Who Are We to Be?
On this particular day, the Lord has taken me on a walk through His Scriptures. While on this journey, I have been visited by reminders of several saints. See in your mind with me some of the saints who have gone on, who have lived, loved God while they lived, who died, and who now by the resurrection of Jesus Christ—now Live Again in Paradise.
Brash-talking & rash-acting Peter—I saw him this morning in his first letter to the believers who were scattered among the known world of the 1st Century. Peter calls these believers “aliens.” Maybe we would agree with his rendering because oftentimes we sense the truth that we are so unlike the world in our thinking, in our actions, and in our re-actions. If we are—aliens living for Jesus—then we are really God’s & we are not to pretend to be anything else! Peter’s letter entails so many truths to behold, but as I journey through his first letter, the verses that held me captive were these. See with me what God’s Word speaks about “who we are to be” while we walk upon this earth.
“But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY.
Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lust which wage war against the soul.”
(1 Peter 2: 9-11)
Who Are We to Be?
We Are to Be—A Royal Priesthood!
A Chosen People!
A Holy Nation!
The People of God Filled with His Mercy & Grace!
Then, I saw the prophet Isaiah—the forerunner to John the Baptist who was the forerunner to our Lord Jesus Christ. The prophet had much to say about Who We Are to Be & HOW We Are to Live while we walk on the face of this earth. Isaiah said—
“And the work of righteousness will be peace,
And the service of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever.”
(Isaiah 32: 17)
Spiritual righteousness cannot be earned; it can only be gifted to a person. It is in the work of Jesus upon the cross of Calvary that we gain peace & wear His robe of righteousness. Being “right with God” is EVERYTHING! & we gain this “right” because of our faith in the work of Jesus and because in our trust in God. I love how the gospel is never complicated but rather quite simple—childlike, in fact.
BELIEF + FAITH + TRUST = SALVATION & PEACE ONLY GOD CAN GIFT TO US!
So Simple!
Belief brings Faith.
Faith brings Peace.
Trust brings God’s Grace & God’s Amazing Grace is the gift of second chances.
God gives us the opportunity to begin anew, to walk anew, to live in His Light rather than in the darkness we once walked within as we lived out our earthly existence.
The “effect” of the righteousness of Jesus is a life lived in quietness and assurance. What does that mean? Quietness and Assurance that God will complete the work He began in us at the moment of our salvation, a work that will be completed when He comes for us at our death. Eternal Life Is Forevermore! Once Given & Never Lost.
Who Are We to Be?
We Are to Be—A People of Faith who Believe & Accept Jesus is Who He Says He Is—the SAVIOR!
A People Robed in Jesus’ Robe of Righteousness!
A People Assured & Confident & Filled with the Light of God!
In reading more about the saints of God, I saw a people who faced a battle, yes a fight that was larger than the assembly of believers, but a people who only needed to stand back and watch the HAND of the LORD move the mountain they faced.
“Then in the midst of the assembly the Spirit of the LORD came . . . and he said, ‘Listen, all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: thus says the LORD to you. Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God’s. . . .
You need not fight in this battle; station yourselves, stand and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out to face them, for the LORD is with you.”
(2 Chronicles 20: 14-15 & 17)
Who Are We to Be?
We Are to Be—A People Not Fearful or Dismayed.
We Are Inhabitants of Heaven Who Are Walking a Life-Journey, Traveling Home.
We Are People Who Place Our Trust in the LORD & Who Give Our Battles, Our Concerns, Our Anxieties to the LORD.
We Are a People—Who the LORD Goes With Us As We Go!
At this point, I had reached a spiritual high, but still God had one additional Scripture He desired for me to read. God took me to see the prophet Elijah on the day of his departure from this earth. That’s right—Elijah’s departure, not his death! Wow! Oh, Wow! There is only one other man recorded in the Bible that walked with God and was no more—Enoch. Today, I was given the honor of seeing Elijah as he mentored the one who would serve the people after the LORD took him from the earth.
“And it came about when the LORD was about to take up Elijah by a whirlwind to heaven, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal.
Elijah said to Elisha, ‘Stay here please, for the LORD has sent me as far as Bethel.’ But Elisha said, ‘As the LORD lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.’ So they went down to Bethel. . . .
Now fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood opposite them at a distance, while the two of them stood by the Jordan.
Elijah took his mantle and folded it together and struck the waters, and they were divided here and there, so that the two of them crossed over on dry ground.
When they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, ‘Ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you.’ And Elisha said, ‘Please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.’
He said, ‘You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.’
As they were going along and talking, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire which separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven.
Elisha saw it and cried out, ‘My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!’ And he saw Elijah no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.
He also took up the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and returned and stood by the bank of the Jordan.
He took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and struck the waters and said, ‘Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?’ And when he also had struck the waters, they were divided here and there; and Elisha crossed over.”
(2 Kings 2: 1-2 & 7-14)
Who Are We to Be?
We Are to Be—People Who Trust the LORD to do exactly as He says He will do!
We Are to Be People Who Believe God with a “depth” that SEES the MIRACLES of GOD!
We Walk & Talk in this world with other believers, with those who will carry on the work of God when we are gone.
Most Definitely, We Are to Be People—Who Pass On the Mantle of Our Faith to the Next Generation!
Thank You God for all the examples of Saints You have given for us to SEE.
May We Be the People God Has Called Us to Be!