WHAT A MIGHTY GOD WE SERVE! MAY HIS WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN!
When James B. Sullivan was pastor of the First Baptist Church at Pascagoula, Mississippi, he told about three ladies who traveled to New Orleans to attend a concert featuring a world renowned pianist. Upon their return home, Dr. Sullivan described how each of them recalled their concert experience:
One lady adored the dresses and hats worn by all the other women - fashions she had never seen! Another could not get over the mechanics of the pianist as his fingers manipulated the keys from one end of the keyboard to the other. The third lady (an accomplished musician) could not find words to express the ecstatic thrill and the soul-stirring inspiration that had been imparted to her by the touch of a master artist.
"When we all get to heaven", proclaimed Dr. Sullivan, "we will be in the same heaven, but our ability to appreciate the wonders of it all, and to experience the full impact of all that God has prepared for those who love Him, will depend on how well His children have grown and developed spiritually in the here and now."
And folks: When we get to heaven and meet with Jesus our Master, do not be surprised to learn that we are still enrolled in His School of Discipleship, but, that we have attained postgraduate status for continuing our spiritual growth and development!
What a Mighty God! He masterminded a marvelous, inclusive, everlasting way to be saved by grace through faith in three stages: redemption ... sanctification ... glorification!
What a Mighty God! He masterminded a way of salvation before His creation of the heavens and the earth and all that therein exists for the use and enjoyment of His crown of creation - mankind - out of which would emerge His Family - made possible by the redemptive work of His Son - Ephesians 1:3-6 --- "He chose us in him". Two points to bear in mind:
(1) "He chose us" - God's election of us prior to Creation: After the creation of paradise (the Garden of Eden) in which mankind was placed for fellowship with and worship of God - perfect scenario in keeping with God's perfect Will¬ sin separated mankind from God and rendered humanity spiritually dead.
(2) “In Him” - Paul's reason for writing this letter: To underscore the believer's new spiritual position in Christ as opposed to the believer's old sinful position in Adam. Paul emphasizes how Christ saved us from spiritual death and how He wants us to live out our identity with Him in the world in view of the reality that not everyone in the world believes in Christ nor accepts Christian doctrine.
To dramatize his point, Paul started with an exclamation: Praise God for spiritual blessings in Christ! "Praise be to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ!" Believers are blessed with salvation + adoption into the family of God. To be in Christ is to be in God’ s Family! To show us how important we are to God our Maker, Paul said let me tell you:
God's plan for salvation and adoption was determined before Creation!
Because of His omniscience, God foreknew sin would enter into the heart of man ...
Because of His great love for us, God would provide a way to escape sin's penalty plus be restored to a right relationship with Him.
God's provision of the way to escape spiritual death plus inherit new life was predestined to be His Son who would be sent into the world - not to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved. In order for God's perfect will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven, a perfect sacrifice would be required. Thus, God's perfect Son was chosen (elected) to serve as God's perfect provision.
God in His sovereignty elected a way of salvation ... took the initiative ... exercised His divine will to make His Jove for His creation known so that whoever chooses to repent and be restored to perfect fellowship with Him, would have a way for that to happen.
God, by His sovereign will, not only elected (chose) the way of salvation but also elected (chose) to save all repentant sinners who: believe "in God's Son as God's provision". . ·. accept Jesus Christ as the only means of salvation ... grow in Christ - "in the grace that God has lavished on us in the Beloved One".
To have been elected to a new position is one thing ... To accept one's
election to that new position - and thereby commit to the new way of life to which one has been elected - is quite another.
God took the initiative before sin ever occurred to provide the way of salvation for all who would accept the way provided by Him - but individually sinners either accept or reject that to which they have been elected.
Yes, it all boils down to the exercise of our free will in response to God's exercise of His sovereign will. Simply put, “God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to Him in repentance”.
The issue is: “Am I willing to submit my self-will to His sovereign will . . . deny self (repent of my sin) and take up my cross (give of myself) to follow Christ as Lord of my life"" - making His will my will, praying "thy holy will be done in me, this is my earnest plea".
When we surrender our wills to God's will - "not my will but Thine be done" God reveals what we are expected to do next as simply put by Paul - Romans 12:1-2 ...
Why did God predestine the way to be saved? Paul: ,.,.the mercies of God! "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great Jove that He had for us, made us alive with Christ even though we were spiritually dead in sin." (Ephesians 2:4-5)
God demonstrated His mercy by sending His Son to die on the cross for us! “Mercy there (at the Cross) was great, and grace was free. Pardon there was multiplied to me. There my burdened soul found liberty- at Calvary!”
Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, give of yourselves in service to God as if you placed yourself in the offering plate as a gift to Him who gave Himself.
“Take my life, and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee ... Take my will and make it Thine for it shall be no longer mine ... Take myself and I will be - ever, only, all for Thee."
When Christ becomes the center of life, real worship becomes an offering of every moment and action of our lives to Him. "Only to be what He wants me to be every moment of every day!"
Folks: It should go without saying, but Paul says it anyway: To devote every aspect of our lives to God as an act of worship, we cannot be conformed to (go along with) the world, but we must be transformed (radically changed) by the Lord!
Which means that we may need to rethink our concerns ... reassess our priorities . . . readjust our attitude ... renew our determination (refresh our goal) . . . To Be God's and to Do God's Will.
Renewing our minds (searching the Scriptures, searching our hearts, asking God to have His way i our lives) is the key to discerning God's will. Once our will is aligned with God's will, we just naturally do what's right in God's sight. It's a matter of spiritual growth on our part ... shaping us spiritually on His part!
Think of the oldest invention known to man in the first century- pottery making: As a potter molded clay into a useful vessel, he spun it and shaped it until he could look at it and say, "good". . . shaped it some more until he could say, "acceptable" . . . shaped it a little bit more, refined it, until he could say, "perfect" ... God is not through with us yet!
To pray "thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven" is to place ourselves in God's hands to be shaped according to His Will . . . agree that He knew us before we were born into this world and is still at work shaping us into that good, acceptable and perfect vessel for use in our new residence and subservience in His kingdom . . . practice His will as revealed to us day by day.
“Our Father in Heaven: Hallowed by Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Amen!
