Back when Pastor Neil started his sermon series on 1 Peter, I was going through a time of feeling desperate and not very good about myself at all. My name was Joy, but over time I had less of it. More recently, I had a chronic spiritual issue where I was feeling like a major goof up all the time. Failures, mistakes, and dumb things from my past kept popping into my head and making me feel really bad. I was sad about my lack of faith, because I so badly wanted to be someone God could call on for something, but I knew that most likely in response to Him I would be too afraid, pretend I didn't hear, and turn away. I'd been a Christian for 30 years, but I felt like I was missing part of the picture, and I was frustrated that I didn't feel like there was a whole lot of God's glory shining through my life. I didn't see a whole lot of difference about my life compared to others of different faiths. I wanted to seek first God's kingdom, but I didn't know how to when I was so overwhelmed by my own little world. I wanted to be really excited about my Christian life, but I wasn't. I'd see missionaries who were passionate about their call to ministry, and I wondered what calling in life I was supposed to be passionate about. I was repentant. I hated sin. I hated being a sinner. I wasn't trying to hide a big sin secret, but I had no spark. I wanted the spark.
Then two really exciting things happened:
Number 1: The Lord led me to this book, Identity Theft: A Crisis in Character.
Number 2: When Pastor Neil was preaching in 1 Peter, it really stuck out to me what my calling and purpose in life is.
There are actually LOTS of really fun things that I learned in this book, Identity Theft, which are/will be included in other blog posts, but on this page I just want to share the one small insight in this book that was like a new pair of glasses to me: It was that I am made in God's image. I always thought that was a special thing, but I never really grasped what it meant. More than it meaning I'm supposed to try to reflect God with my life, being in His Image meant that my identity, who I am, IS an actual copy of who HE is. I don't mean I'm a god, I'm talking about character! I don't have to try to be something I'm not. I wasn't made to be a sinner. That wasn't what I was designed for. I am created to live the character of Christ. I was created to live God's character. I was made in God's image. THAT'S what I'm designed for!
In 1 Peter 1:16 it says, "YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY."(NASB) Before, when I read that, my thought was, "Yeah, right, like that is ever gonna happen." But when I put on my new glasses, I realized that what He was saying was: Be holy, because as His child THAT is my identity; THAT is who I am; I am MADE in His image. Before, I didn't even really understand what being holy meant. I knew the definition of holy was "set apart," but how I was supposed to make myself set apart was not something I had any real practical understanding of. The very first two verses of 1 Peter say, we are "chosen...to [ONE] obey Jesus Christ and [TWO] be sprinkled with His blood" (which Neil said was a picture of making something set apart--making something holy.) When I put these things together, I got so excited about 1 Peter! I knew that God was the one who does the work of transforming me, but I was so happy to understand that obedience is my part of the equation and holiness is setting myself apart for the pursuit of His character through my obedience! I found my PASSION! My passion was to learn the character of Christ, so that I could learn who I am MADE to be! THAT'S MY CALLING--TO LEARN WHO I AM MADE TO BE!
THAT'S how I glorify God! I can only glorify Him/make Him visible if I am living out my identity as the reflection of His character. My passion for His character became most energized when I started thinking about it in terms of the specific elements of His character: like the pursuit of compassion, or the pursuit of truthfulness. It even gave me a feeling of joy at the thought of the pursuit of patience--knowing full well what that would mean. The character qualities list in the back of this book was really helpful.
And I saw in 1 Peter 5:10 that it says, "After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you."(NASB) His eternal glory is who He is--His character. We are called to His character, and we are not on a futile pursuit. I have to quote 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24, "Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way,...(verse 24)God will make this happen, for he who calls you is faithful."(NLT) He will do it! What a truly glorious hope! He actually makes it happen. But He calls us for obedience to pursuing His character. It's not about requiring perfection. I might be the farthest thing from perfection. He just expects me to sincerely work hard to pursue who He is. And I don’t have to be discouraged when I goof it up (which I do plenty). Because the truth is, no matter what it is, He knows how to do something good with it. (Romans 8:1 and 28) If anyone reading this is wearing ANY of the shoes I was wearing, please let me pray Ephesians 1:18 for you. "Lord, God, I pray that the eyes of [their] hearts may be enlightened, so that [they] may know what is the hope of [Your] calling, what are the riches of the glory of [Your] inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of [Your] power toward us who believe."(NASB) AMEN
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica
New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers.
