Kingdom of Life

We who are believers in Jesus Christ have not just been saved from something, we have been saved to something — new life!

We are adopted into the family of God. We were not born into this family, we were born apart from it. We were born separated from Him. But because of our faith in Jesus our sins were wiped out and we received the Holy Spirit.

We receive a new name (Christian, a follower of Christ), and we receive a new nature — the nature of our new Father. We partake of that new nature by the power of His Spirit and are transformed by that Spirit.

“…because those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” (Romans 8:29) We who believe in Christ will be “conformed to the image of his Son…” Do you realize what that means? It means we will become like Jesus.

God, our new Father, doesn’t just tell us our sins are forgiven, He looks at us as if we had never sinned. He doesn’t just tell us to sin no more, He transforms who we are so that we can sin no more and live a new life. He doesn’t just tell us we now have the rights that come with being His children, he enables us to become more like He is — loving, righteous, just, merciful. He doesn’t just help us muddle through somehow as the same people we always were, He allows us to become the people He created us to be and wanted and intended for us to be, and to access the abundant life He always wanted us to have.

It is true that spiritual growth can be a long and difficult process. But understand what it means to become a part of the kingdom of God: We have been brought out of darkness into light, from death into life. We have crossed over to the other side. Another way of saying this is that light has invaded our lives, life has come into our lives; we are now part of a new world which we could never enter or even see while we were in the old world, enslaved by sin.

It may take time to realize all this, to see it, to take hold of it, to let the Holy Spirit have his way with us and transform us. But we are new creatures in Christ Jesus. “So then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; what is old has passed away — look, what is new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

“I am the vine; you are the branches.”

If we are to be the people God calls us to be, it is necessary for us to be transformed by His power.

When Jesus was asked what the greatest of God’s commandments was, He said, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. The second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40)

So the first and greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, soul and mind. If we diagram this it might look something like this:

The second is like it: to love your neighbor as yourself. Let’s add some neighbors to the picture:

There. Love God and love your neighbor as yourself. The dotted lines show that we are trying really hard to love God and love other people. It sounds all well and good, very religious.

There’s just one problem: It doesn’t work. Why? Because in and of ourselves we cannot love God as we should and we cannot love people as we should. We may do some good sometimes, but sin inevitably catches up to us and undoes it. If we have put our faith in Jesus then we are no longer alienated from God, but we still have to let His love and power into our lives. Jesus told His disciples that they are completely dependent on God’s power in their lives:

“I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me — and I in him — bears much fruit, because apart from me you can accomplish nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown out like a branch, and dries up; and such branches are gathered up and thrown into the fire, and are burned up. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want, and it will be done for you. My Father is honored by this, that you bear much fruit and show that you are my disciples.” (John 15:5-8)

A branch does not bear fruit because it tries really hard to. It does it because it is connected to the nutrients and the life which enable it to. We are not successful in loving God and others as we should because we try really hard to “be good.” It is God’s Spirit, the Holy Spirit, who we receive when we put our faith in Jesus, who enables us to bear this fruit:

“What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

Our transformation, like all good things, comes from God.

Now this is the gospel message we have heard from him and announce to you: God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all. (1 John 1:5)

The Son of God, the Word of God, was with God from the beginning. God’s creation rebelled, but the Son came into this world to bring us light and life, delivering us from death and darkness:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was fully God. The Word was with God in the beginning. All things were created by him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. In him was life, and the life was the light of mankind. And the light shines on in the darkness, but the darkness has not mastered it. (John 1:1-5)

He was in the world, and the world was created by him, but the world did not recognize him. He came to what was his own, but his own people did not receive him. But to all who have received him — those who believe in his name — he has given the right to become God’s children — children not born by human parents or by human desire or a husband’s decision, but by God. (John 1:10-13)

The Holy Spirit — the Spirit of God — has been poured out on all who have believed in the Son of God. Only God through His Spirit can bring about spiritual rebirth. Jesus stressed this in a conversation with the Jewish religious leader Nicodemus:

Jesus replied, “I tell you the solemn truth, unless a person is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter his mother’s womb and be born a second time, can he?”

Jesus answered, “I tell you the solemn truth, unless a person is born of water and spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must all be born from above.’ The wind blows wherever it will, and you hear the sound it makes, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:3-8)

Those born of the Spirit are transformed by the Spirit and will seek to take after their new Father, to walk in the light, to do what is good and true:

“This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.” (John 3:19-21, NIV)

So what happens when we put our faith in Christ, are made right with God, and receive the Holy Spirit? Our sinful nature — what scripture sometimes refers to as ‘the flesh’ — does not disappear. We still struggle with sinful desires. But the Holy Spirit gives us the ability to not give in to temptation and sin. We may still sin. But for the first time, it is possible for us to not sin. By the power of God through His Spirit we can resist our sinful nature. With the wisdom of God by His Spirit we can see through Satan’s deceptions. And we are motivated  to pursue what is good. As Paul wrote to believers in Rome:

For those who live according to the flesh have their outlook shaped by the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit have their outlook shaped by the things of the Spirit. For the outlook of the flesh is death, but the outlook of the Spirit is life and peace, because the outlook of the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to the law of God, nor is it able to do so. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, this person does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is your life because of righteousness. Moreover if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive through his Spirit who lives in you.

So then, brothers and sisters, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh (for if you live according to the flesh, you will die), but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery leading again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself bears witness to our spirit that we are God’s children. And if children, then heirs (namely, heirs of God and also fellow heirs with Christ) — if indeed we suffer with him so we may also be glorified with him. (Romans 8:5-17)

“The Spirit himself bears witness to our spirit that we are God’s children.” Our spirit is still present. The Holy Spirit has the power to transform us, but we retain our spiritual individuality. God is not doing a hostile takeover. He wants to be invited in. He wants a relationship with us.

The fruit of the Spirit

We are invited to live by the Spirit, to give in to the Spirit, to let the Spirit have his way with us, as Paul urged the Galatians:

But I say, live by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh. For the flesh has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires that are opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition to each other, so that you cannot do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. (Galatians 5:16-18)

We should let the Spirit overpower our sinful nature, as he has the power to do. But the “flesh” will not submit willingly; it will continue to oppose the Spirit as long as we are in these mortal bodies. As we are led by the Spirit, we do what is right because the Spirit compels us to, not because we are trying to live up to the law or a set of rules through our own effort.

When we were dead and lost in our sins, we were controlled by our sinful nature and we carried out the acts or works of that nature.

Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, depravity, idolatry, sorcery, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish rivalries, dissensions, factions, envying, murder, drunkenness, carousing, and similar things. I am warning you, as I had warned you before: Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God! (Galatians 5:19-21)

As we are led by the Spirit and allow God’s power to fill us, we experience results of that in our lives — we bear fruit, like the branch of a vine or fruit tree. This new fruit is as different from that of the sinful nature as day is from night.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also behave in accordance with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, being jealous of one another. (Galatians 5:22-26)

By the power of the Holy Spirit we can and should exhibit new traits and behaviors in our lives and leave the old ways behind.

We have a part to play

Spiritual growth does not necessarily occur overnight, and it is not automatic. It is a process which can take time and which requires some participation from us. How much spiritual fruit we will each bear while we are in this world, and how quickly we will bear it, depends on how much we make room for the Holy Spirit in our lives and how much we seek to nurture and encourage the Spirit’s work in us.

Hear

The first step in anything good that God will do in our lives is hearing what He has to say. “Consequently faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the preached word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17)

Jesus compared the written Word of God to a seed that falls onto the ground. Nothing can happen until a seed is planted. If the seed falls on good soil which is receptive to the seed, the seed will sprout into a plant.

The Word of God — the Bible — is as necessary for our spiritual well-being as food and water are for our physical well-being. As believers we must take in the Word regularly and familiarize ourselves with it. Most people through most of history have heard the Word read to them. In recent times, rising technology, wealth and education have made it possible for many to read the Word themselves. Today there are many different ways to expose oneself to the Word. However one chooses to do it, the important thing is to do so.

Taking in the Word is very important to nurturing the Holy Spirit in our hearts, and we must ultimately have the Holy Spirit to really understand the Word. The Spirit inspired the written Word, and the Word is the seed which creates an opportunity for the Spirit. The Word and the Spirit work together to guide the believer into truth.

So the degree to which we fill ourselves with God’s Word will have a lot to do with how much of God’s power and wisdom we ultimately experience while in this world.

If we are familiar with God’s Word, we will be familiar with the scriptures which are related to whatever area we are struggling with or wish to grow in.

Believe

We must believe what we have heard. Just as we are saved by our faith in what God’s Word says about Jesus, so we experience God’s power in other areas by our faith in what His Word says about those other areas. Regardless of how the message of the Word is transmitted — whether by hearing it read, or by reading it oneself, or by otherwise having it faithfully and accurately represented by a follower of Christ — it is up to each individual to believe that Word, to have faith in that Word. We must have faith; God cannot do that for us. God is holy, and He will not honor or respect or have anything to do with unbelief. Faith is indispensable to our relationship with God.

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. (Hebrews 11:1-2, NIV)

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Hebrews 11:6, NIV)

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. (Hebrews 11:8-10, NIV)

By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.

By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.

By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days.

By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.

And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated — the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.

These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect (Hebrews 11:24-40, NIV)

The enemy of faith is fear. We must put aside our fears and just believe God’s promises. This is shown in an episode during Jesus’ earthly ministry:

When Jesus had crossed again in a boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around him, and he was by the sea. Then one of the synagogue rulers, named Jairus, came up, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. He asked him urgently, “My little daughter is near death. Come and lay your hands on her so that she may be healed and live.” Jesus went with him, and a large crowd followed and pressed around him. (Mark 5:21-24)

Jairus evidently believed in Jesus and His power to heal his daughter. There is no hesitancy or hedging on Jairus’ part; he expected that if Jesus laid his hands on her, she would be healed and live. And Jesus responded to that faith and went with him.

Now a woman was there who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years. She had endured a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all that she had. Yet instead of getting better, she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, for she kept saying, “If only I touch his clothes, I will be healed.” At once the bleeding stopped, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. Jesus knew at once that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?” His disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing against you and you say, ‘Who touched me?’” But he looked around to see who had done it. Then the woman, with fear and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”

While he was still speaking, people came from the synagogue ruler’s house saying, “Your daughter has died. Why trouble the teacher any longer?” But Jesus, paying no attention to what was said, told the synagogue ruler, “Do not be afraid; just believe.” (Mark 5:25-36)

As they were on their way to Jairus’ house, Jesus was detained as he ministered to the sick woman (who also had faith). By the time Jesus was finished there, Jairus’ friends had come with the news that Jairus’ daughter had already died. Jesus told him, “Do not be afraid; just believe.” Whether the girl had already died or not, Jesus could restore her, but only if Jairus had faith. At this point Jairus had a choice: he could give in to fear and be overwhelmed with grief for his daughter, or he could refuse to waver in his belief in what Jesus would do for his daughter. Jairus evidently continued to believe (though it must have been a struggle!), because Jesus continued on to Jairus’ house:

He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. They came to the house of the synagogue ruler where he saw noisy confusion and people weeping and wailing loudly. When he entered he said to them, “Why are you distressed and weeping? The child is not dead but asleep.” And they began making fun of him. But he put them all outside and he took the child’s father and mother and his own companions and went into the room where the child was. (Mark 5:37-40)

Fear is contagious. Doubt and negativity are contagious. Maybe that is why Jesus, when he started off again to Jairus’ house, would not let the crowd or anyone else go with him except a few of the disciples and, of course, Jairus. And when he got to the house and ran into a lot of static from the people who were there, he put them all out! He got them all out of the vicinity, except for the girl’s parents and the disciples. Then he restored the girl to life:

Then, gently taking the child by the hand, he said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up.” The girl got up at once and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). They were completely astonished at this. He strictly ordered that no one should know about this, and told them to give her something to eat. (Mark 5:41-43)

Whatever we are struggling with, whatever area we need transformation in, or whenever we need the power of God manifested, we can believe what the Word says about it. We should speak the Word, believe the Word, and never doubt it. Ignore the naysayers, fearmongers, skeptics and scoffers. Hang around brothers and sisters in Christ who are full of faith and the Holy Spirit. This is one reason why it is good for believers to not neglect meeting together. We can encourage each other and build each other up.

Pray

When we were saved, we heard about Jesus, we believed, and we prayed — we told God that we believe and asked Him to give us what He has promised to those who believe. The way we pray to receive salvation from sin and death is the same way we pray to receive anything else from God. It works the same way.

It is not that God does not know our needs until we inform Him of them. He knows our needs better than we do. But it is natural for those who seek God, who need something from God, and who have faith in His goodness, to come to him and ask Him. And doesn’t our heavenly Father, who loves us, want us — His children — to be willing to come to Him with our needs (and yes, our desires)? Jesus said, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you then, although you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:7-11)

Effective prayer requires that we ask in Jesus’ name. What we ask for must be consistent with God’s purposes. But God will respond to our faith. Just as He is able to use our rebellion against Him in fashioning His plans, He is also able to use our faith. God does not want us on the sidelines of what He is doing — out of the way. He wants us available and involved. Jesus told His disciples that whatever we ask the Father in His (Jesus’) name the Father will give us (John 15:16, 16: 23). In the first of those two scriptures, our bearing fruit for God’s glory is stressed, while in the second one, our joy and experiencing the Father’s love is stressed. Jesus also said, “I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you release on earth will have been released in heaven. Again, I tell you the truth, if two of you on earth agree about whatever you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. For where two or three are assembled in my name, I am there among them.” (Matthew 18:18-20) This is no guarantee that we will get everything we ask for. That would require us to have perfect knowledge of God’s purposes and plans. But we are encouraged to ask, and assured of God’s desire to give us what we ask for.

Part of asking in Jesus’ name is asking with right motives. James, in his letter to believers, wrote, “You do not have because you do not ask; you ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly, so you can spend it on your passions.” (James 4:2-3) But he also wrote, “The prayer of a righteous person has great effectiveness.” (James 5:16) Who is a righteous person? One who has the love of Christ in them and is motivated by that love in what they do, including in how they pray.

Effective prayer requires that we have faith that we will be given what we ask for. Jesus taught this very clearly to his disciples:

Jesus said to them, “Have faith in God. I tell you the truth, if someone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. For this reason I tell you, whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. Whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven will also forgive you your sins.” (Mark 11:22-25)

Notice, first of all, how at the end of that Jesus stresses the importance that being in a right relationship with God has for our prayer life; we should not be in willful disobedience by — for example — refusing to forgive someone of something they have done to us.

“…if someone…does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen….whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received it…” Not “believe that you will receive it”, but “believe that you have received it”! As astounding as this might seem, isn’t this what we did when we were saved? We do not believe we will be saved someday, we believe we are saved. Furthermore, we stand before other believers and publicly declare our faith and our belief that we have been saved. Brothers and sisters, it works the same way with everything else. If we have a long way to go in understanding that and incorporating it into our prayer life, it only means that we have plenty of spiritual growth ahead of us.

Again, it is realistic to assume that we will not get everything we ask for because God’s ways are so much higher than ours. But even if we only get half of what we ask for, is that not significant? Besides, we probably would not want to ask for a mountain to be thrown into the sea; it is hard to see what good would come from that!

So why did Jesus suggest it? He was stressing to His disciples — and to us — that we should ask God, that we should ask for big things, that we should have faith for what we are asking, and that God wants to give us what we ask for. Jesus was not playing around here. He was using very emphatic language to stress these points. It is hard to see how Jesus could have stated more strongly, clearly and unmistakably that we have access to the power of God and that we should ask God for it! It is not just for a few people. It is for the church, for all believers, so that the troubled may be comforted, the sick healed, and God glorified (James 5:13-18, John 15:7-8).

We need God’s power. We need His love and peace and all of His spiritual gifts. We need them to be His people, to overcome our faults, to rise above all the hatred and turbulence of this world, to tell people about Jesus, to feed the hungry, cloth the naked, to visit those in prison and do all that the Lord has for us to do here in this world.

Even when we don’t know what to pray for, the Holy Spirit helps us. “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” (Romans 8:26-27, ESV)

We need to be transformed by the righteousness of God. And we can be assured that if that is our heartfelt desire, God is eager to meet it. As Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.” (Matthew 5:6)

Receive

In football (as the game is played in America), both opposing teams are trying to move the ball to the opponent’s end of the field. The quarterback — the leader of the team — can try various ways to do this. One way is by passing — throwing the ball to a receiver, a player who runs down the field before turning to catch it. Of course the opposing team will try to block such a pass. The receiver must be in position to catch a pass — he will not be thrown one if he is not where the quarterback wants him to be. The receiver must be open, meaning he must get away from any opposing player who could block the pass, before he can catch it. He must be looking at the quarterback or he won’t catch it. He must expect to have the ball thrown to him or it is unlikely that it will be.

So what does any of that have to do with receiving from God? Just this: God wants to use us to advance His kingdom on the earth. He is looking for someone to bless, to use, to empower. Someone who is in a position to receive from Him because they are seeking Him rather than resisting Him. Someone who is interested in the kingdom of God and how they can contribute to its advancement, rather than in their own personal agenda. Someone who expects to receive from God, is open to receiving from God, and has their eyes, their focus and their attention on God and on His Son Jesus.

The subject of receiving from God is sometimes a touchy one among followers of Christ. We may feel we are unworthy of God’s blessings and be reluctant to seek them or accept them.

Peter felt this way. When he first met Jesus, and Jesus performed a great miracle in his presence, Peter fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” (Luke 5:8) Peter was well aware of his shortcomings, especially next to one who obviously was sent by God.

Much later, just before Jesus went to the cross, He showed His disciples His love for them through a physical action. Peter, aware of who he was compared to who Jesus was, at first felt the need to decline this:

The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

“No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

“Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

Jesus answered, “A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean. (John 13:2-11, NIV)

The disciples were already cleansed from sin (except for Judas). But Jesus wanted to do something more for them. Peter did not understand what Jesus was doing and perhaps felt that it was the right and pious thing to refuse. Jesus strongly disabused Peter of such a notion. While God appreciates our service to Him, He also wants us to let Him serve us — and He wants us to go out and likewise serve others.

Peter, whatever his faults, was always with the Lord heart and soul. He quickly reversed himself, laid aside any pretense and asked for the washing of “my hands and my head as well!”

More than conquerors

Peter would go through more struggles. Within the coming days and hours things would happen which would remind him of his unworthiness and shake him to the core. But the man who once pleaded with the Lord that he was a sinful man, who often failed to grasp the purpose of Jesus’ ministry, and who, after Jesus’ arrest, was intimidated into denying he knew Jesus, was ultimately transformed. After Jesus returned to the Father, Peter became the leader of the church in Jerusalem, delivering powerful speeches to the people, performing miraculous signs and wonders, fearlessly and boldly speaking truth to the same religious authorities who once cowed him, and teaching followers of Christ to “keep away from fleshly desires…and maintain good conduct among the non-Christians, so that…they may see your good deeds and glorify God when he appears.” (1 Peter 2:11-12)

Peter, as far as we know, did not live to a ripe old age, with a lot of money in his retirement account, and pass on peacefully, with his extended family gathered around him. There were many years of toil and sacrifice followed by a violent death. His time on earth as a follower of Jesus Christ was not a pleasure cruise. Yet it seems unlikely that he would have traded it for the world. He encountered the Lord who saved him from his sin and the shame that went with it, he saw the kingdom of God, and he was able to participate in a powerful way in its advancement.

What God did for Peter and has done for so many others, He also wants to do for you and me. And because we have put our faith in His Son, He will do it! He will work through the Holy Spirit to change us. He will give us what we need, when we need it, in the way we need it, to help us become what He wants. We can live confidently and victoriously no matter what kind of uncertainty or adversity confronts us; we are more than conquerors in the face of it all. If we become proud He will humble us. If we stumble He will pick us back up. If we will humble ourselves He will exalt us. He will keep changing, refining, testing and purifying us until someday, we will be conformed to the likeness of His Son.

The apostle Paul, whose life was arguably transformed even more radically than Peter’s, wrote:

And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose, because those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; and those he called, he also justified; and those he justified, he also glorified.

What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Indeed, he who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all — how will he not also, along with him, freely give us all things? Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is the one who will condemn? Christ is the one who died (and more than that, he was raised), who is at the right hand of God, and who also is interceding for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will trouble, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we encounter death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we have complete victory through him who loved us! For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor heavenly rulers, nor things that are present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:28-39)