What’s your plan after you die? When faced with this question, most people’s response would be around their end of life plans. The New Zealand government has a website with information about the sorts of things that you need to think about before you die. Some of the things they suggest include the following:

• organise your affairs – having a will, appointing powers of attorney

• planning your funeral – what happens to your body – burial or cremation

I looked and I looked and I couldn’t find any advice on plans for the after life. Of course I didn’t expect to find any advice on life after death on a government website. The Bible however expects us to be planning for life after death.

Easter Sunday Is One Big Reminder That There Is Life After Death

Easter Sunday is Resurrection Sunday. Every year the church sets aside a weekend so Christians can remember, celebrate and reassess our lives to see if we are truly accessing the Resurrected life Christ has made available to us. The weekend has become quite a controversial weekend in the history of humanity, even more so these days. Paul put it this way:

1 Cor 1:23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness

In other words to people who are religious it is offensive. “What? You get forgiven because a man died on the cross for your sins? You don’t have to do anything? No need to follow certain instructions, certain lifestyle, mandatory activities to be saved?” Religion would say – “That’s sacrilege, that’s offensive to think that God has given us a free pass because one man died on the cross for us.”

To the rest of the world it’s foolish nonsense. “A man dies for the sins of the world and God raises him up from the dead on the third day? That’s bogus nonsense”

A stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Greeks.

I’ve been told not to celebrate Easter. They say it’s a pagan festival. “Celebrate passover instead. At least there are certain requirements, protocol and rules that come with that feast. It is more sacred than the frivolous free grace we seem to throw around.” I think Passover is a wonderful celebration especially if you have a Jewish heritage. But Passover is not Easter. Passover recognises the death of a lamb, the sufferings of the past – but has no answer to the hope Christ has given us through His death and resurrection. Easter says the lamb died, rose again and ascended into heaven, sits at the right hand of God the Father and now gives access to the throne room with open arms. Passover is not Easter.

The world on the other hand tells me forget about Easter. It’s gibberish nonsense just think of fluffy bunnies and chocolate eggs and let the weekend slip by. Both groups want this weekend to go away as fast as possible so that we don’t have to talk about resurrection and life after death. Yet the Easter weekend is the core of the Gospel.

The Easter Weekend is the heart of the Gospel message

1 Corinthians 15:3-4 (NKJV) For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen…

Christ died for our sins

We need to get this into our thick skulls. I can’t do anything about my sins. You can’t do anything about your sins. That’s why Christ died a brutal death. Christ died for our sins. It isn’t easy for us to accept such a message. Nothing is free. What’s the catch? Where’s the small print? Surely there’s something I must do?

Ok, maybe Christ died for my past sins, cos I didn’t know better. Now that I’m a Christian I must now deal with my sins. I must be held accountable for my current sins and my future sins. The fact of the matter is you can’t. You can try as hard as you want to but you can never overcome sin on your own. Not now not ever. That’s why there are so many Christians living with their sins. We are trying to deal with it ourselves. Christ died for ours sins – period. Our past, our present and our future sins. Christ and only Christ can and has dealt with our sins.

Transformation does not come by our own will power and determination. It is the grace of God that transforms us. Instead of leading a sin focused Christian life, why not focus on Christ and His imputed righteousness in us. Why not put all your effort in activities that keep you in His presence. Stay in His presence. Encounter Him daily and see how He transforms you. Watch how the more you abide in Him and His words – watch how the appetite for sin starts wearing out and the desire for the things of God become more pronounced.

Christ died for our sins – so there is no more chasm between you and God. The way to God is flung wide open. Let’s stop living a sin focused life and start focusing on how we can “come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace” (Heb 4:16). Let this be our daily goal – not just entering into His throne but staying in His throne room every moment of our days on earth. Being “seated with Him in Heavenly realms” (Eph 2:6) is not just how we are now positioned in Christ, it is also how we should perceive who we are in Christ and how we should practice our daily life of faith from that vantage point.

Christ rose again

Not only did Christ die for our sins, He rose again. While Christ’s death dealt a fatal blow to sin and it’s power over our lives, Paul sees Christ’s resurrection as the doorway to living life from an eternal perspective. Chapter fifteen of the first letter to the Corinthians is dedicated to defending the physical resurrection of believers. Christ’s resurrection has implications on death itself.

1 Corinthians 15:16-19 (NKJV) For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.

Paul is implying that there is a correlation between what you believe about the resurrection of Christ and what you believe about this present life. There were Christians in Paul’s day who were denying the resurrection of the dead. They weren’t questioning Christ’s resurrection but they were saying that our lives end after death. There is no such thing as life after death.

Paul exposes the futility of believing in the resurrection of Christ without believing that His resurrection has altered the way we live our lives in this present life.

(NKJV) If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.

(NLT) And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.

(AMP) If we who are [abiding] in Christ have hoped only in this life [and this is all there is], then we are of all people most miserable and to be pitied.

Most Christians live as if this is the only life we are living – 80 years, 90 years however long and we give no thought to what happens after life as we know it ends. We live as if “this is all there is”. Paul is saying if this is it, then Christians are to be the most pitied bunch on planet earth. Imagine Paul living his life the way he did. Preaching the gospel in every city he went to. Experiencing revival as well as riots wherever he went. Beaten, shipwrecked, left as dead, in and out of prison, constant suffering for the sake of the gospel. For what? Merely to effect this present world. If this is it – I can see why he would say we are a people “most miserable and to be pitied.

What’s the point of believing that Christ has risen, if it doesn’t affect us in our daily lives. I want to take the liberty to paraphrase the apostle. Paul is saying that it is a pitiful sight to watch Christians go about their daily lives, living as if this is the only life we are living – not realising that this life on earth is only a brief part of a life that spans for eternity.

THIS IS NOT IT! Death is not the end. So I ask you again, what’s your plan after you die The point I’m trying to make is that everything we do on earth in this present life, should be done with eternity in mind.

Take Jesus for instance. He lived for 33 years. What did He do in that 33 years? Most of those around him were hoping he would topple the Romans. For what? If that’s all Jesus did, six hundred years after Jesus died, Jerusalem was taken by the Sassanid Empire (Iran). Then the Arabs took over, then we had the Crusades, then the Ottoman empire, then the British took over and finally we saw the separation of the West Bank and Israel and the Jews return to what we call Israel in the present day.

If Jesus came and lived “as if life under Roman rule was all there was”, then he should have used his powers to overthrow the Roman Empire. But he didn’t. Jesus didn’t come with a one generation plan. He lived his life on earth with eternity in mind. He didn’t live as if this life is it. He lived to bring the afterlife to the present. He didn’t say one day you will experience the after life. He said NOW you get to taste the after life. So he forgave sins, healed sickness and diseases, cast out demons, raised the dead. He calmed the storm, walked on water to get to distressed disciples, he multiplied food for the hungry. He didn’t come so that the Kingdom of God will come one day – He proclaimed the Kingdom is here!

This is what Paul was trying to say to the church in Corinth.

If we who are [abiding] in Christ have hoped only in this life [and this is all there is], then we are of all people most miserable and to be pitied.

A Christian living as if this is all there is – is not living the Christian life at all. If this is all there is – we are of all people most miserable and to be pitied. Why? Because we preach unlimited, borderless, boundless hope but live as if our hope is limited to our present circumstances, in this present life. When we are sick don’t we pray for healing? When in need, don’t we pray for provision? We pray “Thy Kingdom come Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” – that’s boundless hope. That’s hope without limits. In other words we are constantly on a daily basis endeavouring to bring what’s available in the after life to the present life. So if the afterlife doesn’t exist, the entire Christian life is a fraud.

1 Corinthians 15:17 (NKJV) if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile.

Living with Eternity in Mind

So, Christ’s resurrection has life changing implications to a Christian’s way of life in this present life. The resurrection of Christ demands we live our lives with eternity in mind. What do I mean by living with eternity in mind? Let me put it in practical terms. Look at some Scriptures that show people living daily lives with eternity in mind. Listen to the language of resurrection. This is what hope that is not bound by time sounds like. This is how people of God lived life with eternity in mind.

The story of Job – living with suffering and with eternity in mind

The story of Job is a difficult book to read if we do not have a “eternity” worldview. Job himself couldn’t understand how living a righteous and godly life still got him to a place of suffering. He had a bone to pick with God and he was very honest and opinionated with God about it. He had no qualms about letting God know how he felt about the whole situation. At one point he was “threatening” to take God to court but complained that not only was God the only judge of the Supreme Court but He was also the one who legislated the laws. He could see the futility of his exercise but made it very clear how he felt.

No matter what Job was going through both physically and emotionally, it didn’t change the way he perceived his situation. Inspite of his suffering and confusion about his present circumstances, he continued to live with eternity in mind. Listen to the language of eternity.

Job 19:25-27 (NKJV)

For I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth; And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, That in my flesh I shall see God, Whom I shall see for myself, And my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!

That’s what living with eternity looks and sounds like. “No matter what I’m going through right now – this is not it. There is more!” An eternity mindset keeps focus on boundless hope – transcending the present life of suffering into the afterlife of eternal joy in His presence.

The story of David – living with grief and with eternity in mind

In 2 Samuel chapter 12, David is faced with the possibility of losing his first child which he had with Bathsheba. The Bible tells us that he fasted and prayed intensely for his baby but on the seventh day the baby died. Look at David’s response in the midst of his grief:

2 Samuel 12:20-23 (NKJV) So David arose from the ground, washed and anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he went into the house of the LORD and worshiped. Then he went to his own house; and when he requested, they set food before him, and he ate. Then his servants said to him, “What is this that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive, but when the child died, you arose and ate food.”

And he said, “While the child was alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who can tell whether the LORD will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.”

Listen to David’s words in the midst of grief. “Someday I will go to him”. That’s the language of boundless hope. That’s the language of someone living with eternity in mind.

Jesus and the final judgment – living mundane lives with eternity in mind

One more example about living daily lives with eternity in mind. This one is somewhat a “how to” verse – a practical guide on living a life with eternity in mind. Jesus was teaching the listeners about the final judgement and revealed to them what it would look like on judgement day.

Matthew 25:37-40 (NLT) “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’

I can imagine the shock in each of their faces.

“What? You mean when I cared enough to make sure my neighbour wasn’t going hungry – that’s still resonating in eternity?”.

“What? When I saw someone needed some extra TLC, I cooked up a feed, went and spent time with them – that’s still resonating in eternity?”

“What? I saw someone without a warm jacket in winter and I had two jackets and gave them one – you are still talking about it here in eternity?”

“What you remember the visits I made to that dear one dying of cancer?”

“What you still remember the time I spent with the brother who was struggling with the stigma of a criminal record and he told me he felt like a normal person when he hung out with me – You still remember that?”

This is what living with eternity in mind looks like on this side of heaven – being there for the poor and the vulnerable, being kind, saying no to racism and any form of bigotry, standing with the oppressed and marginalised – everyday life making small differences to people’s lives – that’s what living with eternity in mind looks like.

I close with Paul’s conclusion in chapter fifteen.

1 Corinthians 15:58 (NKJV) Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

So I ask you again – what’s your plan after you die? Here’s something that the government needs to add to their website

INFORMATION YOU NEED TO THINK ABOUT BEFORE YOU DIE:

LIVE YOUR LIFE DAILY WITH ETERNITY IN MIND

Today we want to look at Colossians 2:16-18 (NKJV). Paul is correcting a fundamental flaw in the believer’s thinking that is taking them backwards in their relationship with Christ.

Colossians 2:16-19 (NLT) So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality. Don’t let anyone condemn you by insisting on pious self-denial or the worship of angels, saying they have had visions about these things. Their sinful minds have made them proud, and they are not connected to Christ, the head of the body. For he holds the whole body together with its joints and ligaments, and it grows as God nourishes it.

Paul is making it very clear that all the laws and rituals that are in the Old Testament were put in place to foreshadow what was to come when the Messiah Christ Jesus appeared. All the laws, all the festivals, all the holy days, everything the prophets spoke about were all fulfilled in Christ Jesus. They were all shadows. Christ is the reality.

TWO WAYS A SHADOW IS FORMED

A shadow is formed on a surface when something stands between a light and the surface. The shadow shows the shape, silhouette of the real thing. The laws and the rituals in the Old Testament were symbolic representations of things that were to come. They were symbolic acts that had spiritual meaning and experiences attached to them.

The sacrificial offerings didn’t begin with Moses. The first recorded sacrifices were done by Cain and Abel. Obviously they learnt it from their parents who were probably practicing bringing offerings to the Lord. Noah, Job and all the patriarchs of old made offerings unto the Lord. Moses got the revelation from God on how a corporate people could do what was already being done in an informal way by the godly people of old.

The first recorded tithing wasn’t during Moses time. Abraham was the first recorded person to tithe. Moses just formalised the process.

The laws and the rituals of the old testament were meant to be silhouettes, foreshadowing the coming of christ

The other way a shadow is formed in a place is when it is caused by something preventing light from reaching that place. A taller building blocking the sun from a part of your house for instance. That room never sees the sun and so potentially can get cold and mouldy. Man had taken the laws and rituals of God which were meant to draw people closer to Him and turned it into something that were restricted and preventing people from getting closer to Him. 

Instead of foreshadowing Christ, man interpreted the laws and the rituals to the point they were blocking Christ from the people and the laws became a stumbling block and hindrance to God

Paul was speaking of the latter when he said that all the religious requirements stood between us and God casting a shadow.

Colossians 2:17 (MSG) All those things are mere shadows cast before what was to come; the substance is Christ.

WHAT ARE THESE SHADOWS PAUL WAS TALKING ABOUT?

The things Paul referred to as shadows are things presented as required “supplements” (in addition to Christ) for a relationship with God. During Paul’s time some Jewish leaders were saying believing in Jesus was a good start but after that you need to be circumcised, and follow the laws of Moses. Otherwise you will not be saved. I call it the Jesus plus theology. Jesus plus the supplements. Jesus is not enough nutrition for you, you need to take some supplements. You need to do some additional things to continue to be saved. The shadows Paul was talking about were the commandments and doctrines of men.

Colossians 2:20-23 (NLT) You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world, such as, “Don’t handle! Don’t taste! Don’t touch!”? Such rules are mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them. These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires.

Mere human teachings he calls them. Note some of the words he uses – “seem wise” – “REQUIRE strong devotion, pious self-denial, bodily discipline”. What these men were really saying was:

• LOOK AT ME I’M “DOING” HOLY – dietary and religious observances

Colossians 2:16 (NLT) So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths.

 

 

There seems to be a strong drive in recent years to return to Jewish practices. This seems to be a Western church phenomena. After living in the Western world for more than fifteen years now, I think I have an idea why there is a draw towards Jewish cultural practices. The European folk in the Western world have lost their cultural identity. With all the movements that are going on, Europeans have been relegated to being white. All the other races have their own languages and cultures unique to them but the European only speaks English and does not really have a distinct culture. This is especially true in the UK, US and countries like New Zealand and Australia. Some seem to be drawn to Eastern religions and adapt cultural practices similar to Hinduism or Buddhism. For the christian European however that is not an option. So the Jewish culture and practices become a natural draw card as these practices are from the Bible. I have no qualms about anyone wanting to adopt Jewish culture and practices as long as they know the festivals and practices that they are adopting are cultural and not Christian.

Let me elaborate further with two examples. Recently there was a group insisting that the Sabbath must be practiced on Saturday and the church meeting on Sunday has been influenced by the Emperor Constantine and the Roman Catholic church. While these thoughts may be amusing but they carry a very dangerous tone when we begin to insist that worshiping Jesus on a Sunday contradicts the Bible and is an offence to God simply because we are not meeting on a particular day ie. Saturday. My second son lives in the same city as me and my wife. He comes for dinner every Thursday for most of the time. What if one day he decides to visit us on a Tuesday and someone stands at the door and says to him, “its not Thursday, you can’t go and see your mom and dad. You can only visit them on Thursday.” Imagine how furious I would be when I found out that someone had the audacity to prevent my son from coming to see me. My son of course will walk right through him and come right in because he knows he can come see us any day, any time. Our home is his home. Sabbath on a Saturday is the shadow. Worshiping Jesus is the substance.

Another controversy is the church celebrating Good Friday and Easter. They say it is a pagan festival and should not be celebrated by the church. I find it difficult to believe that pagans want to celebrate Jesus Christ dying on the cross to save sinners and then rising from the dead on the third day. But I digress. They tell us we shouldn’t celebrate Good Friday but instead should celebrate the Passover. This is exactly the point Paul was making. Passover is the shadow – what happened on Good Friday (the day we have set aside to remember Christ’s death on the cross), that’s the substance. The Passover is a celebration of remembrance of the time Israel was delivered out of Egypt into a journey to the promise land. A real event for the Jews and they are commanded to remember that for eternity. What a marvelous deliverance it was. But as marvelous as that experience was, it was foreshadowing something coming for the whole of mankind. The Christ was coming to deliver the world from the bondage of sin and demonic oppression. Once Christ came the shadow was no longer necessary. The substance is Christ – His death and His resurrection. That’s why we celebrate Good Friday. We celebrate Christ the substance who died on the cross for all mankind. That’s the reality, no longer a shadow.

That’s why we no longer celebrate the Seder meal annually but celebrate the Lord’s table as often as we can. The night before Jesus died on the cross, he was celebrating the passover with them. He was probably having a meal similar to the Seder meal today. As the host he was meant to go through the dishes that were representing all the experiences the Jews had in Egypt. But the Gospel writers only record him taking two of the items on the table – the bread and the wine. Why? He told is why.

Matthew 26:26-28 (NLT) As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it, for this is my body.” And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it, for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many.

No longer do we celebrate the shadow of what is to come. We now celebrate the reality of what has happened. Christ is the substance. His body, His blood is now the reality. He is sufficient. He sustains us. He cleanses us from all sin.

Now back to Colossians 2. What those who were insisting on were to follow the laws and rituals which were mere shadows.

LOOK AT ME I’M “DOING” HOLY”. LOOK AT ME I’M “BEING” HOLY

Colossians 2:23 (NLT) These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires.

After “doing” all these things. After “being” all these things. You are still fighting your demons of anger, lust, unforgiveness, bitterness. Why? Because your are living in the shadows. Shadows cannot deal with the inner root problems of evil desires. The only thing that can transform us is a genuine, faith based relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord – not following rules and rituals.

The problem with chasing shadows is they present a faulty image of god. God becomes a mere illusion.

MOVING OUT OF THE SHADOWS

Get rid of the middle man

Paul speaks against any human intervention standing in the way of our direct access to Christ – “let no one judge you”, “let no one cheat you” (Col 2:16, 18). the Hebrews author is even more explicit.

Hebrews 8:6-13 (NLT) But now Jesus, our High Priest, has been given a ministry that is far superior to the old priesthood, for he is the one who mediates for us a far better covenant with God, based on better promises. If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need for a second covenant to replace it. But when God found fault with the people, he said: “The day is coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and led them out of the land of Egypt. They did not remain faithful to my covenant, so I turned my back on them, says the LORD. But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day, says the LORD: I will put my laws in their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the LORD.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already. And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.” When God speaks of a “new” covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and will soon disappear.

Here we see a clear exhortation to no longer depend on an intermediary, whether it is a human being or whether they are a set of rules and rituals. God wants us to go to Him directly.

Go directly to the source – Christ Jesus

We need to grasp what access we have through the work of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. Paul uses these phrases – we are “circumcised in Him”, we are “buried with Him”, we are “made alive together with Him” (Col 2: 11-14). There is no longer the need for a priest to bless us. Go directly to Christ and receive His blessings. There is no longer the need to observe a certain Holy Day to experience God. Go directly to Jesus and you will experience God in His fulness.

It is all Jesus – Christ is the substance – no supplements required

Again I reiterate – we need to know what Christ has done for us on the cross.

Colossians 2:13-15 (NLT) for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.

Col 2:19 (NLT) For he holds the whole body together with its joints and ligaments, and it grows as God nourishes it.

He has set us free once and for all from the bondage of sin and from the oppression of the evil one. No more condemnation. No more guilt and shame. Hallelujah! What a Saviour!

You are living in the shadows if you depend on any other source apart from Jesus Christ. Time to come out of the shadows and into His marvelous light. Let me close with this final passage from Galatians.

Galatians 3:5-7 (NLT) I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ. In the same way, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God.

Have we put our faith in things we do, in our own effort, in things that are mere shadows? Could that be the reason we are not seeing the manifest presence of the Holy Spirit and the working of miracles? Could it be that the Gospel we are preaching is void of the power of God because we are focusing on human effort to get to God?

Time to come out of the shadows. It is all Jesus. Christ is the substance. No supplements required. Real Christians put their faith in him.

Hebrews 12:3-13 has been a difficult chapter to fully enter into mainly due to a combination of words that create a complex set of emotions. The author is encouraging his readers that we have a child and father relationship with God. At the same time he uses words like chastening, discipline and scourging to further convince us that God is treating us like children.

Hebrews 12:5-8 (NKJV) And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: “My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; For whom the LORD loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.” If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.

These combination of words conjure up negative emotions and maybe even trigger trauma among those who have lived in homes where domestic violence was present. At face value, it seems to suggest that God uses pain and suffering as tools to educate his children. We end up placing this passage along other difficult Bible verses in the too hard basket.

Understanding the context

The context of this passage goes right back to chapter ten. The apostle is seeking to build faith and endurance in the lives of the believers because of the current circumstances they were experiencing.

Christians were being persecuted for their faith (Hebrews 10:32-34)

Hebrews 10:32-34 (NLT) Think back on those early days when you first learned about Christ. Remember how you remained faithful even though it meant terrible suffering. Sometimes you were exposed to public ridicule and were beaten, and sometimes you helped others who were suffering the same things. You suffered along with those who were thrown into jail, and when all you owned was taken from you, you accepted it with joy. You knew there were better things waiting for you that will last forever.

Before any suggestion about chastening that we see in chapter twelve occurs, the apostle recognises the terrible suffering the readers have endured for their faith in Jesus Christ. The list includes public ridicule, being beaten, sharing in others who were suffering similar fate including those thrown in jail. He seems to suggest a common experience among is readers who have had all their possessions confiscated by the state, based solely on their decision to become christians.

Not only does he acknowledge their suffering, he commends them for the way they have responded to the suffering.

“…you accepted it with joy. You knew there were better things waiting for you that will last forever.”

They were able to look beyond their suffering and accepted it with joy – why? They knew there were “better things waiting”. They were able to see that the suffering they were enduring was only temporal, but the choice to believe in Jesus was having eternal consequences.

They had grown discouraged and were ready to give up ( Hebrews 10:35-39)

Hebrews 10:35-39 (NLT) So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised. “For in just a little while, the Coming One will come and not delay. And my righteous ones will live by faith. But I will take no pleasure in anyone who turns away.” But we are not like those who turn away from God to their own destruction. We are the faithful ones, whose souls will be saved.

These wonderful christians were doing pretty well but prolonged suffering can take a toll on you. The apostle is sensing their weariness and discouragement and exhorts them not to throw away “this confident trust in the Lord”. He reminds them of the need for patient endurance and reminds them of the temporal nature of suffering. The early church had such an imminent view of Christ’s second coming that the thought of his return was a source of hope. “For in just a little while, the Coming One will come”.

Examples of the giants of faith who suffered (chapter 11)

Having encouraged them to persevere, he goes on to further encourage by associating their suffering with all the giants of faith in the Old Testament who suffered for their obedience to God. He first talks about the mighty deeds they accomplished for God and proceeds to say these words:

Hebrews 11:35-38 (NLT) But others were tortured, refusing to turn from God in order to be set free. They placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection. Some were jeered at, and their backs were cut open with whips. Others were chained in prisons. Some died by stoning, some were sawed in half, and others were killed with the sword. Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats, destitute and oppressed and mistreated. They were too good for this world, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground.

Jesus the perfect role model of one who suffered (12:1-3)

After he rolls out the who’s who in the hall of faith, he brings out the big gun – Jesus the perfect example.

Hebrews 12:1-4 (NLT) Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up. After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin.

Fix your eyes on the champion, the role model – Keep your eyes on Jesus. That’s how you endure prolonged suffering. Christ’s fate will be our fate. How do we know that? Cause he is the one who initiates and perfects our faith.

HE ACKNOWLEDGES THEIR SUFFERING. HE ENCOURAGES THEM TO PATIENTLY ENDURE. HE INVITES THEM TO THINK OF THE GIANTS OF THE FAITH. THEN HE FINALLY CHALLENGES THEM TO FOCUS ON JESUS – THEN YOU WON’T BECOME WEARY AND GIVE UP.

Once he has encouraged them not to give up, he now gives them another perspective when facing prolonged suffering – think of yourself as a child of God. AS YOU ENDURE…REMEMBER – God is treating you as his own children.

PLEASE NOTE – A VERY IMPORTANT CAVIET

God was not the source of their suffering. They were being persecuted for their faith. I have heard people use this Scripture to suggest that God uses suffering to discipline his children. That’s not what this text is saying. The context is very clear – it’s talking about persecution. Sickness and tragedy can never be seen as coming from God. To attribute God as the source of suffering is to misrepresent the Father of lights in whom there is no variation and no shadow of turning. God is only good, God is always good.

I believe what the author of Hebrews is highlighting is that prolonged suffering has caused them to lose their confident trust in God. You get discouraged, you start questioning the goodness of God and forget the most important thing Christ has done for us – given us the right to become children of God. Prolonged suffering, discouragement, despair, can make an orphan out of us. So I want to go through this passage I we quoted at the beginning and go through it as a checklist to search our hearts to see if we are living as a child of God or have we slipped into an orphan mindset.

√ VERSE 7: An orphan doesn’t recognise fatherly training. A child embraces the experience.

Hebrews 12:7 (NLT) As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children.

The word translated “discipline” in NLT, is translated as “chastening” in NKJV. The greek word used is paideia– tutorage, education or training. It implies correcting as part of the training process but to translate it as chastening or discipline is unfortunate. Both these words carry a negative connotation and in my opinion misrepresents the intention of the author to show a loving and caring relationship of a father and child as opposed to an orphan who is left to their own devices. He is suggesting that in the midst of suffering – take time to sit on daddy’s knees and glean from Him. Let him teach you as he did all the heroes of the faith in chapter 11 who suffered well for what they believed in. Let Abba Father spend time with you in the midst of your suffering to teach you how the Son of God exemplified the powerful life of suffering for the sake of the Kingdom.

√ VERSE 8: An orphan doesn’t realise their legal entitlement. A child knows he or she is family and belongs.

Hebrews 12:8 (NLT) If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children at all.

Once again we need to go to the greek. The word translated illegitimate is the greek word nothos. It carries the thought of being illegitimate in the sense of legal standing. “unable to make an accredited claim” to sonship of God (TDNT). The word is used in ancient Greece to describe someone who didn’t have legitimate rights to be a citizen because one of their parents were not greeks. The apostle is saying that one who doesn’t experience the intimate fatherly training or tutorage is one who is not experiencing their right as a child. An orphan doesn’t realise their legal entitlement. A child knows he or she is family and belongs. When your father is king, it means you are a prince.

√ VERSE 9: An orphan sees submission as life threatening. A child sees submission as life-giving.

Hebrews 12:9 (NLT) Since we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn’t we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits, and live forever?

When I was doing clinical counselling, I used to see blended families who were seeking therapeutic intervention for their teenage children presenting challenging behaviour. It was common for me to hear an exasperated teenager yell out to his or her step-father, “you’re not my father. You can’t tell me what to do.” The child was not able to see the man their mother married as their father and gave him no legitimate right to guide them as their parent.

Submission is a relational problem. When we struggle to submit to the guidance of the Lord, we are really struggling with Him being our Father. Note how the passage calls God the Father of our spirits – he does a deep work, deep calling to deep and His work causes us to live, truly live. An orphan spirit will always struggle with submitting to God but a child will always see submission as a life-giving experience.

√ VERSE 10: An orphan sees God’s intentions as self-serving. A child sees God as always acting on their best interest.

Hebrews 12:10 (NLT) For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness.

The author to the Hebrews speaks fondly of the training received from an earthly father. He sees the short time earthly fathers had to pass on life lessons were done to the best of their abilities and was based on what they felt was best for us. God on the other hand does know us best and does know what is best for us. His training is always good for us, leading us closer to sharing a life like He has. A child will have a positive view of God’s dealings in their lives. An orphan spirit is always suspicious about God’s intentions. An orphan sees God’s intentions as self-serving. A child sees God as always acting on their best interest.

√ FINALLY VERSE 11: An orphan seeks short term pleasure. A child endures, trusting for a certain harvest in the future.

Hebrews 12:11 (NLT) No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.

A child who embraces the tutorage and training of the Lord, will develop the ability to see beyond the present suffering and envision the future harvest of all the promises of God. An orphan acquires no skill in seeing beyond the present hardship, seeking short term pleasure.

SO BE A CHILD NOT AN ORPHAN

– Your Heavenly Father wants to train you

– Your Heavenly Father wants you to know that you are part of His family

– Your Heavenly Father wants you to submit to His parenting so you can truly enjoy the life He has for you

– Your Heavenly Father has only your best interest at heart

– Your Heavenly Father has a long term plan for you to bear much fruit and prosper in Him

This passage closes with some wonderful practical advice.

Hebrews 12:12-13 (NLT) So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees. Mark out a straight path for your feet so that those who are weak and lame will not fall but become strong.

I know the context is suffering under persecution – but I would like to see these two verses as a template for all kinds of suffering.

A CHILD’S TEMPLATE WHEN SUFFERING

When going through suffering, this is how we should posture ourselves:

• raise those hands in thanksgiving

• strengthen the knees in prayer

• clear the path so you don’t trip – clear from faulty thinking, faulty ideas about God

• and keep walking till you are whole again

Are you living a purposeful life or are you wandering aimlessly? Are you circling or spiraling?

Life is a circular movement. We go around a 24 hour cycle. As of today, we have completed 5 weeks this year. The sun has risen and set 37 times this year. We have gone about our lives for 888 hours and made moment by moment decisions for 53,280 minutes this year. How do you think you are doing so far? Would you describe yourself as a purposeful Christian or an aimless one?

Circling or spiralling?

To circle is to follow the same path over and over again without actually going anywhere. The phrase “going around in circles” suggests we have been busy doing a lot but without actually achieving anything. It represents an aimless life.

To spiral is to rotate about a fixed point while continuously increasing in distance. Most of the time we tend to use the word to describe someone who is moving in a negative direction – eg. To spiral out of control or going on a downward spiral. I want to use the word today to describe one who is moving in a circular motion yet making progress in the right direction. Spiralling forward – it represents a purposeful life.

Life is a circular movement. Everyday we maintain routines that keep us functionally. These routines are important to maintain the momentum needed to move forward. The crucial thing is to develop healthy routines without getting stuck in a rut. Our aim is to avoid going around in circles but to ensure we are spiralling forward. To illustrate this point I want to use the first two generations of Israelites living in the wilderness. The first generation circled around a mountain for forty years, while the second generation began their journey walking around a wall.

The first generation circled around a mountain because of unbelief

Deuteronomy 1:32-36 (NLT) “But even after all he did, you refused to trust the Lord your God, who goes before you looking for the best places to camp, guiding you with a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day. “when the Lord heard your complaining, he became very angry. So he solemnly swore, ‘not one of you from this wicked generation will live to see the good land I swore to give your ancestors, except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see this land because he has followed the Lord completely.

They “refused to trust the Lord”. This suggests that there was an intentional decision made not to trust the Lord. It didn’t happen overnight. The book of Exodus gives us details of a people who complained, murmured, rebelled and finally rejected God’s plan for their lives. Note the frustration in Moses’ words – “even after all God did”. He summarises God’s deeds:

– “looking for the best places to camp” – they were unfamiliar with the terrain, so they needed God to direct them. God didn’t just a safe place but the best places to camp. That’s His nature. He seeks to provide the best for His people.

– “guiding you” – pillar of fire at night (to keep them warm), pillar of cloud by day (to keep them cool).

But when circumstances changed – their response was to complain, rebel and reject. Eventually they decided in Kadesh Barnea they were not going to obey God and turned back. They opted to circle around Mount Sinai and the region of Mount Sier. The entire generation accept for Caleb and Joshua died in the wilderness. They never saw the promised land. Never experienced the fullness of the promises of God.

Living life in circular movements look like you’re moving. You grow older, you raise a family, you get promotions or your business grows, the digits in your bank balance increase, you stack up life experiences, but you end up in a box without experiencing the promise of life in abundance. You go through the motions, the routine but are stuck in a rut. That is aimless Christianity.

The second generation circled around a wall because of obedience

Joshua 6:1-5 (NKJV) Now Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel; none went out, and none came in. And the LORD said to Joshua: “See! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valor. You shall march around the city, all you men of war; you shall go all around the city once. This you shall do six days. And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. It shall come to pass, when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat. And the people shall go up every man straight before him.”

God promised the next generation the same thing He did with the first, a land flowing with milk and honey. As soon as they obey the hit a wall. How real that experience is for many of us. The moment we decide to obey God and move forward, some obstacle or challenge confronts us. We hit a wall.

The people of Israel had to make a choice. They could give up and turn back as their fathers did and go back to circling around a mountain; or they could obey God and do as he says. What they had to do was similar to the first generation, they had to walk in circles. But they weren’t walking around a mountian, they were walking around a wall. They weren’t circling a mountian aimlessly, they were walking around a wall intentionally. They were “spiralling” – adjusting their movement based on God’s word. They were moving purposefully towards the promise land. They had to get to God’s promise but a wall was in the way. So God said circle it till the wall comes down. They had specific tasks to do on a daily basis – same 24 hour cycle – but adjusting their lives based on the word of the Lord. Six days circle once a day in silence, seventh day circle 7 times and shout. Six days same routine. No room to deviate. Follow strictly to the set pattern of behaviour. Wake up, go do according to what the Lord has told to do. Walk around the wall once in silence. Routine but not a rut; purposeful not aimless – circling till the walls come down. Six days the same routine. Then on the seventh day – according to God’s word – cirlce seven times, and shout. If they had continued the seventh day circling once in silence they would not have seen the walls come down. The lesson here is that routine acts don’t create a rut. Routine acts outside God’s input is where the rut sets in.

The first generation settled for what they decided was best for them. The second generation settled for what was God’s best for them. One faced mountains all their lives, the other saw walls come tumbling down. That’s why I keep praying for the sick – I see sickness as a wall that must come tumbling down. That’s why I work with people who struggle with addictions – I see it as a wall that must come down. That’s why we pray for the lost – the walls that hinder them from experiencing the love of God must come down. That’s why we distribute food parcels once a month to those who are in need – we see poverty as a wall that must come down.

To accept sickness, addiction and poverty as my lot in life or karma will condemn me to a life of circling around the mountain and rob me of Christ’s promise of abundant life. So I will treat every obstacle that get’s in the way of God’s promises as a wall. I’ll walk around it – everyday – purposefully – hearing from God – pray differently, do things differently – not circling but spiralling forward until the walls come tumbling down.

How do you know if you are circling or spiralling? You are circling if you are living an aimless Christian life. You are spiralling if you are being the Christian you are purposed to be. You are circling if all you do is complain, murmur and fail to see the goodness of God in your life. You are spiralling forward if you are hearing Him daily and adjusting your prayers, adjusting your actions and believing that whatever is preventing God’s best for your life is like a wall God is going bring down.

What does it look like to be a purposeful Christian

In Matthew chapter 5, Jesus teaches us what is the purpose of a disciple of Christ. In verses 13 to 16, he calls us salt and light. We are agents of change. Our everyday life should transform the environment we are in with “God-flavours” and “God-colours”.

A purposeful Christian produces God-flavours

Matthew 5:13 (NLT) “you are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.

The message translation brings the meaning out so beautifully.

Matthew 5:13 (msg) “let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the god-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.

Do you bring out God-flavours around people or do you leave a bad taste in their mouths? You may ask what is this God-flavour? I call it the Trinitarian combo: The love of God the Father, the grace of God the Son and the comfort of God the Holy Spirit. Wherever we are, whomever we are with, our purpose us to fill the environment with the love of God, the grace of Christ and the comfort of the Holy Spirit.

A purposeful Christian produces God-colours

Jesus goes on to give another description of a disciple.

Matthew 5:14-16 (NLT) “you are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly father.

Again we lend ourselves to the Message translation.

Matthew 5:14-16 (MSG) “here’s another way to put it: you’re here to be light, bringing out the god-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If i make you light-bearers, you don’t think i’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that i’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with god, this generous father in heaven.

In a dark world, the disciple of Christ transforms an environment into light. Where there is light you see colour. God’s light will produce God-colours.

Don’t settle and wander around a mountain. Don’t live your Christian life aimlessly. Don’t circle, spiral forward. See every obstacle as a wall that must come down. While you circle around your walls – whatever is hindering God’s best for your life – don’t give up. You may have to pray differently but keep praying. You may have to do things differently but keep at it. Until the walls come down.

While you do that – remember: Keep giving out God-flavours and God-colours.

Don’t circle aimlessly; Spiral forward purposefully.

Do you know the difference between the temporal and the eternal? Are you investing in the right areas of your life so that you are not caught wanting in the end? This week we look at the critical need to know the difference between what are temporal things in life and what have eternal consequences.

We take our cue from the father of faith Abraham.

Genesis 12:8 (NKJV) And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD.

He pitched a tent and built and altar.

Tent and altar – know the difference

The tent is a means to an end. Symbolically it speaks of the wilderness life. When one lives in the wilderness you pitch tents. You do not build anything permanent because you are always on the move. The tent represents what is transient.

The altar on the other hand is a permanent thing. It is a symbol of dedication and sacrifice. It is a reminder of the Divine and eternal. For Abraham God was the reason why he was doing what he was doing. He built altars in significant places and times in his life to remind him of why he was doing what he was doing. The altar was the reminder of what was the essence of his life. His motivation, his purpose for living.

Abraham pitched tents and built altars. We need to know the difference. The tent is for the journey. The altar is to remind you why you are on the journey. If you fail to identify what are tents and what is the altar, you will be focusing on the temporal, while trivialising the eternal.

The context of this passage is when Abraham received the covenant blessing from God.

Genesis 12:1-3 (NKJV) Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

The blessing that Abraham received had two parts to it. A blessing that came with a responsibility.

The Covenant Blessings

• I will make you a great nation

• I will bless you and make your name great

• I will bless those who bless you

• I will curse him who curses you

The Covenant responsibility:

• You shall be a blessing

• And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed

The blessing is the tent. The great nation and the great name is temporal. The God who blesses is the altar. Becoming a blessing through God is the eternal. When me and my blessings become the focus, I miss the plot. When the temporal is treated as the eternal, my life is a chaos. You pitch tents and build altars. Get it wrong and live life investing in trivial and temporal things while neglecting the things that are of eternal value. This is the reason why many christians don’t seem to be living the eternal life Christ promised us.

The cost of getting it wrong – The Tower of Babel

The story of the Tower of Babel is a familiar one. If you revisit the passage where the story occurs, it is inserted in a very odd place in the book of Genesis. Chapter ten gives us the genealogy of the sons of Noah and ends with a summary statement that all the nations of the world came out of these generations. Moses then pauses and inserts this story of Babel at the beginning of chapter eleven and then goes on in verse ten to give a detailed genealogy of Shem in order to introduce Abram.

If you leave out the story of Babel you will still see a clear flow of the narrative describing the genealogy of the three sons of Noah and moving on to one of his son’s Shem in order to get to the story of Abram. Why then did Moses insert the story of Babel in such an odd place. He did it to emphasise the contrast between the drivenness of man at the Tower of Babel and the blessedness of Abram in chapter 12.

Genesis 11:4 (NKJV) And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”

Note the language in Babel – man said “build ourselves, make a name for ourselves”. Contrast that with the blessing Abram received – God said “I will make you”, “I will bless you”.

The final outcome at Babel was catastrophic – confusion and scattering. A life of chaos.

Genesis 11:8-9 (NKJV) So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

Pitch tents and build altars. Get it wrong – its confusion, scattering and chaos.

The reward of getting it right – The Upper Room

There was another gathering of people recorded in the Bible. This time in the book of Acts. It was the event that described the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. It occurred after fifty days from Christ’s resurrection. The Bible tells us that Jesus spent time with his disciples after resurrection, teaching them about the Kingdom of God. The disciples had to relearn that the Messiah has come not to make the nation Israel great again. It wasn’t about overthrowing the Roman Empire and reinstating a King and restoring a physical government. Christ came to establish another Kingdom. A Kingdom not made of human hands. God was establishing His Kingdom, His rule. It was the restoration of the promise God made to Abraham – “through you all the families of the earth will be blessed”. The words of the apostle Peter on the day of Pentecost speaks of that.

Acts 2:38-39 (NKJV) Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

The focus was no longer overthrowing the Roman empire and becoming a great nation again. The focus became blessing all people. Look what happened when they got it right.

Acts 2:42-47 (NKJV) And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

The early church recognised what were tents and what was the altar; What were means to an end and what was of eternal value. They used their resources to invest in people’s lives and the outcome was the Kingdom life manifested among them.

Pitch tents and build altars. Get it right – its gladness, simplicity of heart, praising God and favour with all. Most importantly salvation to many.

Tents and altars – getting it right matters

Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 gives us the importance of getting this right.

The tent is our present life, the altar is our eternal dwelling

2 Corinthians 5:1-4 (NKJV) For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life.

We live by faith through the Holy Spirit

2 Corinthians 5:5-8 (NKJV) Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.

Our aim is to please God

2 Corinthians 5:9 (NKJV) Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him.

Getting it right has eternal consequences

2 Corinthians 5:10 (NKJV) For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

So let us make sure we discern the temporal and the eternal.

Remember:

You pitch tents and build altars. The tent is for the journey. The altar is to remind you why you are on the journey.

Know the difference. Get it wrong and you will be focusing on the temporal, while trivialising the eternal.

The blessing is the temporal. Becoming a blessing through God is the eternal.

Pitch tents, build altars.

Christians and the Bible. How do we make sense of an ancient literature, written in a span of over 1,500 years by nearly 40 authors? Covering a time span from the stone age, bronze age, iron age, into the age of the internet. Life and times have changed so rapidly. Even the mode of transmitting the words of God have changed from the time Moses chiselled the commandments of God on stone tablets to how we access these same words on our digital tablets.

How we handle the Bible will determine whether we stay in the shadows or engage intimately with Christ. I propose a movement from principles to practice to the Person Jesus Christ. We draw principles from what we read in the Bible. We then apply those principles in our daily lives – that’s the practice. But it doesn’t stop there. It’s not practice for the sake of practice. We do not practice Biblical principles just to be better people or to book a place in heaven. We put into practice Biblical principles so that we draw closer to God. The Christian life is about believing in a person and living intimately with a person – Jesus Christ.

WE BECOME BETTER PEOPLE NOT BECAUSE WE ARE PRACTICING THE RIGHT THINGS. WE BECOME BETTER PEOPLE BECAUSE WE ARE BEING WITH JESUS AND BECOMING LIKE HIM TO THE POINT WE REFLECT HIM MORE IN OUR LIVES.

The becoming of a Christian is this this movement that must happen daily in our lives, where we draw principles from the Bible, endeavour by God’s grace to put them into practice in our lives, in order to draw near and abide in the presence of the person Jesus Christ.

FROM PRINCIPLE TO PRACTICE TO THE PERSON JESUS CHRIST

The problem with Christianity is that some Christians merely emphasise their version of truth that they have derived from the Bible. They insist that it’s all about what you believe. Get the doctrines right, make the right stands. Know what you believe and why you believe it – to the point that the Christian faith has become merely an intellectual exercise or in some cases a rallying point for political agendas.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to get our doctrines in order. If that’s all you do – if you stop at just believing the right thing without seeking how to apply these truths in your daily lives – then it is just another form of religion. Jesus came not to establish another religion but to become the way to God. Religion is God’s way to God. Noble gesture but unattainable however sincere one may be. Christianity as a religion is as futile as any other. We are not called to adhere to the religion of Christianity. We are called into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

MERELY BELIEVING SOMETHING WITHOUT LIVING IT IN OUR DAILY LIVES IS PLACING GOD IN A DISTANCE

You can’t just believe truth. You must draw principles from truth. Principles are livable truth. Truth that can be applied consistently in our daily lives. Let me illustrate with one example from the Old Testament.

Exodus 21:23-25 (NKJV) But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

In this passage, Moses seems to be laying down some practice that the people of Israel were to adhere to under his leadership in the wilderness. For ages this has been adopted as a principle. That’s how we should respond when a wrong has been done. The principle is “a life for a life, eye for an eye, tooth for tooth…”. When someone harms you, you have the right to harm them back. Let’s call it the doctrine of retaliation. That’s why we can justify the death penalty as Christians. That’s why there are Christians who can march into Washington DC, invade the Capital building carrying large banners that said Jesus Saves and Jesus 2020, without any concern about the harm to lives and property. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth – if the government has done harm to me I have the right to harm them back.

First of all let me say this – I do not presume to understand neither to judge those who engage in political protests and dissent. I’m merely stating that if we read the passage in Exodus as a divine principle rather than a societal practice, then we can claim permission to harm those who have harmed us. By bypassing a principle and adopting a practice as if it was a universal principle, is a sure way of going off on a tangent, drifting further away from the presence of God.

You can’t just draw truth from a practice. You must draw principles it. Principles are livable truth. Truth that can be applied consistently in our daily lives no matter who, when or where.

Jesus’ interpretation of the same passage

Matthew 5:38-44 (NKJV) “You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away. “You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you…”

Luke 6:27-31 (NKJV) “But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back. And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.

Both Matthew and Luke show us that Jesus interpreted that passage very differently from the teachings of his day. He first reverses the practice of the day – you don’t retaliate. You don’t repay evil for evil. In fact he teaches us to do the opposite. We are to respond with good. Luke gives us the principle behind the practice – “And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.”

Here then we get a glimpse of what was behind the practice Moses was implementing in the wilderness. Do to others as you want them to do to you. If you do not want to lose an eye, don’t harm someone else’s eye. If you do not want to lose a tooth, don’t harm someone else’s tooth. If you do not want to lose your life, don’t harm someone else’s life. Do unto others as you want them to do to you.

Get the principle right, the practice then will follow. The principle is not an eye for an eye. The principle is do to others what you want others to do to you. Apply that principle in your daily life. The practices will change depending on the circumstances of the day – but the principle remains the same.

THE IMPORTANCE OF GETTING THE PRINCIPLE RIGHT

Jesus goes on at the end of the two passages in Matthew and Luke to give us the reason why it is important to get our principles and practices right.

Matthew 5:45 (NKJV) that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

Luke 6:35-36 (NKJV) and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.

When we get the principle right, our practice will be right. Right living will reflect the God we worship. This is the real test wether your so called truth is a principle that will lead to good practice. If it draws you closer to Christ so as to reflect Him more perfectly.

Paul and the Sabbath

Here’s another example on how making a practice a principle can lead us away from God.

Colossians 2:16-17 (NKJV) So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.

Paul had to address a situation among the churches that had Gentile believers and Jewish believers. Some Jewish teachers were insisting that Christians had to practice all the feasts, festivals and religious days that Moses had instituted. That included practicing the Sabbath the way the Jews practiced it – on the seventh day. They had taken a practice and turned it into a principle.

The Gentiles could never practice the Sabbath along with the Jewish believers on the seventh day as they would have had to join them in the synagogue. No Gentile would be allowed in the synagogue unless they were circumcised and were practising the laws of Moses. Paul clearly warned the church – that kind of belief will cause us to remain in the shadows without experiencing the true substance of the person Jesus Christ. Everything we do must bring us closer to experiencing more and more of Christ.

John 5:39-40 (NKJV) You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.

The principles of God found in the Bible should lead us to practices that draw us closer and closer to Jesus. So let us reassess the way we are using the Bible. Are we merely going to the Scriptures to get truth? Are we going to Scriptures to imitate practises. Or are we going to the Bible everyday to draw closer and closer in our relationship with Jesus. Let’s go to the Word of God with this mindset:

TO KNOW CHRIST – WHAT ARE THE SCRIPTURES TEACHING ME ABOUT JESUS?

Philippians 3:10 (NKJV) that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death

TO PUT ON CHRIST – HOW CAN I APPLY WHAT I HAVE LEARNT ABOUT CHRIST THROUGHOUT MY DAY?

Galatians 3:26-29 (NKJV) For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

TO REFLECT CHRIST – IS MY LIFE REFLECTING MORE OF CHRIST AND LESS OF ME?

2 Corinthians 3:18 (NLT) So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.

THIS YEAR LETS MOVE OUT OF THE SHADOWS AND INTO REAL SUBSTANCE – KNOWING CHRIST, LIVING CHRIST AND REFLECTING CHRIST TO THE WORLD.