Salvation is not the end of God’s design for our lives; it is a means to an end. The end is to be a functioning member of the Kingdom of God. We must move away from a “Save Me” religion, wanting something for me—rather, it should be something for God.
The best definition of the Kingdom is in the Lord’s Prayer: “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven…” We want God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. How is God’s will done in heaven? We have a very beautiful picture in Isaiah 6, where he is telling us that King Uzziah died. He was a good king, reigned for 52 years, one of the more powerful kings of Judah—the nation did many great things under him. Isaiah placed great confidence in him. But the king became very proud, and decided to reach out and become a priest as well (forbidden in Israeli religion). When he made the offering in the temple, God struck him with leprosy. And from then to the end of his life, the prophet Isaiah had to hear this man whom he had admired, shouting repeatedly outside the congregation “Unclean! Unclean!”
God knew the sadness Isaiah had, but He wanted to teach Isaiah that we should place limited confidence in Man. Only in God. So He gave Isaiah a vision—he saw the Lord high and lifted up, and the train of his garment filled the temple. He made Isaiah see reality--the greatness of God, much more than the greatness of Uzziah. Then he saw the seraphim—and that’s where we get a picture of how God’s will is done in heaven. The word seraphim literally means “burners;” fiery, copper-colored creatures, burning in their zeal to do whatever God said. They had six wings. Wings covered their faces, their feet, and there were wings ready to fly. That’s how God’s will is done in heaven—promptly, with passion, without question—and with humility. Isaiah then cried, “Woe is me.” Here is probably the holiest man in Israel saying, “I am nothing.” That’s the attitude that we need to perform God’s will on earth. We’re going to have to have the same attitude the seraphim had. And Isaiah saw that he was far from that, as we all are.
Romans 12:3 says we ought to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. Did you ever notice what is the first evidence of the renewed mind? Read the following verses carefully:
And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind...for I say through the grace given to me,… not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think.”
That is the first evidence of a Spirit-filled and renewed mind—to have a proper view of ourselves. After all, humility ought to be a prominent theme of the Lord’s people. Think of Jesus washing the feet of His disciples. We want to have the mind of Christ.
Philippians 2 has more to say on this topic, telling us that we are to have His mind, then telling us what the mind of Jesus was like. Five things happened in His Incarnation. (1) He didn’t think it was robbery, or something He had to have, to be equal with God—although that had been His experience up to this point. He was willing to step down to reconcile humanity. Mankind thinks the opposite—once you reach a certain level, you’ll do most anything to at least hold your position. Jesus was at the very top—and He didn’t find it necessary to keep that. He stripped Himself of all the privileges and dignity and deity; “he emptied Himself.” This is before He ever left heaven. And then (2) He would become God’s servant. God will give the orders; Jesus was going to fulfill them. Through seven chapters of John (4 through 10), we have that picture. We have something in every one of those chapters that says, “I don’t do anything but what my Father tells me.” This was humility. Before, He and His Father had always done things together. And now He chooses to become a slave, as it were. (3) And then He became a man. I don’t think we can imagine the step down to do that; maybe it would be like from us to being a mouse. But this was a much bigger step down. I might even do that if I were sure there wasn’t a cat. Jesus prayed, Hebrews tells us, that God would deliver His soul from death. From the tomb. Why? He had come to the most dangerous part of His earthly existence—after all this mistreatment, could He avoid having a bitter thought, or saying an angry word? If he did, He would have stayed in that grave. He begged God to give Him victory, to come out of that experience and resurrect. Since He was 100% man (as well as 100% God), since He endured the temptations that we all face, when He came down to be a man, He took a great risk. Unless you believe that there was no possibility that He could have sinned—but then He wasn’t like man. (That whole subject is a debatable issue). (4) As a man, He renounced His heavenly position. He didn’t come as a king, or a priest; He was constantly faced with the accusatory question, “By what authority do you do this?” He came as an ordinary person. (5) He allowed His creation to kill him. That wouldn’t have been so bad if it were a heroic death, with at least "Taps" playing, or his name sketched on a wall, or buried somewhere special. But it was the death on the cross—the most ignominious death that anybody could suffer. So here we have Jesus—who went from the absolute top to the absolute bottom—by choice. It wasn’t a “have to” putting down, it was a voluntary humbling. He chose this. This is the mind of Christ. He modeled humility, obedience, and self-humbling. People, we should always take the “low road” of humility—that’s always the right road.
As Philippians says, because He did this voluntarily, God highly exalted Him. Scripture says to us, “he that humbles himself, God will exalt him.” That’s a promise. God will take care of your reputation, but that's in heaven.
Now let’s move from the mind of Christ to how Jesus acted in His kingdom. Matthew 5, the Beatitudes, shows how He exemplified the kingdom in His experience. Many phrases begin with “Blessed.” What does that word mean?—to be envied. God is backing up each of these behaviors with tremendous promise; and to place yourself in His will, means He will pour out His promise on us—this is the best place to be.
The first character is: “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” This means we are a learner—able to get down off our high horse, lay aside all prejudices, all biases, and sit there like a child—and learn. By reading Scripture with fresh eyes, by meditating on it. Most people can’t do that. Louis Pasteur discovered the germ theory of disease. They didn’t even know about germs. Many people died of infection, since doctors and nurses wouldn’t even wash their hands going to surgery, or from one patient to another. But despite all his data proving the lowered mortality where simple washing of hands were done, he couldn’t convince any of them, and he was heartbroken. Going to all the trouble of washing, washing, washing was stupid, they said. They were educated! You are only a chemist. “We are doctors! We have been trained—you have not. You are not going to tell us.” Folks, you won’t get into the kingdom until that attitude is done. Did you know Jesus was a learner? You didn’t think He had to learn anything, did you? He had to learn what it felt like in flesh to obey, when you're tired, when you are in pain. And all who follow Him are learners, ready to obey—no matter what it costs. Dismiss your preconceptions. Learn.
“Blessed are they that mourn.” The Bible says that some won’t see the kingdom of God; but once you want Christ, you get a whole new set of eyes. You begin to really see the world—and you’re not laughing anymore at its jokes. You’re not laughing anymore at its sitcoms, which picture no real family, or stupid fathers (or no fathers, or gay parents), or its version of hypocritical preachers. That’s how they think of God's laws. That stuff’s not funny anymore. I heard a sermon that somebody can tell what you are by seeing what you cry about. Most people cry about their own problems; you will be crying about the needs of your heart, and the needs of the world. Sam Hadley was the leader of the Bowery Mission. He had been a drunk on the street and had been converted and now was the leader of the Mission. One evening he had Charles Alexander, who was the singer for Billy Sunday, come to the Mission to sing. After the meeting, Charles Alexander said, “I would like to see the Bowery.” So Sam Hadley took him in his car around to all its places. Afterwards, Sam said goodbye. Charles Alexander walked around the corner. And just as he got around the corner, he thought he heard somebody cry. As he turned around and walked back, there was Sam Hadley, leaning against a lamp post, saying “Oh, God! The sin of this city breaks my heart!” He couldn’t contain his crying. That’s the attitude you will have toward the world, the broken world you live in, all its shortcomings. Learn about how people are treated in countries besides your own. It's an eye-opener. Your reaction should Not be just thanking God you were born in a country that treats people this way. Your own sorrow for your inability. But the Word says you will be comforted; you will begin to see results—if you respond in that way to your own sin, and the sins of the world. You’ll see healing, and changes take place.
“Blessed are the meek.” Meek people are gentle. They’re mild. They’re harmless. The Word says, “wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.” They’re strong people, but it’s strength under discipline. They don’t ever lash out, they don’t hurt other people. They use their strength in other ways. A strong man who sets down beside that little boy, and teaches him or her with patience; that’s a picture of meekness. You can afford to be meek, I’ll tell you why. If you’re part of the Kingdom, the universe is on your side. In the Old Testament, you remember Sisera? He came charging down over those hills, with his iron chariots, and there was the Israeli standing army. He thought, “This is a lead-pipe cinch,” but there was a thunderstorm upstream, and the whole valley was flooded, and his chariots got stuck, and he ran into the tent of Jael, went to sleep, and she drove a stake through his head…and he was dead. You know what the Bible says? “The stars from their courses fought against Sisera.” (Judges 4:12-23; 5:20). Now, if you’re against the God who directs the universe, you’re not going to win. But you can afford to be meek, because the whole universe is behind you. You will win, because God’s Kingdom will not fail. So you can afford not to "get even" with people, and manipulate to make your “program” work. Just let it go. And do what’s right. You’re not a weakling. But you will not force, you will not hurt, you will not use those kind of tactics on anybody. Remember the promise for being meek: “And they shall inherit the earth.” Slavery disappeared in the Roman Empire; and all the Christians did was obey the Gospel. It was done without any violence.
Next. “Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness.” We’re talking about being right. You will be blessed because that is what you were made for. You are not constitutionally made, or physically made to hate, or have anger, or revenge. You were made to love. What is it to be merciful? To feel pain when others have pain. The word for compassion literally means, the spleen. If you have a deep deep concern for someone who is in trouble, your digestive system will tell you about it.
“Blessed are the pure in heart.” Those who are sold out for God; their heart of desire has nothing else in it--just desire for God. This person will see God. They will really learn to know who God is. There are lots of people who have real problems with God—but if they purify their hearts, they can really know Him and His love. He is benevolent, gracious, extravagant.
“Blessed are the peacemakers.” To be just like God. He is a peacemaker. Think of Ephesians 1:10: “that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him.” If there is any place that you experience a problem, you will have a passion to reconcile.
And finally, “Blessed are the persecuted.” That is where the greatest power that is ever on this earth is released—when a person suffers for Christ. Martyrs often rejoiced at death's door, for they understood something we don’t understand. When the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of the world clashes, something supernatural is going to happen.
May God help us to develop these characters, truly following our Savior—and helping to build His Kingdom.
Acknowledgement: This is a Summary of speech from John M. Martin, the Anabaptist Identity Conference, 2010, Florida
No comments:
Post a Comment