The Planks of the Faith: Remembering for Re-Membering, Part 4
Did you eat, drink, and make merry over the Thanksgiving holiday? I hope the merriment included a portion of how deep and long-lasting satiation occurs as well:
“O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water” (Psalm 63:1).
In a “dry and thirsty land”, where for far too many Thanksgivings are nothing more than “insatiable consuming” in every sense of the word, we need to be especially attentive to the God-thirst, the soul-hunger, and the relational intimacy we long for at the heart of the heart level.
In the last few days of commemorating Thanksgiving, I was reminded of a John Bunyan quote that I had chewed on for some time a while back. It has to do with what we’ve been feasting on ‘round the Training Table.
It’s about forgetting as a natural part of our fallen state. It’s not innocent to the redeemed yet still-fallen-and-being-sanctified… Saint.
However, the perseverance of the Saints, by the person and the power of the Holy Spirit, is stronger still. By grace, gratitude, and engrafting, we are reminded of the need for the continual sustenance of our Triune God and of our undying service to our community.
John Bunyan said, “Fear, unless by forgetting what you are by nature, you also forget the need that you have of continual pardon, support, and supplies from the Spirit of grace, and so by forgetting you risk growing proud of your own abilities, or of what you have received from God.”
“The Planks of the Faith”, nailed down herein, are humbly offered to the Sons and Daughters of God—adopted through God’s effectual calling, the Holy Spirit’s regenerating of the heart, the sinner’s repentance, and Jesus Christ’s blood atonement on the cross—SO THAT we will be inspired and energized to run the good race, and spread the Good News of the Gospel, to any person who God providentially places in our midst JUST for this reason!
Today’s Plank of the Faith: Article 10: The Deity of Christ
“We believe that Jesus Christ, according to His divine nature, is the only Son of God— eternally begotten, not made nor created, for then He would be a creature.
Jesus Christ is one in essence with the Father; co-eternal; the exact image of the person of the Father and the “reflection of his glory,” (Col. 1:15; Heb. 1:3) being in all things like Him.
Jesus Christ is the Son of God not only from the time He assumed our nature but also from all eternity, as the following testimonies teach us when they are taken together:
Moses says that God “created the world”; (Gen. 1:1) and John says that “all things were created by the Word,” (John 1:3) which he calls God. The apostle says that “God made the world by His Son.” (Heb. 1:2) He also says that “God created all things by Jesus Christ.” (Col. 1:16)
And so it must follow that He who is called God, the Word, the Son, and Jesus Christ already existed when all things were created by Him.
Therefore, the prophet Micah says that His origin is “from ancient times, from eternity.” (Mic. 5:2) And the apostle says that He has “neither beginning of days nor end of life.” (Heb. 7:3).
So then, Jesus Christ is the true eternal God, the Almighty, whom we invoke, worship, and serve.” (Article 10, The Belgic Confession of Faith, 1561)
Please excuse the mixed metaphor, but this is “the cornerstone plank” of God’s redemptive plan! Either we accept Jesus Christ for Who the Bible says He is and offer all our life to Him as a living sacrifice, or we should have the intellectual and moral integrity to refute the claims and offer an alternative reality of the history and impact of Christianity.
As the Feast of the Heart (via Francis Schaeffer) states, REFORMATION begets REVIVAL which begets CONSTRUCTIVE REVOLUTION:
When we are reminded of the True Truth, of the doctrine, (“reformation”) of precisely Who Jesus Christ is, we are empowered (“revived” by the Holy Spirit) to take into account at a much deeper level what the impact of the very Son of God living inside us can look like—in word and in deed (constructive revolution)!
There is no amount of feasting on this central truth that will completely satiate us. Why? Because until Jesus returns, we will have “leaky hearts” (due to sin) and we will seek to empty ourselves of the portion God gives us SO THAT others will be filled (Phil. 2)!
Like tapping a spring of fresh cold water that happens to bubble-up from our property and making a water fountain for others to drink, reformation, revival, and constructive revolution is ours… to give away.
Please remind yourself of who you are in Christ Jesus, “Today…” (Psalm 95:7-8)—and every day in some way, shape, or form, Beloved of God:
Please consider… as I close with a very pertinent and personal note that has universal application: This Thanksgiving, as I stood in our kitchen across the counter from our daughter Polly, her husband Will, and our son Teddy, I soaked-in BIG TIME the picture and process they were all involved in as each of them commented on some of their favorite Christian worship songs.
Scanning iThings of various kinds, each of our children (and son-in-law) showed their excitement about “sharing the marvels and melodies of their faith”… through worship music!
As I stepped back and took a picture of the scene, I smiled inside as broad as sea to shining sea… I shed some silent tears in the deepest joy a parent can experience… and I offered my deepest thanks to God for His grace in transforming the hearts of our children, providng their lfe meaning in the deepest sense, and securing them in eternity, face-to-face with Jesus when they move on from here.
Who am I in Christ? I’m a sinner-saved by grace and a deeply grateful Dad… of the Sons and Daughters of the living God! It doesn’t get any better than this.
“Give thanks to the LORD, call on His name; AND make it known among the nations what He has done” (Psalm 105:1—emphasis added).
JohnDoz
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