Purifying Ourselves
“Bright Hope for Tomorrow” — Chapter 11 Reflection
Getting to the Nitty Gritty
I love reading books and watching movies. In my experience, a good story begins with an introduction of characters, engaging conflict, and building tension. If done well, the climax will hit hard and be satisfying for the reader/watcher. Chris Davis, the author of this book, does something similar as we come to this final section of the book. He has told us what the hope is, other ways to think about it, and ways to help us keep that end in mind. In this last section, he is getting into the nitty gritty of how the hope of Christ’s return should transform how we live.
And the first change discussed is that we should purify ourselves.
The Transforming Power of Hope
Just as you prepare your life and body for a wedding by finding a place to live and wanting to shave a few pounds or clean up the house because guests are coming over, the future hope of being with Christ, should cause us to live pure and holy lives now. Knowing he is coming leads to purifying our hearts. Christ has made us holy now through his sacrifice and will complete our holiness when he returns. Until then, we must strive to be who we are in Christ, and who we will be at his return.
And, if you are anything like me, then you know that this is easy to talk about but very difficult to accomplish.
The author points out five calls for us to purify ourselves: hope fully, stay awake and be sober, kill sin, be diligent, and abide in him.
They all sound good and nice. But, let’s be honest. They are hard, especially thinking about doing them all at once!
That is where God comes in…again. How gracious and kind he is! Just as he is the one who saves us, he is also the one who sanctifies us in this life. We must rely on the power of Christ in us through the Spirit. As we strive to purify ourselves, we must not forget the work of God in the process as well. He will help you, strengthen you, change your desires, and cause you to remember the hope that is to come.
Don’t be Afraid of Self-Reflection
Until then, write down some of the heart piercing questions from this chapter. The questions that will cause you to dig deep in your own heart. Questions that will force you to see what you desire and where your heart lies. Always be asking yourself these questions so that you can be aware of where you need to be purifying yourself. Don’t shy away from some honest, gospel-motivated, self-reflection.
My prayer for myself and this church is the same as the author’s:
“I pray that as you walk through life barraged by the false promises of sin, in league with your own sin-bent inclinations…the New Testament’s teaching [about the return of Christ] points you to Jesus in such a way that empowers you to say yes to him and not to the passing pleasures of this age.”
