MONOSCOPIC ORIENTATION

The Apostle Paul said “For whom He (IE., God) foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image (IE., nature) of His Son, that He (IE., Jesus) might be the firstborn among many brethren.” God’s plan from the get-go has been that all who come into covenant relationship with Him will be transformed… take on the character, virtue, values, and attitude of His Beloved Son. The Holy Spirit has been given this essential task, “for it is God (IE., the Holy Spirit) who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” The Apostle John called our transformation into christlikeness the perfection of Christ’s agape love in our heart: “Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.” Scripture uses the Greek adelphos, translated “brethren” in this passage, 160 times to refer to a spiritual brotherhood of believers, a fellowship of love based on identity of origin and unity of faith, a community of life which God calls His family. “As He (IE., Jesus) is” refers to His nature, and “so are we” indicates His nature should become our nature, “in this world.” Saints, our “Salt” and “Light” is the nature of Christ which we convey to the world in our daily life, for “as He is, so are we in the world.” We reflect the nature of our Firstborn Brother to the world!

The renewing of the mind is a basic ingredient in the saint’s transformation into Christlikeness, for our mind must be made new again, relieved of its attachments and desires for the world and refocused on things above. It is important, therefore, to understand two characteristics of our fallen human nature which greatly affect the Holy Spirit’s work in our heart. First, we humans tend to be monocular – of single vision. Our “monoscopic” orientation causes whatever we focus on to become principle and dominate our life, enhancing our vulnerability to addictive behavior. Secondly, we are very Self-centered, to the point of narcissism. The two great opposing forces vying for control of man’s mind and heart are the power of God’s agape love and the power of man’s monocular Self-centeredness. Most of our time is spent in making sure our “Self” is very well cared for. Coupling these two characteristics, monoscopic Self-centeredness, produces the proverbial worst case scenario: A Self-centered life with a mind singularly focused on that which appeases and gratifies Self, our carnal fleshly nature, to the exclusion of all else. This is why the “lust of the flesh”, “lust of the eyes”, and “pride of life” worked so well on Eve and works so well on us. This is why – as demonstrated in the Sower Parable -- “the desire for other (IE., nonspiritual) things”, “the cares of this world”, “the deceitfulness of riches”, and “the pleasures of life” will choke – literally overpower and suffocate – our spiritual life, leaving us in bondage to the powers of darkness with an empty “Christian” profession. It is essential we understand and deal with these two aspects of our nature as saints of God pursuing the Mind of Christ: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus … Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” Mental renewal can only be accessed through the death of Self enabling Christ-centeredness, and a setting of our monocular vision on “things above.”

WE BECOME “BRETHREN” AS WE BECOME CHRISTLIKE

(Note: the Sower Parable must be read in all three passages to get the full meaning: Matt. 13:3-9, 18-23; Mk. 4:3-9, 14-20; Lk. 8:5-8, 11-15; Phil. 2:5, Rom. 8:29;Phil. 2:13; 1 Jn. 4:17; Col. 3:2)