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

A New Creation

We have been exploring some of the Bible’s most admired and familiar texts; ones that we know well, love, and sometimes misunderstand.

Today’s text is about the change that occurs with the new birth, transformation God wants to bring about in our lives, making us a new creation.  To be in Christ is to have everything changed!

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.  2 Corinthians 5:17(KJV)

There are two very important considerations to remember about exchanging the old person we were for the new person Christ offers. 

The first is about how it all begins:

New Birth comes by Surrendering my Sins

The surrendered life is begun when a person bows in obedience to the Word of God.  Foremost in that experience is the prominent surrender to Christ as we accept His free offer of salvation. 

Most people have (at least) a rudimentary understanding that you can’t put the cart before the horse in this.  

Some people do this, trying to live the Christian life by going to church, being nice, always helping, giving money, and even serving the church and community; but that is attempting to earn God’s approval, not follow His instruction. 

God’s instruction is to empty oneself of whatever goodness we think we have, and trust what Christ in HIS goodness did for us in dying for our sins.  THAT’S what it means to accept Christ as savior.  You confess, or surrender your sins to Him so His blood sacrifice can cleanse you from everything you’ve ever done against God’s will, and makes you unfit for heaven:

But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.  1 John 1:9

The surrender of your sins is the beginning of your life with Christ, but there’s more…much more….so much more it takes a lifetime of learning and doing.

This initial surrender is also a daily surrender (to which we’re surrendering). 

Each day is a day of choosing to obey the will and call of God to trust and obey in every intention, thought and act of life. 

That’s how the change happens, when we bend our will to match His!

New Birth comes by surrendering my sins, and then,

New Life comes from God’s Spirit Transforming Me

In all the surrendering and obedience there is an ongoing incremental change of character happening in the human soul.  As you walk with Christ you become more like Him. 

That’s true of us humans.  Isn’t it so that when you lie down with the dogs you get up with fleas?  In the same way (but opposite) isn’t it true that when you hang-out with the Son of God who is good, gentle, peaceful, long-suffering, joyful, loving, patient, kind and faithful, you get up covered in the Fruit of the Spirit?

This is transformation is a matter of being formed day by day, step by step, into His image. 

For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.      Romans 8:29(KJV)

Your character is being changed; the sin with which you struggled (and mostly lost) is being conquered.  Temptation still comes after you, but now the very thing you once could not resist has become repulsive, and you turn your back on it.  Instead you are being prepared by God’s Spirit to walk joyfully freed, ready to help and serve others.

Choosing to surrender my sins (past, present, and future) to Christ is the first step in the way God deals with us on the inside.  Paul knew the value of making this definite choice.  Some choices are vital, and you get fairly instant feedback. 

The feedback I get when I choose to give up my sin is usually that way.  It’s like grabbing a live, bare electric wire; you KNOW something happened.  Satan is a master at giving negative feedback when you choose for God.

I used to hate smoking.  (Actually I loved it, a lot…about 3 packs a day kind of love!)  But I wanted to quit…needed to quit.  My witness for Christ demanded so, and so did my health (not to mention my breath).  Every time I tried to quit the negative feedback came.  The feedback was fear – what was I going to do to stop the craving?  What if I couldn’t do it?  Why is it necessary, anyway?

After so many started (and failed) attempts to quit, I gave up.  I confessed to God that I just couldn’t, and if He wanted me to give up the security I felt each time I satisfied that craving, God was going to have to give me strength I’d never known before.  And, so, that’s how I prayed…and then I gave it another shot – this time in faith.  My last cigarette was 43 years ago.

In writing to the Corinthian believers the apostle was stating a basic tenet of the faith:  when you make that definite choice to follow Christ it will have an instant effect, but it will also change the future. 

The old life is going to be history, and the new life will transform us into spiritually-aware children of God who not only act differently, our perception of, and focus on everything becomes different. 

·      Our desires change from worldly to heavenly. 

·      Our view of self transforms from selfish pride to humility and generosity.

·      Our priority changes from doing, getting and having to being.

That’s quite a change; more than worm to butterfly:

·      it’s a change from emptiness to sharing in the kingdom! 

·      It’s the difference between a child playing with trucks or dolls, to an adult unlocking the secrets of the universe.

But this change/transformation will not happen if we put our faith in this world’s culture and values, instead of God’s Word. 

Paul addressed that too:

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.  Romans 12:2

C.S. Lewis wrote:

·    Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and, if true, of infinite importance.  The one thing it cannot be is moderately important.^[i]          

C.S. Lewis was saying to us, listen up…if Christianity is true, act like it; go all-in, or go home.  Let Him have all of you or admit you really DON’T believe!  When it comes to the King of Kings, lukewarm doesn’t cut it at all!

I have met a lot of people in more than 7 decades of living. 

·      I have met those who do not believe that Christianity is true…more than, say, the tooth fairy. 

·      I have also met those who believe Christianity is so important they are what most of us would classify as fanatics. 

(I just call them genuine, all-in believers)

·      And there are those I’ve met who believe Christianity is absolutely true and of utmost importance, but treat it as if it were only an addendum to their life; it’s something we need not get too fanatical about…the kind of faith that is simply, as C.S. Lewis wrote, moderately important.  They go to church on Sunday, give some money, sing a song, even sing in choirs.  They help out in church and the community….just really good people.

Here’s the question before the house today:

Which one are YOU?

Do you add Christ to your life…or do you give your life to Christ so He can transform you completely?

Evidently change (transformation) is not the most popular word in the English language.  Some of us react to change like it is a plague to be avoided. 

It can get a little absurd; like the man who stood at his church board meeting and proposed a change to the church bylaws that, from this moment on, there is to be no change under penalty of excommunication! 

Most of us do not like change!  And, I admit, the older I get, the more this probably describes me too!  But in his letter to the Corinthian church Paul was advocating keeping the change. 

That change is the newness of life in Christ that happens as a gift from God, when, in repentance we give our heart and will to Him.  The change, specifically in that transaction, is a reconciling; a sinner is forgiven, and reckoned a saint in God’s eyes. 

Now, that part of the transaction is wonderful; if you’ve experienced that, you are already shaking your head in agreement.  But that’s only part of the transaction.  The other part is living that change, keeping the change fresh and in focus daily, and passing the change along to others.  A person who truly surrenders his sins EXPECTS to surrender for life!

This is what Paul had in mind when he said we are Christ’s ambassadors.  We are given this wonderful ministry of inviting people to remember that image of God stamped on their souls; we are given the change melody to play loudly for our friends, neighbors and acquaintances.  And we are to play that music until the whole of humanity, like a giant orchestra, is all attuned to the Master’s grand score.

Keeping the change isn’t about rearranging the furniture in the church, or getting new music forms, different styles of worship, clothes, cars, or hairstyles. 

Keeping the change also isn’t about policing other peoples’ behavior; God knows if I teach my dog Wellie to use an iPad for his entertainment, and to express his feelings in a daily dog-blog, it might look like I’ve changed his whole orientation…but in the end, when I’m not looking, he’ll still be chasing lizards out on the patio.  He is, after all, a dog! 

(More well-behaved and intelligent perhaps than yours, but, nonetheless a dog). 

That’s not change. 

And so, enough about what is NOT keeping the change…here’s what it IS…

Keeping the change is offering Christ in word and deed, as we live this new creation existence of forgiven and thankful sinners who recognize what a gift we’ve been given.

I was privileged to meet Dr. Vance Havner during our last year in seminary.  He had been invited to conduct a series of lectures, and I was like the other 1200 students who wouldn’t miss the opportunity to listen to this wonderful man who communicated Gospel truth in “plain speak”!  I took plenty of notes that week!

One of those notes is dated April 23, 1981.  Speaking on ministry and ministers who burn-out, Dr. Havner said we all face three choices, and I believe these choices are for all believers, not just ministers:

When life is tough and you don’t see how you can keep going you can…

·      Resign – You can give up; just quit.  People do that; they quit church, family, and everything else they can.

·      Resign yourself to it – You can just accept your difficult life as well, this is just the way it is…ho-hum, yawn…same ol’, same ol’.

·      Re-Sign – Let God put a fresh stamp of His mark on you…let Him re-sign you inside and out.

God has used that bit of advice over the years to keep me going in difficult times.  But mostly it has been that kind of thought that keeps me focused on always believing there’s a fresh start with God. 

That’s what being a new creation in Christ is all about. 

God can take a person who is used up, broken down, stale and wasted, and, as we daily surrender our sins in confession to Christ, there is new life and a new beginning every day as he re-signs our ministry and life by the transforming power of God’s Holy Spirit.

An invitation to Consider

If it’s been awhile, take some time to look back at the pathway of transformation in your life. 

·      See where Christ has taken the old person. 

·      Rejoice today that when He saved you, He didn’t just take away the penalty of sin – He also started the process of sanctifying you, and taking away even the desire to sin.  

·      He’s giving you a heart of fire like His own!

And if these are not some things you can celebrate today, perhaps it’s time to truly surrender and open up your heart to God’s transforming power.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit…Let it be so in each of our lives!

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Title Image:  Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©