Being ready for the King…

 

This week we have been considering our future. We live in a small but lovely gated community with 15 units. However, there is no provision for the problems of aging. If one or both of us becomes unable to manage, we would have to hire help.

Instead of that, there are other communities where seniors can live independently and move to a nearby facility that gives partial care and then another that gives extended care. Instead of moving when we need to move, could it be wiser to move now when we are capable?

The plan of God for His people is being prepared, but this plan is not about aging and the end of life. It is about the return of Jesus. We are supposed to be ready for that by knowing what He wants from His people and knowing what will happen when that time arrives.

These days, with an evil mess extending to all parts of the world, some Christians are certain that the end times are culminating and Jesus will soon be here. That could be so, but even if it is not, I know that I need to listen to Him and do what He says. He does not reveal dates and times, but He does tell us what it will look like — all life will change, except God is the same. He sits on His throne. In the OT, Isaiah saw it and someday I will see it too:

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.” (Isaiah 6:1)

And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed. (Daniel 7:14)

At the end of the NT, this vision is fulfilled: “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.” (Revelation 22:1) And they will reign forever and ever!

Jesus taught His disciples to pray “Your kingdom come” and that fits with what the OT teaches:

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’ (Jeremiah 23:5–6)

Yet Jesus also said that His kingdom was near or they were not far from it, and even that it had already arrived…

Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” (Luke 17:20–21)

When Jesus promised ‘eternal life’, he wasn’t so much thinking of never-ending life (though it included that); he was promising life that is characteristic of God’s kingdom being available to us right now; a life so powerful that it bursts through the doors of death and will continue in the life to come in even fuller expression.

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. (John 5:24)

So how do Christians live in that kingdom until entering its fullness? By being filled with the Spirit of God, ceasing from self-rule, knowing I cannot do it and aware of my helplessness, yielding to Him. He gives me His thoughts, directions, ideas, love, peace, joy and all fruit of the Spirit and puts His hand in this ‘glove to move me as He wills. And I know it is Him for He is on the throne of my life…

I have been’ crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

PRAY: Lord Jesus, life in Your kingdom is all about You and a grand glimpse of eternity. The more You rule my heart, the more excited I am to be there for I am already being made ready for what is to come later. Help me trust You for all decisions and activities while still here, keeping in mind that it does not matter much where I live, but that I live in You!

Eternal means eternal, forever, always…

When my husband became a Christian, a godly man explained to him how he would now live as a believer. He put a cup on the table right side up and said that God wants us to be filled with His Spirit so He fills us. However, if we sin, we tip over and like this full cup, we are not able to hold that fullness of the Spirit. How true. The Holy Spirit does not cause, initiate or tolerate sin.

Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. (James 1:13–15)

Then this man explained that the way to become upright again is to confess our sin and ask God to fill us. He tipped the cup back up, then added, “You will go through life like this” and tipped it, stood it upright, tipped it, and kept repeating those actions. He said, “As you mature and become more like Jesus, you will learn to quickly be aware of sin and quickly confess it, and stay upright longer.” In other words, eternal life has its ups and downs, but it is still eternal, forever, life always with Jesus.

This illustration has changed lives. It is true to Scripture and to experience. It is impossible to avoid temptation; everyone experiences it. Learning to recognize it and say no to it is vital. Yet it is also important to learn how to get back in our spiritual groove. Otherwise growth is hindered, even stops. God is faithful to convict and teach His children.

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. (Philippians 2:12–13)

Like a hand in a glove, the mind of Christ works in my heart to want His will and function accordingly. He saved me from sin’s penalty and enables me to learn the way to be saved from sin’s power.

I once attended a church where a man said he no longer sinned. He claimed that to sin was a disgrace to God’s saving power. But the Bible says, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8) Another person in that congregation told me that she believed in Jesus, but if she decided she didn’t want eternal life with Him, she could back out of being saved. Even as a new Christian, I wondered how eternal life could be lost if it was eternal.

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. (John 5:24)

For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:40)

I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. (John 10:28)

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

That life is in Christ who promised to never leave us. How can we lose it if we did nothing to gain it? Those who presume they are saved because they did the ‘right’ thing also presume they can lose it if they do the wrong things. So sad. The loss when we sin is fellowship and the ability to walk in the Spirit, but that is restored as soon as sin is confessed and turned away from.

PRAY: Jesus, I’m so joyful that You are my Savior. Yes, You want obedience, but not that it saves or keeps me, but because Your will is good for me. It also glorifies You when this limp and useless glove allows Your hand to move it. If I’m trying to do anything without You, that work is totally useless. I might boast of my goodness or in the temporary results, but none of what I do when tipped over is good for me in the long run, and brings no glory to You. Besides all that, You keep Your promises and know how to work in me to desire Your will and do what You ask. I’m so glad that You saved me, are saving me, and eternal life lasts for eternity!

Life is far more than being alive and breathing . . .

 

A quick read reveals that the Bible use of LIFE is complex and requires long explanations. A much shorter study is considering life as it pertains to God. It came from Him, He can take it, and eternal life is His and a gift from Him to those who believe in His Word. This kind of LIFE is not about breathing and walking around so much as it is about knowing and trusting God, linked to Him in faith and obeying Him because that life has been graciously shared with us.

Life came from God: Genesis 2:7. “Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.”

He sustains that life: Job 12:10. “In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.”

Eternal life is given to those who believe:

1 John 5:10–13. “Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.”

Jesus declared that eternal life is not about eating, drinking, or moving about . . .

John 17:1–3. When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

The proof of knowing God and having this life is shown in the way I live:

1 John 2:3–6. And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

Much more can be said about the life that God has and shares. The physical life I have is not mine to control; it is sustained by God and when the time comes, I will die. Some say suicide is ‘God playing’ because I’m not to take that matter into my own hands. Spiritual life is not mine either; it is from Him — however it involves a choice. God says in the OT:

Deuteronomy 30:19-20. “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days . . . .”

Because of sin’s power, the NT says no one seeks God. Sin makes us choose to go our own way. To solve that problems of our choice of sin over Him, He did the most remarkable thing . . .

John 15:15–16. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.

God reaches out and chooses, inviting us to respond, even enabling us to respond. In grace, we are offered eternal life. John 3:16 says it well: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” And this life is now, not a future gift . . .  

John 5:24. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment but has passed from death to life.

GAZE INTO HIS GLORY. When reading these verses I feel as if I am looking at the Lord, His generous hands have reached out to me with the amazing gift of Himself and all that He is. Because His life is pure, righteous and holy, He can tell me, even expect me to be holy, righteous and pure — not in myself but in Him. And because He is life eternal, I have eternal life.