The Promise, The Law, Faith

The progression of righteousness for man was just that, a promise then the law and then faith. Isn’t it something when you think about it.

“¹⁶Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, ‘And to offsprings,’ referring to many, but referring to one, ‘And to your offspring,’ who is Christ.” – Galatians 3:16 (ESV)

“¹⁹Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary.” – Galatians 3:19 (ESV)

“²⁵But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, ²⁶for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.” – Galatians 3:25-26 (ESV)

We have been taken through it in order that we might find righteousness. It started with Abraham and the promise which gave way to the law and now by faith. We were never able to find it on our own. Something would have to be fulfilled for us to find righteousness.

There is something else to keep in mind here. Read the verses above again. The promise of God is still in place and has not been broken. The law was added because we needed guidance. Finally, God sent Jesus to end the law and get back to the promise.

“²⁹And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.” – Galatians 3:29 (ESV)

We can now rely on Jesus as our brother and we are now back to the place in the promise that we are heirs with Him.

How are you getting to righteousness? Are you getting there by following the law and being good under it? What if you were to believe in, trust, and rely on Jesus to reach heaven as heir according to the promise?

Christ is Our Righteousness

How do we know that we have done something wrong? We compare our actions to the law or the rules. The same goes for our sin. We know that we have sinned when we compare our actions to the Law of the LORD written on our hearts.

“¹Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved.” – Romans 10:1 (ESV)

I recently saw a debate where one of the debaters asked a group of onlookers if they wanted everyone to go to heaven and there was 100% respondents of yes. Now, this was not exactly the subject of the debate, but the question was a valid one. You see, people are inherently good and want the best for others. Paul echos this in verse one above. He wants, no desires’ that everyone is saved.

“³For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.” – Romans 10:3 (ESV)

Even as Paul and others want the best for us, there is truth in that people still follow their own desires and law as oppose to the Law of the LORD. There is a continued seeking of our own rules and laws to get us through. We want heaven, but we insist on getting there our own way and do not submit to the Law of the LORD which is written on our hearts.

“⁴For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” – Romans 10:4 (ESV)

Jesus is the where we find the path to righteousness and heaven. We know the Law of the LORD, we are just not submitting to it. We are aware of the path to heaven, we simply choose to take another path. We choose to do things our way, avoiding The Way because, “we know better”.

“⁶Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” – John 14:6 (ESV)

Jesus told us that the way to righteousness is through Him, and that is the only way. We cannot get there on our own. We cannot reach heaven doing things our way. We cannot submit to Christ without finding Him. Christ is for our righteousness and the path to heaven, we only need to trust in and submit to Him.

What does your path look like? Are you intent on going your own way as you know better? What if you were to submit to and trust in Jesus as He is our path to righteousness?

Heirs Through Satisfied Law

“¹⁶The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” “³For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”– Romans 8:16-17 & 3-4 (ESV)

We have been recognized as living led by the Spirit. And as such we have been adopted as children of God. And as we are children of God, we are heirs with Jesus to the Kingdom of God. What a wonderful thing to have as my identity. I am a child of God and heir to Heaven. But, see in verse 17. We are heirs yes, but in that we will suffer. We will be persecuted as Jesus, our brother was persecuted.

Here is the thing, we will be persecuted, yes, but that persecution is from man, not from God. You see, we have been justified through our faith in Him. We have been set free from the burden that sin has on our lives. As Jesus came and took that burden away. God sent Jesus to appear as us, human, as an offering for sin, condemned our sin, and satisfied the law of sin for us. Jesus stepped in for us with God and satisfied our payment for the sin in our lives. He dismissed the case against us with prejudice to satisfy the law.

I am so grateful that I do not have to concern myself with the consequence of sin, death. I am free from sin and can lead my life focused on the work God has for me and that the Holy Spirit guides me in thanks to the grace afforded me through Jesus Christ. The law was satisfied and I get to live. And I get to live as an heir to Heaven with Jesus, my brother.

How do you qualify as heir to Heaven? Are you getting there for being a good person? What if you realized that it is because your sin has been satisfied by the grace of Jesus and the love of God?

We are all Named by God

You ever think about where your family name came from. Well I am here to tell you the mystery is solved. Your family is named by God.

“¹⁵from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,” – Ephesians 3:15 (ESV)

Okay, maybe you were not named directly by God, but your existence is due to the Father and His Grace and Glory. That is right, we exist thanks to the Father and therefor can attribute our name to Him who brought us forward.

I am the son of an earthly father and my Heavenly Father. I have the name of my earthly father and am in the Lamb’s book of life thanks to my acceptance of He as my savior and God as my Father. I am an heir to my earthly father’s estate and an heir to the kingdom of heaven. I was named by God.

What is your lineage? Are you living life knowing of only your earthly father? What if you were to live knowing that you have a heavenly father who named you and your are/could be heir to His kingdom with Jesus?

The LORD Rewards According to the Heart

“²³…And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of your according to your works.” – Revelation 2:23b (ESV)

I have to remember that the LORD is looking in my heart. He is searching for the works that I have performed in this world, and where those works started from. It is up to me to ensure that all of the works that I am performing in this world are coming from my heart and with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

“¹⁹I know your works, you love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first.” – Revelation 2:19 (ESV)

Here we see the Revelation of Jesus Christ and is related to the Church in Thyatira. We see that He knows the works performed and the order of those works in the lives of the church. We should be looking for similar words from the LORD about us. We should seek to ensure that our works today are greater than our works of yesterday and that those works are driven from our heart which is filled by the LORD and guided by the Holy Spirit.

Whether we are guided from our heart by the world or by the Holy Spirit, we are rewarded in heaven for that work. When guided by the world, we are rewarded with the wrath of God. When guided by the Holy Spirit we are rewarded with treasures in heaven. But regardless, our reward is from the LORD and specific to each of us according to the works found to have come from our heart.

What works are guided from you heart? Are you proceeding to please the world? What if you were to proceed as guided by the Holy Spirit to the Glory of the LORD?

All Service From the Heart

How often is it that we take on tasks and just work to complete them without a clear motivation or purpose? I believe this is the case a good amount of the time. The thing is this is not the proper way to approach things according to God’s Word.

“⁵Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, ⁶not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, ⁷rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, ⁸knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free. ⁹Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.” – Ephesians 6:5-9 (ESV)

In the above passage we find Paul’s instruction to the church at Ephesus as relates to those serving others and those they are serving. We find that regardless of the position we are in, whether bondservant or master, we are to approach the work from the heart as we would in our service of the LORD.

I have studied this passage a number of times and each time the learning for me is about the service itself and that we are picked for the service where we are and that work is God centered. But this morning I see the work is to be both of those things and yet it comes from the heart. I am to commit to the work for the my LORD and savior as well as my earthly master in the same way, from the heart and fully devout to that work. Even as the earthly master, we are to commit the work from the heart and for the glory of the LORD and not for our own reward.

I think that too often we look at “work” in the world as that thing that is to be done, and not really enjoyed, when according to the Word of God, we are to do the work from the heart with the same intensity that we do work for the LORD. We are to devote to the work from our heart regardless of who that work is for in the moment.

I know that when I am focused of doing work, I find that time moves quickly and when I reach the end, there is a sense of satisfaction with the work. All to say that when I am concerned with who assigned the work or what is in it for others and carry animosity for the work, it seems that time stands still and the work never ends.

The approach we should have is one of doing the work from our heart to ultimately bring glory to God. Yes, we do have to engage in actions that positively impact others and less so for ourselves. But, those actions, when conducted from the heart are a gift to others and will be rewarded in heaven as we are recognized as good and faithful servants of the LORD.

Where does your attitude for work come from? Are you doing the work with animosity and anger as others seem to benefit from it? What if you approached the work with love from the heart knowing that your reward is coming in our forever home, heaven?

Do We Really Want to Reign

What a great question, and one that I can identify with. It seems as though what I see from “leaders” in this world is not really something that I would want to do or be. I will say that I am leader in my house and in my role in my work. Yet, what I see in “leaders” in the world is not what I expect. And, frankly, when I am in the New Heaven and New Earth, I am told that I will be able to rest, being a leader does not seem like rest.

“²⁸Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” – Matthew 11:28 (ESV)

Yes, Jesus says the above, and if you only look a the one verse, you will get the sense that rest is indeed what we will have. But we would be looking at things from a very narrow perspective.

Think of it this way. What is it that you like to do more than anything else and you seem to get lost in yourself and that thing to the tune that time seems to pass quickly. You may be completely worn out at the end of the time, but you look forward to that thing again and again and again. This is the idea that if you love what you do, it is not work. You find joy in the actions and want to do them more and more.

Well, this is what it will be like in the New Heaven and New Earth. I will be focused on the joy of God that whatever role I am tasked to take on will be glorious and I will find much joy in it. It will be light work from the perspective of on my soul. It may have difficulty in the task, but it will bring joy that I am working for the LORD. See below the next two verses from Jesus.

“²⁹Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” – Matthew 11:29-30 (ESV)

Jesus tells us that when we are in with Him, all things will be lighter since He has taken the heavy load upon Himself.

Reigning in the New Heaven and New Earth will not be a burden. We will be doing so from a position of the “family business” as Randy Alcorn indicates in my study. And since we are in the family of God, we are rulers with Him and each other.

But what about the challenges that come with ruling? A truly valid question. Well, there will not be any. Why you say. As we are all there to do the will of God, only need someone to direct us of where and what. Remember, there is no sin in the New Heaven. There won’t be any animosity. There won’t be any push back. There won’t be any insubordination. There will only be getting the work done in worship to the LORD so we can get back to worship of the LORD.

But, I don’t want people to be telling me what to do. I hear you, and that will not be the case. We will be receiving direction not orders. We will know of what needs to be done, and there will be someone there to direct us as to where it is to be done. And we will be directing others of where.

The New Heaven and New Earth will be filled with rulers (us) and filled with subjects (us). “We’ll be governed by Christlike rulers, and all of us will be under the grand and gracious government of Christ Himself” – Randy Alcorn

What view do you have of ruling? Are you of the school of slave driving authoritarians? What if you embraced ruling in the New Heaven and New Earth as doing that thing that brings you joy, bringing glory to God?

So, We Will Reign with Christ?

In short, YES.

“²⁸And God blessed them. And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’” – Genesis 1:28 (ESV)

Here we go. We, as man, were always supposed to reign and rule on the earth. God created man in His own image to have dominion over all on the earth. But, Adam and Eve failed, falling into sin thanks to the evil one and his deception. Adam and Eve were to be the king and queen of earth and they did not make it.

Then, God sent Jesus to demonstrate to the world, how it was supposed to play out. Jesus reigned on the earth in the way that God intended. He loved and cared and protected and healed in this world showing His dominion. And then He died giving us the path back to righteousness. Jesus reigned in this world, and died to show us the way back to where we would again reign.

How is it that we do not see that we will reign over the New Earth? Well, I don’t know the answer to that, other than I am blinded by the sin in my life and know that it is one of the tactics of the evil one. What I can say is that when we turn to the Word of God, we will find the truth throughout. Whether introduced, mentioned, discussed, and repeated, there are many places where we will find what our role is and will be in the New Earth.

“³Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life!” – 1 Corinthians 6:3 (ESV)

Here in Paul’s letter, he makes it clear that we will be reigning and ruling in the New Earth over all. We will be returned to out place of dominion that we lost with the fall. Jesus provided us the way back to our rightful created place in God’s Kingdom. We will indeed reign with Him forever.

“⁵And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.” – Revelation 22:5 (ESV)

What do you think about reigning? Are you of the thought that you will simply be a subject in the Kingdom? What if you review God’s Word and know that not only will you be a member of the Kingdom of God, but you will be returned to the place of dominion that you were intended for?

God’s Eternal Kingdom

This morning I was reminded that the eternal kingdom of God will be just that, a kingdom. He will be seated on the throne as King of Kings. There will be us as the subjects in the kingdom. There will be the territory of rule. There will be a culture of worship. I forget that it will be a physical place, and not just some sort of spiritual realm.

Without getting too deep into the rest of this final week of study of Heaven, there is more. We will be elevated to priests and will reign also.

“¹⁰and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,

and they shall reign on the earth.”

— Revelation 510 (ESV)

So, God’s Eternal Kingdom is going to be a kingdom like what we as man can imagine, but it will be much more as we will be reigning there also with Him.

This is completely contrary to the thinking of this world. And why not. God’s Kingdom is not of this world.

“³⁶Jesus answered, ‘My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.’” – John 18:36 (ESV)

As God’s Eternal Kingdom will not be of this world, then it makes sense to me that it will function not as this world does. Oh, it will have the features of this world and this earth, but it will be different. Not like anything we have seen before. Imagine a place where all reign together. But again, I don’t want to get ahead of the study.

So, God’s Eternal Kingdom will be the best of all kingdoms. There will be the King (God) on the throne, there will be palaces and walls and gates. There will be land territories and subjects (us) working those lands. And there will be priests (us) reigning with God over all the land. Remember back to the beginning and know that we will return to there, as God intended.

“²⁶Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’” – Genesis 1:26 (ESV)

What is your view of the Kingdom of God? Are you of the view that it will have feature vastly different from what we know kingdoms to be here in this world? What if you looked at God’s Kingdom as having similar features, only better and in complete harmony?

Worshiping God

This morning I was hit hard by the questions in my MasterWork study that surround worshiping God. Where I am in full agreement with and look forward to what worshiping God will look like when I arrive in the New Heaven, New Earth, and New Jerusalem, I have been challenged with how I am worshiping Him now in this world.

The book of Revelation clearly points to what life will be like when we arrive and spend eternity in the New Heaven, New Earth, and New Jerusalem. It will be majestic and there will be singing and rejoicing and feasts and fellowship and all sorts of engagement as we worship the LORD and He dwells with us.

Where I was hit hard this morning was not in learning something new in the study or text from Revelation. I was struck by the simple question of how can I do that even now.

This was a gut punch to me. Not that I do not worship the LORD and spend time with Him, but what about the rest of the time in this world. Am I rejoicing always, praying continually, and giving thanks in all things. I am not so sure that I am.

I admit to getting caught up in the ways of the world and focusing on those things that are impacting me now, or at least that is what I am telling myself. I have my attention on work, finances, preparing for retirement, stability, and a whole litany of things that are of this world. Where they are things of concern in this world, I have to remember that the LORD will provide for all of them and that I should not worry about tomorrow as tomorrow will take care of itself.

“³⁴Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” – Matthew 6:34 (ESV)

“³³But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” – Matthew 6:33 (ESV)

My focus should not be on tomorrow, but on today and the filling of it with worship of the LORD. I am to be seeking His face each day all day. I am to be rejoicing always, praying continually, and giving thanks in all thing. I have to bring my expectation of worship in the New Heaven, New Earth, and New Jerusalem into this world and my all time here.

“¹⁶Rejoice always, ¹⁷pray without ceasing, ¹⁸give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (ESV)

So, yes, we will be in constant worship of the LORD when we are in the New Heaven, New Earth, and New Jerusalem. In all that we do we will worship and celebrate the LORD and His life giving and sustaining grace and glory. I have to bring that into today and not just reserve it for later. I am to do as Paul indicates in 1 Thessalonians, rejoice always, pray continually, and give thanks in all things. My relationship with the LORD is now and not just reserved for the eternal kingdom.

What is your view of worshiping God? Are you reserving the continual worship for the eternal kingdom? What if you were to follow the direction of Paul and even now rejoice always, pray continually, and give thanks in all things?