Behold and Become
Behold and Become
Matthew 5:17-20 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
The Pharisees considered themselves to be the most righteous people on the planet at the time Jesus said this. Not only were they the keepers of the "standard" of righteousness, they were professionals in living righteously. They literally made keeping the law their profession. They studied the scriptures and lived by the letter of the law. According to Jesus, they fell well short of the minimum standard of righteousness required. This shouldn't have been a surprise to them. Jesus told them exactly where they were blind:
John 5:39-40 You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.
The Pharisees didn't understand Immanuel...God with man. They didn't understand that God isn't really looking for an army of soldiers who wont break rank, who are trained in battle and willing to die for His cause. This is actually the way the enemy of God operates, trading loyalty for power and position. This is what God said of satan:
Ezekiel 28:15-16 You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you. “By the abundance of your trading You became filled with violence within, And you sinned; Therefore I cast you as a profane thing Out of the mountain of God; And I destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the fiery stones.
No, God is not like this. God chose love. Love requires relationship, a choice to receive love and to love back, not performance. When Jesus told His disciples the righteousness of the Pharisees wasn't enough, He was saying absent of knowing who Jesus is, and who we are to Him, real righteousness is not possible. Look at what Jesus said to the Pharisees when they missed who He was, despite their profession of righteousness:
John 5:36-38 But I have a greater witness than John’s; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish—the very works that I do—bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me. And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form. But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe.
I often think of the "works" Jesus did as healing the sick, casting out demons, walking on water....these are surely the acts that proved He is the Christ, the anointed one...but NO...these where not His greatest works. Even we will do "greater things than these" when the Spirit is "poured out on our flesh." No, the greatest acts happened when He was talking with people, and culminated in the last few days of His life. First washing the feet of, and then dying for, those who would choose to be part of His royal family. The Author and Creator of life being so committed to us that He would step away from continually being worshiped so that He could serve, not be served. Giving His own life and setting aside His glory so that those who would volunteer themselves could be restored to what God called "very good" in the Garden of Eden...God with man...Immanuel. The worship around the throne that Jesus left isn't compulsory. The Seraphim don't have to be there...they would never leave. Moment by moment they witness new depths of God's holiness and beauty, and it makes them continually cry out in overwhelmed joyful adoration. They are overcome with emotion for God. Jesus left all this for me, just so I could see Him as they do. If the Pharisees would have really understood the heart of God throughout scripture, they would have recognized Jesus in a heartbeat, because in Him, love visited earth in full strength.
Jesus said if you have seen Him, and His heart, then you have seen the Father and HIS heart. God desires love, because He first loved us. God is simply looking for those who would choose Him to be His family, equally-yoked in love. The Bible describes all three persons of God as consuming fire: Jesus the Son with eyes like fire, God the fiery red like Jasper and Sardius Father full of desire for those He loves, the Holy Spirit is the living flame of love and power. God wants me on fire for Him like He is on fire for us.
This encounter is what produced righteousness in the disciples. Each of them, after having spent less than four years with Jesus, poured the rest of their lives out at His feet, counting their own death as small compared to the love of Jesus. When we behold the love of God for us, we become more consumed with love for Him. Tasting even a little bit of full strength love produces fiery love in us.
The Pharisees got this backwards. They thought following the law and searching the scripture would produce the relationship God wanted. But the heart of the Father is the opposite: beholding His love, and experiencing the true nature of His desire for a relationship with us will produce a heart-level desire to be equally invested in the relationship. Obedience and increasing righteousness are a natural result of this fiery love growing and consuming more of my heart!
Jesus said this is the path to righteousness: beholding His love first, letting His fiery love catch me on fire for Him, which produces heart-level obedience:
I John 4:17-19 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us.
Mark 12:33 And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
Anything less than all-in fiery love, like Jesus loves us, will produce less than acceptable works. We are tempted to measure our commitment to Jesus relative to what we see others around us doing. Jesus said this is like the Pharisees, setting their own standard of righteousness, and then living by that lower standard. Jesus calls this "lukewarm" at best:
Revelation 3:14-22 “And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, ‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” ’ ”
We "buy gold" from Jesus by living the Sermon on the Mount: we recognize the gap between what we really have and what is possible in our experience of God, we mourn it, we reach for more encounter with God with our words. We pour gasoline on the fire of our love by giving our money away secretly, praying secretly, fasting secretly. We fan the flame by resisting judging other, resisting offense, and by pressing in, even in the desert times. This is offering our own hearts as a fiery sacrifice to the One who turns fire into lush green life in full.
Song of Solomon 8:6-7 Set me as a seal upon your heart, As a seal upon your arm; For love is as strong as death, Jealousy as cruel as the grave; Its flames are flames of fire, A most vehement flame. Many waters cannot quench love, Nor can the floods drown it. If a man would give for love All the wealth of his house, It would be utterly despised.
Matthew 5:17-20 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
The Pharisees considered themselves to be the most righteous people on the planet at the time Jesus said this. Not only were they the keepers of the "standard" of righteousness, they were professionals in living righteously. They literally made keeping the law their profession. They studied the scriptures and lived by the letter of the law. According to Jesus, they fell well short of the minimum standard of righteousness required. This shouldn't have been a surprise to them. Jesus told them exactly where they were blind:
John 5:39-40 You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.
The Pharisees didn't understand Immanuel...God with man. They didn't understand that God isn't really looking for an army of soldiers who wont break rank, who are trained in battle and willing to die for His cause. This is actually the way the enemy of God operates, trading loyalty for power and position. This is what God said of satan:
Ezekiel 28:15-16 You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you. “By the abundance of your trading You became filled with violence within, And you sinned; Therefore I cast you as a profane thing Out of the mountain of God; And I destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the fiery stones.
No, God is not like this. God chose love. Love requires relationship, a choice to receive love and to love back, not performance. When Jesus told His disciples the righteousness of the Pharisees wasn't enough, He was saying absent of knowing who Jesus is, and who we are to Him, real righteousness is not possible. Look at what Jesus said to the Pharisees when they missed who He was, despite their profession of righteousness:
John 5:36-38 But I have a greater witness than John’s; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish—the very works that I do—bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me. And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form. But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe.
I often think of the "works" Jesus did as healing the sick, casting out demons, walking on water....these are surely the acts that proved He is the Christ, the anointed one...but NO...these where not His greatest works. Even we will do "greater things than these" when the Spirit is "poured out on our flesh." No, the greatest acts happened when He was talking with people, and culminated in the last few days of His life. First washing the feet of, and then dying for, those who would choose to be part of His royal family. The Author and Creator of life being so committed to us that He would step away from continually being worshiped so that He could serve, not be served. Giving His own life and setting aside His glory so that those who would volunteer themselves could be restored to what God called "very good" in the Garden of Eden...God with man...Immanuel. The worship around the throne that Jesus left isn't compulsory. The Seraphim don't have to be there...they would never leave. Moment by moment they witness new depths of God's holiness and beauty, and it makes them continually cry out in overwhelmed joyful adoration. They are overcome with emotion for God. Jesus left all this for me, just so I could see Him as they do. If the Pharisees would have really understood the heart of God throughout scripture, they would have recognized Jesus in a heartbeat, because in Him, love visited earth in full strength.
Jesus said if you have seen Him, and His heart, then you have seen the Father and HIS heart. God desires love, because He first loved us. God is simply looking for those who would choose Him to be His family, equally-yoked in love. The Bible describes all three persons of God as consuming fire: Jesus the Son with eyes like fire, God the fiery red like Jasper and Sardius Father full of desire for those He loves, the Holy Spirit is the living flame of love and power. God wants me on fire for Him like He is on fire for us.
This encounter is what produced righteousness in the disciples. Each of them, after having spent less than four years with Jesus, poured the rest of their lives out at His feet, counting their own death as small compared to the love of Jesus. When we behold the love of God for us, we become more consumed with love for Him. Tasting even a little bit of full strength love produces fiery love in us.
The Pharisees got this backwards. They thought following the law and searching the scripture would produce the relationship God wanted. But the heart of the Father is the opposite: beholding His love, and experiencing the true nature of His desire for a relationship with us will produce a heart-level desire to be equally invested in the relationship. Obedience and increasing righteousness are a natural result of this fiery love growing and consuming more of my heart!
Jesus said this is the path to righteousness: beholding His love first, letting His fiery love catch me on fire for Him, which produces heart-level obedience:
I John 4:17-19 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us.
Mark 12:33 And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
Anything less than all-in fiery love, like Jesus loves us, will produce less than acceptable works. We are tempted to measure our commitment to Jesus relative to what we see others around us doing. Jesus said this is like the Pharisees, setting their own standard of righteousness, and then living by that lower standard. Jesus calls this "lukewarm" at best:
Revelation 3:14-22 “And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, ‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” ’ ”
We "buy gold" from Jesus by living the Sermon on the Mount: we recognize the gap between what we really have and what is possible in our experience of God, we mourn it, we reach for more encounter with God with our words. We pour gasoline on the fire of our love by giving our money away secretly, praying secretly, fasting secretly. We fan the flame by resisting judging other, resisting offense, and by pressing in, even in the desert times. This is offering our own hearts as a fiery sacrifice to the One who turns fire into lush green life in full.
Song of Solomon 8:6-7 Set me as a seal upon your heart, As a seal upon your arm; For love is as strong as death, Jealousy as cruel as the grave; Its flames are flames of fire, A most vehement flame. Many waters cannot quench love, Nor can the floods drown it. If a man would give for love All the wealth of his house, It would be utterly despised.
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