HENRI J.M.
NOUWEN (1932–1996) said, “One of the
great tragedies of our life is we keep forgetting who we are.” And, for
want of freedom to that end, there are so many barriers we must sort through — self-condemnation,
doubt, cowardice, forgetfulness, to name just a few — to acquire the mastery we
need of inherent identity.
Who are we?
We are saved —
it’s presumed — by our acceptance of the Lord Jesus’ defining work on the cross
and through his resurrection on the third day. And, because we believed upon
the Bible — that this risen Jesus was glorified in being with the Father, we
believe upon the Bible that, we too, will be glorified, soon. (All too soon for
our mortal psyches, but not soon enough for our souls.)
And, yet, God
has sealed us for that day of
redemption by sealing this day of
redemption. The old is gone. The new has come. We are New Creations (2
Corinthians 5:17).
If our identity
is anchored in Christ we will have worked through the barriers to our New
Creation self. Or, perhaps we have just foreseen how these barriers have become
real distractions for us. Maybe these distractions annoy us sufficiently that
we might disembark from them.
***
We may know more of this New Creation life: to know
intrinsically in and through our conscious experience of life
that we are, indeed, New; that forgetfulness will not be a problem, when:
1.
God
is constantly reminding us how anew we see the world.
We look upon God’s creation — including his creations (people) — with a new
sense for his delight. These creations, in all manner of mystery and wisdom,
are astounding to the senses of us, who are New.
2.
Our
mistakes and failures rest serenely in the reality that these, too, are
acceptable. When we arrive here we realise that nothing we
do now is unacceptable — for we do not do things that are abhorrent to God
anymore. Sure, we may still battle with certain ‘sins’, but we are open and
honest with God on a daily basis about these matters; we trust him to sanctify
us in our Lord’s way and in his time.
3.
We
see the point of life, which holds us; that life is the learning ground.
No more are we frustrated by the very things we thought were frustrating. They
were put there for us to learn from — once and for all. From frustration we are
to learn patience; from the hurt of betrayal we are to learn grace from senseless
personal and interpersonal suffering of our bitterness; from anxiety or
depression we are to learn and discern the true beauties of this life — those not
contained by what humanity creates, but those contained through which God
creates.
***
Distil this down, I ask of myself. 1) Blessed are we when we
see the world arrayed anew. 2) Even mistakes and failures are acceptable in God’s
sight. 3) The point of life, its purpose, is life is the learning ground.
God
knows who you are IN Him.
You’re
His star who will not dim.
A New
Creation learning to live.
A New Creation who loves to
give.
© 2015 Steve
Wickham.
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