....And What We Are Becoming
In our last episode, we left our protagonist (me) in a sorry state--trailing off in a zombie-like state, urged on by an inner compulsion to follow my master even though the path my master takes is drawing me to certain destruction. There is no hope for me--or so it seems.
Ahhh, but things are not as hopeless as they seem, for there is a Character in our story not yet introduced, Someone waiting in the wings who now springs into action:
But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly {places} in Christ Jesus..... (Ephesians 2:4-6)
There I am, doing my terrible zombie dance, when God, because of the depth of His love for me, enters my story. He puts life into my zombie heart, life that arises from my being identified with Christ and and included in His risen life. The pipe music I am dancing to fades away, and I am drawn to a new life, a new dance, a new way of being, a new Piper through God's great love.
And what is God's reason for doing this for me? Why did he stoop down to rescue someone deserving only destruction, someone disobediently thumbing her nose at His music?
....so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:7)
He is showcasing His grace through His kindness to me. We can see how deep His grace really is, how surpassing its riches are, because of God has done for us. He focuses His love on hopeless sinners in order to show how great that love is. He is merciful to me in order to show how rich He is in mercy. He is kind to me in order to show the exceedingly wealth of His grace.
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10)
The God who creates out of nothing gave life to a zombie and called into being that which did not exist. The One who said said, "Light shall shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in [my heart] to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:6)
The new life I have been called into ex nihilo is a completely different sort of life than the life of the walking dead. It is not a life of disobedience, but of obedience. My new path and my new Piper call me away from the self-indulgent dance of my old zombie state into the new path and new music of good works prepared by Him for me to do. We are called to "no longer live for [ourselves], but for Him who died and rose again on [our] behalf." (2 Corinthians 5:15) We were "joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God." (Romans 7:4) The old dance has passed away, and the new dance has come.
So our story resolves....well sort of. God has worked His new creation, and so I need to do the works of a new creation. There is a new Piper, and so I must dance the new dance. It is a story of victory that calls me to be faithful in battle.
Ahhh, but things are not as hopeless as they seem, for there is a Character in our story not yet introduced, Someone waiting in the wings who now springs into action:
But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly {places} in Christ Jesus..... (Ephesians 2:4-6)
There I am, doing my terrible zombie dance, when God, because of the depth of His love for me, enters my story. He puts life into my zombie heart, life that arises from my being identified with Christ and and included in His risen life. The pipe music I am dancing to fades away, and I am drawn to a new life, a new dance, a new way of being, a new Piper through God's great love.
And what is God's reason for doing this for me? Why did he stoop down to rescue someone deserving only destruction, someone disobediently thumbing her nose at His music?
....so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:7)
He is showcasing His grace through His kindness to me. We can see how deep His grace really is, how surpassing its riches are, because of God has done for us. He focuses His love on hopeless sinners in order to show how great that love is. He is merciful to me in order to show how rich He is in mercy. He is kind to me in order to show the exceedingly wealth of His grace.
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10)
The God who creates out of nothing gave life to a zombie and called into being that which did not exist. The One who said said, "Light shall shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in [my heart] to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:6)
The new life I have been called into ex nihilo is a completely different sort of life than the life of the walking dead. It is not a life of disobedience, but of obedience. My new path and my new Piper call me away from the self-indulgent dance of my old zombie state into the new path and new music of good works prepared by Him for me to do. We are called to "no longer live for [ourselves], but for Him who died and rose again on [our] behalf." (2 Corinthians 5:15) We were "joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God." (Romans 7:4) The old dance has passed away, and the new dance has come.
So our story resolves....well sort of. God has worked His new creation, and so I need to do the works of a new creation. There is a new Piper, and so I must dance the new dance. It is a story of victory that calls me to be faithful in battle.
posted by Rebecca Stark at 3/05/2004 10:55:00 AM
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