This past weekend we had a blast on the Veritas Retreat!! Danielle Cody shares a little about what she learned…
Truth.
1 Peter 3:15-16: "But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you..."
Why do we pursue truth? In order to expose the truth to those who oppose it, we must understand truth. Our worship is affected by our knowledge and understanding of who God is and who man is in light of God. As we seek the truth, our worship becomes more meaningful and glorifying to God.
We first took a look at the characteristics and nature of God. God is three divine persons that make up one divine being. This is also called the Trinity. Each divine person has unique characteristics and different responsibilities. Our Father is all-powerful but all good and loving at the same time. Jesus is the perfect example to believers of humility as he became fully man and walked this earth just as we do. The Holy Spirit convicts, empowers and strengthens believers to live as Jesus did. Each one is God, yet each one plays a specific role. Christians tend to emphasize only one or two forms of God without giving full recognition to all three. It's important for us to recognize each divine being and the role that they play in our lives.
Next we took a look at who man is in light of who God is. Genesis tells us that man is made in the image of God. What does this mean exactly? Well it can mean a lot of things. Being made in God's image affects our desire for community, our ability to reason and choose good over evil, it causes us to take on the qualities of God. Most importantly, being made in God's image means we were created sinless. Because of the Fall through Adam and Eve, suddenly we were faced with the inability to not sin. We became sinful--in need of a sinless Savior. Through Jesus Christ (taking on the role of our Savior and Redeemer), we suddenly are given the ability to not sin. You may ask why, since even as Christians we still fall into sin and you're right. Just as we have nothing to do with our salvation, we have no ability to overcome sin--at least on our own. This is where the role of the Holy Spirit comes in. Essentially if we aren't taking full advantage of the Spirit, then we aren't fulfilling our purpose. How do we walk by the Spirit though?
Our desire and purpose is to live in obedience to God and live a life imitating Jesus. Ultimately we're created to glorify God and enjoy him. This is accomplished by walking by the Spirit, BUT first we must know that we are children of God. How do we know this? 1 John 5 tells us that in order to be born of God, we must believe that Jesus is the Christ. Not only that, we must love his children. How do we grow to love God's children? We already know it can't be done on our own, yet it IS possible. This passage also tells us "by this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe his commandments". In order to love the children of God, we must love God first. In order to love God, we must grow in knowledge and understanding of who God is. This brings us full circle. This is why we pursue truth. Not only does knowledge of our Lord make us ready to make a defense and give an account of the hope that is in us, but also it develops a love for God. As we grow in love for God, we grow in love for his children and observe his commandments by walking in the Spirit. This is how we know we are a child of God. This is how we "overcome the world" (1 John 5:5). Understand your faith. Understand the God you serve. Pursue truth.
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