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FOUNDATIONS
The Foundations of our Life in God
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CONSIDERATION 1.
Blessings of Life
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with his pleasure and will6to the praise of his glorious
grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.
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Reformation in Europe. This comes from The Book of Common
Prayer of the Anglican Church. Though the language is old,
the thoughts are still pertinent.
As the godly consideration of predestination, and our election in Christ, is full of sweet, pleasant, and unspeakable
comfort to godly personsas well because it doth greatly
establish and confirm their faith of eternal salvation to be
enjoyed through Christ, as because it doth fervently kindle
their love towards God: so, for curious and carnal persons,
lacking the Spirit of Christ, to have continually before their
eyes the sentence of God's predestination, is a most dangerous down fallfurthermore, we must receive God's promises in such wise, as they be generally set forth to us in holy
Scripture: and, in our doings, that will of God is to be followed, which we have expressly declared unto us in the
Word of God. 10
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encourage you in difficult days to go back and look at that unchanging statement of Gods mind and seek Him in prayer on
the basis of it. From the beginning, He has called us to be
Histo be holy and blameless before Him so that ultimately
His Name might be glorified. Use it as a prayer for your
growth in Christian character. God promises that you will be
holy and blameless before Him. Ask Him to draw you towards
that end day by day.
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according to the riches of His grace which He lavished upon
us. These three blessings, bestowed on us by Love and out of
love when He drew us into His family, ought never to be forgotten or overlooked. We ought to follow the path of the one
whom the Psalmist says is blessed, who meditates on the law
of the Lord day and night (Psalm 1), and regularly meditate on
these blessings of Gods works and mighty deeds on our behalf
(Psalm 77:11-12).
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nations. As Gods people, they are to be there for the blessing
and salvation of others. But they are not. They fail miserably.
They are taken off into captivity nearly 600 years before the
birth of the Lord Jesus. Later in that sixth century BC, a number of them return from their captivity in Babylon, but their
situation back in the Promised Land is nothing like that which
had been promised by the prophets. First, they were dominated
by the Persians and then the Greeks; and then after a period of
tentative independence, they finally came to be under the rule
of the Romans. It was while they were subject to Roman rule
that Jesus began to proclaim, The Kingdom of God is at
hand.11 Many thought they should take up their swords and
fight while others retreated to wait, to prepare, and to pray. But
another purpose was at work. Jesus came to establish Gods
rule. He did it through His life, death, resurrection, and ascension to glory. The ultimate end of what He did when He died
on the cross and rose again is the picture at the end of Revelationthe picture of creation restored and transformed to a degree more wonderful than we can imagine. Gods purpose is to
restore creation and all that is in it to that condition where all
evil is banished and everything is in perfect harmony with its
Creator. That is the point to which God is taking His creation.
That is where the death of Christ is taking us. That is what Paul
is saying here.
God has a purpose to fulfill in the fullness of time. It is to
draw all things together in Christ. So you and I, filling at this
11 Mark 1:15 (King James).
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moment a tiny slot in Gods time, are part of that whole
movement that goes from Genesis on to the very end. We will
die (presumably, if the Lord does not return before then) and
go to heaven. But that is not the final end. The ultimate end is
that we will be part of Gods new heaven and earth. This expectation is the Christians hope in which we are saved (Romans 8:18-25).
This purpose and plan of God in Christ is part of the foundation for a life with God. As we go out to share the Gospel,
we may meet opposition, difficulty, and persecution. Some
reading these words will know this all too well. But the truth is
that Gods planned end will cause all the present pains and sorrows to be forgotten just as Jesus spoke of a woman forgetting
her labor pains because of the joy experienced in the presence
of a newborn child.
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Paul declares that he and his fellow Jewish believersthose who were the first to hope in Christhave been
claimed by God as His portion (a reference to the Old Testament idea that the Lords people are His portion). This was according to Gods purpose, he says, as the One who accomplishes all things according to His will. They were to be for the
praise of His glory. Then addressing his readers, he reminds
them that they also, having believed the Gospel message, were
sealed with the promised Holy Spirit who is the guarantee of
their full redemption as Gods possession.
We who believe in Christ today form part of the company
addressed by Paul in this letter. We are the inheritors of all the
blessings he set before them. We have been claimed by God as
His heritage, which He has possessed for himself. Cement
these truths into your mind and heart as the foundation of your
walk with Christ and your work for Him. Go back to these
words often. Memorize them. Make them the subject of your
prayer and praises and let them be the foundation of your hope
in Christ.
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you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19and
his incomparably great power for us who believe. That
power is like the working of his mighty strength, 20which he
exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and
seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21far
above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every
title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in
the one to come. 22And God placed all things under his feet
and appointed him to be head over everything for the church,
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which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything
in every way.
That latter is the power that raised Jesus from the dead and
set Him as Lord over all things for the sake of the church
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which is His body. There is a breathtaking range of matters
here which Paul wants his readers to grasp the power and
meaning of with ever deeper understanding. Each facet is worthy of thoughtful and prayerful reflection with the prayer that
we too may appreciate to an ever greater degree the meaning
and power of each. They are an exhilarating and energizing
collection of truths. I encourage you that as you live and as you
are out in the field working for Christ to be constantly praying
Pauls prayer for yourself and others, that those heavenly realities will become so powerful in your and their minds that they
will be dominant in everything you do.
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Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
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presses, the things we have just considered are the truths to
which we need to return. Remember it is not a matter of feeling that these things are true; it is a matter of standing on what
God has said, come what may.
There is an old English spiritual classic called Pilgrims
Progress written by John Bunyan. At one stage, it was the next
most popular Christian book to the Bible itself. Bunyan relates
the story of the Christian life as the tale of the journey of Christian from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City. It is the
account of the trials, temptations, and supports that he experiences in his pilgrimage. At one point, Bunyan has Christian fall
into the clutches of Giant Despair, who imprisons him and
regularly beats him mercilesslyalmost to death. Christian
finally escapes when he discovers a key labeled Promise in
his clothing. Gods promises were and are the way out of that
sort of despair. Bunyan had, at one stage of his own life, believed he had sinned so much that God would never have anything to do with him. He came on a verse from John 6:37
where Jesus says (in the old King James version of the English
Bible), All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and
him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
Bunyan said, The devil and I fought with that promise
backwards and forwards. He said, Youre not worthy to
come.
However, Bunyan replied, It doesnt say he who is worthy, it says, him that cometh, any him, I will in no wise cast
out, and I am coming to him. That verse steadied him, gave
him hope, and released him from the grip of despair. Use this
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section of Ephesians not only to defeat despair, but also use it
to give wings to your spiritual pilgrimage.
CONSIDERATION 2.
Entering into Life
As we saw above in Ephesians 2, those who believe in Jesus
have been raised to life in Him. We now live, whereas once we
were dead in our transgressions and sins. The sentence of death
for disobedience pronounced in the Garden has been removed.
We have passed from death to life. We have entered into a living relationship with Life Himself. As John expresses it in his
first letter, And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal
life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he
who does not have the Son of God does not have life.12 God
has granted us eternal life; that is the life of the age to come,
the life of Gods new creation, and His new heaven and earth.
We are new creation people (2 Corinthians 5:17). We live now
in God, and we will be with Him in heaven when death takes
us. On the day when all things are made new, we will share in
that new creation. We are to rejoice that our names are written
in heaven and in the Lambs Book of Life (Luke 10:20 and
Revelation 21:27).
12 1 John 5:11-12.
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John 1:10-13
He was in the world, and though the world was made
through him, the world did not recognize him. 11He came to
that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.
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Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his
name, he gave the right to become children of God 13children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a
husbands will, but born of God.
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John 3:1-17
The conversation recorded here between Jesus and Nicodemus
focused on the idea of new birth. Nicodemus was perplexed.
Jesus expressed the absolute necessity of new birth or birth
from above if someone was to see the Kingdom of God. It is a
conversation that concludes with the words:
Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son
of Man must be lifted up, 15that everyone who believes in
him may have eternal life.
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For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only
Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have
eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to
condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
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God has given lifeeternal lifeto the one who believes
in Christ. This is the firm foundation upon which ones spiritual life is to be built.
CONSIDERATION 3.
Being and Making Disciples
Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain
where Jesus had told them to go. 17When they saw him, they
worshiped him; but some doubted. 18Then Jesus came to
them and said, All authority in heaven and on earth has
been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you
always, to the very end of the age. 13
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13 Matthew 28:16-20.
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our lives. We are His disciples, and we are to lead others into
that same life of trusting and obeying Jesus.
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CONSIDERATION 4.
Developing Christian Character
Discipleship, following Jesus, and being a learner in His school
involves not only a surrender of our minds to Him but also a
change in the way we live. As members of His Body and as
heirs of the new creation that God will establish, we are called
to live that new life under the conditions of this present age. As
those born from above, we are to live the life of Gods Kingdom. The Spirit of God is at work in us to produce the fruit ap14 Matthew 11:28-30.
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propriate to a life in God, but we are called to pursue actively
that new way of living.
Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:
2
Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
3
His divine power has given us everything we need for life
and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us
by his own glory and goodness. 4Through these he has given
us his very great and precious promises, so that through them
you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
5
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith
goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6and to knowledge,
self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7and to godliness, brotherly kindness;
and to brotherly kindness, love. 8For if you possess these
qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our
Lord Jesus Christ. 9But if anyone does not have them, he is
nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been
cleansed from his past sins. 10Therefore, my brothers, be all
the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if
you do these things, you will never fall, 11and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ.15
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15 2 Peter 1:1-11.
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God has called us to be His children and promises us a glorious future sharing His life and delivering us from a world
corrupted by sin. For that reason we are to apply ourselves to
the task as living as His children now. Here are listed a number
of virtues that the readers are encouraged to cultivate. This is
the path that we too are to follow.
What sort of effort is needed to cultivate these and other
habits of the heart that are pleasing to God? The answer to
that question makes up the remainder of this book. However,
we can say now in a brief, partial answer that it is the Scriptures and our engagement with them; prayer for the Spirit of
God to work in us; the fellowship of other believers; the promises conveyed to us in the Gospel sacraments of Baptism and
the Lords Supper; and temptations and the lessons of experience that all play a part. The important thing here is the recognition that we are called to develop the character assigned to us
as Gods children.
Here are two further passages from the New Testament that
make the same point: to be born of Gods Spirit is to leave behind lives that do not honor God and to adopt ways of living
that reflect our new creation.
Romans 8:9-14
You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by
the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone
does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to
Christ. 10But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of
sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11And if
the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in
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you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to
your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.
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Therefore, brothers, we have an obligationbut it is not to
the sinful nature, to live according to it. 13For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit
you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live,
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because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of
God.
Romans 13:8-14
Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt
to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. 9The commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not covet, and
whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up
in this one rule: Love your neighbor as yourself. 10Love
does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
11
And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has
come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our
salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12The
night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put
aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
13
Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and
drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not
in dissension and jealousy. 14Rather, clothe yourselves with
the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify
the desires of the sinful nature.
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with Adam and the beginning of the new life which is associated with the Lord Jesus. Romans 6:1-14 and Colossians
2:20-4:1 are passages that exhort us to live up to (and into) our
baptism.
CONSIDERATION 5.
Encouragement from the Past
During the 16th Century in Europe, Christian communities were
keen to set out clearly what they believed. There were a number of Confessions or Statements of Faith produced. One
of those was called The Heidelberg Confession. It was approved for use in 1563. Its form is that of questions and answers. Here is the first question and answer:
Question 1: What is thy only comfort in life and death?
Answer: That I with body and soul, both in life and death,
am not my own, but belong to my faithful Saviour Jesus
Christ; who, with his precious blood, has fully satisfied for
all my sins, and delivered me from all the power of the devil;
and so preserves me that without the will of my heavenly
Father, not a hair can fall from my head; yea, that all things
must be subservient to my salvation, and therefore, by his
Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life, and makes me
sincerely willing and ready, henceforth to live unto him. 16
1969. 307.
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should not overlook in helping ourselves to mature as Christians. You could do yourself a lot of good by committing it to
memory.
CONSIDERATION 6.
Scriptural Encouragement
There are numerous encouragements in scripture that God
gives us as we seek to grow in grace and in the knowledge of
God. Here are four that you can make the subject of your
prayers and which can act as a foundation for your confidence
in seeking to develop spiritually:
Philippians 1:3-6
I thank my God every time I remember you. 4In all my
prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5because of
your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now,
6
being confident of this, that he who began a good work in
you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
3
Philippians 2:12-13
Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed
not only in my presence, but now much more in my absencecontinue to work out your salvation with fear and
trembling, 13for it is God who works in you to will and to act
according to his good purpose.
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Hebrews 13:20-21
May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that
great Shepherd of the sheep, 21equip you with everything
good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever
and ever. Amen.
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Jude 1:24-25
To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present
you before his glorious presence without fault and with great
joy 25to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power
and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages,
now and forevermore! Amen.
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Each of these selections contains an implicit encouragement to pray and look for the operation of God in our lives as
we set ourselves to live with Him. They feed faith, sustain us in
times of challenge and doubt, and draw us to our heavenly Father for His support and guidance.
CONSIDERATION 7.
Living with God When I Do Not Understand His Ways
This final section is to prepare you for those times when you
cannot understand what God is doing in the circumstances of
your life. Things happen that you never expected. Cherished
hopes do not materialize. You experience loss, grief, disappointment, and frustration. You encounter sickness, physical
frailty, or mental disorder. These things happen. It is important
to hold onto God in such times. In times of spiritual darkness,
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dryness, and lethargy, it is vital that you keep following after
God albeit wearily and with great effort.
In John 13:6, Peter could not understand why Jesus, his
Master, would want to play the role of a servant and wash his
feet. There was more involved in the Lords actions than Peter
could appreciate at the time. He would learn the lesson as time
passed; but at that point, he did not understand. The Lord may
do things in your life that you do not understand at the time
they happen. Wait and see what they might mean.
Isaiah 55:8-9 is a powerful reminder that Gods thoughts
and intentions run far ahead of ours. Our task is to trust Him in
the dark and difficult moments, to hold onto His Word, and to
not capitulate the tempters suggestions that would lead us to
doubt and despair.
The story of Job is an extended account of a man thoroughly confused by what had befallen him. Conscious of his
integrity before God, he could not understand why his prosperity had turned to ruin and loss. His so called comforters,
armed with sound theological explanations, first encouraged
and then defamed him. He did not know what the readers of the
book know about the conversation between God and Satan, but
he held on none the less. In the end, God addressed him and
restored him. He did not know the reason for his testing, but he
would not give up on God. God richly blessed him in the end.
Dark days sometimes come. Build into your foundations
the resolve to trust God in every situation. Live your life with a
heart open to God. Hide nothing from Him. Let Him know
your sins, your doubts, and your struggles. Throw yourself on
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His mercy and wait. He is the God of all grace, and salvation is
all of grace. Take time to think on these words of Dr. J. I.
Packer:
What is the purpose of grace? Primarily, to restore man's
relationship with God. When God lays the foundation of this
restored relationship, by forgiving our sins as we trust His
Son, He does so in order that henceforth we and He may live
in fellowship, and what He does in renewing our nature is
intended to make us capable of, and actually to lead us into,
the exercise of love, trust, delight, hope, and obedience
Godwardthose acts which, from our side, made up the reality of fellowship with God, who is constantly making Himself known to us. This is what all the work of grace aims
atan ever deeper knowledge of God, and an ever closer
fellowship with Him. Grace is God drawing us sinners closer
and closer to Himself.
How does God in grace prosecute this purpose? Not by
shielding us from assault by the world, the flesh, and the
devil, nor by protecting us from burdensome and frustrating
circumstances, nor yet by shielding us from troubles created
by our own temperament and psychology; but rather by exposing us to all these things, so as to overwhelm us with a
sense of our own inadequacy, and to drive us to cling to Him
more closely. This is the ultimate reason, from our standpoint, why God fills our lives with troubles and perplexities
of one sort and anotherit is to ensure that we shall learn to
hold Him fast. The reason why the Bible spends so much of
its time reiterating that God is a strong rock, a firm defence,
and a sure refuge and help for the weak, is that God spends
so much of His time bringing home to us that we are weak,
both mentally and morally, and dare not trust ourselves to
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find, or to follow, the right road. When we walk along a
clear road feeling fine, and someone takes our arm to help
us, as likely as not we shall impatiently shake him off; but
when we are caught in rough country in the dark, with a
storm getting up and our strength spent, and someone takes
our arm to help us, we shall thankfully lean on him. And God
wants us to feel that our way through life is rough and perplexing so that we may learn thankfully to lean on Him.
Therefore He takes steps to drive us out of self-confidence to
trust in Himselfin the classical scriptural phrase for the
secret of the godly man's life, to wait on the Lord.17
For all of us, there come dark days of the souldoubt and
fear and all those sort of things. What a great thing it is to go
back to that passage of Scripture that says we have been chosen
before the foundation of the world. I have returned to this truth
numerous times. God is faithful, come what may.
17 Packer, J. I. Knowing God. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1973. Chapter 21, Section 4,
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