God's love and our internal struggle
Matthew 16:17-18, 23 "Jesus replied, 'Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by My Father in Heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it'... Jesus turned and said to Peter, 'Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; you do not have in mind the things of God but the things of men.' "
During the course of a single conversation with Jesus, Peter swings between being blessed and referred to as the rock upon which the church will be built, to being called Satan and rebuked for not having in mind the things of God. What a wild swinging of the pendulum from blessed friend to mortal enemy! But Peter himself didn't change, only his thoughts and motivations changed.
This is similar to watching my kids. In one moment, they can say or do something that warms my heart and makes me believe they are really on the right track. In the next moment, they do something that dumbfounds me and completely wrecks my previous angelic view of them.
In those situations, I haven't viewed some sort of sudden and permanent transformation of each of them as a person. What I have witnessed is them living out the same nature that all of us have. We are equal parts infused by the Holy Spirit and spoiled by our sin nature. From moment to moment and thought to thought, one or the other may surface.
The two are in constant struggle inside of me. The sin nature will never be fully defeated and cast out of me. I am, after all, a human who carries the legacy of Adam and the original sin. I am not the perfect God, and acceptance of Jesus as my Lord and Savior and receipt of the Holy Spirit in my heart does not transform me into the perfect God. It only gives me perfect coverage and forgiveness in the eyes of God.
Jesus' responses to Peter are not inconsistent, but exactly in line with what a loving and caring father should do for his children. Jesus praised and affirmed Peter when he deserved it, and He scolded and rebuked Peter when he deserved it. What He did not do was love Peter in one instant (when his actions and behavior warranted it) and stop loving him in the next.
Peter didn't change, nor did God's love for him. Jesus' varied reactions are a perfect illustration of God loving us and guiding us as our Father.
During the course of a single conversation with Jesus, Peter swings between being blessed and referred to as the rock upon which the church will be built, to being called Satan and rebuked for not having in mind the things of God. What a wild swinging of the pendulum from blessed friend to mortal enemy! But Peter himself didn't change, only his thoughts and motivations changed.
This is similar to watching my kids. In one moment, they can say or do something that warms my heart and makes me believe they are really on the right track. In the next moment, they do something that dumbfounds me and completely wrecks my previous angelic view of them.
In those situations, I haven't viewed some sort of sudden and permanent transformation of each of them as a person. What I have witnessed is them living out the same nature that all of us have. We are equal parts infused by the Holy Spirit and spoiled by our sin nature. From moment to moment and thought to thought, one or the other may surface.
The two are in constant struggle inside of me. The sin nature will never be fully defeated and cast out of me. I am, after all, a human who carries the legacy of Adam and the original sin. I am not the perfect God, and acceptance of Jesus as my Lord and Savior and receipt of the Holy Spirit in my heart does not transform me into the perfect God. It only gives me perfect coverage and forgiveness in the eyes of God.
Jesus' responses to Peter are not inconsistent, but exactly in line with what a loving and caring father should do for his children. Jesus praised and affirmed Peter when he deserved it, and He scolded and rebuked Peter when he deserved it. What He did not do was love Peter in one instant (when his actions and behavior warranted it) and stop loving him in the next.
Peter didn't change, nor did God's love for him. Jesus' varied reactions are a perfect illustration of God loving us and guiding us as our Father.
posted by Robert Jory Allen at
3:55 AM
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