Radically Restored to Oneness With God: Embrace the Relationship With God You Were Made For by Peter McHugh

Author:Peter McHugh [McHugh, Peter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Religion, Christian Living, Spiritual Growth, Personal Growth, Christianity, Pentecostal & Charismatic
ISBN: 9780768457834
Google: TUIvEAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Destiny Image Publishers
Published: 2021-06-15T00:13:44.080523+00:00

Your life as a follower of Jesus is to be characterized by belief management. That is, do you really, genuinely believe the attributes in the above list are what you have received, who you are, and how God sees you?

This truth stands in contrast to the previously described “closed set” and can be represented by the “centered set.”

That is, Kingdom living and relationship with God are defined by a journey of discovery, including who we are in Christ. It is all invitational and begins with Jesus asking us to “come follow Me.” It is a journey of surrender to His love and Lordship as we grow in our heart knowledge of being chosen, made holy, and being the beloved of God. Our spiritual maturity is measured by our transformation resulting in our growing commitment to live more and more like the one who loves us most deeply—Jesus.

The Power Adoption

Culturally, at the time of Jesus and Paul, one particular form of adoption was available to wealthy and powerful men who had no natural heir to pass on their inheritance to. They would consider all the adult males in their community and choose one whom they knew, had a history with, and were happy to pass on their inheritance to. Interestingly, it was not uncommon for natural children to be abandoned and receive no inheritance. Still, it was unlawful for adopted children to be abandoned.

To adopt an adult child, the person of power, wealth, and influence had to gain the permission of the birth parents. When the adoption was complete, the one adopted changed their name to that of the new “parents.” They moved into a new home and carried new responsibilities, with new authority, representing another family’s interests. Those who heard Paul’s teaching that we are adopted children of God understood how being chosen by God represented being called by name. It meant belonging in a family with another father, with a place in the father’s heart (and a mansion in heaven), responsible for representing Jesus well and carrying all authority in heaven and earth to represent the Kingdom of God. Equally, they had tangible examples that nothing can separate you from the love of God because of the legal position held by those who had been adopted.

Let’s keep thinking this through.

Do you think Jesus was a servant of the world on behalf of the Father; or was Jesus a servant of the Father on behalf of the world?

If Jesus were a servant of the world, then human needs, including our needs, set the agenda, including my need as a sinner saved by grace to behave better. Need then forms the substance of my prayer life, where I am always looking for solutions and asking God to intervene. I am asking God to join Himself to what I need and am doing.

However, Jesus was a servant of the Father, and so are we. Consequently, my life, like Jesus’ life, is focused on a relationship where I know He wants to say and show things to me.

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