Sanctification on the grand scale

[Prentis]

Just a thought I had... :)

We know that God is a refining fire, and that he is refining his people. It says he is preparing a bride, his people, without spot and wrinkle.

My thought is this; the whole process, from Adam and Eve, to Abraham, to Christ, and to us, is exactly this! God started with a small endowment of his power on his people. It is not that it is small in a belittling sense, but small in comparison to the fulness of it, revealed in Christ, and made available to men.

God started with his people as children, and children handle little. Then as his people was being prepared, he endowed them with more power, and visited them through his prophets. And when the time came, he visited them HIMSELF.

It is as though the story of Israel, God's people, the church, is reflected in each man's own journey to attaining Christ. We start with a little, and as we grow, and are ready to carry more of his glory, he gives more.

 

[IanLC]

The power of God through sanctification is amazing. Many Christians shutter at the words "sanctification" and "holiness" these two aspects of God are just as great as his love and grace. We need sanctification to purge us and make us like Christ in spirit, soul, and body. No we will not look like Jesus but we will live a life full of the Holy Spirit and righteousness as Jesus did. I ask God to purge me and make me holy and to sanctify my whole being into a sacred temple and thing for Him to dwell in!

 

[Prentis]

Amen! May we be transformed into his image, and may we walk in his ways! :)

 

[FHII]

Not sure I'm getting your point, Prentis.... Are you saying that from Adam till now was a process to perfect the Church? I would agree to that, athough we must remember that many steps (by our fleshly viewpoint) look like they were counterproductive.

Got some comments if this is the case, but I will wait to see what you say....

 

[Prentis]

Not sure I'm getting your point, Prentis.... Are you saying that from Adam till now was a process to perfect the Church? I would agree to that, athough we must remember that many steps (by our fleshly viewpoint) look like they were counterproductive.

Got some comments if this is the case, but I will wait to see what you say....

Yes, that is what I'm saying. :)

It was just a thought I had... From the beginning, the aim was Christ, as we know that even the law's purpose was to lead Israel to Christ, to prepare them.

 

[FHII]

Ok... Well, yes, I agree. Jesus was slain before the world began. IT was always the plan. Thus, Israel had to screw up, and that was part of the plan as well, as well as what Adam and Woman did. Many times it seems our situation goes backward, but it really is going forward and/or is necessary to move on. had not Adam and WOman did what they did, Christ's death would be in vain.

 

[Prentis]

Ok... Well, yes, I agree. Jesus was slain before the world began. IT was always the plan. Thus, Israel had to screw up, and that was part of the plan as well, as well as what Adam and Woman did. Many times it seems our situation goes backward, but it really is going forward and/or is necessary to move on. had not Adam and WOman did what they did, Christ's death would be in vain.

Agreed. :)

I think part of the reason is that we HAD to be trained. The devil fell because he was given more glory than he could handle... And the same can happen to us, thus a we can fall 'under the condemnation of the devil'. The current situation allows for us to be trained and to have to overcome against great odds, to be able carriers of his glory.

That also explains why Adam and Eve fell.

 

[FHII]

Agreed. :)

I think part of the reason is that we HAD to be trained. The devil fell because he was given more glory than he could handle... And the same can happen to us, thus a we can fall 'under the condemnation of the devil'. The current situation allows for us to be trained and to have to overcome against great odds, to be able carriers of his glory.

That also explains why Adam and Eve fell.

I agree that we HAVE (not had) to be trained. But Satan fell because it was God's will. He was a murderer and a liar from the beginning. He was ordained to fall. did he do it because he couldn't handle the glory he was given? For me to believe that, I suspect I would have to believe he was some great musician, chief of all angels, the most beautiful of them, or many of the other beliefs that the Church world has. I don't.

But yes the same can happen to us. What has it been? We are being trained to be something that is mighty.

 

[Prentis]

I agree that we HAVE (not had) to be trained. But Satan fell because it was God's will. He was a murderer and a liar from the beginning. He was ordained to fall. did he do it because he couldn't handle the glory he was given? For me to believe that, I suspect I would have to believe he was some great musician, chief of all angels, the most beautiful of them, or many of the other beliefs that the Church world has. I don't.

But yes the same can happen to us. What has it been? We are being trained to be something that is mighty.

Yes, by emphasizing HAD I meant to say that from the beginning it was NECESSARY, but I did mean it in the sense of it still happening, we have to be trained. :)

I see the devil as indeed having been great with God, after all, that is what caused his fall, he was taken by his own beauty, the glory God gave him. I don't see this as cancelling out that he was ordained to do so. I understand like this because of this:

15“You were blameless in your ways
From the day you were created
Until unrighteousness was found in you.
16“By the abundance of your trade
You were internally filled with violence,
And you sinned;
Therefore I have cast you as profane
From the mountain of God.
And I have destroyed you, O covering cherub,
From the midst of the stones of fire.
17“Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty;
You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor.
I cast you to the ground;
I put you before kings,
That they may see you.
18“By the multitude of your iniquities,
In the unrighteousness of your trade
You profaned your sanctuaries.
Therefore I have brought fire from the midst of you;
It has consumed you,
And I have turned you to ashes on the earth
In the eyes of all who see you.
19“All who know you among the peoples
Are appalled at you;
You have become terrified
And you will cease to be forever.”’”

How do you see this passage, in relation to the devil?