Saturday, May 30, 2009

Who Are We?

In Lent of 1849, the estimable F. D. Maurice explained in a sermon just 'who we are' as Christians.

He proclaimed:

This, and nothing less than this, is implied in our Church-life, and our acts of Communion. We are actually taken to be members of Christ, children of God. The words are simple, but, oh what a depth is in them, what an infinite reproach to every one of us!

"The Bible," we are told sometimes, "gives us such a beautiful picture of what we should be."

Nonsense! it gives us no picture at all. It reveals to us a fact; it tells us what we actually are: it says, "This is the form in which God created you, to which He has restored you: this is the work which the Eternal God, the God of truth and love, is continually carrying on within you."

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