God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. (John 4:24)
So here’s the thinking. At some point over 2008-09 as a church we looked a the theme of order out of chaos and a key issue in it was the power of the Word. Linked to this in me own study is a desire to know God for who He is and what it is to be spiritually minded. One of the little tidbits that I’m understanding more and more is that being made in the image of God is to appreciate our spiritual nature as created by God. For that to happen there has to be a connection with the Creator. Just as Paul intimates – you have to be spiritual to understand spiritual things, and that’s not a pious, snooty comment barring everyone from being spiritual. It is understanding the essential link we have that makes us spiritual. You can understand then the link between the thinking and the verse at the top.
On that basis, then, we appreciate a significant blockage that sin has placed in the way. It doesn’t just change the thinking, it changes the heart’s desire and connection, as we’ll see later in this series. To reconnect with God, Jesus comes along, shows us the way and teaches it through things like the Sermon on the Mount in the larger context of the kingdom come. In the Beatitudes as a microcosm of the demands of Kingdom living Jesus opens up the way to be – and that requires a new intent, not our usual natural intent, which because of its heart’s desires is evil continually, but a brand new spiritual intent. Jesus is not making commands on new behaviour grounded on nothing – He establishes as His Father did before Him that in the light of the Kingdom and the King, the subjects in the Kingdom live a particular way with a particular focus that is in great contrast to the way we are used to living.
With the mess that sin causes, once again God’s Word brings order out of chaos, not in behaviour, or belief, or belonging, but in the desires of our heart. What follows from that is a current reflection on the issues of the heart to see if the intent is spiritual. More to follow …
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
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