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 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*)
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
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