and seek your significance in the self-sufficient God or a fading idol?
  • The one true God is the life-giver (v25).  He is the source of all – your life, your breath, your strength, your abilities, your wealth – all comes from God.  Compare God to our idols which are life-suckers.  They suck away our lives as we chase after them, pursue them, trust in them, only to be let down because they cannot satisfy us like we want them to.  Will you live for, trust in, and seek your significance in the Life-Giver or a life-sucker?
  • The one true God is sovereign (v26).  He is in control.  He determines when you will live and where.  Compare God to our idols which by and large we control, we manipulate.  Perhaps that is why we like them – but they are less than us, and can’t give us lasting significance.  Will you live for, trust in, and seek your significance in the One who is in control or an idol that we control?
  • Finally, the one true God desires a relationship with us (v27).  Ponder that.  This Creator and Lord who is self-sufficient, life-giving, and sovereign actually desires a relationship with us.  He wants us to seek him, to find him, to know him.  Compare this God with your idols which don’t care about you at all.  Your money doesn’t care about you.  Neither do your things, the newest gadget, the latest entertainment.  Will you live for, trust in, and seek your significance in the God who cares about you or an idol that couldn’t care less?

Perhaps Isaiah 46 sums it up best.  You can choose an idol that you must carry, or you can choose the one true God who will carry you.  Your choice.

A World Full of Idols

On By BrianIn Book of Acts, Idolatry

Athens was full of idols (Acts 17:16).  One writer of the day said there were 30,000 statues of gods and goddesses.  Quite remarkable, when there were only about 10,000 people.  It was a world full of idols.

America too is a world full of idols.  Not statues, but false gods aplenty.  An idol is what we live for, what we trust in.  It is the place where we seek significance and fulfillment.  And our streets are lined with idols like this.  Our media is filled with these kinds of idols.  Wealth, material things, sex, popularity, power, entertainment – all good things in the right context unless we live for them, trust in them, seek significance and fulfillment in them.  And many do.  We live in a world full of idols.

The people of Athens were obsessed with something new (v21).  Sounds like our country.  We are obsessed with the newest technological gadget, the latest movie, game, or book, the next fashion, the spirituality of tomorrow.  Only tomorrow it will be old.  Everything is quickly dated.  The new has become one more idol that we live for, trust in, and seek significance, fulfillment, and satisfaction in.  And like the other idols of our day, it never satisfies.  It leaves us empty, looking for something more.

Maturity in Christ

On By BrianIn Book of Acts1 Comment

Three times in Acts 15:30-6:5, we find the word “strengthened”.  Judas and Silas “encouraged and strengthened the brothers with many words” (15:32).  Paul and Silas were “strengthening the churches” (15:41).  The churches were “strengthened in the faith” (16:5).

We too need to be strengthened.  We need to be strengthened by the teaching of the Word.  We need to be strengthened by the encouragement of others.  We need to be strengthened in our faith.  We need to mature in Christ.

And we ought to pursue this maturity.  We gather together to be strengthened as we spend time praising God, praying, and hear the Word.  We commit to regularly spend time alone with God in His Word, and prayer, and praise.  We come together as families to read the Word and pray and sing.  We pursue growth.  We pursue maturity.  And as we mature, we can help to strengthen others, helping them to mature.

Don’t float through your Christian life.  Get the oars in the water.  Get serious about pursuing maturity in Christ.