Many people's lives are a composite study in "short views." "When I get my driver's license ..." "When I get my degree ..." "When I start my career ..." "When I get married ..." "When I have children ..." "When I get the house I want ..." "When I have the car I want ..." "When I am the most important person in my business ..." Extend in any way or direction you wish.
Whatever is the immediate next achievement or passage rite in a person's life typically will be the ultimate achievement. "My life will be magically transformed when I get, reach, or achieve that."
God promised the Christ to Abraham (Genesis 12:3; Galatians 3:16, 29). From Abraham to Jesus' death was approximately 2000 years--by our time standards, a very long view. From Jesus' death until today is approximately 2000 years--again by our time standards a very long view. From today to judgment--who knows? Perhaps another long view.
By human time standards, God's interaction in human affairs in matters like sending Jesus took a long time.
Christianity is a "long view" religion based on generations rather than decades. To most of us what happened in the last ten years, or what is likely to happen in the next ten years, or what will happen in a lifetime is "a very long time." In Christianity, what happened in the centuries before Jesus Christ and what happened in the centuries after Jesus' death is not an excessively long time. Timeless eternity is the ultimate "long view."
God is not concerned with the human concept of time when it comes to achieving His objectives. Consider 2 Peter 3:8, 9.
One of the many things a Christian must learn through reeducation is the concept of a long view.
Stress that being a Christian involves reeducation. God's views and concepts must be learned by those who follow God. We follow God. We do not lead or inform God.
Consider our text and its encouragement. Though we are a people who constantly stand in need of divine forgiveness through divine mercy and human repentance (1:5-10), God is willing to consider those who accept Jesus Christ as His children. God is willing to accept the forgiven as family. Astounding! It would be amazing if He were willing to accept the forgiven as slaves with no rights. Yet, God is willing to accept us imperfect people who can approach Him only because of what He does for us in Christ as though we are His children.
Reflection on the fact that God is happy to have Christians as family is staggering considering the ease with which we are tempted and God's hatred of evil. God wants relationship with us as we learn to depend on Him.
However, there is a price we pay to be a part of God's family. It is a price we can pay, but we will pay it only if we seriously understand the privilege of being God's children. The price: belonging to God (which is not typical of people in this physical existence) means we do not belong to physical preoccupation or motivations (which do characterize the majority in this physical existence).
The responsibility of family relationship with God is using human life to reflect God rather than being a part of the earthly forces that oppose God.
John's statement reminds us of Jesus' statement about the apostles made in a prayer the night before Jesus died. I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world (John 17:14-16). The obvious point: those who dare to be Jesus' disciples and God's children actively serve God and His values, and are not a part of the forces that oppose God or His values. That choice is not an easy decision that is made once and never again challenged.
The choice to use human life to champion God and His purposes rather than the physical was emphasized by Jesus long before John stressed that human focus.
Consider: one of our problems in being God's children does not rest in God's view of us but our view of ourselves. As we spiritually mature, we increase in awareness of how much we struggle with temptation, with spiritual failure, with exposure to evil. Spiritual maturity requires honesty with self. Honesty with self constantly reminds us that we in no way deserve to be in God's family. That honesty stresses our faith. We are forced to realize we are in God's family because God places us in His family. It is not because we are wonderful and have done wonderful things. It is because God is wonderful and did wonderful things in Jesus' death and resurrection. We would prefer to be in God's family because we are so desirable to God. We would prefer that God desire us because we produce irresistibly wonderful things. Yet, our own lives demand that we confess it is not our desirability, but God's mercy (consider Romans 7:24-8:1). As Christians, we confess that we are God's children because of Jesus' death, not because we are wonderful. It is God's doing, not ours! God did and does; we respond to His doing!
Among the bigger problems Christians face are forgiving themselves when they fail, not letting feelings of personal guilt conquer them, and "getting past" personal mistakes. Truly, honesty demands that we see and acknowledge to God our failures. However, faith demands we accept God's forgiveness. We do not need to punish ourselves when God forgives us. We need the faith to depend on God and what He does for us in Christ. The supreme arrogance is to consider God fortunate to have us rather than considering ourselves fortunate for our having God.
John then stressed the long view. What God did for us in Jesus' death hardly compares to what Christians shall become when Jesus returns. What is to come is so marvelous that we cannot even imagine it. We shall be like the resurrected Savior, and that is just the beginning!
John's long view reaches to eternity. His reasoning is, "If God loved us enough to give us Jesus Christ while we were sinners, do we not understand what God intends to do for us when we seek to be His righteous people?"
How do we declare our confidence in "the best is yet to come"? If that is the focus of our hope in life (recognizing the core of this hope is expectation, not mere wishes), we commit ourselves to purity based on the values and standards of Jesus' purity. To commit to such purity is easy to say but demanding to do. It is fairly easy to commit to such purity with words. It is demanding to commit to such purity in lifestyle.
Faith in God's promises is demonstrated by a life lived in God's values. Transformation in behavior and motives is the evidence of faith in God.
Why? (1) We must use God's values, priorities, and purposes to redefine purity. That means we first identify God's concept of purity and then reeducate ourselves in His concept. (2) Once we learn what it means to be pure, we transform our behavior and our motives to live in agreement with this new concept. If you are not impressed that God's concept of purity is demanding, consider just a few things. Purity means we are devoted to forgiveness and mercy instead of justice. It means we are devoted to service rather than vengeance. It means we learn when to be silent and when to speak up. It means we learn when to do and when to be inactive. Most people find all of those demanding.
It is demanding to reeducate ourselves when we are surrounded by those who say we need no reeducation. Transformation is difficult among people who are offended by our change. It is difficult to trust there is something bigger than justice, more important than vengeance; to learn how to control what we say; and to learn to quietly stand in the face of opposition. God's values are not easily learned or followed.
For Thought and Discussion
Drivers' licenses, educational degrees, careers, marriage, children, houses, cars, and business achievements are used as illustrations. This truth can be illustrated in many ways.
Christianity is based on generations (centuries), not decades. Timeless eternity is the ultimate long view.
God is willing to accept us as His children.
We pay the price of reflecting God and His values in our lives rather than reflecting the ambitions and desires of the physical.
Jesus asked God to leave them in the world, but to protect them from the evil one. Just as he came to the world, existed in the world, but was not devoted to the physical, he prayed they would also exist in the world but not be devoted to the physical.
The problem rests in our view of ourselves as Christians, rather than God's view of us.
It does not compare to what God will do for us in eternity.
We focus our lives in the purity that characterized our Savior, Jesus, in His existence here.
It demands reeducation and transformation.
Link to Student Guide
Lesson 8