Changed by God's Presence

Jim:

Genesis 16:15-17:14
Genesis 17:5 says “No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations.” (According to the Oxford Annotated Bible Abram can be translated as “exalted ancestor” and Abraham as “ancestor of a multitude.”) Abram/Abraham is not the only person to experience a change in identity in the presence of God. Sarai will become Sarah in her old age, Jacob becomes Israel after his wrestling match at the ford of the Jabbok, Simon will become Peter when he becomes a disciple, and Saul will be known as Paul after his conversion on the way to Damascus. To encounter God in such a profound way as each of these people did really demanded a new understanding of who they were, of their every day identity. They could not leave that experience in the same way they entered it, because they simply were not the same people. How do we reflect the change that God has made in our lives? We don’t normally change our names, but do we change our habits, our practices, our perspectives? Isn’t it something we should think about?

John 5:30-47
In verse 36 Jesus offers an explanation of the signs that he has been doing in John’s gospel. “The works that the Father has given me to complete, the very works that I am doing, testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me.” Jesus is doing the work of God in the world and the work that Jesus does not only authenticates his identity as the Son of God, but allows others to perceive God in a new way. Again, there is an experience with God by which individuals are changed and after which they were unable to remain who they were. Many refused to accept the fact that Jesus was who his works demonstrated him to be. They sought to remain tied to their old identities and misunderstood who Jesus was. We need to be sure we are not so bound to the past that we do not allow God to work in our lives, to change us and to move us to where we need to be.