“Jesus’ good news about the kingdom can be an effective guide for our lives only if we share his view of the world in which we live. To his eyes this is a God-bathed and God-permeated world. It is a world filled with a glorious reality, where every component is within the range of God’s direct knowledge and control—though he obviously permits some of it, for good reason, to be for a while otherwise than as he wishes. It is a world that is inconceivably beautiful and good because of God and because God is always in it. It is a world in which God is continually at play and over which he constantly rejoices. Until our thoughts of God have found every visible thing and event glorious with his presence, the word of Jesus has not fully seized us.” (Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy).
Our apprenticeship to Jesus goes deeper than simply mimicking Jesus’ actions. WWJD (what would Jesus do) is incomplete. You see, discipleship goes deeper than behaviors. Discipleship is sharing Jesus’ worldview. It is all about altering our sin drenched reality and embracing the reality that “in Him we live and move and have our being”. Jesus view of life and reality is counter-cultural simply because where God is juxtaposed. To Jesus, the Father lies at the center of all things. However, we are not prone to putting God in the center. He often lies within our reality, albeit at the outskirts of our self-saturated worlds. But to Jesus, the good and glorious presence of the Father lie at the core of all reality. Jesus’ world was a world where the Father was central to all going on in this big universe. . .and central to Jesu's own life. The Father is at the source, all else lies in the periphery.
As I reflect on this, I’m thinking that worship must have exuded out of Jesus’ heart and his mind continually. His life must have been wave upon wave of joy, peace, goodness and gratitude towards the Father each and every moment of his existence. What an uplifting person Jesus must have been to be around. To have talked to Jesus and spent the day with him must have left people with a feeling of unspeakable pleasure and delight. Oh, to have spent the day with Jesus. . .it would have been like spending the day with the Father himself.
Today the world is in need for that God-bathed presence that Jesus brought to the world. And, we are called to be that Jesus for the world. As his apprentices we were dubbed “Christians” in the book of Acts . . .a term that simply means “little Christs”. Oh, that when people spend time with you and I they walk away as though they have immersed themselves in a different sort of reality. . .a reality saturated by the very presence of the living Trinitarian community! Bathed in the presence of the Father, Son and Spirit. These thoughts convict me, because sometimes my mind and heart are so disjointed from “my Father’s world” and His reality.
His presence is within His creation. And, his presence is within us through the great gift of His son. Yes, indeed, God’s redemptive activity and loving presence is all over this world defaced by sin. He is everywhere. If only we are able to see what Jesus saw and embrace the God Jesus embraced. I’ve been praying to see the world through fresh lenses. .through the eyes of Jesus.
I’m guessing that Jesus himself whispered in His own way and to his own tune the lyrics of Maltbie Babcock’s glorious hymn “This is my Father’s World”. It would do us well, as we walk the dark realities of a seemingly godless world, to remember what Jesus continually knew and mouth these lyrics as we go on our way:
“This is my Father’s world, O let me ne’er forget
that though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the Ruler yet.
This is my Father’s world: The battle is not done;
Jesus who died shall be satisfied, And earth and heav’n be one!”
Our apprenticeship to Jesus goes deeper than simply mimicking Jesus’ actions. WWJD (what would Jesus do) is incomplete. You see, discipleship goes deeper than behaviors. Discipleship is sharing Jesus’ worldview. It is all about altering our sin drenched reality and embracing the reality that “in Him we live and move and have our being”. Jesus view of life and reality is counter-cultural simply because where God is juxtaposed. To Jesus, the Father lies at the center of all things. However, we are not prone to putting God in the center. He often lies within our reality, albeit at the outskirts of our self-saturated worlds. But to Jesus, the good and glorious presence of the Father lie at the core of all reality. Jesus’ world was a world where the Father was central to all going on in this big universe. . .and central to Jesu's own life. The Father is at the source, all else lies in the periphery.
As I reflect on this, I’m thinking that worship must have exuded out of Jesus’ heart and his mind continually. His life must have been wave upon wave of joy, peace, goodness and gratitude towards the Father each and every moment of his existence. What an uplifting person Jesus must have been to be around. To have talked to Jesus and spent the day with him must have left people with a feeling of unspeakable pleasure and delight. Oh, to have spent the day with Jesus. . .it would have been like spending the day with the Father himself.
Today the world is in need for that God-bathed presence that Jesus brought to the world. And, we are called to be that Jesus for the world. As his apprentices we were dubbed “Christians” in the book of Acts . . .a term that simply means “little Christs”. Oh, that when people spend time with you and I they walk away as though they have immersed themselves in a different sort of reality. . .a reality saturated by the very presence of the living Trinitarian community! Bathed in the presence of the Father, Son and Spirit. These thoughts convict me, because sometimes my mind and heart are so disjointed from “my Father’s world” and His reality.
His presence is within His creation. And, his presence is within us through the great gift of His son. Yes, indeed, God’s redemptive activity and loving presence is all over this world defaced by sin. He is everywhere. If only we are able to see what Jesus saw and embrace the God Jesus embraced. I’ve been praying to see the world through fresh lenses. .through the eyes of Jesus.
I’m guessing that Jesus himself whispered in His own way and to his own tune the lyrics of Maltbie Babcock’s glorious hymn “This is my Father’s World”. It would do us well, as we walk the dark realities of a seemingly godless world, to remember what Jesus continually knew and mouth these lyrics as we go on our way:
“This is my Father’s world, O let me ne’er forget
that though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the Ruler yet.
This is my Father’s world: The battle is not done;
Jesus who died shall be satisfied, And earth and heav’n be one!”
2 comments:
What a powerful song--we should sing it more often!
Yes, Naomi, one of my favorites.
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