100. GOD’S MAJOR PROJECT: TRANSFORMING ME AND MY CHURCH INTO THE LIKENESS OF CHRIST - An overall picture of the meditations

In Meditation 44 we asked ourselves what God’s purposes are for His reborn children, receiving His Spirit and renewing our lives?

In Meditation 45 we realized that God’s Spirit directs the transformation process into Christ-, or God-likeness during our walk on earth. This transformation process finds its completion when we will be with Jesus Christ forever. In Meditation 29 we read that with our rebirth by the Spirit of God, He incorporates us into the Messianic community, called the Church or the Body of Christ.

In Meditation 46 we asked ourselves: does God’s transformation process only deal with his reborn children individually, or does God also aim at transforming His entire Church into the likeness of Christ?

In Meditations 46 and 47 we saw that God - Father, Son and Spirit - prepares Christ’s universal church for the glorious end-of-time wedding celebration of the Lamb. We noted that He does that on a minute scale: one local church at a time within its own geographical and cultural setting! We understood moreover that God’s Spirit aims at changing not only our individual lives but also our communal life into Christ-likeness.

As ‘maturing in Christ-likeness’ is the theme of our meditations, we decided to focus in the future on two tracks: our individual lives as followers of Jesus and our communal life as the Body of Christ.

Track 1: Personal Maturing in Christlike Love for our Triune God

In the Meditations 48 to 62 we focused on our personal transformation into Christlike love for God.  

In Meditations 48 to 55 we asked ourselves the question “what could prevent or stifle Christlike transformation in people’s private lives and in the life of entire churches?”

In Meditation 56 we started our journey in search of the characteristics of Christlike transformation. We wondered if there is a predominant trait in the character of Jesus Christ that God’s Spirit also wants to produce in my heart and in my church?

We realised that true and pure Christlike love, given by God’s Spirit to all Jesus’ followers, should characterise their relationship with God and with their fellow men. We also found that Christlike love should characterise the life and ministry of every local church.

In Meditations 57 to 62 we read how Jesus Himself described the Christlike love that God’s Spirit is able to generate in us. We also realized that this love, which only God’s Spirit is able to produce in us, is the fulfilment of God’s two most important commands for human life: “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets [i.e. the entire Old Testament] hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40*)

From Meditation 57 onwards we concentrated on the first and greatest commandment: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." (Matthew 22:37-38*) We discovered how the apostles applied Jesus’ teaching on Christlike love to their own lives and to the lives of their fellow Christians.

Track 2: Communal or Corporate Maturing in Christlike Love for our Triune God

In Meditation 63 we found that God’s Word [the Bible] makes a difference between my personal love for God and my church’s corporate love for Him. God loves me personally, but He loves my church as well! God desires my personal love for Him, but He longs also for the corporate love of my church, as it is ‘the Bride of Christ’!

Then we asked ourselves questions like: How does God’s Spirit empower my church (as ‘the Bride of Christ’) to grow into mature Christlike love for God. How does He accomplish that in such a way that my church fulfills God’s first and greatest commandment: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37-38*)

In Meditation 64 we saw that God’s Word [the Bible] requires of a healthy local church to have a clear vision of Christlike love for God, given by His Spirit and shared by the entire congregation.

In Meditation 65 we noted that God’s Word also shows that God appoints people in the local church who are guided by God’s Spirit to bear that vision, blaze the trail and lead the church into communal, Christlike transformation..

In Meditations 66 to 73 we spoke about the importance of the church’s unconditional and persistent devotion to prayer and about the importance of having intimate fellowship with God in true communal worship.

In Meditations 74 and 75 we reflected on the significance of studying and obeying God’s Word if a church wants to love God wholeheartedly.

In Meditations 76 to 99 we saw that loving our triune God wholeheartedly as a church means pursuing Christlike holiness in preparation for Jesus’ return in glory.    

In these meditations we spoke about Christlike maturity and how God’s Spirit wants to lead me and my church in such an exciting transformation.

Yet, God’s Word, as well as our personal and communal experience, tells us that our major enemy in the process to Christlike maturity is the power of sin.

Therefore, the theme for the upcoming meditations will be: “How to Overcome the Power of Sin in my Life and in my Church”

Translation: * New International Version

99 . CORPORATE, CHRISTLIKE LOVE FOR THE FATHER AND HIS SON (jj): Pursuing Christlike holiness (22)

A brief summary and some further reflections

From Meditation 76 onwards, we have looked into a third characteristic of a church that loves our

triune God wholeheartedly:“To love God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ wholeheartedly as a

church means to pursue Christlike holiness in preparation for Jesus’ return in glory.”

Although God’s Word mentions many more possible courses of action for a church to pursue

Christlike holiness than we covered in our previous meditations, we contemplated the following

issues:

· God’s view on Christ’s Church: The Church as the salt of the earth, the light of the world and as

a community on pilgrimage in this world; the Church as a pure, blameless and holy community;

the Church as a Spirit-guided community. (See Meditation 76)

· How did God’s Spirit implement God’s plan for Christ’s Church in New Testament times?

The gift of God’s Spirit to Christ’s Church. The Church as a community guided by God’s

Spirit to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth. (See Meditation 77)

· How did God deal in New Testament times with churches that did not obey God’s Spirit and

God’s Word and did not live up to God’s view on Christ’s Church? 1. Ananias and Sapphira.

2. The church in Corinth: controversy because of leadership preferences. The arrogance of some

church members. Licentiousness within the church. Prostitution. Legal disputes amongst church

members. Idolatry and the Lord’s Supper in the church of Corinth. Dissension at the Lord’s

Supper. Lack of discernment regarding false teaching. Paul’s summary of sins allowed in the

Corinthian church. 3. The church in Galatia: their lack of discernment regarding false teaching. 4.

The church of Thessalonica: warning against idleness. 5. The churches in the book of Revelation:

the powerful church of Ephesus; the permissive church in Pergamum; the compromising church

of Thyatira; the ‘contaminated’ church of Sardis; the wealthy, materialistic and self-sufficient

church of Laodicea. (See Meditations 78-81)

· How might God speak to our churches through His dealings with those New Testament

churches that did not obey His Spirit and His Word and did not pursue Christlike holiness?

1. Ananias and Sapphira: Satan and our sinful actions. Sinning against each other is sinning

against God. God’s judgment is certain. 2. The church in Corinth: controversy because of

leadership preferences. The arrogance of some church members. Licentiousness. Incest and other

related issues. Carnal and spiritual prostitution. Divorce. Carnal and spiritual adultery. 'Porneia'

and same-sex issues. (See Meditations 82-94)

· Quarreling and strife in the New Testament churches: God’s solution to quarreling and strife

in New Testament churches. (See Meditations 95-96)

· Discrimination in New Testament churches: 1. Discrimination against Jewish-Christian

widows from abroad. 2. Discrimination against ‘weaker’ Christians: in the matter of keeping

the Mosaic food laws; in the matter of food dedicated to idols. 3. Discrimination against poor

Christians. 4. Discrimination because of gender, nationality, social rank, level of education, or

professional position. (See Meditations 97-98)

God’s Word shows everywhere an ‘inner link’ between the way we treat our fellow men and the way

we treat God. Here are some examples:

-- “Those who oppress the poor insult their Maker, but those who help the poor honor Him.” (

Proverbs 14:31*)

-- “Those who mock the poor insult their Maker...” (Proverbs 17:5*)

-- “If you help the poor, you are lending to the LORD-- and he will repay you!” (Proverbs 19:17*)

-- “The King will tell them, 'I assure you, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and

sisters, you were doing it to me!'” (Matthew 25:40.45*)

-- “He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting

me?’ ‘Who are you, sir?’ Saul asked. And the voice replied, ‘I am Jesus, the one you are

persecuting!’” ( Acts 9:4-5*)

-- “If anyone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need and refuses to help--

how can God's love be in that person?” (1 John 3:17*)

-- “If someone says, "I love God," but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if

we don't love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we have not seen?” (1 John 4:20)

Therefore, if our church pursues Christlike holiness so that God’s Spirit can freely empower us to

love God wholeheartedly, we consequently will grow in love and service for our brothers and sisters

in church and for our fellow men.

I think that the apostle Peter well summarises the meditations on pursuing Christlike holiness when

he says: “Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the

grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil

desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all

you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’” (1 Peter 1:13-15**)

Translations: * New Living Translation; ** New International Version

98. CORPORATE, CHRISTLIKE LOVE FOR THE FATHER AND HIS SON (ii) : Pursuing Christlike holiness (21b)

Discrimination in New Testament churches (b)

In Meditation 97 we started to reflect on the problem of discrimination among church members in local churches and how that inhibits God’s Spirit to empower our churches to Christlike love for our triune God. We closed that meditation with Paul addressing the problem of discriminating poor Christians at the Lord’s Supper in the Corinthian church.

The apostle James also harangues the church with accusations of discriminating poor Christians, saying: “My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim that you have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people more than others?

For instance, suppose someone comes into your meeting dressed in fancy clothes and expensive jewelry, and another comes in who is poor and dressed in shabby clothes. If you give special attention and a good seat to the rich person, but you say to the poor one, ‘You can stand over there, or else sit on the floor’ -- well, doesn't this discrimination show that you are guided by wrong motives?

Listen to me, dear brothers and sisters. Hasn't God chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith? Aren't they the ones who will inherit the Kingdom he promised to those who love him? And yet, you insult the poor man!

Isn't it the rich who oppress you and drag you into court? Aren't they the ones who slander Jesus Christ, whose noble name you bear? Yes indeed, it is good when you truly obey our Lord's royal command found in the Scriptures: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. But if you pay special attention to the rich, you are committing a sin, for you are guilty of breaking that Law.’” (James 2:1-9*)

In the Mosaic Law, God warned His people often not to discriminate the poor. In Exodus 23:6* God commanded: “Do not twist justice against people simply because they are poor.”

The book of Proverbs shows the ‘inner link’ between deriding the poor and offending God:    

-- “Those who mock the poor insult their Maker...” (Proverbs 17:5*)

-- “Those who oppress the poor insult their Maker, but those who help the poor honor him.” (Proverbs 14:31*).

• Discrimination because of gender, nationality, social rank, level of education, or professional position

The apostle Paul makes it perfectly clear that in Christ’s body, the church, there should not be any discrimination or favouritism because of national origin, social or professional status and the level of education. He reminds the followers of Jesus in Corinth: “... you have clothed yourselves with a brand-new nature that is continually being renewed as you learn more and more about Christ, who created this new nature within you. In this new life, it doesn't matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.” (Colossians 3:10-11*)

To the churches in Galatia (a region in modern Turkey) Paul explains why discrimination in the church should not exist:

-- “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28**)

-- “Neither circumcision (being Jewish) nor uncircumcision (not being Jewish) means anything; what counts is a new creation.” (Galatians 6:15**)

So, what makes me a new creation? How does Christ live in me? How can Jesus’ followers be one in Christ in spite of the differences in gender, national origin, education, status and class? 

The apostle Paul answers these questions in his first letter to the Corinthian church: “The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up only one body. So it is with the body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into Christ's body by one Spirit, and we have all received the same Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:12-13*)

Here we find the final answer to what makes Christians one in Christ: it is nothing less than the gift of God’s Spirit! It is He who fills the church and each of its members with the presence of Christ, as Paul writes to the church in Ephesus: “The church is his (Christ’s) body; it is filled by Christ, who fills everything everywhere with his presence.” (^NLT Ephesians 1:23*)

In these last two meditations we have seen that any kind of discrimination between churches and between members of local churches hinders God’s Spirit to empower our churches to Christlike love for our triune God.

Let us reflect for a moment on the question of discrimination in our churches:

-- Are foreign Christians (immigrants, expatriates, international students, migrant workers, refugees) seen as equal members in my church, because of the presence of God’s Spirit in them?

-- Or do they actually remain ‘outsiders’ because of customs, behaviour, language, lack of social or professional status, etc.?

-- In my church is there an unspoken hierarchy of church members according to their ‘spiritual status’?

-- Does my church value rich and poor church members differently?

-- Does my church value educated and less educated church members differently?

-- Does my church value Christian professionals with high social status, regard and esteem more than a church member who does unskilled manual labour?

-- Is male chauvinism (the belief that men are superior to women) a problem in my church?

-- Is my church aware of the fact that all these kinds of discrimination would impede God’s Spirit to fill my church with Christ’s presence and Christlike love for our triune God?

-- How does my church tackle any examples of this discrimination?

-- Does my church rejoice in the unity of the Spirit amongst all church members whatever their nationality, education, social and political status, etc.?

     

Translations: * New Living Translation; ** New International Version.