The Surprising God

This post continues a review of key points in Ron Highfield's book,  God, Freedom & Human Dignity: Embracing a God-Centered Identity in a Me-Centered Culture . For other posts in the series, click a number:  1 ,  2 ,  3 ,  4 ,  5 ,  6 ,  7 ,  8 ,  9 ,  10 , 11 , 13 . Rembrandt: Return of the Prodigal Son (public domain via Wikimedia Commons) In our me-centered world, people ground their sense of worth (and thus their dignity) in all sorts of things. But according to Ron Highfield our true worth as humans is found in one place only ---the love the triune God has for us all . But doesn't reliance on something external to ourselves compromise our dignity? Highfield comments: [Human] dignity in its most basic form is a relation of being loved by another. And God is the only "Other" whose love can establish our dignity beyond dispute... The relationship of being loved and favored by God is the... fundamental basis of human dignity. (p. 192) Highfield goes on

Incarnational Trinitarian theology is sometimes referred to as "the Nicene faith" because it is grounded in the precepts of the faith of the Christian church set forth by the patristic fathers in the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed (commonly called the Nicene Creed ). For a post that looks at Thomas F. Torrance's Trinitarian perspective on the Nicene Creed, click here . A helpful resource for discussing the Nicene Creed in small groups is the I Believe video series , produced by the If: Gathering organization (for an article about them, click here ). Because these videos are generally (though not in every detail) aligned with Torrance's Trinitarian theology, they would make helpful discussion starters for fellowship (small) groups and Bible study classes that wish to study the Creed. Those groups could then refer to the Surprising God blog post noted above for additional information ( click here  to download a copy in Word format). Here is the introductory vi

This post continues a review of key points in Ron Highfield's book,  God, Freedom & Human Dignity: Embracing a God-Centered Identity in a Me-Centered Culture . For other posts in the series, click a number:  1 ,  2 ,  3 ,  4 ,  5 ,  6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 12 ,  13 . Joyous freedom (public domain via Wikimedia Commons) In previous posts we've noted that true human freedom is found in the identity that is ours in  union with Christ --a union that makes us, by the grace of adoption , God's dearly beloved children. This time we'll look further at that freedom as Highfield, referencing 2 Corinthians 5:14-15; Galatians 2:20 and Philippians 1:21, states this about our identity as God's children and the freedom that goes with it: We are dearly loved children, created in the image of God to reflect God's character by loving. This is our true self, our deepest identity, our ultimate destiny. Hence we can act freely only when we exercise the power to live as God&

In our continuing series in Ron Highfield's book,  God Freedom and Human Dignity, we've noted that true human identity, freedom and dignity are found in the vicarious, glorified humanity of the God-man Jesus Christ (the Great I Am). Singer and song-writer Rachel Barrentine (pictured at right), in her song, Says I Am (watch the music video below), puts it this way: I am who The GREAT I AM says I am. To read Rachel's story and listen to more of her music, go to  http://rachelbarrentine.com/ . . On YouTube at  https://youtu.be/6TFwwhd4S_0

This post continues a review of key points in Ron Highfield's book,  God, Freedom & Human Dignity: Embracing a God-Centered Identity in a Me-Centered Culture . For other posts in the series, click a number:  1 ,  2 ,  3 ,  4 ,  5 ,  6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 11 ,  12 ,  13 . Last time  we saw how, in Christ, we have been made God's dearly beloved children by the grace of adoption. Our identity and thus our true freedom come from our sharing, by the Spirit, in Jesus' own relationship with the Father. In this post we'll look at what Highfield says about how this perspective defines true human freedom. Freedom and the self  In His Light by Greg Olsen (used with artist's permission) As Highfield notes, "Every theory of freedom includes an understanding of self" (p. 171) and that understanding then shapes one's behavior. As we have seen in this series, the modern sense of self is fundamentally "me-centered"---self-sufficient, self-defining;