What is my legacy?

My body is something I’m proud of, not because I’ve made it into anything special, but because God created it to be this way and to sustain me in this life regardless of how well or poorly I treat it. I am amazed looking at it to notice the story it tells of my life. I see the red moles and my first thought is of my father who had many of them. I am part of his legacy. On the other hand, my freckles carry on more of my mother’s legacy as I received them from her. I can see where the sun has most greatly had an effect on me: over my shoulders and collar bone, on my arms starting below my shoulders and extending down to my fingers.

My own personal story is most clearly etched onto my face. That is why my eyes continue to be drawn back to it. I have a scar under my chin, grooved by four consecutive face plants. My eyes are the gateway to my soul, but the light horizontal lines that express my interest and lie across my forehead, the vertical lines between my furrowed brows that express consternation or deeper thought and the semi-circle smile lines around the edges of my lips expose the character of it.

I am thankful for what I see. There is intelligence behind those eyes. Thoughtfulness. A soul that is precious to its Maker. I look into it and see faint reflections of God’s character. Love, though often poorly expressed; joy, occasionally obscured by my false expectations of life; peace, often rejected by outbursts of anger; patience, undercut by my savior complex; kindness, bent to the point of breaking when tested; goodness, denied to others for their lack of it; gentleness, flaring into anger when frustrated; faithfulness, dropped when I break my word for a “better” offer; self-control, sacrificed for instant gratification. But deeper to my hypocrisy (a comfort for the knowledge that I have standards), is the Spirit of my Maker. The Animator of my body. The Breath that gave it life.

When I take it all in - my father, my mother, myself - I see a story of faithfulness intricately woven throughout the generations. I am part of the vast story my heavenly Father is seeking to tell. His glory is being revealed through the hypocrisy of it. Where my failures have abounded, His grace has abounded all the more. Where my deeds have brought down my eyes, He has lifted up my head. That is the testament of my body. It should have returned to the dust from where it came by now, but it has been sustained purely by grace and love until the infinitely finite purpose for which it was given is exhausted on that last day. So within my eyes and the latent energy within me I see the promise of better things to come. I have the expectation of a body that no longer pains me from sitting in one position for an hour; a mind that doesn't tire from contemplating glory for a few minutes. Moles, freckles, scars and all, I am my heavenly Father’s legacy.

The God of reason.

While discussing the Divine Providence of our country's founding it was suggested that we are no more divinely inspired than any other country. While I agree that all nations are lifted up and thrown down by God, the difference in ours was obvious (just read the Declaration of Independence). Some differences I gave were:

1) The equal application of justice to all, 2) The right of one to enjoy the fruit of his labor, 3) The understanding that men are inherently wicked and should have checks upon their power, 4) The investiture of government's power in the people (and their right to overthrow it and institute a new one should it not protect their God-given rights).

A friend then gave a quote by Thomas Jefferson suggesting that this foundation was due more to humanity's ability to reason than to God who blesses. The quote reads:

‎"Question with boldness even the existence of God; because, if there be one, he must approve more of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear."

It's a great quote and I agree with it to the extent that if mankind truly is made in God's image then we have the ability to reason, in part, as God reasons. Thus, the scripture is granted meaning when God proclaims to all men in Isaiah 1, "Come, let us reason together."

Still, the distinction between God as God and reason as god needed to be clarified. My thought process concluded that:

"Reason is a passionless god to serve. In any case, if not for man's depravity it would be reasonable to state that he would not be in need of redemption. Reason suggests that man, on the whole, is quite depraved, however. The truth is that reason is a quality of God and, like many of His qualities, we choose to serve it as opposed to the One who possesses it. Thus was Jefferson correct that we should serve a God of reason over fear but, more importantly, we trust that the unreasonable kindness of God in the face of our depravity is what leads us to salvation."

Regardless of what you think of our government now though, the promise that is to come is much better if you are His child! Isaiah 9:6-7 declares:

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing it and upholding it in justice and righteousness from that time on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this."

The covenant God and infant baptism.

I am a Christian of the "Reformed" tradition but in a more specific sense than most people might consider. Scriptures concerning those who are saved are unified through the will of a covenant God. He has especially extended his grace and mercy to and through families. Peter even says, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off--for all whom the Lord our God will call." We are also told to raise up our children in the "fear and admonition of the Lord." In talking about God's commands in Deuteronomy, Moses commands families to, "Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."

Thus, all things considered, I specifically believe in infant baptism as a visible sign that our children are being brought into the covenant (though not necessarily saved) because of God's covenant to us. Paul writes to the Corinthians, "For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy." Pretty awesome!

There is life after death.

I have been trying to figure out how to write this post for a few weeks now. Death is not something that people generally enjoy to dwell upon so I was stumped as to how I could present it in a hopeful manner. A couple of things happened today to help me understand it myself and also communicate what it is I have come to know in part.

I have been meditating on Hebrews 11 for the past couple of weeks now. It is called "the chapter of faith" by many people and as I have read and considered it I have come to understand it more deeply as a chapter about hope in the face of death. As it says in the beginning, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. What have I hoped for? What is the promise that I have faith in that I do not see? I hope for a perfected life that is characterized by love and peace. The evidence of my hope is my desire to receive these better things and the full assurance that these better things will be given to me.

Why do I hope for these things? I hope because this life I have been given is subjected to futility. I wake up from unfulfilled sleep, go to work to a job that is never finished, seek praises of men who the next day withdraw them, earn money to buy things which do not last, fall in love with people who will die and eat only to be hungry again. It is all vanity. I entered naked into a world that is disappearing and will leave this life naked with nothing that I have worked for.

Yet, as for my sleepless nights, God's compassions never fail and are renewed every morning. As for my unfinished work, Christ finished His work on the cross and sat down to rest at the right hand of God. As for the praises of men, I have the praises of my Father in Heaven which never disappoint. As for money and that which does not last, the Lord is my portion forever. As for love that ends in death, Christ's love for me was forever perfected by His death. As for my hunger, the Lord is my bread of life. I have eaten and drunk of Him and will never hunger or thirst again. I was blind but now I see.

How is my sight evidence? Can I point to the things I see as a proof of something others don't know? Perhaps. I have an analogy that is the first of the two things that helped me to better understand death. Do you remember the Magic Eye stereogram books that came out years ago with all those 3D images you had to find in a jumble of of seemingly random colors? I hated those books because I could never find the images. It always seemed like others were able to pick them out with ease. Still, would it not have been absurd for me to demand proof that they were seeing the pictures? They would simply reply that they could see the image!

Death is much the same way. The world looks at it and sees a terrifying end to a confusing life and it dies for lack of a better promise. But those who believe look at the stereogram of death and can see the image of perfected life.

Death is very often abrupt and unexpected and happens to those who seemed to have their entire lives set before them. The death of my cousin's boyfriend of a year and a half was the second clarifying event for me today. My cousin just turned 18 this weekend and was unable to celebrate with her boyfriend because he was ejected from a car that his drunken friend was driving and died. I called my cousin's family up and shared some tears and consolation for their sudden loss. He had been like family to them. I pray to God that he is in Heaven with His Father now. I have found the song "Homesick" by Mercy Me to be good to listen to at times like these:



Also, "I Will Rise" by Chris Tomlin:



Lastly, "Carry you to Jesus" by Steven Curtis Chapman:



With Christ, death is simply a gateway for those who would love to be with God, the giver of life. The believer does not mourn as those who have no hope for he knows that precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. Death is the culmination of love for Christ died to save His children so that He could raise them up to live for eternity in the everlasting city of God. That is why I can quote these scriptures from Hebrews 11:

On Abraham's hope for his inheritance:

"¹⁰For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God."

On Abel, Enoch, Noah and Abraham's deaths:

"¹³ These all died in faith, not having received the promises [on earth], but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth...¹⁶ But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them."

On Moses' faith of better things to come:

"²⁴ By faith Moses...refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, ²⁵ choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, ²⁶ esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward."

I must admit that there is much that I am missing here. I can truly only say that this world was not worthy of Christ, but we were of great worth to Him and He came to this sad planet to save us in order that we would be worthy of a better world. He came to take us from a place of unnatural death in order to present us before God, holy and blameless, so that we might live in His city forever in natural life.