One of the questions I've puzzled with is why doesn't God just zap us and make us perfect? When we see a spot on the floor, we spray it with some 409, and wipe it clean. It's clean, simple, and easy. God's way of cleansing us seems to have been the total opposite. From the hymn, How Great Thou Art, "And when I think that God his Son not sparing, sent Him to die - I scarce can take it in." Why is the means of God's righteousness transferral so devastating that God's own Son died for us?
Perhaps its one thing to clean the surface of a floor. But to clean a human soul is a completely different story. Like apples and oranges. A spot on the surface of the floor is fairly simple. If there was something awry with the foundation of the floor, or even of the house itself, the matter would be different. This is more like what is wrong with humanity. We may often look good on the outside, but what is inside is absolutely killing us. We are complex spiritual beings - made to know one another deeply, reading immense significance in the smallest glance, becoming terribly offended by words that aren't spoken to us. Part of sin's devastation is that if we see it too clearly, despair can ensue. We know that the problems of our lives and communities are too great for us. We can be tempted to give up and become cynical. And when this happens to someone spiritually, they are like a plant that has died. Pretty soon, what happens inside makes its way through the whole plant. We stop caring. We sit around. We don't build ourselves up physically, intellectually, or emotionally. Parts of our lives that are only a part - our jobs for instance - can become our only focus.
I think the best way to put it is that while we are procrastinators - running from the problem areas of our lives where we meet resistance - God is not. When His creation went astray, He didn't avoid us, finding solace in some other cosmic wonder that hadn't fallen into disarray. He worked to redeem our life in our life. Not away from our world, but right in the middle. In his death, he carries the weight and the guilt of all of our original sin. In our baptisms, we are baptized into the death and burial of Jesus Christ. He rises from the grave. We do too. It seems nothing has really changed. In fact, everything has. Through faith in Christ, we have also risen from the grave with him. At this point, in answer to the question, "why didn't God just zap us and make us instantaneously perfect so we don't have to screw up and learn things the hard way anymore?", God is interested in more than our cleanliness. Eternal life is more than a long life. It is a good life. Righteousness is more than the absence of sin. It is a life where the full, dazzling array of God-likeness is shining out of our lives through our united-to-Christ hearts.
Thank God this is already ours in Christ! This keeps us from the mistake of thinking God expects us to earn his favor. We can live freely, trusting in his love. But there's more. With that assurance, we learn. We develop discipline. We grow. Because salvation isn't only a new status. It is a relationship. This is what we were made for. Out of this relationship with Christ, our other relationships are all healed.
This is so liberating. We want to know God loves us. And we want to know that we can become more like Christ with each passing day. This is why Paul's passage in 3:12-17 is such good news. With our lives united to Christ through the Holy Spirit, we can stock the virtues of Christ in our lives, as in a wardrobe and we can wear them everyday.
Reflection Questions:
1) Verse 12 mentions compassion, humility, meekness, and patience. Which of these is most lacking for you in your daily life?
2) Do you see this quality in Christ's life? Think about how freely it is on display in his life to glorify God. Ask him in prayer for this quality to grow in your life.
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