1 John 2:12

I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake.

Glory is defined as the essence of who God is in personality and reputation. It is God’s reputation that is at stake here and it is for the sake of His glory that He forgives our sins.

That is a very personal matter for each of us because we have failed to protect His good name each and every time we sin. Mankind is a failed experiment if we think that His glory is dependent on our ability to be faithful to refrain from sinning.

• 1 John 1:8
  If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
  1 John 1:10
  If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

His reputation is too important to leave its care up to mankind when it is a fact that we are not faithful to refrain from sin no matter how hard we try.

Some have seen the futility in trying and have given up. They have lost sight of the greater issue which is God’s intent. The Hebrew word of sake means to bring about the desired end result.

In order to maintain His glory, His reputation, He forgives all sin for us that have become sons and daughters. This forgiveness of sins in the here and now by repentance and confession is to maintain this relationship in order to keep walking with God.

• Genesis 5:22
  Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters.
• Genesis 5:24
  Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.

Others have done the math and it appears that Enoch was taken up to be with God rather than dying in the flood. That indicates to me that walking with God is extremely important, so repentance and confession is extremely important to bring about God’s intentions.

That means we have to stop making this all about ourselves.

 Amos 3:3

“Do two walk together, unless they have agreed to meet?

Luke 24:17

And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad.

The two men walking together are on their way to Emmaus talking about the events that had transpired in Jerusalem lately. A stranger comes along and asks about their conversation. He listened and rather than revealing Himself to be the Risen Christ He reminded them what the prophets had said about Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus changed the conversation.

These men perceived that this stranger was inclined to go further than Emmaus and they invited Him to come and sup with them. It was when they broke bread with Jesus that their eyes were opened and they knew the Risen Christ. At this point these two men changed their plans and returned to Jerusalem.

This is the simplicity of the Good News. The lost will be engaged in their understanding of events before they come to know the Risen Christ. That is our opportunity to come alongside and change the conversation just as Jesus did for those two men on the road to Emmaus.

Jesus began with the prophecies. Then once the invitation is made by the lost to hear more and ask us into their lives, we get to commune with them. At this point we should remind ourselves that Jesus is there and reveals Himself. We do not have to force the issue of salvation any longer, they are already interested.

There has been an uneasy urgency in the past to make disciples as we are told. What we should remember about those efforts is that a student is a voluntary position.

Students that come to learn should not be talked down too. If they are born again then they are new to the Kingdom and know nothing about how it works. Offering the truth without belittling the student takes wisdom and experience. Our conversations with the newborn are not the same as they were when they were lost and did not know it.

A friend of mine would ask new acquaintances, “Are you the one or one the ninety-nine?” That was his way to gauge how his conversation should proceed. Did the one know that he was lost? I do not know what the lost are thinking until they invite me into their lives. That is voluntary.

Avoid judgment and condemnation of the lost, that is not how Jesus made disciples.