Milk part 1
Milk. Does a body good. Strong healthy teeth and bones. Helps you stand. Helps you eat. Goes great with cookies. But what are we talking about, in a Spiritual sense? Look at Hebrews 5:13, "For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe." There's a connection between milk and righteousness. Which, by the way, is what babies need. Natural babies need milk in the natural. Spiritual babies (and by this I mean people who are young in the faith, not big babies that throw temper tantrums at any and every opportunity) need the word of righteousness. In order to BE who we really are, we need to KNOW who we really are. Faith comes from hearing and hearing from the Word of God. So when we stop telling people what's wrong with them, and start telling people what's right with them... that's when they can stop trying to be someone they're not, and start being who they are! And who they (we) are, is the righteousness of God in Christ. That's the Word that young, inexperienced "Christians" need to hear. "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" (2 Corinthians 5:21). That's what the cross was--we were made in the image of God, but on the cross we were conformed to the image of His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. Jesus became sin and died so that sin could die. So that you (and me) who were dead in your (and my) trespasses and sins could die. So that we could be born again as a new creature. So that we could be free from all of stuff that dragged us down and held us back. So that we could walk in newness of Christ. Let me say it another way: If you were a sinner... and then you were saved by grace... you're not a sinner anymore. You're a saint. You're the righteousness of God in Christ. You live in Him because He lives in you. But that's such a radical mind shift--from the carnal mind to the mind of Christ--taht we come into it like babies. Knowing nothing. Needing milk to sustain us. Taking baby steps in order to learn how to walk in that newness of life. And when you're learning how to walk... sometimes you stumble and fall. That's ok. I've found that in this life you almost always have to do it wrong before you can do it right. Again--that's called learning. Learning how to love by learning how God loves us. What I'm trying to say is... its ok to be unskilful in the word of righteousness, when you're a babe. Its ok to learn and grown in grace and maturity. Just don't disqualify yourself if you mess up. If you think about being "perfect" in the sense of never messing up... then nobody's perfect. But if you think of "perfect" in the sense of complete... well... "And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power" (Colossians 2:10). We are who we need to be. Now we just need to UNDERSTAND who we are. Who we are in Christ. Which is who Christ is in us. And that revelation comes from drinking the milk. It comes from getting rid of preconceived notions of who we were, or who we're "supposed" to be. It comes from Jesus (God in the flesh, love in a body... God in YOUR flesh, love in YOUR body) revealing Himself to us, and in us, and through us, and as us!