Unless we are delusional, life is hard. The hardest part for me is figuring out how to live it right. Most people think that this means following the ten commandments or being the “best you can be” or giving to others… But living right is not any of these individual things. It is living in the will of God, thus being like Him. Being perfect is living in His perfect image. Thing is, most of us don’t know what that is.
Essentially, God requires me and you to be as perfect as Him. Jesus said it in Matthew 5:48 and 19:21. Peter said it 1 Peter 5:10. James 1:4 says it. But the clearest expression of what it means to be perfect comes from 1 John 1 and 2 where the writer explains in detail that we are not in God unless we are like God. He indicates that Jesus gives us an example of what we must be like in order to be like the Father. He says unless we are like Jesus, we are enemies of God and liars if we say we believe while rejecting his commandments. He explains that because Jesus cleanses our sin, a true follower will be sinless… They will become like the Messiah, righteous.
The author of 1 John dispels the myth that Jesus’ death is like a magic potion that simply covers up the active sin of humanity, making it null and void. Rather, he explains that a relationship with the Messiah cleanses his true followers and they become sinless and perfect in a very real way.
So why do we believe so strongly that no person is or can be made perfect?
God’s perfection doesn’t look like man’s perfection, so maybe we should start by learning who God is and what His perfection looks like! Then, one day at a time began to mimic Him until we are perfected.
I’ll give you a hint to get you started… HIS PERFECTION ALWAYS REQUIRES PURPOSE!
Despite the fairytale, God doesn’t only do those things we consider positive toward His creation. He also does those things we consider negative. He didn’t only create good, he also created evil. We live because he makes it so, but we also die because he ordains it to be so. In Isaiah 45:7 he says…
I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I, Yahuwah, do all these things.
Many people want to reject this truth when they don’t understand it. See, Yah does everything with one purpose in mind – that is to make us like Him so that we may have our happily ever after with Him.
In order to become as perfect as our Creator, humanity has to be refined in the fire. Some will be purged in it, while others will be restored through it. So long as we reject His perfect image, which He created us in, we will endure the process of purging and refinement.
This means that His creation, you and me, are also doers of both function (good) and dysfunction (evil). The difference is that those who belong to Him does dysfunction according to God’s purpose for their own redemption- not because we choose it, but because God preordained it to serve His purpose. In other words, our dysfunction or the dysfunction of our former lives serves to refine and purge imperfect things in our lives and perhaps in the lives of others.
Now it’s important that we understand that dysfunction (evil) and sin are two different things. God has a complex character based on a simple foundation -salvation for His creation. His character is in all things. Dysfunction occurs when we act outside of the character and image given to us by the Father. On the other hand, sin is when we knowingly and willfully disobey His established laws and commands. While sin is dysfunctional, not all dysfunction is sinful.
Lost people are dysfunctional. Corrupt people are sinful.
So, perfection to God doesn’t sync up with what is perfection to man. We are perfect when our dysfunction has led to our salvation and redemption. Even our dysfunction is perfect because, without it, true perfection would be unattainable.
Thus, Yahuwah sees us in our perfect state because the process of attaining perfection is also perfect because He created it. On the other hand, sin is humanity’s rejection of the Father, His image, and His character. Those who sin act outside of the purpose, character, and will of God and make themselves His enemies.
#SeekPerfection
#RecognizeIt
#CorrectIt