“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”- 2 Corinthians 5:21
At the end of Chapter 10 of Prayer, Timothy Keller reminds us that the phrase “law of the Lord” (Psalm 1:2) refers to all of Scripture, particularly its normative character. It is, he adds, our rule of faith and practice.
The key for us is not to focus on our inability to keep the law of the Lord, but to turn our eyes to “the Word made flesh” (John 1:4)- the Incarnate Word. For Jesus is the great Meditator. Pastor Keller states Jesus meditated so profoundly on Scripture that He virtually “bled” Scripture. Jesus quoted Scripture in the most extreme moments of His life- when assaulted by Satan in the wilderness and while dying on the cross.
Jesus is our delight because He fulfilled the Law for us. Thus, Pastor Keller emphasizes, Jesus is “supremely the one on which we meditate, because he is the meditation of God.” Richard Lovelace underscores this in Dynamics of Spiritual Life: An Evangelical Theology of Renewal:
“It is an item of faith that we are children of God; there is plenty of experience in us against it. The faith that surmounts this evidence and that is able to warm itself at the fire of God’s love, instead of having to steal love and self-acceptance from other sources, is actually the root of holiness . . . We are not saved by the love we exercise, but by the love we trust.”
Today’s question: Following your vocation loss, how have you been intentional in warming your faith in the fire of God’s love? Please share.
New addition to Crown Jewels: “Perpetual uneasiness (aka ‘worry’)”
Tomorrow’s blog: “Being rich but living poor”
