:: To know also as I am known ::
I just love the interconnectedness of the Bible. Everywhere you turn the page there's a verse that relates directly to something that God has just totally lit you up about and it's almost like He's pointing you there to further emphasize His point.
Recently, I've been lit up by the verses in 1 Corinthians 13 that I would always glaze over. Maybe you know the part that I'm talking about. The "when I was a child, I spoke as a I child, I understood as I child, I thought as a child. But when I became a man I put away childish things. For we know in part, and we prophest in part, but when that which is perfect comes, then that which is in part will be done away with. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know also as I am known." Wow. Maybe I do have this chapter memorized! (I've been playing it on repeat in my car wherever I go. It's time to get the Word established in my heart, people!)
Anyway, I asked God one night to protect me in my sleep. Not from some murderer entering in my room and killing me, or from a disease or death, but from bad dreams. I've been having those lately and it's made sleep difficult. I haven't been too scared to go back to sleep, because I go back in there with armor on and a giant sword, ready to destroy whatever is coming after me. But still, the nightmares have woken me up and I was fed up with it. I also asked God to be present in my dreams instead of these dark things. I asked Him to reveal things to me that I didn't know about before. And, well, he answered my prayer. Without going into too much detail about the dream, before it was over I was sitting at the back of North Creek Elementary School's cafeteria, huddled up against the bleachers, praying to God for forgiveness, and repeating "to be known also as I am known. To be known also as I am known." When I woke up, I immeditately understood it's meaning!
When we are in Christ's love, it's then that we can understand ourselves as God sees us. We can see who we are truly CREATED to be. We can see who we are face-to-face and not in a mirror, dimly. When the perfect love of God has entered our hearts, we see ourselves as we truly are, not as the world sees us, or our friends, our family, or our coworkers. We discover our true identity.
So here, through a dream, I understood 1Corinthians 13:12. Totally awesome. Well, this morning more of the truth behind this 1Corinthians passage was revealed to me through the Ephesians study we are doing in BSF right now.
Ephesians 4:13-14 says: "until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. (NIV" I like the way the KJV phrases this when it says "...become a perfect (or mature) man...That we henceforth be no more children..."
This passage spoke to me of 1Corinthians 13:11 - "when I was a child, I spoke as a child..." The Ephesians passage speaks of how the Church body as a whole can become unified in the love of Christ, or as it says in the NIV passage, the "knowledege" of Christ. How do we get this knowledge of Christ? Well, we can read the Word, praying that the Holy Spirit will be revealing awesome things to us as we go. Which, of course, should be done. Let's face it, that's how God revealed this connection to the 1Corinthians passage to me this morning! But we can also do what I have found to be super effective in my life. We can pray the scriptures. If we read Ephesians 3:16-21, we see that Paul prays a totally awesome prayer for the Ephesians. At one point he prays that they would receive the knowledge of Christ. Verse 19 says "And to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." So how do we obtain the knowledge of Christ that leads to the fullness of God in our lives and thus a maturity in Christ and a better knowledge of who we are created to be? We pray Ephesians 3:16-21! And by praying this prayer and by acknowledging the power of the love of Christ, we can stop being that child who is "tossed by the waves" and is taken astray by the teachings of others. We become rooted and grounded and we realize how God sees us and gain confidence from it.
Last week at BSF we talked about something very similar to this. Jan was giving a lecture and mentioned how when we die and go to Heaven, God will put us on display for all of eternity, because we are his masterpieces. She said, "No Christian should have self-esteem issues if they see themselves like that." And she's right! She's absolutely right. If we see ourselves as God sees us, His masterpieces and His works of art, people worthy of being on display for all eternity...man, do we get a confidence boost! Now that's not to say we should be prideful or arrogant about it. But when Satan, this world, or our flesh is trying to bring us down, we need to remember who we are in Christ! We need to remember that God has started a work in us and He will most assuredly finish it. Though we may seem imperfect now, and though we may fall, we will be on display for all eternity as pieces of art that glorify and show the awesome talents of our Creator. We need to live our lives as masterpieces of God, always showing others that the One who created us exceeds in talent over anything we can possibly think of.
Recently, I've been lit up by the verses in 1 Corinthians 13 that I would always glaze over. Maybe you know the part that I'm talking about. The "when I was a child, I spoke as a I child, I understood as I child, I thought as a child. But when I became a man I put away childish things. For we know in part, and we prophest in part, but when that which is perfect comes, then that which is in part will be done away with. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know also as I am known." Wow. Maybe I do have this chapter memorized! (I've been playing it on repeat in my car wherever I go. It's time to get the Word established in my heart, people!)
Anyway, I asked God one night to protect me in my sleep. Not from some murderer entering in my room and killing me, or from a disease or death, but from bad dreams. I've been having those lately and it's made sleep difficult. I haven't been too scared to go back to sleep, because I go back in there with armor on and a giant sword, ready to destroy whatever is coming after me. But still, the nightmares have woken me up and I was fed up with it. I also asked God to be present in my dreams instead of these dark things. I asked Him to reveal things to me that I didn't know about before. And, well, he answered my prayer. Without going into too much detail about the dream, before it was over I was sitting at the back of North Creek Elementary School's cafeteria, huddled up against the bleachers, praying to God for forgiveness, and repeating "to be known also as I am known. To be known also as I am known." When I woke up, I immeditately understood it's meaning!
When we are in Christ's love, it's then that we can understand ourselves as God sees us. We can see who we are truly CREATED to be. We can see who we are face-to-face and not in a mirror, dimly. When the perfect love of God has entered our hearts, we see ourselves as we truly are, not as the world sees us, or our friends, our family, or our coworkers. We discover our true identity.
So here, through a dream, I understood 1Corinthians 13:12. Totally awesome. Well, this morning more of the truth behind this 1Corinthians passage was revealed to me through the Ephesians study we are doing in BSF right now.
Ephesians 4:13-14 says: "until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. (NIV" I like the way the KJV phrases this when it says "...become a perfect (or mature) man...That we henceforth be no more children..."
This passage spoke to me of 1Corinthians 13:11 - "when I was a child, I spoke as a child..." The Ephesians passage speaks of how the Church body as a whole can become unified in the love of Christ, or as it says in the NIV passage, the "knowledege" of Christ. How do we get this knowledge of Christ? Well, we can read the Word, praying that the Holy Spirit will be revealing awesome things to us as we go. Which, of course, should be done. Let's face it, that's how God revealed this connection to the 1Corinthians passage to me this morning! But we can also do what I have found to be super effective in my life. We can pray the scriptures. If we read Ephesians 3:16-21, we see that Paul prays a totally awesome prayer for the Ephesians. At one point he prays that they would receive the knowledge of Christ. Verse 19 says "And to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." So how do we obtain the knowledge of Christ that leads to the fullness of God in our lives and thus a maturity in Christ and a better knowledge of who we are created to be? We pray Ephesians 3:16-21! And by praying this prayer and by acknowledging the power of the love of Christ, we can stop being that child who is "tossed by the waves" and is taken astray by the teachings of others. We become rooted and grounded and we realize how God sees us and gain confidence from it.
Last week at BSF we talked about something very similar to this. Jan was giving a lecture and mentioned how when we die and go to Heaven, God will put us on display for all of eternity, because we are his masterpieces. She said, "No Christian should have self-esteem issues if they see themselves like that." And she's right! She's absolutely right. If we see ourselves as God sees us, His masterpieces and His works of art, people worthy of being on display for all eternity...man, do we get a confidence boost! Now that's not to say we should be prideful or arrogant about it. But when Satan, this world, or our flesh is trying to bring us down, we need to remember who we are in Christ! We need to remember that God has started a work in us and He will most assuredly finish it. Though we may seem imperfect now, and though we may fall, we will be on display for all eternity as pieces of art that glorify and show the awesome talents of our Creator. We need to live our lives as masterpieces of God, always showing others that the One who created us exceeds in talent over anything we can possibly think of.