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Now let's jump in. Think of one person who gets on your nerves. In fact, I'll do you one better. Think of one person you straight up do not like. Jesus died to save that person.
What does that mean for you? Let's find out together on the Clear View Today Show. You're listening to Clearview Today with Dr. Abadan Shah, a daily show that engages mind and heart for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm Ryan Hill.
I'm John Galantis. Welcome to the Clearview Today Show. We're here in the studio with our host, Dr. Abadan Shah. And if today's your first time ever joining into the show, we want to welcome you and say we're glad that you're here with us.
We want you to text us 252-429-6069-6069. You're going to text the word today if it's your first time ever texting that number, T-O-D-A-Y. And we just want to hear from you. How is God working in your life? How is he using this show or using your family and your ministry to impact the community around you?
We're going to be talking a great conversation today. Dr. Shah, we began the conversation yesterday talking about people. And people sometimes can be difficult.
Sometimes they can be a little bit uncomfortable to get along with.
However, you reminded us yesterday that number one, we exist because God created us in his image. Number two, we exist for his glory. That's right. That's right. And that should definitely stop us in our tracks from hating people.
from just disrespecting people. That should demand that we But the first thing first, which is Share the gospel with them. And in situations where you cannot do that, at least pray for them. to somehow find Jesus Christ. Because in this life, if you just ultimately hate that person.
What good is it going to do? At least pray and say, God, I I may not be the person that they will listen to. But I pray, God, that you would send someone in their path who will Share the good news of Christ, that they will give their hearts to Him and they will be radically changed. Because your pattern is in them. Yeah, we know that's what God wants us to do.
We know that's, in fact, we know that's what we're created for: is to worship him, but also to evangelize and to seek and save that which is lost. At the same time, you know, we talked about Jonah yesterday a little bit about how he went to Nineveh and he really, really didn't want them to get saved. And then when they got saved, the entire city came to know the God. He wasn't happy. And we criticize him and we look at him and say, That's how you shouldn't be.
But that's in our hearts as well. There are people in our lives that we really are like, you know what? I whatever happens to them is between them and God, and I hope. I'm kind of hoping for one way. Maybe I'll just say it that way.
There are people that we just kind of hope don't come to God. We don't want them to turn their lives around. We don't want them to get better because we feel like. That's justice. Yeah.
For all the things they've done or for all the things they've done to me. I want them to pay for this. They don't deserve God's mercy. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, if you go by that rule and if we go by that principle, which I'm I totally understand because I have faced the same thing in my life too, those questions like.
Man, that person is just so evil. You know, that person does not deserve God's grace. If we go by that standard, None of us Deserve God's grace. That's right. none of us deserve.
Jesus. Because we all are evil. We all have done things against The true And only God. We all have done sins in our life towards other human beings. We don't deserve anything.
But is because of God's grace. You know, Jesus came to recover God's image by sacrificing his life for all. He came to recover God's image by sacrificing his life, not just for one person or two people, or just this group here or that group there, but for all people. Maybe you can talk about that a little bit for someone who didn't hear yesterday's show. You know, we think that Jesus came to save us because you guys are hopeless without me.
This is, I'm your only shot. And maybe in a sense, that's true, but he came to recover God's image. Yeah, what does that mean?
Well, there's another passage I want to read, if that's okay, in Colossians chapter 3, because in the previous show, we talked about recovering God's image, and here's some more. I mean, if you ever think about it. This idea of recovering the image is found again and again. In scripture.
So here's another one. Colossians 3.8. Paul says, But now you yourselves are to put off all these. Anger Rat Malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds.
and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge, According to the image of him who created him. According to the image. Say are bad things, anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, all of these things. It's not just that they are bad, it's that they are not found in the image of God. Yes.
That's why they're bad. And so, we as believers, when we put on the new man, which happens at salvation, and daily we need to live with that recognition. We're not like putting off when putting on, like, we have to do that every morning. No, it's already been done. We have to reckon that.
We have to believe that. We have to live in that fact that the old is gone, the new is here. And we are Such distracted human beings, we are so busy with life that we just go with the flow and just take life as it comes. And today I'm having a bad day, and oh, tomorrow was a good day, or ha I had sort of a good day, but then it was a bad day. and I'm doing the best I can.
To the contrary, we are to daily remind ourselves the old is gone, the new has already been put on. And part of The reason the n putting on the new is important is because This new man. Is renewed in knowledge according to the image of him who created him.
so that new man is going back to the original pattern. Yeah. I think it's really helpful for us to know this because we live in a world today where just where like justice is very, very conditional. Things are wrong only if they harm the wrong people. You know what I'm saying?
Like if you're a wealthy, elite, powerful billionaire. It's okay if we harm you because you probably harmed somebody else. But if you're a marginalized person, if you're someone who is has already been hurt and put down by life, then those same things that we would do to this person are wrong only if they harm you. You know what I'm saying? And so we've completely rewritten the standard of what makes something a sin, morally wrong.
Whereas, like, someone who's living out in the world today would look at that anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy.
Well, those aren't always wrong, right? If I aim them at the right person, I'm actually doing a good thing. And so I think it's helpful to realize. They're not wrong because they harm someone. They're wrong because.
They're not found in God's image. Right.
Well, I like that terminology about God's image and salvation restoring the image of God. Because then it, you know, you look at the picture of baptism. That's a beautiful picture of the old going into the water and then being raised up as a new creation. Almost imagine like that old image, that tainted, warped image being washed away, and you come back up with the new, which is really the restored image of Christ in you. That's right.
People often think that once we're saved, we are being restored to the pre. Pre-fall Adam. Mm. No. We're not being restored to the pre-fall Adam.
We are being restored to the image of God.
So it's not like we become like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Running around naked and you know just don't touch that tree now. Oh, I don't want to anymore. Yeah, imagine imagine a little kid like going to that tree and they're whooping there with kids. And no, as believers, Whether you were a believer before Jesus came.
To give his life for us 2,000 years ago, or you're a believer since he came, either way. The restoration that happens is to the image of God. Here's another verse, Second Corinthians chapter three, verse eighteen. But we all With unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord.
So think about that. But we all with unveiled face means there's no longer. this fog or this this division.
Okay, this blurriness. With unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord. Means now I can see the mirror. It's not covered with mist or fog or just. you know, d dusty and dirty.
No, it's I can see myself. But what do I see? We are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. Means what I'm seeing in that mirror is that daily I'm becoming more and more like Christ. Who is the original?
I am the copy, but I'm being restored to that image by the Spirit of the Lord. This is the work of the Holy Spirit in my life. Uh some days I feel like I look in there and go, huh? It's not very good. Yikes.
Yeah, it's not looking good right now. It was a horrible day. But overall we are We are growing and I also believe that Maybe in this life for some people we may not become more and more like Christ in our looks. And that does not mean that you are not saved. That's just.
the harsh realities of life. Yeah. Sanctification is not always a straight shot upwards.
Some people think that it's progressive, you know, like we go. straight on into glory.
Now, I know some people who Had some massive dips. They started out great, and then there was a drop. I know some people who start out great. And then right before Their deaths there was a drop. Does that mean that They didn't have The true Work of the Holy Spirit in their lives.
No. Does it mean that That distorted image. that reflected back at them is evidence that they were not saved? No. That's just the harsh reality of life.
Yeah, we hope it's making sense to us. Yeah, absolutely. We have to remember that sin is still there. It still has consequences and effect. And sometimes I don't want to say sometimes it wins, but sometimes it takes its toll.
You know what I mean? Yeah, I think about David. Think David. Yeah. You know, he's one of those pre Christ incarnation Believers.
I mean, if any of you think that d David did not understand about the coming of Jesus. And what he was coming to do? You need to read those Psalms again. Yeah. He understood way too well.
And really well because he's talking about the cross. Yeah. Before the cross became the cross, David probably understood more about Jesus than a lot of Christians today. Of course, that was his son. I mean, I mean, not.
Not in the same way as my son is my son. Right.
But still, he's a son of David. His descendant. Those dips. Maybe there's someone out there who's listening. I feel like there's probably more than just one someone who maybe they're experiencing one of those dips.
And it's just a really low moment where they're thinking, Gosh, man, I thought that I would be over this by now. I thought that I would be kind of me and Jesus, and we're riding off into the sunset, but there I'm experiencing this dip, or maybe I'm just coming back on the upswing. What encouragement can this conversation today offer that person? If I can give an illustration, it would be working out.
Okay, for those of you who work out, you know what I'm talking about. For those of you who don't, you should work out. Tell them. But What happens with working out? There's that period where you're really into working out.
You know, you're going to the gym, you're getting on the treadmill, you're getting on the elliptical. Man, you're getting your heart pumping good.
Okay, great, great, great.
Now you're jumping onto the weights. you have your three days, you know, upper body, lower body, whole body, I mean whatever. configuration you have For yourself. And man, you do great. You can feel the burn.
You go the extra mile, and you can see those muscles getting defined. You can see your waist. Dropping, and you're like, okay, all right. I'm gonna keep going. You know, I thought these pants were done, but now I think I can wear them.
You know, I know I'm saying that from personal experience. And then You know, you continue. You're in this rhythm, you're in this zone. And it's great feeling. Amazing.
And then all of a sudden you feel that tickle in your throat. And you're like Uh No, it's just it just uh just just the allergies. No, it's not allergy. You're getting sick. The insect.
And if you go to the gym, you already know what's coming. Yeah. So you're like, oh, great. No, no, no. I'm just going to power through this.
You can't power through. That's right. You have a horrible night, and now you got congestion, and you're like, ah. I can't go to the gym today. I want to, but I can't.
Or it's a different scenario. It's just super, super busy. Like meetings. You got to travel. You got to travel.
You got to travel. You got all these responsibilities. A busy season in life. I really want to go work out. I hate it.
I hate that I cannot do this. I'm gonna look, see if the hotel got a gym. Oh, they don't? They don't. I'm stuck.
And then Well, everybody's gonna have to eat about this humongous hamburger and eat all the fries. Ha ha ha. I said I won't go eat the fries, but I even even licked up the salt of the fries. I was with you. Even had this Coke, and it was free Coke.
And I wanted to Coke Zero either. No, no, no. So I had to get it. And you can feel the waist gets tighter. You can feel, you know, you don't have the energy.
And if you have sugar issues, I'm going somewhere with this. You know, you get like, I just don't feel like myself.
So whether it is sickness, Busyness. Circumstances in life, you're out of the gym. And now you stay in this funk for a while. You it's it's gonna be like this for the next. Two, three months.
I'm talking from personal experience. As you can see, my illustration is so vivid. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about. Because I've been there in all those scenarios. And then you drive by the gym, or you go by your equipment in your basement, or whatever, or you hear people talking about it, and you're like, Yeah, I remember.
I remember when I I was in there, man, I was I was I was I was on top of it. Yeah, but what happened? Oh, life happened, sickness happened, busyness happened. Situations beyond my control happened.
Now what? But now Jump back in. I'm going to wait. I'm going to wait till the next year. No, next year is five months away.
Right.
Don't wait till next year. Yeah. I'm going to wait till all the holiday season is done because I know we're going to eat. Lots and I just November, the November runs right into December. A lot of travel.
No, no, don't do that. Start now. Going now. And so What do you do that first going back is tough. You feel like Making all kinds of excuses, like I can't, or this or that.
I'm going this week, but I cannot go next week.
So I don't think that matters. Might as well wait till the week after. Yeah. No, you need to go this week. You jump in the first week.
Our first day. And you realize very quickly, man, I'm out of shape. I could do this treadmill for or this elliptical for like twenty five minutes, but right now it 10, I'm struggling. That's okay. I'm going to stop at fifteen minutes.
But what happens when you go back and you jump back in? All of a sudden, you go, wait. Oh. I can feel my pants feeling a little bit better. That 15 minutes gets a little bit easier.
I can feel my stamina coming back. I can feel me walking up the steps. to my room or house or whatever and I'm not so much out of breath. This is what needs to happen. And we jump back in.
And You may go on for another three months. Man, amazing. And then Sickness Mm-hmm. Or Life happens. or situations out of your control, and you may drop out.
Jump back in. Jump back in. And just this analogy for the past 10 minutes I've given you is how you should look at. your life when it comes to your Sin life. don't just stay in this Yeah.
Slaw of despond, you know, from the pilgrim's progress. Jump back. Yeah. We think that, you know, especially because of sin, especially big sins, right? Like there's sins where it's like, well, I've just been in a funk lately and I've been.
Not reading my Bible, but then there's like really big catastrophic sins. Like I stepped out on my marriage, I went somewhere on the internet, I really shouldn't have gone. I really messed up. We feel like that, that month long to year long. process is mandatory.
I have to pay this amount of penance. But really, that's not the case. We can come back at any point. Yeah. Now, I will say this: that some of those more egregious sins, like stepping out on your marriage or looking at pornography.
or or making some really horrible Decisions that are unethical, immoral, they, yes, they have bigger consequences. Yes. So just be prepared for that. Right.
Just like in your health or working out, if you go out there and you have this heart surgery, no, you cannot just jump back in. and start doing thirty minutes on on the elliptical because It's not advisable that you do that. Yeah, yeah. But does that mean that you shouldn't walk on the treadmill for ten? No, you can do that.
Does that mean you're going to do bench press like previously you were doing 225? That, oh, I can do that again. Not if you had a heart surgery, it's not advisable. You may have to wait for a while until everything heals. And you may start with maybe in just uh just the bar.
Or maybe you can you miss start with you know, 95 pounds. And that's okay. But but All I'm saying is Jumping back. is important. Maybe because of That's sin.
there may be some consequences, there will be repercussions. You may have to get somebody to go with you. You know, if there has been some really egregious sins in your life. then you may have to come to a fellow brother and sister and say, Hey, I Can I spend some time with you and share with you what God is doing in my life and where I. need his grace.
Just like going back in the gym, you know, David usually goes with me, helps me. He's been consistent. I haven't. But going with him enables me to kinda sort of, hey, this one right here, yeah, I think it goes like this, or you pull that all the way back here, or keep your back straight. or keep your legs straight or whatever.
It helps. Yeah. Especially if you're coming out of a surgery.
So same thing for that person who may have who may feel like Mm-hmm. Yeah. What you're saying is true. But my situation is different. A lot has happened.
A lot that is not good has happened. Understandable. But the image of God in you has not been eradicated because of that sin. Yes, there will be consequences. But no, you can always come back to God.
I think those words alone are healing for people, knowing that they're not ever so far gone or there's no hope for return. You can always come back. There will be consequences. You'll have to deal with the consequences of your actions. And if your actions are serious, the consequences will match.
But you can always come back to God. I think that is a breath of fresh air for people who may be struggling. You said something years ago that has stuck with me and it will probably stick with me for life. And we've said it multiple times on this show, but you said once that. Coming back to God is most of life.
That's what most of life is. I think a lot of times Christians get caught up in the shame of having to come back to God, of having to come back into the church and everybody knows that I sinned or everybody knows that I fell off or maybe everybody knows that I just haven't been here in a while and everyone's, I'm now having to play catch up with all my peers and I've got to somehow come to God and there's all this shame that keeps us from doing it. But the reality is, that's what most of life is. Just coming back. It's coming back.
Like that song, you know, come thou found. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. Here's my heart, Lord. Take and seal it. Seal it for that courts above.
And That Is very true. In fact, the writer of the song wandered away again and again. It was a very real life story of God's grace And Restoration. Yeah. The image does not get eradicated.
That's right. We have maybe six or seven minutes left in the show. Talk about what God's going to do for that image. Because I know this is something you've said from the pulpit before about how He's going to restore that image. And Jesus came to restore that image, but.
Jesus has already come. Yeah. And yet that and he's died for us, but that image is not completely restored yet. Right.
That's a great point. God will restore our image completely, completely. when Christ returns.
Now, based on your eschatology, your understanding of the end times, you know, let's say you believe in the rapture or you don't. I lean towards that. I lean towards the rapture side of things, but I am I I understand that there are passages that may be a little difficult. For us to come to grips with that, maybe we will be here. I believe in church and Israel are distinct, they are separate.
We cannot say the church is Israel and Israel is church. That's not correct. I haven't said that. Christ is coming. One way or the other, he is coming.
The second coming will happen. And at that second coming, Our image will be completely restored. And here are a couple of passages. In 1 Corinthians 15, 49. And as we have borne the image of the man of dust We shall we shall this is Of the heavenly man.
So does this restoration look something like pre-fall humanity, or is this something totally different? Again, this is completely conformed to the image of Jesus.
So we're not like going back to become like Adam and Eve. Yeah. Never before or after. We are simply being restored to Adam and Eve.
Some people believe that, by the way. And I think they're wrong. Do you think we'll ha I mean this is probably a discussion for another day, but do you think we'll have our memory of sin? Like we knew what we were. Yes, memory doesn't go away.
Yeah, 'cause 'cause Adam and Eve had no inclination of what sin even was until it happened. Right.
For us, we will have, like, hey, I know what I used to be.
Now I'm the. Yes, of course. Eternity will be. Quite amazing, and partly because of the memories of this life. And even in those moments where you are the lowest, as low as you can go.
In your sin life. It will still remind you of how awesome it is. That God saved you and God loves you. unconditionally.
So, eternity is not just this plastic world where we no longer have. any recollections of our past. No, they are they're They're there. But they are so So The grace of God in that that when you look back, you're not Looking back with regret or shame. Shame is a big part of that.
But you're looking back with just a great sense of gratitude and excitement and hope. Oh. A sin will leave you hopeless, but eternity will be full of hope. And hope is not just, I hope it works out. Hope is a better day is coming.
Imagine in eternity, every day is a better day coming. Yeah, amen. You know? Uh here's another one, 1 John chapter 3 and verse 2. Beloved Now we are children of God.
And it has not yet been revealed what we shall be. But we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. We shall be like him. That's a powerful statement.
So we're not, we shall be like Adam. No, we shall be like Jesus, the new Adam. Right.
I think it's it's it's in it's It gives us a lot of hope because that's what we want in this life, right? We want to be more and more and more like Jesus. And John gives us that assurance that that's exactly what's going to happen. It doesn't mean we have to wait until. It actually happens to have that as our goal.
But knowing that at the end of the day, that goal is going to be met. Yeah. And it gives me with a lot of hope.
Well, there's that sanctification that does happen in this life where you have that hope of being better. You know, even though there may be dips, there may be valleys, there may be setbacks in life, and there may be some coming back to God that needs to happen. We are being crafted into the image of God. But then that eventual hope of glorification one day, of being, being restored completely through our glorified bodies, through eternity. And that, just like you said, Dr.
Shaw, that hope of every day being a better day. I mean, I mean, what a hope that we have as believers. Yeah, I think as a, as a, as a Christian, or really just even as a person, one of the most frustrating and disappointing things is having an unmet goal. You know, you set a goal for yourself, and one of the things that really keeps you from pursuing it is this fear that it's never going to happen. It's, I'm going to fail.
John gives you assurance. The Bible gives you assurance that you're not going to fail. You are going to be like Jesus one day. And so, how much of that do you want to bring into your day-to-day life is really up to you. And part of the reason that we do this show is so that every day you choose to keep pursuing that likeness of Jesus, to keep pursuing how much you want to resemble him in this life.
Now, there's a reason that we call it clear view today because we're giving you a clear view on what it means to come back to God. Maybe you have wandered off. Maybe you're going through a difficult season in life. Maybe it's been a difficult string of seasons. Hey, God is always there, and there's always the opportunity to come back to him.
No one is so far gone. You've not messed up so much that you cannot come back to God.
So we encourage you to do that today. And hopefully, today's episode helped you to do that. That's right. All three of us on this couch have come back to God several times in our life. I'm probably going to come back to God more and more and more.
Hundreds of times. There's nothing shameful about it. There's nothing keeping you from doing it except for you. That's right. You can help someone else do that by heading on over to Abadanshah.com forward slash give and becoming a financial sponsor of the show.
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