Remembering Our Foundation!

The last two days I have reading and reflecting on Peter's letters.  I like to read all through a letter a few times to get a feel for the over-arching themes.  This morning I am reflecting on a few passages from his second letter - 2 Peter 1:16-21 NIV:

[16] For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. [17] He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” [18] We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain."

[19] "We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. [20] Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation of things. [21] For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."

I am grateful for the reminder from Peter that both the prophetic message and the eye-witness experience of the Apostles and disciples are in agreement about Jesus.  There are times in our lives where our thinking can be affected by things we experience or hear, and it is good to go back to the foundations of our faith and beliefs.  In fact just a couple of sentences prior to the verses above, Peter says the following - "So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. [13] I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body,..." (2 Peter 1:12-13 NIV).

The truth is that I know these things, but it is good to be reminded of them, to brig them freshly to my mind.  I don't want to lose sight of the foundations of my faith or belief, regardless of how long or advanced my studies and though become.  They must always rest firmly on the witness of Jesus' life, for He was the perfect representation of the Father (Heb 1:2), and to which the ancient prophetic record pointed.  I must review and revisit scripture regularly for it must be the foundation of all I think regarding God.

Secondly, I must be ok with God's non-humanness, as well as Jesus incarnation.  The Godhead is a mystery, the Holy Trinity, three and one, and as such I can never fully comprehend His nature.  I must be ok with not knowing and not fully understanding, for there is much that I don't completely understand in this present world, and I am ok with that, how much more should I have the same attitude towards our Creator.  God, through the prophet Isaiah says it well - Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. [9] “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."  Our ways are not His ways, and His thoughts are far beyond ours, and thus beyond our ability to understand.

It is interesting to note that these verses in Isaiah immediately follow His statement about having mercy on the wicked. This is what God says about them - Isaiah 55:7 NIV: "Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon."  This is not the way we would think, mercy for the wicked and unrighteous.  We would prefer that they receive judgment for they are bad and evil and have done wicked things, and yet God opens wide the door of invitation to them, desiring them to turn to Him so that He can pardon them and have mercy on them!

So this morning I am reminded of the foundations of my faith, or God's greatness, of Jesus' representation of the Father, and of the words of the prophets concerning God and our Savior Jesus Christ.  I am grateful for the opportunity to be reminded of the truths and light of Christ Jesus.  I am reminded of my need to reflect these truths in my daily life and walk.

Thank You Lord.