Christ Our Coming King

The Promised Return

   Imagine you were those early disciples, on that hill far away, and your Rabbi, your Teacher and Leader, your Messiah - the One you saw executed and have now seen risen from the grave - is getting ready to ascend back to heaven. He is about to leave you, AND leave you in charge. What are you feeling? What are you thinking? No doubt those yet-to-be-Spirit-filled Christ-followers were feeling somewhat uncertain. Unsteady. In-TIMID-ated. Somewhat daunted by the daunting prospect of taking over this Gospel enterprise which had been launched by the very Son of God. No doubt in part they desired greatly to go with Him, wherever He was about to go.

“Where I am going, you cannot come…”, Jesus had said to them (Jn. 8.21, Jn. 13.33). But He had also left them with a promise - multiple mind-boggling yet comforting promises, in fact. “I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you” (Jn. 16.7). “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever…And He will be IN you” (Jn. 14.16-17). Christ would be absent bodily, but His Spirit would always be with them, helping them to follow in His steps and build His church.  He had also promised them, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Mt. 28.20). Through His in-dwelling Spirit, Christ would be more than just with them - He would be IN them, closer than any ordinary companion. And that, forever. But there was more.

“I will come again…” (Jn. 14.3, Jn. 14.18). “The Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels…coming in His kingdom…” (Mt. 16.27-28). They could look forward to the glorious prospect of a promised reunion! Messiah would be coming back to reign as King, and set everything right.

All too soon, their Savior and Lord ascended into heaven - and as they stood there still gazing, angels themselves showed up and repeated this promise: …“Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go…” (Acts 1:11).

Coming back, coming again in glory, in His Kingdom - as King. The prophets had long foretold of this (second) coming. The promised Son of David, first laying down His life as the Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world, and finally coming to reign as King. “‘Behold, the days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; and He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land’” (Jer. 23:5). “There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore” (Is. 9.7).

One passage of Scripture - Revelation chapter 20 - talks specifically about a period of one thousand years, when Satan is bound and thrown into the abyss, and when Christ will rule as king (Rev. 20.2-6). A millennium (from the Latin words, mille, meaning 1000 and annus, meaning year) - the word is used six times in that passage. After this millennium, Satan will be released for one last battle and will be defeated and thrown into the lake of fire forever and ever (Rev. 20.7-10), where he will be joined by all those whose names are not in the Lamb’s book of life (Rev. 20.15). Those whose names ARE in the book of life will be brought into a new Jerusalem, part of a new heaven and a new earth, and there they will reign with the Lord forever and ever (Rev. 21.1-2, 27, 22.5).  There is some disagreement among sincere Christians over whether this 1000 year reign is literal or more figurative, whether is precedes the eternal reign of Christ, or perhaps is already in play somehow?  Regardless, the Bible and Jesus make it crystal clear - He IS coming back, and He is coming back as King!

The Rapture of the church

   Revelation portrays two significant events which immediately precede this return, this second coming of Christ.  First, in Rev. 19.6-9, we see the marriage supper of the Lamb. The New Testament repeatedly presents Christ as a bridegroom - and His bride is the church (cf Mt. 9.15, Jn. 3.29, Eph. 5.23,32).  In antiquity a groom would lead a procession to the bride’s house, whence he would escort her back to his home for a wonderful marriage supper. We understand this scene in Revelation as being that time just before Christ returns as King when He comes to gather the church, His bride, and escort her back to a marriage supper in heaven.  Somehow all those who have truly trusted in Christ’s death on the cross for the forgiveness of their sins will be translated and caught up into the clouds to meet the Lord in the air in that moment (1Th. 4.16-17). These will be gathered from the four corners of the earth, all those who have put their faith in Christ as Savior, both those saints who are alive when Christ comes for His bride as well as all those Christ-followers who had died prior to His return (1Th. 4.14-15, Mt. 24.31). This event has come to be called the rapture, which comes from the Latin word, rapturo, meaning “caught up”.

The exact timing of this rapture and the associated events is mostly uncertain, and that by design. Christ Himself specifically stated that even He didn’t know the exact day or hour - only His Father knew (Mt. 24.36). This return is repeatedly described as being like the coming of a thief in the night. Which means three things - you don’t know when he is coming, but he will come suddenly, and so you better be prepared for his coming (Mt. 24.27).

Having said that, Scripture gives us signs which will let us know that His coming is close at hand. The earth will be in great distress - wars, famines, earthquakes, plagues (Mt. 24.7). Covidemic, anyone? There will also be a time of great persecution for God’s people (Mt. 24.9). Many will fall away and false prophets will arise (Mt. 24.10-11). The good news is that in the midst of all this the Good News of the Kingdom of Christ will finally be preached in the whole world to all the nations (Mt. 24.14). 

Then on the heels of the rapture comes a second significant event. In Rev. 19.11-21 we see a great battle, where the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gather to make war against Christ and the armies of heaven. Christ will of course vanquish these foes and usher in His kingly reign.

Christ’s Return and World Missions

   

The early church was so convinced of the imminence of Christ’s return, they sincerely believed they would see Christ return as King during their lifetime. They longed for His return with eager anticipation - they even talked about trying to hasten His return (1Cor. 1.7, 1Th. 4.15, Jam. 5.8, 1Pet. 4.7, 2Pet. 3.12, 1Jn. 2.18, Rev. 22.20). From the vantage point of 2000 years hence, it is perhaps not unreasonable for some today to question just how imminent Christ’s return really is. For all we know, we could be waiting another 1000 years. And yet, that is entirely not the point. In this season, in this day, as He did at the first, Christ still asks believers to live like He IS coming back soon. Any day now.

Christ is coming back as King. Any day now. He said, be ready. Hang in there and be faithful - and preach the Gospel to all the nations, make disciples of all the nations. And be ready. Be on the alert.  He asks us to live faithfully, as faithful and sensible servants who are all about their Master’s business until such time as He returns (Mt. 24.45-46). While we wait for Him to return we are urged to live soberly and to conduct the Lord’s business - which is helping our neighbors and the nations learn about Him. It’s daytime, business hours - now is the time for working, not for sleeping or frivolous living (1Th. 5.4-7). We are urged to live our lives with an urgency that is informed by both the seriousness and the scope of the task - He is coming back really soon, and only those who have believed the Good News about Him will spend eternity in paradise with Him. 

The whole world needs to hear - and this works on two levels.  People need to hear, because they are lost without Christ and they are running out of time, AND it looks like Christ will in fact NOT return until the Gospel has been preached in all nations. And the church needs to tell them - we are the custodians of this Good News. Now is not the time to be wasting time. It’s harvest time - the fields are white and ready to be harvested, people are ready to believe if only someone will tell them (Mt. 9.37, Jn. 4.35). 

Every farming family knows that when the harvest is ready, it’s all hands on deck. Time to move out. The Lord hasn’t given us a set of pajamas or some cushy bath robe - He’s given us a suit of armor, by which we can build and advance His kingdom not only in our own hearts and families but to all the families of the earth. Now is the time to be loving our neighbors well - with the life-changing Good News about Jesus (Rom. 13.10-11).

And let’s be honest, there ARE these signs, everywhere, increasingly so, aren't there? The earth is teetering on the edge - all these things Christ said would increase are on the rise.  Famines, plagues, earthquakes, persecution - and the Gospel of the Kingdom is spreading. The good news is that the nations are hearing the Good News!  

Now, when A.B. Simpson launched the Alliance, we were in what was the second phase of Protestant world missions - inland missions. William Carey helped to inaugurate the first phase - going out, going to the coastlands. Hudson Taylor helped pioneer the transition to interior/inland missions - but the focus was still very much on borders. The “nations” were understood to be the 200 or so geopolitical entities of the earth - vis a vis the Great Commission, the sense was that the church "simply” needed to get the Gospel into these nations. And so at the turn of the 19th century, every new country opened for the Gospel meant one step closer to the return of Christ - a great cause for celebration (which I believe accounts in part for the fascination with country flags in the Alliance)! This eschatology definitely informed the missiology.

But then Donald McGavran and Cameron Townsend ushered in a third phase in the mid-20th century, where we began to focus on more socio-economic borders within nations, such as language and caste, where we realized that the Gospel needs to penetrate into dozens and even hundreds of different languages and classes of people within every country.  “Pan ta ethne” (“all the nations” in the Greek) literally means, all ethnicities. Every tribe AND tongue will (is intended to) be represented around the throne in heaven. I wonder if perhaps those early disciples who were convinced that Christ would return in their lifetime had any inkling as to just how many ethnic peoples still had yet to be reached with the Good News? There were and still are many many peoples who have yet to hear about Jesus. Hundreds, thousands even. They have gone centuries without a hint of the Gospel in their tribe or village. And how will they hear unless someone tells them? “Who will go for us?”, asks the Lord. The task is as urgent today as it was for the early church. Even as Christ’s return draws ever nearer.

My personal understanding of Christ our Coming King

   There are mind-numbing multiple interpretations as to when and how all these things will take place. Sincere, intelligent believers lined up all over the place, at odds even with one another. Amillennial. Postmillennial. Promillennial. Premillennial. Pretrib. Midtrib. Posttrib. My marked preference is to try to keep my ball out of the weeds and focus on the essentials. Here’s what I see in Scripture:

Jesus is coming back. Of this, there can be no doubt. He said He would. The angels said He would. His disciples said He would. It’s only a question of when, not if.  But His return is more than just a jovial reunion. He is coming back as King. The King of kings. And as Judge. Final judgment. For some, there will be great reward. For others, there will be great mourning (Mt. 24.30, Rev. 1.7). All the nations of the earth will see Him - somehow, at some point. At some point, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and King (Phil. 2.10).

I see that as the end draws near, there will be these "labor pains", signs that Christ is getting ready to return. Signs in the sky, in the sun and the stars. Signs on the earth, wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes and plagues and famines, perplexity and dismay (Lk. 21.10-11, 25). I see the Gospel going forth and being preached to all the nations (Mt. 24.14). Many people will name the name of Christ, increasingly so as the end draws near - but not all will truly trust in Him as their Savior and Lord. Some will think they are Christians because they did some ritual or some great thing. I see that some - many - sadly will fall away. And I see hatred. Hatred of Christians - “you will be hated by all because of My Name,” Jesus said (Mt. 10.22). Parents and brothers and relatives and friends - turning against one another (Lk. 21.16). God’s people will need great perseverance to endure great persecution (Mt. 24.13, Lk. 21.19, Lk. 21.36). Perseverance, faith which endures to the end, of course, is the defining characteristic of all born-again believers in Christ (Rom. 2.7, Rom. 5.3, Heb. 10.36, Jam. 1.3, 2Pet. 1.6).

I see that the Church needs to never forget that we have a mission. We are the light of the world, a city on a hill.  We have been entrusted with the Good News. While we wait in eager anticipation for the return of our King, we must be about His business.  Spreading the Good News of the Kingdom. Making disciples of all the nations.

But still, many will not be ready for His return, in spite of the signs, in spite of repeated warnings. “I am coming quickly…” (Rev. 2.15, 3.11), “like a thief…” (Rev. 3.3, 16.15). The time is short, and the Lord is near, Paul said (1Cor. 7.29, Phil. 4.5). Jesus said, “You too, be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at a time when you do not expect” (Lk. 12.40). “Be watching and be on the alert” (Mk. 13.33).

In Acts 1, right before Jesus leaves, the disciples ask, “Is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority.  But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”  

His response is basically, this other stuff is not what you need to be focused on. Focus on being about My business, telling people about Me - that’s why I am leaving and giving you My Spirit.  This then is our response.  May the Lord give us the grace and unity to be about His business until He comes.  Even so, come quickly, King Jesus...

Christ Our Healer

 The relationship of "divine healing" and the atonement

Divine healing can be understood on two levels. In one sense it can be seen as God providing supernatural healing for someone, most likely as a result of prayer alone apart from any natural means, apart from any form of medicine or medical treatment. “Divine healing” is also a term employed by some evangelicals over the years, used to refer to what is seen as a veritable guarantee of physical healing and vitality available to believers in Christ in order to allow them to further the work of the Gospel.  It is available to Christians, but not necessarily standard - not all believers automatically experience this.  They must come to a place of deeper trust in and surrender to the person and work of Christ in order to enter in to this deeper experience of the healing power of Christ for His children.

Before He was crucified, we see that Jesus’ earthly ministry consisted primarily of two things: teaching and proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom of God, AND healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness [Mt. 4.23-24, Mt. 9.35].  The Gospels mention multiple occasions when Christ actually performs miracles of healing either before preaching the Gospel, or without even doing so [Mt. 14.14, Mt. 15.28, Mt. 15.30, Mt. 19.2, Mt. 21.14].  The point being, our Savior clearly placed significant emphasis on healing as an integral part of His ministry.

We see the integral role of healing in the advent of the Kingdom still further when Jesus sent out the twelve [Mt. 10.1, 5-8].  They were to go and preach the message of the kingdom - AND to heal.

Physical healing was a telltale sign of the advent of Messiah.  Jesus Himself said that this combination of proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom along with healing meant that people should have no doubts as to who He was [Lk. 7.20-23].  His coming and His ministry - including this aspect of physical healing - were the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy [Is. 35.3-6].

"By His scourging we are healed.  He bore our sicknesses and carried our pains."  Thus declared the prophet Isaiah [Is. 53.4-5].  We understand this passage as looking ahead to the work of Messiah on the cross, where He was pierced through for our transgressions.  Some insist that the healing referred to here by Isaiah should be seen by New Testament believers as referring primarily to spiritual healing, the removal of our spiritual sickness (i.e. our sins) by the blood of Christ.  Yet Matthew specifically says that this passage finds its pre-crucifixion fulfillment in the (physical) healing ministry that we see Jesus carrying on in Capernaum [Mt. 8.1-17].  In one day we see Jesus heal a leper, heal a centurion’s servant, heal Peter’s mom, and that evening we read that He heals many who are demon-possessed and all who are ill.  God inspires Matthew to apply the passage in Isaiah to acts of physical healing. Thus we see a passage which many understand to refer to the work of Christ on the cross also being understood as predicting physical healing as being a part of the work of Christ.

It stands to reason that since we understand that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever [Heb. 13:8], that He would still be working acts of divine, supernatural healing through those He sends out.  In fact, we do read about gifts of healings in 1Corinthians 12. Strangely however, while it is clear that healing did play a significant role in the ministry of Jesus and the apostles, there are relatively few mentions of healing outside of the Gospels and Acts (in fact there are only three verses outside of 1Cor. 12 that mention healing).  So the question then becomes, not does God still work divine supernatural acts of healing today, not does He command elders to pray for the sick, but rather, is there a special provision, ostensibly a guaranteed one, of physical healing (and vitality) in the atonement available to those who have put their trust in the work of Christ on the cross, and does Scripture in fact teach this?

Now, concerning this idea of divine healing, A.B. Simpson taught that the subsequent atoning work of Christ on the cross provided not only a guarantee of spiritual healing for our transgressions but also a guarantee of physical healing and vitality.  In his view, this divine healing was made just as available to believers in the work of Christ on the cross as was salvation. However, Simpson maintained that divine healing was to be found only in a deeper level of absolute surrender to the will of God, of forsaking any and all sin, and of separation from any attachment to the things of the world.  It’s available - but you’ve got to go much “deeper” with Christ to access it.

Evangelical Christians understand that we are saved through faith alone and not through works [Eph. 2.8-9].  No ifs, ands, or buts. So I guess my question is, how is it that there could be one level of faith in what Christ did on the cross which is sufficient to access total, eternal spiritual healing and every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ (Eph. 1.3], but there is some normative physical blessing provided by the same work of Christ yet which is only accessed by a deeper level of surrender? And where is this mentioned in Scripture?  I just don’t find a clear Scriptural basis for this secondary level of blessing.

No doubt there is anecdotal evidence. We read about how God did this for Simpson - and how He has done this for others. Can and does God use crises of spirit and mind and body in order to bring believers to greater levels of surrender?  Does He manifest His presence to some of His servants in remarkably indescribable ways?  Does He impart both vision and healing and a markedly greater level of spiritual vigor and ministry fruit subsequent to these visitations?  History is full of testimonies to this effect.  But not the New Testament.

Paul does describe his experience of visions and revelations in 2Cor. 12, a time at which he says he was caught up to the third heaven.  He mentions a trip to Arabia after his encounter with Christ on the Damascene road [Gal. 1:17] which many understand as being a time when he received direct revelations from the Lord.  There are some other occasions of visions and revelations and of course supernatural healings in Acts.  But the New Testament is otherwise strangely silent on this idea of God providing healing and health and vitality for believers if they can arrive to this deeper level of surrender and consecration in their faith.  It frankly sounds all too much like the poorer cousin of the so-called “Health/Wealth Gospel” - only minus the wealth part.  Christ will heal you - if only you have enough faith.  He will give you health - if you go deeper.

Simpson calls this a second, or deeper, baptism of the Spirit.  Is this something to be sought by those who follow Christ?  This secondary experience?  This healing?  This power and fruitfulness in ministry?  I would suggest that what has been imparted (to others) and what is to be sought is not these gifts or blessings per se but rather the Giver Himself.  Christ.  We make it our goal with Paul to know Christ, to gain Him, to be found in Him [Phil. 3.7-9].  By all means, we must seek to know Christ and count all things as manure compared to knowing Him. We surely must lose our taste for anything else in the light of His surpassing excellence. We gladly choose Him over any earthly thing, surrender all to Him, in order to gain Him. To live is Christ, indeed [Phil 1:21].

I do think that this is what happened for A.B. Simpson, that this was part of the journey the Lord had planned for him, that the Lord by His grace allowed Simpson to experience a crisis of spirit and of body and in driving him to a place of deeper surrender and dependence opened up the storehouses of heaven and supernaturally blessed him to be used of Christ in singular ways in his generation.

Is this secondary experience guaranteed to every believer?  I frankly don’t see it.  We still see sickness and death even in the lives of those who claim to have had this experience.  My concern is that the surrender can become a work, a means to an end.  If I have enough faith, enough surrender, then I will get all this healing and power. It is like Simon in Acts 8:18-23 - he is more interested in gaining the gift of healing, the authority and power of being able to distribute it to others, than he is in gaining the Christ Who heals.  May we with Peter have the grace to discern the difference, and press on with Paul to gain Christ!

The significance of prayer and anointing by the elders

One of the more significant (and again, one of the glaringly few) mentions of healing in the epistles is found in the book of James.  James 5.14 gives us explicit instructions, that believers who are sick (the word is weak) are to call for the elders of the assembly (this is an imperative) to anoint them with oil and pray over them in the name of the Lord, and verse 15 then promises that the prayer of faith (i.e. this one offered by these elders) will heal (the word is save) the one who is sick, that the Lord will raise them up.  The tense of the verbs “will heal” and “will raise up” is future indicative - which means it is a future fact, what we understand as a promise.  This is a promise, a very powerful one at that.  Elders who are offering prayer for the sick in their congregation can take their stand of faith on this tremendous promise of Scripture.  James then reinforces this instruction with another incredible truth in verse 16: the empowered prayer of a righteous man is very strong. It accomplishes much. But the salient point here points us to the Lord as the Source of power - for both the prayer and the healing. We don’t trust in the elders or in the oil or in the prayer in and of themselves but rather in the Lord.  It is vitally important that we don’t put any stock in the means through which the Lord chooses to use to effect His work, but only in the Lord Himself.

It should not go without saying that James mentions in that same verse 16 the importance of confession of sin. The one who would have the elders pray for them must be willing to confess and forsake any area of their life in which they are knowingly disobedient to the Lord.

The ministry of healing in the local church

While James 5.14-16 is the only mention of this practice in the entire Bible, it gives God’s people a practical guide for what a ministry of healing can and should look like in a local assembly of believers.  Note that this passage presupposes of course that believers are part of such an assembly (which is not always the case), and that such an assembly actually is led by elders (also not always the case).

We all know there have been some charlatans throughout the years who have turned a ministry of healing into a show, into a cult of personality.  There have been ones who have pretended to heal but were nothing more than scam artists.  Unfortunately, these abuses and misuses have turned many into skeptics, wary of any overt public displays of prayer for healing.

There are other situations where times of prayer or of fielding prayer concerns can be dominated by seemingly endless requests of prayer for Aunt Sally’s sciatica and little Bobby’s toothache.  We care about all Sally’s and Bobby’s but sometimes we let these concerns distract us from the real point of what God is wanting to do in and through His people.  And that is the real point - that God is the main point in all of this.

We come to God often under the mistaken assumption that it is all about us, all of us - pastors, ministry leaders even.  We come to Him to make us happy or healthy or comfy.  When in fact what God is after is making it all about Him.  And any ministry of healing in the local church must keep this front and center - Jesus must be front and center.  Pastoral prayers, in-home and hospital visits, elder-prayers for healing, both public and private prayers - these should all proceed under the banner of, Your Kingdom come, Your will be done [Mt. 6:10].  We are serving and following the almighty King of the universe, the One Who declares, “I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, nor My praise to graven images” [Is. 42:8].  Can and does God still heal today? Absolutely. Should God’s people pray for one another and ask God for healing and for strength? Most definitely. Should they invite elders to come and anoint them with oil and ask God to heal them? Most assuredly.  But in all these things, the church will do well to point out that God alone is the One Who can heal, He is the One Who determines the course of our lives, and whether or not He decides to heal, He is still supremely worthy of all our trust and adoration.

My personal experience of Christ as our Healer

What are some ways in which I have experienced Christ’s healing power in my life?  I honestly cannot point to any miraculous intervention.  I rarely get sick - whether this is an ongoing work of Christ or the fact that God designed me with a hearty constitution or tied to habits of diet and exercise or perhaps some combination of these, I cannot say.  I’ve dealt with times of illness and a few medical issues which have been healed, albeit more through time and use of “modern medicine”.  I have seen the Lord work healing in my heart as it relates to what was a not-insignificant level of insecurity and fear of failure.  He applied the biblical truths of grace and no condemnation for those who are in Christ to my heart and replaced that insecurity and fear with His peace.  I have prayed for healing for others - whether by myself or with others directly using anointing oil or as part of a broader response to a request for prayer regarding a health-related need.  Again, I have not seen what I could fairly describe as immediate supernatural intervention but many of these have recovered (whether this was through merely natural means or that the Lord saw fit to use these prayers, it is difficult to say, altho I choose to believe that my prayers and the prayers of others have and do make a difference).  But at the end of the day, I do believe what the Bible says when it shows us that Christ is our Healer and when it tells us to pray for healing, and I will continue to ask the Lord to heal for as long as He gives me the grace and strength to do so.

Christ Our Sanctifier

The crisis and progression of sanctification

Christ is our Savior! He has rescued us from so great a peril of death, of eternal separation from God. But to what end? Was the end He had in mind simply to get us out of hell and into heaven? Au contraire! He wants us to know Him AND to be like Him! “Be holy”, He says [Lev 11.45]. Our Creator God is holy, He is perfect, and He expects those He has made in His image to also be perfect. This indeed creates a crisis, because even after we come to know Christ as Savior, after we place our trust in His death on the cross as the all-sufficient payment for our sins, we can still struggle with sin. We are still living in these fallen bodies of flesh which war against what God wants. The good news is that Christ did much more than simply save us from sin’s penalty! His ongoing mission is not merely to give us eternal life, to get us into heaven at some unforeseen point in the future. He came to give us NEW life. Christ came not only to provide salvation - to save us from the penalty of sin, He also came to provide transformation - to save us from the power of sin. And we’re not talking about simply a fresh coat of paint on an old spiritual hovel. He didn’t come to merely slap some lipstick on a pig. This is a brand new quality of life. “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away, behold, new things have come” [2Cor 5.17].

The Lord has always expected His people, His children, to bear His image well - to reflect what He is like to the world. To be like Him. “But like the Holy One Who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy” [1Pet 1.15 - where Peter references God’s original command to His people Israel]. And really, who doesn’t want to be like their Dad?  Assuming He is a good dad - which is definitely the case with our heavenly Father! He is perfect, glorious - breathtakingly good! And He has called us to be like Him, increasingly so. “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit” [2Cor 3.18]. 

For those who are beholding the Lord, who are fixing their eyes on Christ as Savior, this transformation, this extreme spiritual makeover, is a lifelong journey which is called sanctification. It is the process of becoming more holy, more like Christ. And this transformed life is the fruit, the natural and expected outcome, of a truly repentant and regenerate heart. “Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance” [Luke 3.8]. Thankfully the foreman on this project is God Himself. “For I am confident of this very thing, that He Who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus” [Phil 1.6]. Christ is our Sanctifier, and He will faithfully further this work in our lives as we continue to trust in Him. We look to Him for salvation - and we look to Him for sanctification. What we observe - or should expect to observe then - in the life of a believer is this growth of holiness, a lifelong progression of thoughts and words and deeds which increasingly resemble this One Who actually began this good work in us. 

Conversely, it is reasonable to assume that one who professes to believe in Jesus but who gives no evidence of this transformation very likely has not truly trusted in Christ.  He likely does not know Jesus as Savior.  There should be this God-given hunger for holiness and a progression of holiness in the life of each and every believer. “For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification” [1Thess 4.7]. And while there may be times of struggle, perhaps some temporary waywardness or even doubting, holiness should be generally trending up in the life of every true Christ-follower.

Now there can also be these other points of crisis in this sanctification. “Therefore I urge you brethren by the mercies of God to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” [Rom 12.1-2]. Paul is talking about a point, a simple action, a decisive dedication of one’s entire self to the Lord, one which is entirely reasonable in light of all the mercy God has shown us in Christ. This is sometimes called a “Lordship decision”.  It is a point in time, a time of grateful and total surrender to the rule of Christ in my heart and life, coming to the place where I want Christ and what He wants more than anything else in the world. I want more than His salvation - I want Him, to know Him [Phil 3.10]. “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” [2Cor 7.1]. It is a crisis point, a time of going deeper with the Lord, an incremental leap if you will.

Some insist that there is no true salvation absent this level of surrender (what is referred to as “Lordship salvation”). Yet surely part of the journey of sanctification involves identifying areas of my life which are not yet surrendered to Christ. I have indeed trusted in Him as Savior, but I am constantly learning what surrender looks like in all the nooks and crannies of my life. Total surrender is a bit of a misnomer. Keep in mind that in Romans 12 Paul is writing to believers who have NOT made this decision. Nevertheless, it seems patently clear that all Christ-followers need and ought to be encouraged and urged to always pursue a deeper level of surrender to Christ as Lord.

Others suggest that there could be multiple such crises, times of surrender in the life of a sincere Christ-follower. Even Paul himself wrestled with a fickle heart, with the failings and weaknesses of his flesh. “For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body waging war against the law of my mind…” [Rom 7.22-23]. Whether in response to trials or infirmity, or to receiving new truth and understanding as to the breathtaking greatness of our infinite and blessed heavenly Father, it seems quite reasonable to maintain that there could be multiple crisis points of surrender, increasing levels of sanctification, multiple incremental leaps throughout the course of following Christ this side of heaven.

There are still others who give accounts of a critical inflection point subsequent to salvation, a deeper crisis of faith, which is accompanied by a deeper experience of Christ in connection with this surrender, even a tangible one. These times of personal crisis often (but not always) appear to be accompanied by various forms of healing or vision/setting apart for ministry. Often they appear to be followed by a new season of markedly more powerful and fruitful ministry. Some of these folks have concluded in turn that this kind of experience is universal, that it is to be sought by every believer.

I honestly believe there is a danger here, one of seeking and prioritizing an experience (one which in my opinion is not normative nor expressly mandated in Scripture), as opposed to seeking the Lord, of seeking to walk in increasing levels of surrender and devotion to Him - something which is definitely mandated throughout Scripture. “I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, that your minds should be led astray from the purity and simplicity of devotion to Christ” [2Cor 11.3]. We see that the assembly in Corinth was extremely zealous for the gifts and manifestation of the Spirit [1Cor 14.12], no doubt they were intoxicated by their experience(s) - but they lacked the fruit of the Spirit [1Cor 1.10-11, 3.1-4, 5.1-2, 6.7, 11.17-18, 11.21]. They lacked the basic love for one another, that which is the first mentioned of the fruits of the Spirit, that which is the greatest of these [1Cor 13.13], that which in fact is the goal of our instruction [1Tim 1.5]. Surely the greatest crisis of our day and in the church and in my own life is lack of love - for the Lord, as well as for one another. Surely we ought to seek and prioritize this! We must pursue and make progress in this! The Great Command AND the New Command. This is the mission! If I have gifts of tongues and prophecy and knowledge and faith to move mountains but do not have love, Paul says, I am nothing [1Cor 13.1-3].

Identification of the believer with Christ’s death, resurrection, and ascension

It is vitally important in this regard that we understand just who we are as believers in Christ. We have a new identity. We ARE these new creations - this is how we should see ourselves - and seeing this should transform how we live. Paul tells us that when we trust in Christ we are placed IN Christ, literally hidden with Him in God [Col 3.3]. Not only is His righteousness credited to our account, but we become joined to Him, united with Him in the likeness of His death and resurrection [Rom 6.4-7]. We are dead to sin - freed not only from its penalty but also its power over us, and raised to new life. He IS our life [Col 3.4]. We can (and should) be like Him - which is precisely the point. Like Him, bearing His image - this is what we were always meant to be, and who we now are!

We no longer have to live the way we did before we trusted Christ (nor should we). We can say no to sin. We don’t need to live in it any longer like the rest of the unbelieving world. Nor should we. We have (or should have) laid aside the old corrupt self like a ragged old robe, and have put on these brand new righteous threads [Col 3.9-10]. We are in essence wearing Jesus - this same One Who has conquered death, this One Who was tempted in all things like we are but Who never sinned [Heb 4.15]. We can walk in newness of life, the life of the risen and glorified Christ manifested in and through us. We can and should keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, this same One Who ascended to glory and sat down at the right hand of the Father [Col 3.1].

The ministry of the Holy Spirit in sanctification

No doubt the actual ascension of Christ left those early disciples feeling a bit helpless and even abandoned.  But Christ Himself said, “It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you” [Jn 16.7]. Of this Helper, the promised Holy Spirit - Christ said, “He will be IN you” [Jn 14.17b, emphasis mine]. We are in Christ, and His Spirit is in us - in each and every person who has trusted in Christ [Rom 8.9]. And Christ gave His disciples a promise right before His ascension: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you…”[Acts 1.8a].  You will receive power. This is a promise, and a caveat.

The thing is, the promised power to live a holy life, a life that is pleasing to God, does not reside in me. It doesn’t originate in my flesh. It comes from the Spirit of God Who indwells every Christ-follower. I am unable to make myself holy in my own strength, by my own efforts. “Walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh” [Gal 5.16]. “Do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with Spirit” [Eph 5.18b]. That which fills us controls us and produces a change in our behavior. The imperative verb there is present tense, ongoing, meaning “keep on being filled". Rather than being filled with something like wine - or anger or selfishness or fear - we are to be ongoingly controlled and empowered and transformed in our behavior and every aspect of our lives with and by the Holy Spirit. 

This is not a one-time experience, but an imperative for each and every believer to in fact walk in dependence and surrender to the indwelling Spirit of Christ moment by moment, every minute of every hour of every day. We give control to Him. Again, the metamorphosis from spiritual caterpillar to glorious butterfly is “by the Spirit” [2Cor 3.18]. He is indeed our indwelling ever-present Helper, helping us to become increasingly more like Christ in all our thoughts and deeds. Usually this is a gradual process, and yes there are those who experience crises or points of significant leaps forward in their devotion to Christ - but it is the same Spirit at work in all cases. This is why Paul calls the qualities of a holy life the “fruit of the Spirit”. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…” [Gal 5.22-23]. These characteristics of holiness, these unmistakeable traits of Christlikeness are the byproduct of His work in my life, a direct result of His help - such that they thus allow my life to truly rise to the level of the divine. The devil can actually counterfeit gifts of the Spirit, but he cannot counterfeit the fruit. There becomes no way to account for my life apart from the fact that it has been wrought by God’s Spirit.            

Christ Himself employed this metaphor of fruit bearing - “I am the Vine, you are the branches; he who abides in me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing” [Jn 15.5]. Just as a branch of a grapevine cannot produce fruit unless it remains vitally connected to the primary Vine, tapping into the Vine for all that is needed in order to bear fruit, so each and every believer in Christ must be tapping into Him in order to manifest the expected fruit of a holy life.

Surely the default setting of humanity is that of self-effort. Works. We are that little engine who could, gutting it out up the hills of life as best we can in our own strength. Religion in its basest form is man trying to work his way up that steep incline towards that ever-elusive goal of right standing with God. Self-righteousness is an oxymoron if there ever was one! Thus we understand in coming to Christ as Savior that we are saved by grace through faith alone. Yet that nasty old self-effort setting is not automatically overridden when someone trusts in Christ as Savior. This is why Paul had to admonish the believers in Galatia, “Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” [Gal 3.3]. The history of the New Testament church ever since that time is littered with leaders and churches and denominations which have layered works of righteousness onto the backs of the faithful. In every place we see many Christ-followers faithfully working to try and maintain and advance their right standing with God, perfecting their holiness.  Attending services and reading books and all the various sundry disciplines which are good and even beneficial yet none of which are primary in producing fruit and godly character. Christ is Vine Dresser. He is the One Who sanctifies. We begin by His Spirit - and progress by the same Spirit. I surrender to Christ. I trust in Him - for salvation, AND for sanctification.

My personal experience of Christ as Sanctifier

I did not grow up in the church, yet I was blessed to come to Christ through a ministry which stressed the importance of walking in the Spirit, of being filled with the Spirit. From Day One I learned that salvation and sanctification is not an emotional experience but a personal relationship with Christ whereby I receive Him and walk in Him by faith, lived out each day in the guidance and power of His Spirit, in dependence upon Him. I put my trust in Him and His work and in the truth of His Word and not in my feelings or feeble efforts. And I would say this has been my consistent experience, beginning and then continuing each day (most days?) in reliance upon Him, albeit imperfectly, of gradually seeing more of the fruit of the Spirit in my life, becoming more like Christ, seeing victory over sin and fruit in ministry. And I try to be open to and seeking still more of Him, more of Christ in and through my life, living by Him and for Him, for His glory.

I cannot say that I have yet had a significant secondary “crisis” of surrender. For me, trusting in Christ was indeed a point of surrender. There was no easy believe-ism in play. There was much at stake - nobody I knew back home was a Christian. It was a crisis point. I experienced another crisis point in surrendering to a call to full-time ministry, when a speaker challenged his audience to be willing to go anywhere, do anything for the sake of Christ and His Great Commission. I cannot say what the Lord may have in store for me in the future, be it crises or the more mundane slopes of gradual progress further up and further in, but I trust, by God’s grace and by His Spirit, that with Paul my life and words will ever and always increasingly affirm, “For from Him and by Him and for Him are all things - to Him be the glory forever, Amen” [Rom 11.36].

Christ Our Savior

The nature of man and his final destiny

In the beginning, God. God was there before the beginning. Eternally glorious.  Perfect. Breathtakingly good. In the beginning, God spoke, and made out of nothing everything (Gen 1.1). And it was very good (Gen 1.31). Perfect. In the beginning, God made man in His image, male and female, immortal souls, like Him not in His infinite perfections but rather as sentient, self-aware beings with the capacity to reflect (and reflect on) those perfections, to relate to God, to enjoy and celebrate His goodness, in Paradise, forever (Gen 1.27).

But man broke it. Not God. We chose something other, something less than God (Gen 3.6-8, Rom 1.21-23). Not God. We rebelled. We chose what we want, chose to do what we want, not God and what He wants (Rom 3.23). And we broke it. We broke what He made. Brokenness. Rampant, cascading. Tragic, horrific (Rom 1.28-32). We broke our relationship with God. And the consequences were catastrophic. With that fateful choice, death entered our world (Rom 5.12). Brokenness. Not good. Physical death - sickness, disease, bodies sooner or later breaking down until they die. The immortal gone mortal. Not good. And spiritual death - our spirits dead to Him and destined now to exist forever separated from Him and His goodness (Rom 6.23). Not good. There is none who does good, broken and bent from birth, bent on doing what I want instead of what God wants (Rom 3.10-12). This is what the Bible calls sin. Conceived in iniquity, we are. Born to transgress, unable to not sin. Our long night of rebellion against our breathtakingly good Creator. And all of creation broke right along with us. Paradise lost. The consequences of our rebellion. Not God —> not good.

This brokenness has continued, unabated, to this day, all of creation wearing out and wearing down (Rom 8.20-22). Our severed relationship with our Creator introduced brokenness into every facet of life on this planet, into all other relationships - how I relate to self, to others, to the world around me. Selfishness, fear, guilt, greed, hate, animosity, injustice, racism, exploitation (Gal 5.19-21). Evil. Not good. We don’t take care of ourselves or one another or the world around us - and a world full of evil hollas right back at us. Dealing out brokenness with indiscriminate abandon. No one is excepted.  No one is immune. Not God. Not good. We may not get to choose which particular version of brokenness comes our way, but when it comes to God, we don’t. We don’t come to God. We all go away, go astray, from birth, no lessons needed (Is 53.6).  Neither caught nor taught. We all choose to go our own independent way, born to sin like sparks fly upward (Job 5.7). We all fall short. And the penalty is death. Again, a spiritual death penalty. Forever separated from God and His goodness. That is my destiny (albeit not that for which I was designed). There is no escaping it - I must die. Unless - I could somehow find a substitute…

The plan and purpose of the atonement

But God. God had a plan. A plan to make a way back, back to Him. A plan to crush this rebellion (Gen 3.15). My sinful rebellion separated me from Him, incurred His wrath and deserved to be punished. But God, from the beginning, began to show us the blueprint for the way back. He gave us pictures of mercy, how He would one day remove sin and make it possible for us to be restored to a right relationship with Him. He had a plan to pay for our sin. Goodness restored.

The penalty of sin is death, and so the way to pay for sin is with blood. A blood sacrifice to atone for, or cover, sin. This is because life is in the blood. And because life is in the blood, without the shedding of blood (death) there is no removal or forgiveness of sin. What we see in Scripture is that right from the get-go, God began giving pictures of this truth. He killed animals, shedding their blood - the first recorded deaths - and using their skins to cover the nakedness and shame of the first couple (Gen 3.21). He sent a ram as a sacrifice in place of Abraham’s son (Gen 22.13). We see the Passover, where the shed blood of an unblemished spotless lamb caused God’s destroying angel to pass over the houses of His people (Ex 12.21-23), and which became an annual rite for God’s people as the Lord incorporated this into the entire complex Levitical system of sacrifices (Lev 9.6-7, 16.29-34). Lambs and calves and goats and bulls and birds - all pictures (albeit imperfect) of the blood which needed to be shed to pay for and cover and cleanse our sin (Heb 9.18-22). Atonement.

But these were indeed imperfect pictures, because the blood of animals cannot hope to atone for the sins of humans (Heb 10.4). There would need to be a better sacrifice (Heb 9.23) - human blood - and innocent blood at that. But God - He had a plan. He Himself would rescue us, save us - become our Deliverer, to deliver us from His righteous wrath revealed and poured out against our sin.  He would come to earth, become human, and sacrifice Himself for the sins of the whole world, for those who in fact had become His enemies, all us rebels. In the fullness of time, at just the right time in history, God sent His Son, the Lamb of God, as a once-and-for-all sacrifice, to die in our place on a cruel Roman cross and forever cover over our sins (Jn 1.29). The Atonement. God’s Son - Jesus - was born of a virgin in Bethlehem of Judea, conceived not in iniquity but absolute purity by the Holy Spirit (Mt 1.20). Perfect. Sinless. Born not to sin but to die (Mt 20.28). For you and for me. For the sins of the world (1Jn 3.5).

Not only did God give us multiple pictures of this, but through His prophets He also gave scores of advance messages as to the details of this incredible plan (Is 7.14, Is 53.5 et al). And then He did it. God did it. He made the way back by atoning for (covering) our sins with the blood of Jesus. Jesus is God’s appointed Messiah, Savior, the One Who saves us from the wrath to come, by His substitutionary death on the cross (Lk 19.10). He alone is the Way to find forgiveness for our sins and to be restored to a right relationship with our heavenly Father (Jn 14.6). Goodness restored.

The means and results of justification

How then does one lay hold of all this? How do you and I enter in to a restored right relationship with God, when - as we have just seen - Scripture makes it abundantly clear that God is the One Who did (and does) the heavy lifting?  Yes, He is the One Who did all the work. What is there left for you and me to do? Jesus said, it is finished (Jn 19.30). Is there anything for us to do? Some great feat of strength perhaps? Some noble deed? Some ritual, some sacrament? What is it we must do in order to make us right with God, for us to be justified in God’s eyes? Is there anything we must do or even could do to somehow further atone for our sins? Was Christ’s death insufficient or lacking in any way? May it never be. Jesus paid for, made purification for all our sins (Heb 1.3). There is nothing you or I can add to the atonement. Not one thing we need do to earn this salvation, this gift. For that it is - a free gift (Eph 2.8-9). Ours is to simply believe (Rom 4.5). We receive God’s forgiveness, we appropriate Christ’s substitutionary sacrifice on our behalf by faith (Rom 3.28). We are justified by faith, God makes us right with Him, when we choose to believe/trust that God did it all in Christ, that Jesus did in fact die and pay the penalty for every one of our sins on the cross.

Faith is the same as trust. The object of our faith is that in which we trust, for whatever outcome we desire. Usually, instinctively, we trust in our own efforts. It is second nature. If we desire to excel in a sport, we trust that our practice will make perfect. If we desire to get a good grade, we trust in our efforts to study. In the case of heaven, as we have already seen, however, our best efforts will not cut it (Tit 3.5). This is why we need to decisively transfer our trust from our own efforts, from our own works, to the work of Jesus Christ, to what He did on the Cross. This is how we become justified in God’s eyes - not by our own works, but by faith (2Tim 1.9). Trust in Jesus.

This was the message God gave to His people from the earliest times. The just live by faith (Hab 2.4). Abraham believed God, he trusted in God and His Word and His Way, and God credited it to him as righteousness (Gen 15.6, Rom 4.9). That was how Abraham was made right with God - God credited sinful Abraham with righteousness not for his own efforts, but when he put his faith, his trust in God. Faith is the way that all those who have gone before us gained approval with God (Heb 11.1-2). They trusted in Him - to deliver, to perform miracles, to provide, and to ultimately provide a Savior.

When we put our trust in Jesus, in His finished work on the cross, God credits Christ’s sacrifice to our account, and our sins are paid for. Every last one of them. God puts us in Christ. He takes all of our sins, and covers them with the blood of Jesus. They are forgiven, buried in the deepest sea, removed from us as far as the east is from the west (Ps 103.12). There is not even a reminder of them (Heb 10.17). And thus we are pronounced NOT GUILTY. He declares us righteous - He credits the righteousness of Christ to us (Rom 4.5). Totally clean in God’s sight. In His eyes, we have done everything right (Heb 10.14). Which of course is the entry requirement for heaven - but now we pass the test. Through faith in Christ. This is a free gift which we in no way deserve, can do nothing to earn. What we deserve is justice. But instead we get grace. God’s riches at Christ’s expense. And this gift, this eternally right relationship with God, is forever - it will never be taken away (Rom 8.38-39).

My personal experience of Christ as Savior

I grew up in a home where these truths were unknown. My family never went to church. There was no talk of God or heaven or Jesus in our house (except in epithets). No talk of sin, no talk of grace or forgiveness. There may have been a Bible. But Sunday morning was a time to sleep in, or, depending on the season, hit the slopes or head over to Buffalo to watch the Bills. Ours were the values which made America great - liberty, hard work, rugged individualism - this meant freedom to choose your own path, and whatever path you’re on, you just do your best to reach your goal. Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps. Success. And success came to be defined in strictly temporal terms. Good education, good job, good house, good spouse, good kids - and of course hopefully at least a good amount of attendant happiness tied in to all that. All good - presumably. But not God. God was left out. A great unknown - or an afterthought, at best. Irrelevant. I was an agnostic - if I even understood what that meant. I didn’t say there was no God, I just didn’t believe in anything, nor did I feel the need to. Just me.

When I went off to study engineering at Virginia Tech, I met some guys who said they had a personal relationship with God. This was a completely foreign concept to me. They took the time to explain the message of the Bible to me - again, foreign concept. They invited me to consider the truth claims of Scripture. As I looked into the reliability of the Bible, the reality of fulfilled prophecy and the empty tomb, I gradually became convinced that it was true - in my head. But my heart lagged behind. I imagined that life with God would be rather dull and dreary, not at all attended by happiness. I figured God would make my life miserable, make me marry an ugly wife and ship me off to Africa or some place as a missionary, eat bugs the rest of my life. Not good at all.

These guys also invited me to some meetings on campus. I was seeing and spending time with people who had a happiness, a joy and a peace about them that I knew I didn’t have. They didn’t need alcohol or sex or any of the other things the unbelieving world looks to in the vain attempt to fill the God-shaped hole in our heart.  Once my mind and my heart were in full agreement that I did need to deliberately trust in Jesus for myself, I asked Him to forgive my sins and give me eternal life. Which He did, just as He promises in His Word.

I didn’t sprout wings or a halo or hear a chorus of angels singing halleluia. But overnight, things were different. I knew I was going to heaven. I knew I was forgiven - AND I knew this One Who had forgiven me. He was now MY Father in heaven. He had brought me into His forever family. That WAS good! When I prayed and read His Word, it all made sense. It all connected, because I was now connected to Him. And I had this inexplicable connection to all these other believers in Christ - they were really family. Brothers and sisters in Christ. Lots of good!

It wasn’t long before the entire trajectory of my life changed. It was no longer just me, all about me. In the end, it was about God, and learning to make it all about Him. It was about knowing Him through His Son, Jesus. Knowing Him better, how good He really is - AND helping others come to know Him, just as I had. Spreading the message of forgiveness through Christ. Do you know Him, I wonder? Have you trusted in Christ our Savior as YOUR Savior, for the forgiveness of your sins?

(Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible, The Lockman Foundation, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995)

1Timothy 6:18-19 - Wait, Our Goal IS To Get Rich?

”...[Instruct them] to be working good, to being rich in beautiful works, to being generous, sharing...laying up to themselves a beautiful foundation unto the [time] being about to, in order that they should take hold of the indeed life.”

(looks like we need to take these two verses together, since they are pretty inseparable)

-As we are fixing our hope on the God Who richly supplies us will all good things, which we gratefully enjoy with gratitude, our Source AND our Destination, we pass it on.  We are not Dead Sea people, everything flowing in and nothing flowing out.  We are not termini - we are conduits.  All the good and beautiful things which God does for us and has given to us - we are His means of passing those on to those around us.  To our neighbors and to the nations.

-And yes, our goal is to get rich - but not that way.  The account we’re looking to grow doesn’t exist at some bank or brokerage.  It is a heavenly account, one which stores up these beautiful works - but it is not some sealed vault.  We are not saving them for a rainy day - no, these get credited to our account when we give them away.  Yes, I know that’s counter-intuitive, isn’t it?  What account grows as we actually give away that which we are trying to accumulate?  Nevertheless, this is the economy of heaven.  Give it away - and you get to keep it.  Forever.  Isn’t that precisely what Jesus taught?  Give it away, give it all away, give your life away - and you’ll get to keep it forever.  Give away these beautiful works, slather them on extra thick, cup overflowing and running over.  Give away so many of these beautiful works to those around you that you spoil them rotten.

-It is the abundance mentality.  Generous and ready to share.  What’s mine is yours.  Sharing.  One of the lessons of earliest youth - whatever God has entrusted to me is meant to be shared.  In this game, the real life game of life, we win not by getting more than the other poor chap next to me, but by sharing.  Again, it is counter-intuitive.  But we are thinking of a world which is not of this world.  A kingdom where things operate differently.  Where me-first doesn’t fly - it doesn’t even exist.  Yet this is our destiny.  This is life indeed, life as it was always meant to be.  Not living for me, trying to make myself rich with the perishable baubles and trinkets of this fallen temporal frame.  No, we are all the time laying a foundation, building a portfolio which will survive not just into the future but beyond the future.  Life indeed.  The Indeed Life, Paul calls is.  Life eternal.  That which we were always meant to live.  Entrance into golden streets of that glorious realm is not gained by scrimping and saving up for me-myself-and-I.  Give it away.  Whatever I have - I hold with an open hand.  Ready to share.  Ready to meet needs.  That’s the heavenly way.  The way to the heavenlies.