©2008 Larry Huntsperger

9/14/08 Forgetting Who We Are
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Last week we officially ended our series on spiritual growth,

      but I’m not ready yet

            to leave our study of II Peter.

We may end up going all the way through the book,

      but at least for a few weeks

            I’d definitely like us to keep moving on

                  from where we left off.

If you’ve been with us recently

      you know that Peter uses the first 8 verses of his second letter

            to share with us a rather remarkable overview

                  of the growth program

                        our Lord seeks to lead each of us through in our walk with Him.

In the past several months

      we have looked in detail at the eight steps in that growth program -

faith

      moral excellence

            knowledge

                  self-control

                        perseverance

                              godliness

                                    brotherly kindness

                                          love.

But it would be unwise for us to get near this list

      without going on at least a few more verses

            to see what Peter says about these qualities

                  once he has made us aware of them.

I know how it is with lists

      and especially with a list like this one

            that tends to trigger within us

                  that “Oh-good-grief-dad’s-coming-back-tonight” terror response

                        that was recorded into our emotions when we were 12 years old.

You remember, don’t you?

 It was summer vacation

      and dad told you he was going to be gone for the week.

But, thoughtful man that he was,

      he didn’t want you to be bored

            during that week he was gone

                  so he supplied you with a list of suggested activities during his absence.

Mow the lawn,

      rake the lawn,

            edge the lawn,

clean the garage,

      clean out that hideous area behind the garage,

            and re-stack that pile of firewood that fell down last week.

When dad left on Monday you accepted his list with a hearty, ‟Sure dad, no problem...”

After all, you had a whole week

      and nothing else really planned.

But then things just sort of came up

      on Monday,

            and Tuesday,

                  and Wednesday,

                        and Thursday,

and when you woke up on Friday morning

      a sudden, overwhelming panic hit you

            as you realized that dad was due back tomorrow

                  and nothing on the list had yet been completed.

And I think we tend to have similar responses to some of the lists

      our Lord hands us in His Word.

We assume this is a list of things

      that must be completed before our heavenly Dad comes back.

And we so often fail to hear what our Lord is actually saying to us

      because we have already mentally anticipated what we think He’s going to say

            and we end up hearing what we thought He was going to say

                  rather than what He actually said.

And I think that’s especially true

      with what we find in II Peter 1:9.

Now keep in mind where we’ve been -

in verses 5-7 Peter has just shared with us

            the eight progressive steps of growth

                  that God is actively seeking to build into our lives.

Then, verse 8 he assures us that, ‟if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

He tells us that all true productivity in our lives

      will be a by-product of our progress

            in this pattern for growth.

OK, now listen to Peter’s next six words:

‟ For he who lacks these qualities...”

Those are truly amazing words -

      words that have the ability to cause many sincere readers

            to suddenly freeze in fear.

We automatically finish the phrase 

      from our own emotional memory banks...

He who lacks these qualities...

      is going to be in big trouble when Dad comes back.

He who lacks these qualities...

      simply isn’t serious about his or her Christian life and needs to settle down and try harder.

He who lacks these qualities...

      is clearly not made of the right stuff

            and might as well forget about any kind of successful walk with Christ.

He who lacks these qualities...

      is obviously bad soil,

            and salt that’s lost its savor,

                  good for nothing except to be thrown out

                        and trampled under the feet of better Christians.

He who lacks these qualities...

      is really pathetic,

            a pitiful excuse for the real thing.

He who lacks these qualities...

      had durn well better not let any one at church know.

Now isn’t that what we do with a phrase like that?

Isn’t that where we end up mentally when left to ourselves?

OK, enough of the lies,

      now let me read what Peter really said.

For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.

HUH?

For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.

Peter tells us that if we are not growing

      in these qualities as we should

            it’s not because we’re not trying hard enough,

                  or made of the right stuff,

                        or because we’re bad soil,

he says our problem is rooted in that fact

      that we either have never seen

            or have forgotten the purifying work

                  that God has already accomplished in our hearts through Christ.

“Right! Larry!

That doesn’t make any sense.

I know Christ died for my sins,

      I know I’m forgiven.

      I know all that stuff -

            great stuff,

and I haven’t forgotten it.

But what’s that got to do

      with my ability to grow in all of these qualities?”

I’m glad you asked...

I think I can help us to understand

      why Peter says what he says here,

            but first let me remind us of a crucial

                  and foundational principle

                        of all that God says to us in His Word.

For obvious reasons we human beings

      tend to be intensely focused on our actions,

            our outward behavior.

If our performance or actions are not correct in some area

      we try to find ways of correcting them.

If our productivity at work is low

      and our boss gets on us, we try harder.

If our marriage partner is displeased with some area of our performance

      intense and exciting discussions about the issue in question

            will most certainly result.

If we have some sort of addictive behavior in our lives,

      we try to find tools that will help us

            to rid ourselves of the unwanted behavior.

In short,

      we spend most of our time

            looking at our actions,

feeling good when they are what we want,

      and trying to change them

            when they are not.

But when God talks to us about our actions

      He begins by telling us

            that our actions are simply an inescapable by-product of our inner belief system.

In other words,

      what we do,

            the way we act

                  is simply an extension of what we believe inside.

We may, under certain circumstances,

      as a result of intense external pressure,

            succeed in modifying our behavior

                  for a brief period of time,

but once the external pressure is gone

      our behavior will return to being

            an automatic extension

                  of the inner belief system

                        under which we are operating.

This is why,

      when Paul reaches his crucial transitional passage in Rom. 12

            where he moves from belief into behavior,

at that crucial junction he says,

Rom. 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,...

All true transformation in our lives

      begins with renewing our mind,

            renewing our thought processes,

                  changing the way we think.

Only I need to make one further huge distinction here -

      we’re not simply suppose to think differently,

we are called to learn how to think correctly.

That is, we are called to learn how to think in harmony with the truth,

      as it has already been revealed to us

            by God Himself.

This is not simply some form of the power of positive thinking -

      ...think nice things and nice things will happen...

This is a process

      of taking our flawed and distorted and twisted thought patterns that are currently in place in our lives

            and bringing them bit by bit

                  into harmony with what is really true for the Christian.

When we come to Christ

      we become a new creation

            at the deepest level of our being.

Our entire identity,

      who we are at the spirit level,

            is transformed totally

                  and forever.

Paul says simply in II Cor. 5:17

Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

As that truth begins to infiltrate

      our thinking - our understanding of ourselves,

we will begin to see our living,

      our actions,

            our behavior transformed.

When most of us come to Christ,

      about all we understand is that our sins have been forgiven

            because Christ has paid our debt through His blood.

Now that’s certainly true,

      but that doesn’t even begin to touch the surface

            of what has really taken place.

Peter’s wording in this verse in II Peter 1:9 is careful and specific.

He does not say we have forgotten

      that Christ died for our sins.

He does not say we have forgotten

      that our sins are forgiven.

He says we have forgotten our purification from our former sins.

He is telling us

      that we have once again lost sight of that fact

            that we have become a completely new creation in Christ,

and we have forgotten who that new creation is,

      or more likely we have never known.

OK, now that is a lot of theory

      and hopefully interesting ideas,

            but how in the world does it relate

                  to our lives?

The best way I know of to help us make that transition

      is through an illustration

            I shared in The Grace Exchange,

because it helps me to picture

      exactly what Peter is saying in this 9th verse of II Peter 1.

This is the story about a good King of a small country.

This king loves his people deeply

      and does his best to rule his subjects with wisdom and compassion.

But he’s got a problem.

He’s growing old

       and has no child of his own to rule in his place after he dies.

For months he broods over his situation,

      and then one day the most fantastic idea occurs to him.

The more he thinks about his plan,

      the more pleased he becomes with the idea.

It seems to answer his greatest concerns

      about the man who will rule his nation in the future.

He wants to be sure

      that the one who rules after him

            will share his heart of compassion for the people he rules.

He wants it to be a man

      who can understand the problems,

            and the concerns,

                  and the needs of even the most lowly of his subjects.

The king’s plan is simple.

He’ll go to the poorest part of his great capitol city

      and find there a orphaned child, perhaps 11 or 12 years old,

            maybe even a kid who’s been forced to live by his wits on the streets.

He’ll legally adopt him and raise him as his son,

      teaching him the skills and giving him the knowledge he’ll need

            to one day rule in his place.

The King is certain that the boy’s deprived heritage

      will give him a strong identification with the people he’ll one day rule,

and his careful training under the king’s guidance

      will give him the tools and the foundation he’ll need for the great work.

The king commissions the most trusted members of his staff

      to find a boy who meets the qualifications he’s outlined,

             and tells them to report back when they’ve found a suitable child.

When the selection is finally made,

      the king personally goes to interview his prospective son

            and present the proposition to him.

The king gets in his royal limousine

      and tells his chauffeur

            to drive to a certain very poor part of town.

He finds the boy loitering on the street,

      and the king has the chauffeur stop

            and then orders several of his guards to bring the child to him.

At first the kid is terrified.

He’s been busted by the police lots of times for theft,

      but when he sees the king drive up,

            he assumes he’s probably going to be executed.

The king asks the boy to get inside the limousine.

He tells him that he’s not in trouble,

      he’s not being arrested,

            and he has nothing to be afraid of.

At first the conversation is awkward and strained.

The two of them sit there together,

       the king in his royal robes

            and the orphan in his rags.

But then, the longer they talk,

      the more they both begin to relax

            and the more they find themselves enjoying one another.

After some time,

      the king is confident that this boy is indeed a good choice for his plan.

When there is a little lull in the conversation,

      the king tells the kid that he has a proposition for him.

The king explains in careful detail

      all that he has in mind

            and concludes by saying,

“I want to be sure that you clearly understand exactly what I am offering you.

      If you agree to my terms,

            you will become my legal son forever.

You will return with me to the palace

      and live with me there.

From this day forward

      I’ll personally take responsibility

            for meeting all of your needs.

I’ll feed you and clothe you,

      train and educate you,

            and get you ready for the day when I die

                  and you’ll rule in my place as king of this great nation.

There are no strings attached to my offer,

      and if you choose to

            you can step outside this limousine right now

                  and I’ll never trouble you again.

But if you accept my offer

      it is a permanent, inalterable agreement between us.

So what’s your decision?”

The boy gives the proposition a full thirty seconds consideration

      and then says simply, “Sounds great! You’ve got yourself a son!”

The two of them return to the palace,

      and at first everything seems to be going fine.

The boy spends hours just wandering around the palace and the grounds,

      overwhelmed by more wealth and luxury than he’s ever seen in his life.

He begins his schooling

      and the king is pleased to see

            that his new son has a sharp mind and learns quickly.

The plan seems to be working out great.

But then the king begins to observe

      some strange behavior in his son.

At the dinner table,

      when the boy thinks no one is looking,

            he’ll take a piece of meat or a roll and some cheese

                  and shove it into his pocket.

When he walks down a hallway,

      his young hand will quickly reach out

            and grab some shiny object sitting on a table

                  and then slide it under his coat.

The boy then takes his treasures back to his room

      and stashes them under his bed.

At first the king is puzzled by the boy’s behavior.

Every need the child has

      is being met in abundance.

The king has withheld none of his treasures from his son,

      and yet the boy seems compelled

            to hoard a small pile of little treasures in his room.  

Then the king finally realizes what’s happening.

His son has the clothes,

      the food,

            and the legal position of a prince and a future king,

but he still has the mind and the emotions of a street kid.

He’s been told that the king is now his father

      and that he’ll never again want for anything,

            but he doesn’t feel that way at all.

In his mind he still sees himself

      as a boy who has to live by his wits,

            a boy who’s got nobody he can really rely on but himself.

It’s true that through an amazing series of events

      he’s ended up in a king’s palace for a while.

But he’s sure that eventually something will go wrong

      and he’ll be back out on the street again.

We come into the Body of Christ

      very much like that kid came into the palace.

We know something good has happened to us-

      we know it feels good,

            we know some things around us have changed.

We may even recognize that

      in some amazing way God is now

            sort of on our side -

just as the King was being nice to the boy,

      so now God is being nice to us.

But just like that boy,

      we are still thinking and operating

            basically on the same reasoning processes and emotional responses as before.

We see ourselves

      not as saints, God’s holy ones,

            and His ambassadors,

                  and as Christ’s brothers and sisters,

                        and as future joint rulers of this world,

but rather

      we tend to view ourselves

            pretty much as sinners saved by God’s grace

                  doing our best to stay out of trouble

                        so that our new Heavenly Father

                              doesn’t get ticked at us and kick us out of the family.

What will have the power to change the king’s adopted son’s behavior?

What will free him from his compulsive petty theft?

Will increased security in halls solve the problem?

      Will surprise searches of his room?

Obviously, the only thing that will solve the problem

      is when the boy begins to accept

            the reality of who he really is.

Only when he begins to accept the amazing truth

      that he actually is the literal son of the King,

            and that he will be forever

                  will he see how absurd his stealing is.

He already owns it all -

      so why steal from himself?

If the king is wise, what he’ll do is to sit down with his son and say,

“My son, I know you’ve been stashing things under your bed.

I know that right now

      you don’t yet understand who you are

            or what’s really taken place in your life.

But listen to me carefully.

I want you to know that you truly are my son forever.

Nothing and no one will ever change that.

I won’t get tired of you,

      I won’t throw you out of the palace if you don’t behave,

            I’ll never ever abandon you to the streets again.

I know that your whole life up to this point has been a life of steeling.

I understand that.

I know, too, that those patterns are sometimes very hard to break.

 As time goes by we’ll work on those patterns together, as a team.

But for right now, I want you to hear just one thing:

      I’m your father, you’re my son,

            and nothing can ever alter that truth.”

And this is exactly where our Lord

      begins His healing process with us.

His first and greatest challenge

      is that of reshaping our understanding

            of who we have become in Christ.

We have lived our entire lives

      separated from our Creator,

            with only our wits and our little manipulative techniques for meeting our needs in life.

If God helps out, fine,

      but the bottom line has always been

            our looking out for #1.

Peter wants us to understand

      that all true life transformation

            grows out of us beginning to learn who we have become in Christ

                  and what it means to live our lives now, each day,

                        in an eternal Father-child union

                              with God Himself.

For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.