Levels part 5
I might be able to quote more Bible than you (actually, my memory is pretty bad. So I probably can't. But even if I CAN), that doesn't make me any better than you. Not even a little bit. And when I think it does, that's when I really get off base. When I think I'm on a higher level than you, that's when I start looking down on you. 1 Corinthians 8:1 tells us that, "...knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth." (And yes, I DID have to look that up.) That's the difference right there between SELF-righteousness, and the righteousness of God in Christ. One puffs you up, and sets you up for a fall. The other BUILDS people up, and gets us where we're going TOGETHER. Look at Ephesians 4:13, which is the tail end of the passage of Scripture about the five-fold ministry: "Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knoweldge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." There's a lot here, but I want to unwrap some of it in order to put a bow on this Rant series. First of all, WE come into the unity of faith. Together. Because Jesus is altogether lovely... and since we are all different parts of His body, that means WE are lovely all together! Next, WE come into the UNITY of faith. Which doesn't mean I have to believe everything you believe and you have to believe everything I believe. It simply means when it comes to faith, we have faith IN GOD. We are unified by the One who reconciled us to Himself. Unified IN the One. Because the unity of faith is the knowledge of Jesus. The perfect man. THE. Singular. ONE perfect man. ONE new man. Who we all are. We ARE complete in Him. Because HE is complete in us. Which is where the last part, "the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ" comes in. 1 John 3:2 says it much better than I can, "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is." We ARE the Son(s) of God. That's a done deal. That happened over 2,000 years ago on the cross when He drew us into Himself and planted Himself in us and conformed us to His image (the image we were made it, but couldn't see because it was dark and the light of the world wasn't shining). But as we go through this never-ending eternal-life long journey we are learning what it MEANS to be the Son(s) of God. We are learning what it means to love, by learning what it means to BE loved. We are not trying to walk in Jesus' foot steps, but we are letting Him make His foot steps with our feet! We are not TRYING to be like Him. We are finding out that we ARE like Him as we find out what He is like. As He appears... to us, and in us, and through us, and as us. It's the outworking of the indwelling Spirit, if I can say it that way. It's the love inside--that's who God is. Jesus. God in the flesh. Love in a body--coming out as we fill ourselves to overflowing with it. As we receive it and release it. As we receive it BY releasing it. As we know (and believe) what we have, and as we give it away! That's the ONLY level. Love is a fire that consumes everything except itself. It feeds on itself and grows, and grows, and grows until we couldn't keep it in if we wanted to. And what we find is that it (HE) is so good that we don't WANT to keep it in! We want to share it. We want everybody to experience that unconditional love relationship between heavenly Father and His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased!