Vanity is the inability to be satisfied, to be content. What is the root of that vanity and
evil? It is the constant searching for
satisfaction in that which can never satisfy, things of earth. We are cut off from ourselves by sin. The separation caused by sin is not only
separation from God it is separation from our true selves which are true and
right only in relationship to Him. Augustine
wrote that our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Him but sin
has separated us from that central truth of our existence. We have life because He breathed life into us
but we look for "life" or some reasonable facsimile in this world. We hope that we can find satisfaction for our
desires within the system when we were made for another world, the world God
called good prior to sin. Vanity is
seeking to exalt myself and my desires and therefore the things we think can
make us happy by anything other than Himself.
Vanity is self-exaltation and is a chasing after that which is nothing
more than wind.
To receive the kingdom is to willingly give up everything
else in life as of no real lasting value.
It is to recognize things for what they are, to cease striving after
things of earth or cease striving to keep what you've got, it is no longer of
consequence. He can't give us the
kingdom until we open our hands to receive it and we can't add it to what we're
already holding, we have to empty our hands of what we have. It is not an addition to our life, it is our life. Our real occupation is waiting for His return
that we may receive that kingdom that does not perish. The opposite of vanity is the true understand
of self that includes the idea that we are servants waiting our master's
return. It puts Him on the throne in our
life.
Peter was learning what it meant to have the kingdom. Before, in the old covenant, there were
certain foods that were forbidden to him as a Jew. Now, in this vision, he had to decide if it
were God giving him the vision and if so, did he really have a new freedom with
respect to food. Little did he know at the time that what God was really saying
was how big the kingdom tent was going to be, that it would include not only
dietary restrictions being removed, that was for the purpose of bringing those
who did not observe those restrictions into the kingdom. There was no longer room for pride in diet as
a differentiation. The kingdom was
broader and more open than he would have imagined. In the garden, if they had eaten of the tree
of life first then literally nothing would have been off limits, even the tree
of knowledge. In Jesus, all things can
be enjoyed for themselves, not as matters of ultimacy and satisfaction. He is our contentment and satisfaction.
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