The Glory of God is a human being fully alive...
Think about that quote for a moment. I don't know that any of us fully appreciate what we have been created to become and what we were created to do. The simple fact that God has created each and every one of us should promote some self-worth in humanity. That we were created for a relationship with God should absolutely blow our minds. God didn't create mere servants or minions that would do His will. He created us out of a desire for fellowship, a fellowship that He already enjoyed as Father, Son, & Holy Spirit.
Is it any wonder that God went to such great lengths to ensure that humanity would be redeemed from the Fall? Is it any wonder that Jesus would come down into our darkness, take on our flesh, and give His life as a ransom? Who could conceive this kind of love other than Him who is LOVE?
The Scriptures tell us clearly that God determined to do this before the foundation of the world. In other words, before the earth was created and before man was ever formed from the dust, God decided to put us all into Christ. The early church honestly believed that even if Adam had not fallen that Jesus would have come to the earth simply because God's plan wasn't a response to the Fall but to the heart of God. Why? Because the glory of God is a human being fully alive.
That's right folks, God wants you to be fully alive. He wants you to enjoy life to the fullest. Jesus told His followers that He came that we may have life and that life more abundantly. He has given us the same quality of life that He possessed while on the earth. It is a life that knows how to live in relationship with the Father. It's a life filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. It's a life that is secure in the love of God and offers that same security to others. Can we fully comprehend how much glory God receives from us when we are fully alive? I'm not so sure we can.
How many "fully alive" believers have you met? I'm not questioning anyone's salvation but I do question the quality of life that many believers possess. The amount of guilt and shame that they live in. The lack of joy, comfort, and peace. The constant questioning about their own relationship with God. Do we really believe that Jesus simply saved us to go to heaven? Have we forgotten that abundant life was to be lived out on the earth, enjoyed fully, and shared with others? What is missing?
It is my belief that religion has done much damage to the thoughts of abundant life. We simply don't know how to experience it. We hear so many teachings about dying, sacrificing, and giving that we don't know much about living, enjoying, and receiving. I'm not suggesting that we toss these things out the window, I'm just concerned that we haven't given enough attention on what it means to enjoy life as a child of God. This is what we were created to enjoy. God gave us this earth. He placed us in it. As we live, we spread His glory throughout it. It's what we were made to do. Not as robots who have only one program to follow but as children of the living God who get to enjoy our relationship with our Heavenly Father.
Irenaeus goes on to say that to be alive consists in beholding God.
"Beholding" is such an interesting word because it means more than seeing. It also speaks of being able to discern through the senses. It is looking, seeing, understanding, and knowing. To be alive according to Irenaeus consists of seeing, discerning, looking at, understanding, and knowing God. Can you see how these two things go together? A human being fully alive is the glory of God and a human being that is fully alive is that way because they see, discern, understand, and know the Father. In other words, they are fully alive because they have come to the realization of who they were created to be and what they were created to do. Living fully alive is impossible outside of relationship with the Father - the Creator of all life.
In the journey of life, we cannot miss this. We must encounter the Father, the Son, & the Holy Spirit. We must experience the life that they have for us. As we do this, then we can behold Him in all things. Nature will begin to speak to us about the glory of God. We will see Him in the lives of others. We will hear Him in music, the arts, and all other created things. We will discover Him through the Scriptures, and enjoy Him in the fellowship of the church. We will recover the joy of walking with Him in the cool of the evening, hearing His voice in the day, seeing His handiwork, and making Him known throughout the earth. This has nothing to do with religion but has everything to do with encountering the living Word of God which is Jesus Himself. It is beholding HIM and only HIM that makes the difference.
"The glory of God is a human being fully alive." ENJOY THE JOURNEY!!!
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