Our thoughts, our actions, our priorities, and how we spend our time and money, are all very good reflections of our worldview.
Below is a list – developed over many years of trial and error and listening to God’s voice – of my own priorities, as I believe God has assigned them.
- My relationship with God
- My marriage
- Our family
- Our home and finances
- Church
- Community
What I am going to attempt to do is to build a biblical foundation for thinking about each of these areas of life, beginning with my relationship with God. I will do the same for each area in subsequent blogposts.
- My relationship with God
- Most people know that God is omnipotent (Job 42:2; Psalm 145:6), omniscient (Psalm 44:21; 139:1-4; 147:4), omnipresent (Psalm 139:7-10; Proverbs 15:3), and perhaps even holy (Psalm 24:3; 47:8).
- Many people further understand Him to be Creator (Genesis 1:1-31), Judge (Genesis 6:6-7; 8:1; 18:25; Job 40:6-7), and the great Lawgiver (Exodus 19:1-25; 20:1-17).
However, fewer understand that long ago, God stepped into history with a new paradigm – a new way of doing things (Jeremiah 31:31; 33:14-15).
- And today, we live under what’s called the “New Covenant” (Hebrews 12:24), through which we – for the first time in history– have the power to successfully enter in to a true relationship with God (2 Corinthians 3:7-18).
- Through Jesus (Hebrews 9:15), God has become my Father (John 1:12; Romans 8:14-16; Galatians 3:26). He loves me as His dear child (1 John 3:1; John 16:27), and, thus wants only the best for me (Luke 11:11), and He pours out His grace to make that happen (Romans 5:5, 8:28; Hebrews 4:16; John 1:16; 2 Corinthians 9:8; 2 Peter 1:2-4).
I know that, above all, He is always for me (Romans 8:31; Psalm 23:6; 58:11; 97:11).
- I believe that there is more to experience in the Christian life than what I have experienced thus far. (Hebrews 4:1, 9; Joshua 14:10-13).
- But, it is possible to “harden” my heart in unbelief regarding God’s promises, and miss out on my inheritance. (Hebrews 4:7; Joshua 14:8; Numbers 13:30-33, 14:22-23)
- The primary things I can do do to keep my heart tender before the Lord is to stay in His Word, (Hebrews 4:11-13) and to worship.
- But, it is possible to “harden” my heart in unbelief regarding God’s promises, and miss out on my inheritance. (Hebrews 4:7; Joshua 14:8; Numbers 13:30-33, 14:22-23)
- My relationship with God, because of my tender heart and clear conscience, will be characterized by boldness–the kind of audacity exhibited by little John-John Kennedy when he barged into the Oval Office to talk with the President of the United States, his father, John F. Kennedy. (Hebrews 4:16; 1 Timothy 1:5; John 15:7; 1 John 3:22; Psalm 37:4)
A chief (defining) characteristic of the new covenant is liberty vs bondage. (Galatians 2:4; 3:25; 5:1; John 8:32-34, 36; 2 Corinthians 3:17)
- A Great Exchange took place at the crucifixion. (Galatians 3:13-14; Romans 5: 17)
- Therefore, I have “utterly abandoned” all my attempts to please God through my own righteous acts (Isaiah 64:6). Instead, I am now convinced (Romans 4:21) that my righteousness is imputed; it is not, and will never be, a function of my own behavior. (Galatians 3:5-6; Romans 4:6, 22-24; 5:17, 19)
“The word ‘imputation,’ according to the Scriptural usage, denotes an attributing of something to a person, or a charging of one with anything, or a setting of something to one's account.” (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia)
- And conversely, at the same time, sin is no longer imputed (charged) against me. (Romans 4:8; 2 Corinthians 5:19; Isaiah 43:25)
- Now, instead, the Spirit is working in my life, causing good fruit to grow in my life. My holiness is derived from my relationship with God, not my behavior, or even my zeal. Instead, He sets me “apart.” (Galatians 5:22-23; Colossians 1:6)
- As I continue to follow the promptings of His Spirit, I will reap an abundant (John 10:10), everlasting (zoe) life.” (Galatians 6:8; Romans 8:13; John 5:24)
- It has always been God’s intention that I would live that kind of life, set apart from the world, and from sin. (Ephesians 1:4-5, 11; Romans 8:29-30))
- His plan to accomplish this has been to adopt me as His son by Jesus Christ to Himself. (Ephesians 1:5; Romans 8:14-16)
- The “redeemed” life in God’s Kingdom that God has always wanted me to experience is filled with a rich inheritance. (Ephesians 1:7, 11; Colossians 1:12, 27; Romans 8:17; Joshua 14:10-13)
What is that inheritance?
- The Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14)
No more condemnation. The “law of the Spirit” has made me free from the “law of sin and death.” (Luke 11:13; Romans 8:1-2)
- A victorious life (1 Corinthians 15:57)
God is for me, not against me. (Romans 8:31; Isaiah 54:17)
I am no longer a “sinner;” I am a saint who occasionally sins. (Romans 6:6-9,11-14; 7:17, 20; 12:2) This is not just semantics; I have a new, regenerated nature. (Romans 7:22; 2 Corinthians 5:17) Although I do not now have a “license” to sin (Romans 6:15), I do not want to, because it is no longer my nature to do so. (Romans 6:17-18, 22; 7:6)
Since the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead now dwells in me, He will also give me resurrection power in every area of my life. (Romans 8:11; Romans 6:4; Isaiah 60:1) I am going to be victorious in any situation in which I find myself. (Romans 8:37; 2 Corinthians 2:14; 1 John 5:4-5)
- Righteousness, peace and joy. (Romans 14:17; 5:1-2; 8:6; Psalm 23:6)
- Abundance (John 10:10; Matthew 6:30-34; Deuteronomy 28:1-14; 30:5; Joshua 1:7; 1 Kings 2:3; 1 Chronicles 22:13; Psalm 1:3; Isaiah 48:15; 3 John 1:2)
- Hope – my future is bright (Ephesians 1:18; Romans 12:12; Romans 15:13; Proverbs 4:18)
I believe that God “gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did,” (Romans 4:17) and that marvelous things are in store for me. (Romans 8:28; Ephesians 3:20; Jeremiah 29:11)
Even in adversity, I can hope in God’s grace to meet my need. (Romans 5:3-5; Romans 8:35) Abraham is my forerunner and example in this kind of belief. (Romans 4:18-20) Like him, I am fully convinced that what God has promised me -in the Scriptures, through preaching and teaching, and by various prophetic (rhema) “words” – He is also able to perform. (Romans 10:17; 1 Corinthians 14:26; 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22; Romans 4:21)
- Satisfaction – when the end of my life comes, I will not feel as though I had left anything “on the field,” (Romans 12:1-2), but rather, a deep feeling of having lived a fully and satisfying life (Ephesians 6:13; Psalm 91:16).
My relationship with God is the foundation of my Biblical Worldview.
Next week we will consider how a marriage built on that foundation is built to last (Matthew 7:24-27).