5 Dec 2023
n 2 Peter 3:18, Peter wrote the above exhortation; Paul speaks of growing into Christ (Eph. 4:15) and rejoices that the Thessalonians’ faith is growing ( 2Thess. 1:3): – what they both have in view is a progress into personal smallness that allows the greatness of Christ’s grace to appear. The sign of this type of progress is that we increasingly feel that we are nothing and God in Christ has become everything for our ongoing life.
The principles of the CROSS are similar: When we are weak, then we become strong in dependence on Him; when we ‘die’ spiritually (in denying self), we would find life in Him (spiritual eternal life); when we suffer, then we are on the path to glory (we see all these manifested in what our Lord Jesus went through at the cross and as we follow HIm, and grow in His grace and in the knowledge of Him). Notice that for us, these principles, when truly applied and experienced, lead us to grow in ‘smallness’ and allow Christ to manifest His greatness and glory in us. We then truly appreciate, in outworking, increasingly, that we are nothing and God is everything; everything is about HIm – it is not about us!
This is indeed the path to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord. It will not manifest in complaints, grumblings, self-pity – notice that all these manifestations are indications of our ‘self-llfe’ – we have not learned to be small and to be nothing – instead we put ourselves at the very centre and as the highest priority (everything is about me) – and our idol is ‘self’ – God is no longer everything and it is not about Him and His glory. This may not appear so obvious in believers, but in reality, we still desire to claim a fraction of the glory and we still cling to self-esteem and being popular and acceptable to others. Personally, I have found that my greatest challenge and struggle is to grow into smallness and nothingness and allow God to be great and glorious in my life and service.
When we learn to grow in this manner in the Lord, we would increasingly find our true selves and grow to be at peace with God, growing in gratefulness, thankfulness, and worship. Are we indeed growing in the Lord??