The Process of Becoming

Why the Son of God?  Because I can’t.  How?  Grace through Love.

When I first thought about this blog entry, I was going to write about the deity of Jesus and how it impacts us.  It was to be a major understanding of how Jesus saves us through his deity and the work of the cross.

It will be but it now takes on a new form.  I have been hesitant to write because I am trying to put into practice the ways of discipleship I think are part of our process. Have I had successes?  Sure.  Have I had drastic failures?  Definitely.

God has allowed me to learn about the process of Grace.  Before we get into building our processes, we have to come to the point of realization that says I can’t.  In my own strength, I cannot do the things that will allow me to grow towards God.  This should be the end result of any process we implement in our life.

What process will get me closer to my Creator?  What process allows me to know the love the Father has for me?  What processes allow me to see that I can’t in my strength?  What processes make me depend on Him even more for my growth?

Why Jesus? 

Why is the easy question.  We needed Jesus for so many reasons.  Multiple atonement theories exist and better men than I have addressed them.  For a great example, see Death by Love written by Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears from Re:Lit. 

So if not why, maybe how is the better question.  Hebrews 13:8 tells us that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.  And yet Luke 2:52 describes Jesus growth process.  So for the next two days, I would like to explore these two sides of Jesus.  His God-man side that needed no becoming and his human side that would have to develop to be able to accomplish the mission of the Father and redemption of humanity.  

Tomorrow, how God the son?

a·se·i·ty – noun – Metaphysics : existence originating from and having no source other than itself.

About 10 years ago, a friend of mine convinced me and some others to go with him to a conference in Florida. I say convinced. I am a huge RC Sproul fan so there wasn’t so much convincing needed. You can check out the conference message here.

Dr. Sproul postulated that humans use the phrase “being” wrongly. We exist in time. We change from one moment to the next. We are dependent on something else for our existence (oxygen, water, God) We are not beings.

To have aseity would require more than humans can provide. To be or not to be cannot be the question.

This brings us back to the question I posed yesterday. Why the process? The answer is that we must. Without process, we cannot become. We cannot be more today than we were yesterday. Humans cannot change that each moment is new. Each moment changes the fundamental fabric of our experience. God, as creator, brings to humans the opportunity to exist. Colossians 1 explains that Jesus was part of creation and reveals the invisible God.

Why Jesus?

Have you ever had a friend that you are jealous of?  You wonder what your life would be like if you had their gifts or their life.  I have such a friend.

First, he is an amazing poker player.  Second, he is a farmer.  Both require a unique set of skills that allows a person to be patient while watching a process to play out.  For the poker player, patience allows for tells to be told and games to won or lost in the process of learning about the people around your table.  For a farmer, patience allows the seed to be planted and the process of growth to happen.

Discipleship requires some of those same skills.  You see discipleship is the uncovering of the identity of Christ in you.  It requires patience but only because you realize there is a process to occur.

Why the process?