Good parents know that their primary job is to raise children who have extraordinary characters in order to become well-educated, exemplary citizens prepared for the challenges of our rough and tumble world.
This is no small task and takes years to complete — if ever.
God is on a similar parental mission with every individual believer who has come to Christ in faith and been born again — in order to become well-prepared citizens of Heaven.
He doesn’t just leave us to fend for ourselves any more than an earthly parent would give birth to a child and then abandon him or her on the doorstep of strangers.
God’s main business today through His Church, the living body of Christ, is to recruit, save, and personally raise up meticulously curated heaven-ready saints to live with Him as family members forever.
The way He does this is a marvel to behold …
Custom-Made Spiritual ‘Crucible’
God situates each saint/child in a custom-made spiritual “crucible” tailored to his/her individual needs.
He addresses each child’s strengths and weaknesses with a custom mix of circumstances, trials and challenges that are designed to “drive off the dross” and conform them to image of His Son Jesus.
In Romans 8:28-30, Scripture describes the process as follows:
“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”
“It is God who is at work in you, both to desire and to work for His good pleasure.”
PHilippians 2:13
What a glorious thought that we are on God’s mind and heart, and that he will finish what He has begun in us.
It’s a promise made in Philippians 1:6; 2:13: “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work among you will complete it by the day of Christ Jesus … for it is God who is at work in you, both to desire and to work for His good pleasure.”
Hand-Formed by God Himself
This personal attention toward man is nothing new with God, it goes all the way back to our creation.
In my book, My Origin, My Destiny, I wrote:
“Up to this point in the story (of Genesis), God creates, somewhat clinically, using only his spoken word from a distance, and everything obediently falls into place on command. But then God moves in closer, more intimately, and in so doing indicates that there will be a very special portion of his creation that he will form with his own hands and bring to life with His own breath. He confides that this creature will be vastly different from anything that has come before or since — he will be in God’s very own image and likeness.
“Never had the universe witnessed such a closeness between creator and creature, not even among the angels in heaven. The Trinitarian Godhead expressed in community as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit gives birth to a mini reflection of Himself.
“And then, God gently lifts His precious creation to His lips and blows His own breath into Adam’s mouth — the breath of life. It doesn’t get any more intimate than this — God elevates Adam above every living species when ‘The Man came alive — a living soul.’”
No Rose Gardens Promised
Since our Savior suffered a barbaric death and most of His apostles were brutally executed and many of His early saints were fed to lions, why should you expect to float up to heaven on a pillowy bed of ease?
As written in 1 Peter 1:6-9:
“In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which perishes though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”
How About You?
So, if you are a Christian, let God have His way in your life — there is an easy way and a hard way — as with every parent/child interaction, it is best to choose wisely.
As shared in Galatians 4:19: “My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you …”
4-1-1
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