A New Level of Integrity with God

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous.”

Genesis 17:1-2

In the opening verses of Genesis chapter seventeen, God extends to Abraham a stunning offer of redemption: to restore lost intimacy, integrity, and influence. Yesterday, we talked about how God invited Abraham to a new life of intimacy.

God also invites Abraham to a new life of integrity. God says to Abraham, “Walk before me and be blameless!” The word translated blameless is from the Hebrew word tome and means “wholeness” or “integral” or “integrity.” When we hear the word integrity, we often think of someone who is honest, who tells the truth. While truth-telling is part of wholeness, there is much more to this biblical idea. A biblical understanding of integrity or wholeness is not just something you and I do (ethics), it is something that we are in the deepest depths of our personhood. Being blameless or integral means living a life of wholeness as God originally designed us to live.

If you have read the rest of the biblical story, you will recognize here in Genesis 17 God’s invitation to Abraham is already anticipating the person of Jesus and how he will make human new creation and wholeness possible through his atoning death on the cross. The insightful words of an old hymn say it well. “What can wash away my sin, nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again, nothing but the blood of Jesus.”

The good news of the Gospel is not just about forgiveness from sin and brokenness; it is about being whole again and living the life we were designed to live before sin and death entered the world. The good news of the cross is that because of Jesus’ atoning sacrifice for us and the grace he offers to us, we can, through repentance and faith, now become a brand new person. The good news is that Jesus restores the lost intimacy, integrity, and influence humankind once had in the garden and will fully have one day in the future in the new heaven and new earth.

QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION: What parts of your life feel healthiest and whole? What parts feel most broken and fragmented? How can you invite Jesus into the places where you feel fragmented?

PRAYER: Our great, good, and gracious God, we come to you in our sinfulness and brokenness. Lord Jesus, the One who shed his atoning blood for us, in your mercy and grace wash away our sin. Forgive us, both for what we have done and what we have left undone. Create in us a clean heart and make us whole again that we may live the life we long to live, a life of true integrity. Amen.

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Jubilee: Everything Matters

For the past seven years, The High Calling has supported the Jubilee Conference, an annual gathering of thousands of college students learning how to worship God with their whole lives. Whether a person is interested in engineering and science or art and music, law and politics or medicine and mission, justice and families or college life and the years to come, Jubilee has someone speaking about what it means to be involved in those places faithfully. This week, The High Calling offers a special collection of articles, videos, and reflections to serve the students and campus ministers who attended Jubilee. Join the Jubilee and learn how to worship God with your whole life.

Featured image by Cindee Snider Re. Used with Permission. Source via Flickr.