City of God - Part 3 The PURPOSE of God Fulfilled

 

Title and other images:  Wikimedia Commons

To fulfill is to take the old and bring it to completion; to bring about the ultimate purpose.  God has always had a purpose.  He is the God of design, balance, beauty, and order.  In our text today He takes the ordinary believers of all history, and fulfills their destiny.  He takes all the countless and un-named church members of all ages, including the struggling, loving Philadelphians, and the lazy Laodiceans, all those martyrs and survivors down through the ages, and completes what has always been in the heart and mind of God.  He gathers the entire family of God, and makes us feel quite at home in the New Jerusalem, the city of God.  This fulfillment has its being in relationship. 

Notice the completion of the fulfillment of God’s purpose, the perfectly-new relationship.  What will it be like?

Intimacy Unhindered

I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them.  Revelation 21:3

God’s purpose, from the time of Adam’s fall, has been to restore Eden’s intimacy.  That was God’s purpose in the first place.

And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone;  Genesis 2:18

The fact that God made man in His own image indicates the reflection that it is not good for God to be alone either.  C.S. Lewis said:  If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.^[1]

Better applied to this text is the reality that we are made for more than this, or any other world.  We are made for close fellowship with God.  Sin separates us from that.  In the New Jerusalem, the City of God, we will not have closed gates, space, darkness, or anything else to prevent free access to the very presence of God.  The purpose of God removes every obstacle to His purpose of intimate fellowship with us.  We shall see Him face to face. 

Beside Intimacy Unhindered, there is:

Integrity Untainted

He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”  Revelation 21:4

There is a sense in which former things dog us all the days of our lives. 

     ·       How can we have nothing between God and ourselves when the memories of past failures bring tears to eyes. 

     ·       And the death of loved ones brings sadness. 

     ·       And there is pain in this world. 

Integrity is a relationship of complete oneness.  Our sin, and this sinful existence is separates us from complete rest of mind and soul.  We are stuck in former things.  New things will require a clean sweep. 

As a child I did quite a few things that caused myself pain.  Often, I cried.  I can still feel the cool washcloth on my face as Mom washed away dirt, sweat and tears.  I can remember the way it felt so good to be near her and be comforted.  If that is possible for a child with a human Mother, how much more the refreshing of our integrity, our wholeness, when the Father above wipes away all the former things!  Intimacy will be Unhindered, Integrity Untainted, and

Inheritance Unmeasured

All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children.  Revelation 21:7

When someone inherits, it is based most visibly upon two things:

DEATH...of the person who grants the inheritance.  Jesus’ death on the cross was the act that sealed the Father’s will.  Besides death, RELATIONSHIP...is the other factor. 

As a recognized point of law, blood kin and adopted kin are entitled to inheritance.  The victorious believers of whom John writes are those who cling to the blood-stained cross, and His name.  Even the prodigal son knew it was not enough to recognize he was in the pig pen, and far from the father, he got up and went to the father, and was received.  Beloved, the only way to be there when the inheritance is handed out without measure, is to be related to the Father. 

But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.  John 1:12

Intimacy will be Unhindered, Integrity Untainted, Inheritance Unmeasured, and

Identity Unmistakable

No longer will there be a curse upon anything.  For the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him.  And they will see his face, and his name will be written on their foreheads.  Revelation 22:3-4

The name in the forehead is an obvious opposite to the mark of the beast.  Those who take the name of Jesus will have His mark.  It may not a physical mark, but more likely an identifiable character.  We are to be transformed into the image of Christ[2].  This is what Paul sought:

For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.  Romans 8:29

The only real trouble with the church in any age is our identity crisis when believers do not live up to the name – when we don’t even try to be conformed to His image.  We have the name Christian, it means little Christ, disciple of His. 

Are you becoming what the name implies?

The passage says that His servants shall serve Him.  The word has a special meaning.  It is only used in the New Testament to describe doing things for a Master that only the most trusted slave would be permitted to do.  What that means is that the family will provide for our Lord what nothing else in the universe can do, or be, family.  We are His, and He wants no other. 

Child of God, you should not have any identity crisis.  You are wanted and loved by the God, eternal.  You are needed by Him.  Nothing else will do! 

In the fulfilled purpose of God your identity will unmistakable!

Insight Unending

And there will be no night there—no need for lamps or sun—for the Lord God will shine on them.  And they will reign forever and ever.  Revelation 22:5

That great author Victor Hugo said, I feel within me that future life.  I am like a forest that has been razed; the new shoots are stronger and brighter.  I shall most certainly rise toward the heavens – the nearer my approach to the end, the plainer is the sound of immortal symphonies of worlds which invite me.  For half a century I have been translating my thoughts into prose and verse: history, philosophy, drama, romance, tradition, satire, ode, and song; all of these I have tried.  But I feel I haven’t given utterance to the thousandth part of what lies with me. 

When I go to the grave I can say, as others have said, My day’s work is done.  But I cannot say, My life is done.  My work will recommence the next morning.  The tomb is not a blind alley; it is a thoroughfare.  It closes upon the twilight but opens upon the dawn.^[3]

Heaven allows for the fullest expression of life.  All the secrets of the universe will open in the City of God.  Our line of vision will be unhindered for eternity.  Paul said we shall know, even as we are known. 

As a baby in the cradle I received tender and loving care from my Mother.  I was satisfied to eat, burp a little, and sleep.  My universe revolved around warm food and a dry diaper.  As an adult I have experienced much more.  I have held my own babies, grandbabies, and great-grandbabies.  I’ve stood at the edge of the Grand Canyon in awe.  I have flown around the world.  I have lived and learned these past nearly 75 years.  There was always much more to life than just the inside of that cradle, and Mom’s arms, and life has been good. 

But then, O, then there will not just be more, there will be no limit at all in the city of God.  God’s purpose, throwing the lid off the limits for His beloved! 

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.”  1 Corinthians 2:9

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen!  

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[1]James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited, (Wheaton, Tyndale, 1988), 172

[2] According to Romans 12:1-2

[3]Ibid., 173

Galatians 3:27-29 Joint Heirs with Christ

 

Title and other images:  Wikimedia Commons

And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes.  There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female.  For you are all one in Christ Jesus.  And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.  Galatians 3:27-29

The day I got my driver's license (in 1963) I proudly drove my Father's '52 Chevy "Yellow Bomber."   It was a good car, but it belonged to Dad.  So did the '56 Taunus (a Ford made in Germany).  Now THAT car was a challenge!  It had an electric clutch that whined like a sick cow, and the gearshift lever on the steering column never engaged unless you wound it in kind of a loop when you shifted from second to third!  After driving other people's cars for two years I finally got my own - a 1954 Olds, big as a house, with "fluid-drive" (whatever that was).  It was mine, all mine.  But, still, it was Dad who had paid for it.  The first car I ever owned that I'd actually paid for was a '60 VW Bug.  By then it was 1968, and who really knows how many times that odometer had turned over.  You know the smell, grease, musty fabric, dents, and rust...but it's YOURS!

Fast-forward to 1993.  My father-in-law was very ill and was going to come to live with us.  He was too sick to drive his Buick Park Avenue from Las Vegas to Florida.  I took a plane to his home and drove the car back.  He was to follow, but on the night before his scheduled flight to Jacksonville, his heart stopped, and he took a different flight to be with Jesus. 

Suddenly my automobile world got turned upside down.  I'd worked my way up from a VW Bug all the way to a Ford Escort.  Now we had a luxury car.  Elizabeth was going to drive it, but Russell wound-up behind the wheel instead. 

Pity poor old Russell, driving a nearly new Buick Park Avenue around.  Well, my Father-in-law's Buick has become a model of my salvation in FIVE ways:

1.  It was FREE

Once again I was driving something paid-for by another.  Tony worked hard, while Sofie saved.  The fruit of a lifetime meant being able to afford a fine car.  Every time I sat in the driver’s seat I was reminded of how my first house cost less than this car!

My salvation cost me nothing.  It was free to me.  Not only was there no purchase necessary, there was NO PURCHASE POSSIBLE!  Jesus died and rose again as a perfect sacrifice, and the hardest thing for any of us to understand is that it is offered without price.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this not from yourselves, it is the GIFT of God.  Ephesians 2:8

Salvation is not only free it is.....

2.  It is BETTER

It is unnecessary to go through the list of cars I've purchased to do a spreadsheet analysis on which one is best.  Just like my motorcar fiascoes, all my plans for my life are like buying Edsels for investment, when compared to the salvation Christ offers. 

The Bible declares:

no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him."  1 Corinthians 2:9

Beloved, God has something better in mind for you than your own plans.  His salvation is like Tony's Buick compared to the VW's of my own plans. 

Free, better, and....

3.  It is the FATHER'S UTMOST

You would have had to know Tony to really appreciate how much this means.  My father-in-law was a mechanic.  Not just any mechanic...he was a master.  On the job, in the neighborhood, everybody came to Tony for their sick cars.  He could fix a diesel, gas, or anything with gears.  Cars were Tony's pride and joy.  He took care of them inside and out. 

When we first had children, Tony had a new Mercury.  It had cloth upholstery; we had formula in bottles.  The two met, and formed a wonderful little round stain.  Tony never could get that stain out, so he gave us the car and bought a new one! 

The one that Elizabeth inherited, the Buick Park Avenue, was the finest car Tony ever had.  He polished it and talked to it like a baby.  It was his utmost, and he gave it to us.

The Father's utmost was more than a Buick.  It was His Son, Jesus.  Salvation through Christ is more than we can understand or appreciate.  It is like giving a diamond tiara worth $100,000 to a child.  Yet, Jesus died for us.  His salvation is free, better, the Father's utmost, and....

4.  DEATH made the TRANSACTION

When I drove that car home from Las Vegas, I was simply doing a favor.  The car was arriving, then Tony.  It was his car.  (NO MISTAKING THAT!)  Then came the awful message at the other end of the phone; Tony wouldn't be coming. 

Some weeks later we received an envelope in the mail, copies of the death certificate.  With those in hand, the transfer was made.  Where the ownership papers on that Buick had once said, Tony Inghilleri, now it was Elizabeth.

How much like God's plan.  In the ancient language of the Bible the Greek word tetelestai is what Jesus cried out as the last word from the cross, It is finished!

This is the same  word that would be written across a debt document once it was paid off.  That is what Jesus did; with his death the price was fully paid for our salvation.  This is why we sing,

Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe,

Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.

Only death could make this transfer.  You can sell a car, or give it away.  But inheritance only comes with a death.

...and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness [of sin].  Hebrews 9:22

God's salvation, free, better, the Father's utmost, transferred by death, and....

5.  It is a FAMILY MATTER

There's a fraternity among first-generation Italian-Americans that can never be entered-into by outsiders.  I may have married Sofie and Tony's only child, but I wasn't Italian.  Sofie was always worried – about everything!  She constantly reminded us (me particularly) about every danger that the world held.  This outsider needed to be instructed in the care and protection of their child. 

Sofie was constantly warning me to keep more than a half-tank of gasoline; well, you never know.  This was in the middle of the 70's oil crisis.  During one of those long lines at the gas station, my car (the beat-up VW) ran out of gas.  The next time I saw Sofie she didn't SAY a word.  But the LOOK she gave me shouted everything I never wanted to hear:  Hmmpf, told you so!

The Buick, free, better than anything I'd ever hoped to own, the utmost of Tony's best, transferred by death, was a family thing.  It was Elizabeth's.  She was the heir.  So how did Russell wind up with it?  I am a good friend of the heir.

Hear again that verse about being a good friend of the heir:

And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.  Galatians 3:29

For those of you are baptized into Christ…that is who you are, joint heirs with Jesus Christ, and good friends with the Father.

Jesus Christ is the heir, the Son of the living God.  His free, wonderful, utmost, death-bought salvation is yours if you will be a friend of the heir.  There is a Civil War story that tells of a soldier who needed a favor only Abraham Lincoln could grant.  But the soldier couldn't get an audience with Abe.  Dejected, he was standing on a street corner when a small boy went by.  Noticing the sadness of the soldier the boy asked if he could help.  One thing led to another, and the boy, whose name was also Lincoln, took that soldier by the hand, and led him to the Oval Office, where his father Abraham sat.  The favor was granted.

Do you want to be a friend of the heir?  Accept His free, better, utmost, death-purchased gift and go to the Father.  He'll not turn you away!

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen!  

This sermon preached on March 27, 2022, at Pleasant Hill United Methodist Church, worshipping at Seagrove, North Carolina.  The occasion included the joy of receiving Bud into the family of membership upon reaffirming his baptismal vows, and baptizing Selena, Dylan, Noah, Jozlyn, and Serenity. 

 

C.S. Lewis - About Heaven

   

Friday, April 24, 2015

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.”  1 Corinthians 2:9b (NLT)

C.S. Lewis answered letters written to him.  These letters, thousands of them, almost always asked questions; people wanted advice and understanding about the spiritual realm.  Lewis’  writings always struck a chord with readers in a precise and intriguing way. 

One lady, Mrs. Johnson, asked Lewis if Heaven was like one of the places in his children’s books.  The answer she got was easy enough for a child to grasp:

The good things even of this world are far too good ever to be reached by imagination. Even the common orange, you know: no one could have imagined it before he tasted it.  How much less Heaven.[1]

At the risk of contradicting the revered Dr. Lewis, you can imagine anything; that doesn’t necessarily mean you get it right – but you can put your mind to wondering about heaven. 

I’ve been doing that more lately.

I’ve been wondering a lot about my Mom recently, and what she’s doing in heaven.  I’m certain you also have loved ones you miss.  This is why we have questions about heaven.

Through Paul the apostle God said our imagination is not equipped to fully grasp the kind of place He is preparing for us.  That is an amazingly satisfying bit of knowledge for me. 

Somehow the smile of God is at back of that statement; it gives me great joy to know God has thought about me from before the cradle ^{(Jeremiah 1:5)} and nurtured me throughout my life here, and He has also made preparation for my walk with Him in eternity.  

If I can’t taste this orange, I can anticipate it with joy.  In fact, for me, just thinking about that physical orange waiting for me in the refrigerator can start my digestive juices flowing.  I savor that first bite. 

But there are so many different kinds of oranges; it’s almost like a new experience with each one.  This is where my imagination about the taste, texture and substance of the eternal orange of heaven takes me…off into wonder and humble questions.

I have many questions, and if I know little about what life will be like with Jesus in glory, I at least know it’s going to be better than anything my imagination can dream up.

And I rather think my mom, and her mom will be there to welcome me.  Having known their kindness in this life makes me think they will be there when I arrive, and they’ll have several oranges waiting for me, peeled and chilled!

Along with answers; lots of answers!

For You Today

What do you know of heaven?  Are you so filled with “why” questions that the joy of anticipating your heavenly home with Christ is turning the orange a little sour?

Take heart; the crop on that Tree of Life is new every month!

He said so!  ^{(Revelation 22)}

Can you see His smile now?

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[1] The Collected Letters of C. S. Lewis, Volume III: Narnia, Cambridge, and Joy 1950-1963. Copyright © 2007 by C. S. Lewis Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved. Used with permission of HarperCollins Publishers.

Fresh Start

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

No eye has seen,

no ear has heard,

no mind has conceived

what God has prepared

for those who love him.

                            --  1 Corinthians 2:9

I love fresh starts.  And there’s no fresher start than when you’re as weak as a kitten and somebody else does something for you…and better than you could have done it.

When you’re really sick, stuck in the hospital, sometimes it feels like death would be an improvement.  Then that nurse comes in and rousts you out of bed, changes the sheets and helps wash away the bed-grime from your aching body.  You get back in the bed and somehow the freshness of a bath and smooth, cool cleanness of the sheets just make you want to smile.  Fresh start!

You might have had this same experience.  I’ve been in the hospital a few times.  I’m not a really good patient.  It’s been said preachers talk because they love the sound of their own voice…when I’m sick I whine a lot, just to hear my own whining; it’s somehow reassuring just to hear how miserable I feel.  Whenever I’m sick at home Elizabeth just nods quietly and goes about doing all those “nursing things”.  I’m truly blessed to have a great caregiver when I’m so puny.  She knows how the fresh start of a bath, change of sheets and chicken soup will keep me quiet for several hours!

Paul writes about the freshest of fresh starts God has prepared for his children.  It’s so fresh we can’t even imagine how good it’s going to be.  In Revelation (chapter 22) John’s picture is of a bright, crystal-like flowing river, flowing from God’s throne.  It flows down the middle of heaven’s main street, which is lined with the tree of life healing everything in sight!  Nothing accursed will be found there any more. ^{Rev 22:3a}.  

I can’t claim to understand that completely, but the freshness of knowing God’s going to handle all the details of what I need most sustains me through this life’s difficulties!

Need a fresh start?  

Jesus cleans more than your bed sheets, he will cleanse your soul whiter than snow, and that’s better than chicken soup when you’re sick!