God’s Goal is . . .

Beginnings are more appealing than endings. When something is finished, it’s too easy to spot the flaws and wish they had not happened. Starting anew is about hope, about another chance to do what I learned from the past. I’m not as future-oriented as my hubby, but on this first day of a new week and a new year I have that excitement of starting again.

John MacArthur’s devotional from his book Drawing Near — Daily Readings for a Deeper Faith, asks at the end: “What is the goal of your salvation? Are you living each day in light of that goal?”

I know God’s goal for me; it is transformation into the likeness of Jesus Christ. The Bible tells me that will be final and complete when I see Him face to face, but the process began when I was saved and became His workmanship:

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10)

This process is about being godly, not about getting my name in lights as a great person, artist, writer, philanthropist, educator, or anything else the world might give, such as me a trophy or award for accomplishment. A few key verses spell it out:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him . . . . (Ephesians 1:3–4)

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age . . .  (Titus 2:11–12)

One example is the Apostle Paul. He could say: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” even though his experience never exalted him in the eyes of many. He worked hard, experienced many imprisonments, countless beatings, and was often near death. He was whipped, beaten with rods, stoned, shipwrecked; adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, robbers, his own people, from Gentiles, in the city, in the wilderness, at sea, and from false brothers. His diary records toil and hardship, many sleepless nights, hunger and thirst, without food, in cold and exposure, yet he could say, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.”

He knew what many don’t know or understand. His life was hidden in Christ, and he did not have “have a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith” and that “according to the riches of his glory” he had been granted strength and power through the Holy Spirit in his inner being.

MacArthur says God is more interested in my faithfulness than my accomplishments. I live in a success-oriented world and am drawn to success stories, whether it is a sleuth who solves crime or a lost-cause rising above all opposition to succeed. God’s standard for success is not like that. He says,

You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God. (Luke 16:15)

God is not impressed by status or wealth. He looks for faithfulness. I want him to say to me: “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.”

Since I am His workmanship, the goal of my salvation, and the goal He puts before me in this new year is to do those good works that He has prepared beforehand, realizing that He has blessed me in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose me in him before the foundation of the world, that I should be holy and blameless before him.

By grace I have been saved and that grace also is at work, training me to “renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age” What better resolution to make at the beginning of a new year than to cooperate with God’s goal for me!

OTHER REFERENCES: 1 John 3:1-23, 2 Timothy 4:7, 2 Corinthians 11:23–27, 1 Corinthians 11:1, Philippians 3:9, Ephesians 3:16, Matthew 25:21, Ephesians 1:3–4, Titus 2:11–12

  

Perfection is coming . . .

 

READ 2 Chronicles 9–12

Old Testament history helps me keep a ‘big picture’ perspective in the daily nitty-gritty details of life. Reading these chapters is a reminder that leaders come, and leaders go. Some of them will be wise and others will be foolish. Populations will prosper and others will suffer. I know that God wants me to have an eternal perspective, a worldview that looks beyond the issues and daily news to His promise of eternal life with Him.

The king featured in 2 Chronicles is said to be the wisest man that ever lived:

And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put into his mind. (2 Chronicles 9:23)

His wisdom was from God and respected by all. He reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel for forty years, but eventually, he “slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David his father, and Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.” (9:30–31)

His son was not as wise. His rule was challenged by Jeroboam, a man who once served Solomon but after a falling out fled to Egypt. When Solomon died, he came back and took all the people with him to the new king with a request. He wanted Rehoboam to treat him and everyone well, the same way Solomon had. But the king answered them harshly. Even though the elders told him to do what was asked, he followed the advice of his peers and told Jeroboam, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.”

This new king did not listen to the people. He also didn’t realize this was “a turn of affairs brought about by God that the Lord might fulfill his word, which he spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam . . .” that he would rule over ten tribes in Israel, leaving two for Rehoboam. (10:12–15)

This began a rebellion against the house of David. Rehoboam assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin with 180,000 chosen warriors to fight against Israel and restore the kingdom to himself. But the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah the man of God: “Say to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, ‘Thus says the Lord, You shall not go up or fight against your relatives. Return every man to his home, for this thing is from me.’ ” So they listened to the word of the Lord and returned and did not go against Jeroboam.” (11:1–4)

God had His hand in this division, but that didn’t mean He abandoned Judah. Those who had “set their hearts to seek the Lord God of Israel came after them from all the tribes of Israel to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the Lord, the God of their fathers. They strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and for three years they made Rehoboam the son of Solomon secure, for they walked for three years in the way of David and Solomon.” (11:16–17)

This dedication to follow the Lord didn’t last. As the rule of Rehoboam was established and he became strong, he abandoned the law of the Lord and all Israel with him. Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and to the princes of Judah, saying, “Thus says the Lord, ‘You abandoned me, so I have abandoned you to the hand of Shishak’ ” (Pharaoh of Egypt).

At that, the princes and the king humbled themselves and said, “The Lord is righteous.” When the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, He spoke to the prophet Shemaiah: “They have humbled themselves. I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance, and my wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. Nevertheless, they shall be servants to him, that they may know my service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.” At that, conditions improved in Judah, but Rehoboam did evil, for he did not set his heart to seek the Lord. There were continual wars between him and Jeroboam before he died, and his son Abijah reigned in his place. (12:1–16)

Back then, kings came and went. They still do. Our political system is not the same, nor is it related to our spiritual beliefs as it was then, but the same truth remains: this too shall pass. In the plan of God, those who rule will do whatever they do, and God will use it for His purposes, but they will not stay in power forever.

Whatever God is doing with world leaders, His plan for me is transformation into the likeness of Jesus Christ, reacting to every situation, every news item, every law and political situation with faith in my Heavenly Father. He is reigning in it all, using it for His glory until Jesus comes again. In the wisdom of God, Jesus will establish a perfect kingdom — for He alone is the perfect King.