February 21, 2016 A CITY WHICH IS TO COME
Hebrews 13:14-16: “For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come. Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips that give thanks to His name. And do not neglect doing good and sharing; for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”
Paul, along with other writers of the New Testament, were looking for, and waiting for a city yet to come. Even though they dealt with current issues and believers were instructed on how they should conduct themselves in this present world, they understood that this life was temporary and that a new and lasting city was coming. The scripture above states that they were “seeking the city which is to come.” I am sure that believing that there was a lasting city yet to come, affected their view of life and had great influence on how they conducted their daily lives. In Hebrews 11:10 we find that the patriarch, Abraham, was also seeking a city yet to come: “for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” (Hebrews 11:10). Abraham, a very wealthy man, is known for his faith in God. God told Abraham that He was to move, but did not tell him where he was to move. I try to imagine what it was like for Abraham to tell his servants to prepare all the livestock, pack up possessions and supplies for the move-and when they asked where they were moving to, what a shock it must have been to hear him say that he did not know. If Abraham had a drive way-I can suspect that he was going down the driveway wondering if he would turn left or right at the end of the driveway-that is faith in action. Abraham had no problem preparing to move to an undisclosed location because he believed God. We act out of what we believe-not what we say we believe. When you make an honest comparison of the early church believers and the believers of today and the corresponding impact on the culture, I think you will find that in many cases, we fail in comparison. I often find myself trying to find out why the difference in the early church believers and ourselves. For whatever reason, many of the early believers simply took what God said as absolutely true and acted on it. Remember-we act out of what we believe. If we indeed believe God, believe what He has said in His word, we will act on it. For example, God tells us to love our neighbor-so let us love our neighbor. God tells us it is more blessed to give than to receive-so let us be givers. God tells us to forgive others-so let us forgive others. God has said that we are to “put on the new self”-so let us put on the new self. You get the idea. Quite simply, it is in order for us to examine our belief and determine if our actions are reflecting what we say we believe. God has spoken clearly in His word and He has made it possible for us to live life in accordance to His word. His word is not to be viewed as a list if things we must do, but rather His word reveals who we are in Him. When we come to understand that we have been made new; when we know our true identity as believers, the life we live will be in harmony with what He has said. By acting and living out of our true identity, there is no pressure to try to gain His approval, or prove our faith by some action we may take, but it’s a matter of simply responding to our Father who expresses Himself through the new heart that He has given us. We can now do the things that please Him. It is interesting, and refreshing, to see the instructions that the writer of Hebrews gave to believers in light of the fact that believers are to be focused on the city that is to come: continually give praise to God; give thanks to God; do good and share-for with these sacrifices, God is pleased. How simple! May we, with God’s help, be able to turn our focus to the “city which is to come.” At the same time, let us be good stewards of all that He entrust to us while we live in this temporary “city.” Let us see that what we do here, the life we live today, is to foreshadow life in the city that is yet to come-what a privilege as the children of God. We live according to God-according to His kingdom-not according to kingdom of this world! Just as the believers did in the days of the early church, we can without question take what God says as absolutely true and act on it-that is believing God.
Revelation 21:2: “And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.”
Blessings,
Buddy
Hebrews 13:14-16: “For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come. Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips that give thanks to His name. And do not neglect doing good and sharing; for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”
Paul, along with other writers of the New Testament, were looking for, and waiting for a city yet to come. Even though they dealt with current issues and believers were instructed on how they should conduct themselves in this present world, they understood that this life was temporary and that a new and lasting city was coming. The scripture above states that they were “seeking the city which is to come.” I am sure that believing that there was a lasting city yet to come, affected their view of life and had great influence on how they conducted their daily lives. In Hebrews 11:10 we find that the patriarch, Abraham, was also seeking a city yet to come: “for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” (Hebrews 11:10). Abraham, a very wealthy man, is known for his faith in God. God told Abraham that He was to move, but did not tell him where he was to move. I try to imagine what it was like for Abraham to tell his servants to prepare all the livestock, pack up possessions and supplies for the move-and when they asked where they were moving to, what a shock it must have been to hear him say that he did not know. If Abraham had a drive way-I can suspect that he was going down the driveway wondering if he would turn left or right at the end of the driveway-that is faith in action. Abraham had no problem preparing to move to an undisclosed location because he believed God. We act out of what we believe-not what we say we believe. When you make an honest comparison of the early church believers and the believers of today and the corresponding impact on the culture, I think you will find that in many cases, we fail in comparison. I often find myself trying to find out why the difference in the early church believers and ourselves. For whatever reason, many of the early believers simply took what God said as absolutely true and acted on it. Remember-we act out of what we believe. If we indeed believe God, believe what He has said in His word, we will act on it. For example, God tells us to love our neighbor-so let us love our neighbor. God tells us it is more blessed to give than to receive-so let us be givers. God tells us to forgive others-so let us forgive others. God has said that we are to “put on the new self”-so let us put on the new self. You get the idea. Quite simply, it is in order for us to examine our belief and determine if our actions are reflecting what we say we believe. God has spoken clearly in His word and He has made it possible for us to live life in accordance to His word. His word is not to be viewed as a list if things we must do, but rather His word reveals who we are in Him. When we come to understand that we have been made new; when we know our true identity as believers, the life we live will be in harmony with what He has said. By acting and living out of our true identity, there is no pressure to try to gain His approval, or prove our faith by some action we may take, but it’s a matter of simply responding to our Father who expresses Himself through the new heart that He has given us. We can now do the things that please Him. It is interesting, and refreshing, to see the instructions that the writer of Hebrews gave to believers in light of the fact that believers are to be focused on the city that is to come: continually give praise to God; give thanks to God; do good and share-for with these sacrifices, God is pleased. How simple! May we, with God’s help, be able to turn our focus to the “city which is to come.” At the same time, let us be good stewards of all that He entrust to us while we live in this temporary “city.” Let us see that what we do here, the life we live today, is to foreshadow life in the city that is yet to come-what a privilege as the children of God. We live according to God-according to His kingdom-not according to kingdom of this world! Just as the believers did in the days of the early church, we can without question take what God says as absolutely true and act on it-that is believing God.
Revelation 21:2: “And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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