James 1:27
Not at all that Todd and I are the 'pure and faultless' for pursuing an adoption or that we are going to get a big sticker on our "good deeds chart," but we do know the bigger picture that this verse has to offer. And that is the hope that points to Jesus. We know that even in our filth of sins and our deepest hopelessness, God sought us, loved us, and took us in to be His own. We see adoption as an earthly example of God's pursuit for us and our adoption into His family, the Kingdom of God.
You may be asking, "so to know God is to take care of orphans and widows?" YES. Look deeper at what that is to take care of an orphan and the example that it is to know God's love.
It is...
a. helping those who can't help themselves, and had no control over the circumstances that put them in that place to begin with nor are even able to calculate for themselves how to get out of their state of living.
b. giving hope to those who have no hope.
c. unconditional love and acceptance.
d. offering them more than physical care, it's showing them the spiritual LOVE that God offers to those who will accept it, and that is through Jesus Christ.
Keep a.-d. in mind and let's look at ourselves as the orphan or widow and God as our adoptive Father.
a. It is helping those who can't help themselves, and had no control over the circumstances that put them in that place to begin with nor are even able to calculate for themselves how to get out of their state of living.
WE are trapped in a sinful nature of man the moment we were born- it's a sin nature, not the single act of a sin(s). This is a situation that we had no control over (thanks Adam and Eve) and are even able to calculate for ourselves how we are going to get out of that state of being.
WE are the orphan.
God knew the failures of man and since the beginning He planned for a Savior to come into the world to free us from the bondage of our sinful natures. This is through God's son, Jesus.
Romans 3:23 "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
b. It is giving hope to those who have no hope.
WE have no hope of earning our way out of a sinful nature by overcoming evil with good deeds. WE have no hope of cleansing ourselves from this label of sin.
WE are the orphan.
There is no way for man to free ourselves from sin and to cleanse ourselves so that we are pure and worthy to come in to the presence of the Lord. This is why we need Jesus.
John 14:6 "Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
c. It is unconditional love and acceptance.
WE desire to be loved and accepted by others and ultimately our creator. We desire to belong and to have a purpose in life.
WE are the orphan.
God's desire is for all of His children to turn from their sinful ways and come to Him. He doesn't want to be separated from us. So God sent Jesus, who took on the sins of all man, and defeated the power sin holds over us that separates us from God for eternity. Jesus did this by his death on the cross taking the punishment of sin which is death and separation from God. That separation from God is now bridged by grace and forgiveness of sins in accepting the deed that Jesus did.
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that WHOEVER believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."
d. It's offering them more than physical care, it's showing them the spiritual LOVE that God offers to those who will accept it, and that is through Jesus Christ.
WE have more to life than just this earth and the happiness it potentially offers. There is an eternity beyond death.
Jesus is the hope we are offered for a changed course of our eternity.
Let's complete this verse study and note the big "and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." What is this saying to us? In a nut shell, "don't be fooled by the ways of the world rather follow God's ways."
Romans 12:2 " Do not be conformed to this world,1 but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."
| Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. |
Not at all that Todd and I are the 'pure and faultless' for pursuing an adoption or that we are going to get a big sticker on our "good deeds chart," but we do know the bigger picture that this verse has to offer. And that is the hope that points to Jesus. We know that even in our filth of sins and our deepest hopelessness, God sought us, loved us, and took us in to be His own. We see adoption as an earthly example of God's pursuit for us and our adoption into His family, the Kingdom of God.
"Pure and faultless religion'" means the most unobstructed way to know God's ways and glorify Him through this.
You may be asking, "so to know God is to take care of orphans and widows?" YES. Look deeper at what that is to take care of an orphan and the example that it is to know God's love.
It is...
a. helping those who can't help themselves, and had no control over the circumstances that put them in that place to begin with nor are even able to calculate for themselves how to get out of their state of living.
b. giving hope to those who have no hope.
c. unconditional love and acceptance.
d. offering them more than physical care, it's showing them the spiritual LOVE that God offers to those who will accept it, and that is through Jesus Christ.
Keep a.-d. in mind and let's look at ourselves as the orphan or widow and God as our adoptive Father.
a. It is helping those who can't help themselves, and had no control over the circumstances that put them in that place to begin with nor are even able to calculate for themselves how to get out of their state of living.
WE are trapped in a sinful nature of man the moment we were born- it's a sin nature, not the single act of a sin(s). This is a situation that we had no control over (thanks Adam and Eve) and are even able to calculate for ourselves how we are going to get out of that state of being.
WE are the orphan.
God knew the failures of man and since the beginning He planned for a Savior to come into the world to free us from the bondage of our sinful natures. This is through God's son, Jesus.
Romans 3:23 "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
b. It is giving hope to those who have no hope.
WE have no hope of earning our way out of a sinful nature by overcoming evil with good deeds. WE have no hope of cleansing ourselves from this label of sin.
WE are the orphan.
There is no way for man to free ourselves from sin and to cleanse ourselves so that we are pure and worthy to come in to the presence of the Lord. This is why we need Jesus.
John 14:6 "Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
c. It is unconditional love and acceptance.
WE desire to be loved and accepted by others and ultimately our creator. We desire to belong and to have a purpose in life.
WE are the orphan.
God's desire is for all of His children to turn from their sinful ways and come to Him. He doesn't want to be separated from us. So God sent Jesus, who took on the sins of all man, and defeated the power sin holds over us that separates us from God for eternity. Jesus did this by his death on the cross taking the punishment of sin which is death and separation from God. That separation from God is now bridged by grace and forgiveness of sins in accepting the deed that Jesus did.
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that WHOEVER believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."
WE have more to life than just this earth and the happiness it potentially offers. There is an eternity beyond death.
Jesus is the hope we are offered for a changed course of our eternity.
Romans 5:1-11 "Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 andhope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Let's complete this verse study and note the big "and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." What is this saying to us? In a nut shell, "don't be fooled by the ways of the world rather follow God's ways."
Romans 12:2 " Do not be conformed to this world,1 but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."
Comments
Post a Comment