By Faye Reynolds Alberta, Canada Women s Issue - IDENTITY Be Filled with All the Fullness of God - Our true Identity Introduction Women are used to having several roles and thus identities at one time. We can be wife, mother, sister, daughter, caregiver, career person and volunteer the list is quite lengthy. To fill in the blank after I am a is quite a challenge. This is also true of our spiritual identities. We are without doubt the beloved children of God, but also one who struggles with sin; we are a lamb cared for by the Great Shepherd, but we are also shepherd and mentor to others as He calls us to feed my sheep. We are called to be perfect as Christ is perfect, to be made anew into the image of Christ very daunting expectations to be sure while we are broken and cracked like pots of clay. And so there is never an easy answer to the question, Who am I? in any of the personal, spiritual or societal realms in which we live. For the sake of this study, I want to make this one huge assumption: that you know beyond any shadow of a doubt that you are wholly and completely loved and accepted by God, your Father and Creator; that you are 100% understood and forgiven by Jesus, the Savior Messiah; and that you are fully equipped to become all that God has longed and dreamed for you by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. A huge assumption indeed! But it is truth and whether you truly believe it or not, I am betting that most of you have studied those themes in Scripture before and that is why I am choosing to move past that foundation and narrow in on what it means to:... have the power to comprehend with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3: 18 19 NRSV) It is the phrase, be filled will all the fullness of God that we will focus on in this study and since Jesus contained all the fullness of God (John 1, Phil. 4) we will explore what it means to fulfill our identity in Christ as John reveals Christ in the final book of the Bible. Opening Prayer
Begin with a quiet meditation on Ephesians 3: 14 21. Read the passage out loud three times with three different readers, pausing for a moment between each reading. Allow this prayer to sink into your soul it is a prayer meant for you. As the spirit leads, continue to prayer out of these verses both orally and silently. Lesson 1: Redefining Power Read together Revelation 5 1. As you read take note of the word worthy. How many times does it occur? 2. There are two primary images used to describe Jesus in this passage. Name those two images. 3. When you consider the term worthy, would you naturally associate it more with the more powerful symbol of Lion or with the meeker symbol of lamb? 4. In this passage, is Jesus more worthy because his is the triumphant Lion of Judah or because he is a lamb who has been slain? In the book of Revelation, chapter 5 is the pivotal turning point of understanding. The scrolls represent God s work on earth the whole interpretation of what God has been doing among his people since the beginning of creation. 1 The angels are crying out, asking who can possibly interpret the mind of God and understand his plan his work among us? When they see Jesus in all his power and majesty, they believe that it is out of his triumphant role that he will make sense of it all. He is worthy to open the scrolls to explain God s plan for creation. Wait!!! It is not the lion, but the Lamb looking as if he has been slain. The Greek word is not just lamb, but little lamb 2. It is Jesus as the little, innocent, meek lamb who brings understanding and meaning. What this image brings to us is extremely significant! Can God be best understood through images of power and control, or is God better understood through the lens of meekness, suffering and sacrifice? 5. How often do you long for God in his power and might to come and fix everything? What are some areas of life that you just wish God would fix? (Think of global issues as well as local and personal issues.) You could use a sentence such as, Why doesn t God just...? 6. When we look to power and control for answers, we expect certain outcomes. When we look at love and sacrifice for the answers, the outcomes could be completely different. Consider a parent s relationship to their child. What 1 Johnson, Darrell: Discipleship on the Edge: An Expository Journey Through the Book of Revelation. 2004. Regent College Publishing. Pg. 145. Chapter 11 and 12 develop the theme of this pivotal turning point to The Way of the Lamb. 2 Ibid: pg 147
would be an example of using power and control to get a certain outcome from your child? What might be another approach to loving and guiding your child? As we look to find our identity in Christ, the first lesson is to understand that true power is found in sacrifice, in giving of ourselves for another. To be filled with all the fullness of God is to be filled with sacrificial love. Lesson 2: Redefining Glory In our thoughts of Jesus, is it possible that we think of the cross as a little blip in an otherwise grand and glorious existence? Jesus was born to angel choirs and heavenly lights. He seemed to be raised in a good and loving family as a very bright child. All he had to say was follow me and he had an instant group of friends to hang with. He could multiply fish and bread, heal people, outsmart the opposition, and even bring a dear friend back to life. To be full of that measure popular, smart, miraculous wow! Yes, we know that Jesus died for us, but he also came back to life and was taken up to heaven and rule in majesty from there on in! Yes, he had a few rough days but who doesn t! (Excuse the flippant tone it is to make a point!) What is important to recognize throughout the rest of the book of Revelation is that Jesus is always referred to as the Lamb. This is his prime identity, even in the heavenly realms. Briefly skim chapters 6 and 7 and note how many references there are to the lamb. Are there any references to Christ as the Lion? If you continued to look throughout the rest of the chapters in Revelation, you would discover the same thing. So what does this mean for us? So much of our identity is rapped up in titles, as mentioned in the introduction. We look for esteem and worth in what we accomplish, and so much the better if they are noble accomplishments. Jesus never sought to be the center of attention. He never needed his ego stroked. How much are you willing to do with absolutely no recognition of your effort? 7. In what ways did Jesus live as the lamb before the crucifixion? How did he demonstrate a life of giving and sacrifice as his true nature, not just a one-time act? The character of Jesus is consistent in heaven as on earth he continues to be the lamb, the same nature of God who wins us through love, not power. 8. Read Rev. 5: 9 10 again. Why is the Lamb worthy to explain God s work? What did the Lamb do? How does this describe God s plan and desire for us? What is God s glory? The Lamb s glory? 9. Where do you find it hard to work for little recognition? In what areas of your life is feedback most important for you? When do you find it most natural to give sacrificially without thought to what others think? Can you think of reasons why one situation is easier than another?
Chapter 5 contains two hymns of praise to the Lamb, which seem to imply that Jesus is the center of much praise and glory. But in the reading of the text, Jesus continues to be a humble presence almost in the background to all the fuss. Lesson 2 reminds us that our glory, which is another way to say our identity or our definition, is found in fulfilling God s will. It is God s will that we overflow with the fullness of his love. Lesson 3: Redefining Salvation: It is we, not me Read again verses 9 and 10. Describe what Jesus did and for whom he did it. 10. Consider who is to reign in verse 10. Is there any sense that Jesus did what he did in order that He could reign? Who is them? How many kings can a kingdom have? How does this turn upside down our sense of hierarchy and power? 11. In verse 11, do you think there could be any connection between the number of angels and the number of saved in verse 9? Consider the sense of wholeness and inclusiveness in the songs of praise. As important as it is for each of us to have a personal, loving relationship with the triune God, we often miss the global nature of God s desire. We are a very narcissistic culture and generation and think of salvation in individualistic terms. But God did not forgive and save me for my sake, but rather to expand his saving network (kingdom). As I am forgiven, so I forgive others. As Jesus gave his life, so I give my life. To be filled with the full measure of God is not for my sake, it is for the salvation of the world. And it is not so much that all might get to heaven, as it is that heaven will come to earth as another person and another person learns to live sacrificially, pouring out their life for another. The purpose and plan of God is for a world full of little lambs dying to their life for the sake of another! Notice again in Revelation 5: 10 that Christ s sacrifice was for every tribe, language, people and nation to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God and they will reign on the earth a new heaven on earth! Darrell Johnson also notes that this is in the present tense. God is already reigning through us, the redeemed. Conclusion Let us end where we began. The foundation of everything that we are is rooted (being rooted and established in love) in this Trinitarian statement: you are wholly and completely loved and accepted by God, your Father and Creator; you are 100% understood and forgiven by Jesus, the Savior Messiah and you are fully equipped to become all that God has longed and dreamed for you by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This statement is not the end goal but the starting platform. It is out of this reality that we now leave our identity in God s hands and move out to live in the life of the Lamb. Imagine a world where we never worried about our own needs because of trusting in The Good Shepherd and the flock s care. Imagine a world where power and privilege
was only used to empower the weak and lift up the lowly; where the first instinct was to forgive rather than seek revenge. This is what it means to live out of the fullness of God. That is our identity and our calling. Impossible? Perhaps for the cracked pots that we are, but with the infilling of the Holy Spirit, nothing is impossible! Submitted by Faye Reynolds (B. Ed, M. Div) Director of Women in Focus, Canadian Baptists of Western Canada