Sorry, it occurred to me that I left that thought unfinished...
It says: "anyone who claims to abide in Jesus, should walk as he did" - 1Jn 2:6
(forgive me if I paraphrase - I used to have so many scriptures memorised that I could recite verbatim from the NIV, but I lost that skill when I started reading and comparing different versions. I got confused about the wording you see... lol)My point is that Jesus knew where He came from and to where He was going .... we do too, don't we? We know where we're gonna end up, right?
So WHAT IS THERE TO FEAR!?
Yes, I suppose we don't know if we will have to still undergo the post-resurrection gehenna fire or not - most likely we will (at least, I expect that I will have to.....) but we know what comes after that, don't we?
So what's stopping us from living RADICALLY, like Jesus did, like the apostles did? Most people will claim they fear that they are inadequate, unable to perform the proud boasts they claim - in our case, I suppose we fear that we will preach righteousness and then discover ourselves to be sinful
(WELL - DUUUH!)
but the quote I referred to says the opposite - and that's really my thought here. We are the called & elect of God (to be in this forum you have to be either one or the other...) - what stops us from LOVING the way He did, LIVING the way He did? Is it fear of DEATH? - unlikely, fear of RIDICULE? - less likely, fear of being found to be as sinful as the next guy? - possibly - but mostly, I think, it's the fear of what we know we're capable of.
Fear of the influence we could have in the lives of the people around us.
Jesus did NEVER shrink- he stood out like a sore thumb. Jesus was not afraid of leadership - he was not afraid to be what He was called to be. He was not afraid of ANYTHING.
In spite of what they did to Him, he stood up to everyone. He told Pilate: "...you would not be able to kill me if that power were not given to you from above..."
Stephen continued to stand for the Truth about Jesus even while they stoned Him.
We know who were are - the called and elect of God... We represent the power of all that Jesus stood for and demonstrated in this life.
We will judge angels
Of all the creation of God - we are the pinnacle (which is why we suffer the most, I guess.. learning obedience through suffering...)
No - it is not sinful to picture God creating through us - in fact - He does so already! every painting, every song, every poem - is BRAND NEW CREATION that comes from the inside of the artist - who (as we already know) has no FREE WILL of his own, but carries out the life God prepared for him. What is that if not God creating THROUGH US?