Application: So What Does LUMEN Change?

by Dr. Peter A. Kerr

If this is true, then the most important shift is not what we do, but how we see. God is not managing the world toward predetermined outcomes; He is inviting it into communion. This means the Christian life is not primarily about control, certainty, or performance, but about learning how to receive and reflect holy love. The goal is not to win, secure, or dominate, but to become mirrors—people through whom God’s goodness, truth, and love can freely shine.

This reframes freedom. Freedom is not a problem God must manage or override; it is the very condition that makes love possible. God protects human freedom not because rebellion is useful, but because love cannot exist without the real possibility of refusal. This means God’s patience is not weakness and His restraint is not absence. He is always acting—but always as invitation. When we coerce, manipulate, shame, or force, we are not acting like God. We are interrupting the very space where love could have emerged.

It also reframes holiness. Holiness is not withdrawal from the world or moral superiority over others. It is fullness—being so rooted in God’s love that we can give without fear and remain present without control. Growth in holiness does not mean becoming harsher with sin or stricter with others. It means becoming more capable of love in difficult places, more patient with resistance, and more generous toward the undeserving—just as God is.

This also reshapes how we understand sin and judgment. Sin is not merely rule-breaking; it is the absorption of love rather than its reflection. It burns the mirror and distorts the image. God’s response to sin is not abandonment, but depth-love—a love that descends, persists, and calls without forcing. Even when love is rejected, God remains faithful to who He is. This means no person is beyond invitation, and no moment is beyond God’s presence.

Finally, this clarifies what God is ultimately doing. He is not collecting glory from His creatures; He is sharing it. He is not forming servants who obey without affection, but sons and daughters who love freely. The Christian life, then, is not about securing outcomes for God, but about learning to trust His love enough to reflect it. Our task is simple, though never easy: to receive God’s holy love, and to pass it on—freely, patiently, and without compulsion.

If this is true, then the question each day is not “How can I prove my faith?” but “Where am I being invited to love?”