Turn and Become Like a Child
Fine art reproduction note card with Bible text calligraphy
Depicting three children, clustered together with a distinct sense of vulnerability, Turn and Become Like a Child is an 11" X 14" pen & ink drawing, accented with galligraphy from the Bible text Matthew 18:3 ("Unless you turn and become like a child, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven").
Seeing these children, you are immediately struck with their innocence and unpretentious humility. And dependence.
Presented in a distinctly simple and charming way, Turn and Become Like a Child presents the message that, while it is the Father's good pleasure to give us the Kingdom (He has chosen gladly to do it — Luke 12:32), it is not to be taken casually. We cannot just fall into it; we must repent.
Sin and repentance in the Kingdom of God
Almost from the beginning, mankind's sin and the holiness and justice of God have been in tension. While it is true that God made provision for the covering of man's sin, until Jesus came and walked among us, there was no real solution for the problem of sin.
You see, there is something that the Reformers forgot (and their predecessors never really quite knew): The real problem with sin is not the need that it be forgiven (what is known as the forensics of salvation). Atonement is truly wonderful and precious; but, God's desire is for our holiness — "that we may share His [own] holiness" (Hebrews 12:10). The writer to the Hebrews makes this very clear: "Pursue … the sanctification [holiness] without which no one will see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14). As Jesus, on the Sermon on the Mount, "I say to you, that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. … Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5:20, 48).
So, what are we to do?
Should we pursue the Law to gain our own righteousness? To many, that would constitute "repentance". But no; Paul, the apostle, said that "if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law" (Galatians 3:21). So, there is something more than a mere "righteousness" that God has in mind. His desire — and the quality of His own holiness — has to do with life; more specifically, with newness of life (Romans 6:4).
In this regard, Paul's desire — the goal he earnestly pursued — was that he might
"gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of [his] own, derived from the Law; but, that which is through faith in Christ: the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith; that [he might] know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if somehow [he might] attain to the resurrection from the dead" (Philippians 3:8-11).
And, how is this righteousness that comes from God, on the basis of faith, obtained?
In Christ.
Paul dealt with this issue in this manner:
Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore, we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that, as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
For, if we have become grafted into Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection; knowing this, that our old man [this body of death; Romans 7:24] was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin; … .
Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, … for the death that He died, He died to sin, once for all; but, the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so, consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body, … but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law, but under grace (Romans 6:3-14).
And what is this grace? Is it simply "underserved mercy"? No; it's far more than that.
Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! … There is … now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, for the law of the Spirit of life has set you free, in Christ Jesus, from the law of sin and of death.
For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit … for the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace; because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so; and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
However, you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. … And if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin [as with "this body of death; Romans 7:24], yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. And, if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies [not resurrection sometime in the future, but the dynamic of His resurrection life in you now], through His Spirit who indwells you.
So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh, … for all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery [associated with the Law in Galatians 4] leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons, by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!" The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ (Romans 7:25 - 8:17).
To me, with my understanding of the scriptures, repentance isn't simply a change of heart and/or mind toward God; it is understanding that, if you are in Christ — and His Spirit indwells you — then, you have died to the old man, and have been raised in newness of life in Christ Jesus. The change of mind in repentance is in considering yourself to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus (Romans 6:11), and choosing, by faith, to walk in that newness of life (Romans 6:4).
Turn and Become Like a Child note card details
The Turn and Become Like a Child note card is a quality reproduction of the original pen & ink drawing by the award-winning Christian artist, Tom Anson. (It was a very small award.) Printed on high quality parchment paper, in a limited-run, this note card measures 6.25" x 4.5", with a side fold. The inside is blank for your personal message. (It runs through most printers very well.) Suitable for matting and framing (at approximately 8” x 10”), it is also available individually, hand-colored by the artist.
Almost certain to be received well in your personal correspondence, it also makes a great gift.
Pack of 6 note cards, with matching envelopes.
You may also contact the artist about the availability of reproductions of Turn and Become Like a Child in larger formats, or to purchase the original drawing.
