Series Intro: There are many, many factors shaping who we are and how we answer questions like, “Who am I?” “Why am I the way that I am?” And, “how will I live?” In this series, we are exploring what Scripture says about these questions of identity: who we are and who God made us to be.
- This week we will be continuing our identity series and covering our penultimate sermon entitled "I am loved".
Many Christians expect to see big changes within their behavior and life satisfaction after they become Christians, only two discover that these types of change don't always come naturally. Despite the fact that there is never just one factor in these types of situations, today we are going to be looking at one factor that is especially important. Today we are learning how "full Christian flourishing requires attaching to God's love”
- From the moment a human is born, she is biologically wired for attachment. Attachment is the formal term for the bond of love Between a child and their parent. when children don't attach properly to their parents, they will not flourish. when a child starts to form a deeper attachment to his parent, he exhibits more health and hold us in every part of his heart in mind.
- At first glance, it may seem like the Bible doesn't have anything to say about this formal biological phenomenon, but upon further exploration of his word, we find Jesus talking a lot about the deep heart Bond between us and God that must form.
Attachment is as good of a term as any for this deep connection we are to cultivate between us and our heavenly father.
- Jesus encourages us to relate to God in this way bye teaching us to address god as "our father".
Later on, right before Jesus was crucified, he encouraged his followers to "abide in his love”, which by all accounts Sounds a lot like what we would now call attachment. Jesus tells his students that whenever they abide in him, they will "bear much fruit". We are reminded after reading passages like this that full Christian flourishing Requires attaching to god's love.
- In the second half of the New Testament, the apostle Paul gives us some important scripture foundations for our attachment to God's love, such as Romans 8:38–39 which says
“And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
- Meditating on Bible verses like this can help us cultivate more of an attachment to God's love from day today
Even further into the New Testament, we find a passage in the book of Ephesians which provides a particularly helpful picture of attachment to God's love and the flourishing that it brings.
- Ephesians 3:17–19 says
“Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.”
A beautiful picture of us growing in attachment to God's love and the flourishing that results is captured in this passage.
It's helpful to ask ourselves, "are my roots growing deep into God's love?”
if not, we have the capacity to cultivate that attachment, just like any family does.
- And we will bear the fruit of flourishing in Christ as a result.