Podcast Blog – Season 2, Episode 5
My God is the Living God who created the entire Universe by making everything out of nothing. He then took a dark, empty, nebulous mass and transformed it into the perfect place for us to live in with Him. Right from the beginning His desire was to share His life with us forever!
That’s not just another ‘creation story’ of myth or legend. It is the truth about God, about us, and about this planet on which we live.
Yet this wonderful God who made us and loves is so often portrayed as some sort of remote ‘Supreme Being’ to be worshipped from afar – who sits in the Heavens and whose existence is largely unrelated to us and the minutiae of our lives. Which is so wrong, and so far from the wonderful truth that we have been created by Him to know Him intimately and to share His life forever.
God never intended that you should stumble along through your days – fearful and insecure – hoping and longing for a better life … a better world. Yet, many who claim to know God are hesitant to abandon themselves to Him in the confidence that He really is who He says He is. So instead, they relegate themselves to some sort of hybrid existence, in which they live with one foot in this world and the other (they hope) in God's Kingdom. Which is not only impossible … but utterly futile!
Mind you, if you do abandon yourself to God to live a life of trust and faith in Him, there is certainly no guarantee of ‘success’ as defined by this world – and many Christians tend to be wary of people who talk in such terms, regarding them as ‘too heavenly minded to be of any earthly good’.
Even though some people do have strange ideas about what it means to be godly, there are many others who simply have a desire to take Jesus at His word and abandon their lives to Him. Yet they are the ones who are sometimes discouraged by comments from ‘more sensible’ Christians like: “You’ve got to have your feet on the ground” … “You have to live in this world” and the much-used: “God helps those who help themselves!”
Yet the unavoidable truth for all believers is that this God we claim to believe in calls us all to either make Him our God in the fullest sense … or we do not make Him our God at all.
Which brings me to the wonderful truth about God's power and dominion over all things!
God’s purpose for us, and for this world in which He has placed us, has never changed: “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” (Habakkuk 2:14)
Whether or not it is apparent to you, God is right now accomplishing His purposes for His people and for this world. Which means that, no matter how things may look to you, there is no room for fear or despair about what is taking place around you … regardless of how ungodly, chaotic or threatening it all seems to be.
We are seeing societies and cultures, which in many cases were once regarded as soundly based on Christian beliefs and principles, in rapid decline both morally and spiritually. Social changes are taking place that are not only ungodly but openly anti-God in their beliefs, practices and influence. How then can God’s people fail to be concerned, even alarmed, to the point of desperation – while also feeling powerless to counter the forces of evil?
God did not call you to live some sort of paranoid, back-footed existence in this world, where you are constantly faced with overwhelming odds - desperately hoping that the world, the flesh and the devil will not succeed in bringing you down before you reach the end of your life … when, like a runner throwing yourself across the finish-line, you will breathe a massive sigh of relief to have finally made it! No, it was never meant to be like that.
Whenever Christians see this world as a threat, instead of seeing their God for who He is – the Lord of all the Earth and King of the Universe – they also see their relationship with Him as little more than a life-raft to desperately cling to for their own survival.
Yes, it’s true that Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble.” But He then went on to say, “… take heart! I have overcome the world.” Even though there is much in this world that is both opposed to God and disposed to make life very hard for God’s people, there is nothing for us to fear, because Jesus has already overcome it!
From the day Adam sinned, this world has not been a friendly environment for God’s people. Yet, ever since then, God has been steadily working at drawing the human race back to Himself – constantly seeking to gather a people to whom He could make Himself known. Whenever He was able to do that, and as long as those people were willing, He blessed them, cared for them, and defended them in this hostile world.
Then came the wonderful day when God the Father sent His Son Jesus into that same hostile world, to pay the ultimate price for our redemption and to finally undo the destruction caused by Adam’s sin. Amazingly, God achieved this by using the world’s hostility, which was arrayed against Him, to make a way for that same world to return to Him!
Jesus said, “No-one takes [my life] from me, but I lay it down of my own accord”. And it’s vital to note that He was never a victim of the most hostile opposition, or even the most awful things that were inflicted upon Him… because no-one had any power over Him other than what He chose to give them. Of His own accord He came into this world, to lay His life down for you and for me. He loved us and gave Himself for us, simply because there was no other way for us to be restored to God … to the place where we belong.
Then, having paid the massive price of freely giving Himself to suffer and die for us, Jesus took back His life … conquering death forever!
When Jesus sent out His disciples to the towns and villages to preach, He said: “I am sending you out as sheep among wolves”. Sheep are such vulnerable, defenceless creatures and Jesus knew that’s how His disciples would feel in the face of opposition and hostility. Yet, all they needed to know was that He had chosen them to represent Him – as are we who have committed our lives to Him. And we, too, are ‘like sheep among wolves’. Yet, when you have placed your life into His hands, nothing can happen to you without God being involved … any more than anything could have happened to Jesus, apart from His Father.
Many Christians feel increasingly fearful and vulnerable as they see the world descending into chaos, seeing themselves as a small minority hemmed in on all sides. They pray for God to change the world – to raise up Christian leaders in governments, nations and society. Then, whenever someone who is a committed Christian gets into such a position, they say, “Praise God! Now things will change!”
But, when God brings about change, it is not just a superficial fix-up. He changes things completely … from the inside.
Look at Revelation, that exciting last book in the Bible, where you will read about a New Heaven and a New Earth, and a day when Heaven and Earth become One. That’s where everything in this world is heading … because God Himself is taking it there!
It may look like the devil is winning and that evil threesome, the world and the flesh and the devil, are hellbent on engulfing us all – so that we do well if we manage to stem the tide enough to keep our heads above water. But if that’s your perception, you are not seeing the situation as God sees it. Our God reigns, and He alone is in control!
I have read through Revelation about once a year over the past few years, and I always make a point of reading it with my heart open to God. I don’t seek for explanations about the details and intricacies which are tempting to pore over in fine detail, in a quest for more insight and understanding – which was not God’s purpose in giving us this book. I specifically avoid trying to get my mind around things such as some of the graphic word-pictures …which can really tax anyone’s imagination! Not because they’re not real, because they are. It is enough for me to know I can depend on God to make real to me whatever He chooses.
In fact, many years ago when I was a much younger preacher, I asked God if he would open up the book of Revelation to me, so I could expound on it with authority. But He replied: “I will only ever show you the things you need to know, either for your relationship with me or for the sake of the people you are ministering to”. Since then, whether it's to do with the Revelation or anything else, I have learnt to depend on what God reveals, rather than seeking to accumulate my own store of knowledge … because I know that whatever He gives me will not only feed my desire to live for Him, but will also equip me to feed those who are hungry for Him.
Which is why I am focusing on the Revelation here! Its name says it all – not its abbreviated name but the way it is introduced at the beginning of the book: “The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place.” We know it as the last book of the Bible, but to John it was an overwhelming experience. Not something he had figured out or dreamed up, or from his imagination. But a revelation given to him by an angel, who was sent by Jesus, who in turn had received it from God the Father … and it is a thrilling epic!
John, who had first been one of Jesus’ twelve disciples, then one of the original apostles, was now a hundred years old and in prison-exile on the small rocky Greek island of Patmos. His situation would have been very unpleasant for anyone … let alone a 100-year-old prisoner. Then, on this particular day, as he was praying and worshipping “in the Spirit” God gave him this amazing revelation … which I’m sure he did not expect!
I love it that early in this amazing God-given experience (chapter 4), John sees “a door standing open in heaven” and is at once ‘in the Spirit.’ There before him he sees God on His throne – an incredible sight, the details of which John describes in great detail. Yet, the essence of it is that he sees God’s power, God’s presence, and the overwhelming reality of God’s Kingdom!
From there, John is shown a vast sweep of events throughout history … some of which look pretty ominous at the time, as if everything is going against God’s purposes. Yet regardless of how things look, God inevitably ends up having His way, with John beholding the great climax of a New Heaven and a New Earth, and the New Jerusalem coming down from Heaven. Everything, but everything, turns out exactly as God has always purposed. Which is just the best ‘happy-ending’ story any of us could ever wish for!
But it’s not just a story. It is the overwhelming, overarching truth of what is taking place right now – in Heaven and on Earth.
After God made Adam and Eve, He gave them rule and authority over the world He had created. But when the devil succeeded in bringing Adam and Eve down, he also brought down the entire created world and took authority over it. Which is why he is referred to as ‘the prince of this world,’ ‘the ruler of this world,’ and even ‘the god of this world’. But whatever his title, Satan is a usurper who grasped this world by bringing down the man into whose hands God had given it.
Nevertheless, God alone is still the Lord of all the earth. Satan cannot keep what he stole from God. He is doomed to fail.
They say the best liars are those who believe their own lies – and Jesus said that the devil is not only a liar, but the father of lies. Lying began with him, and no-one believes their own lies more than the devil! But whether or not he believes it, he is doomed!
Since that day when Satan brought down Adam and Eve, many events have had to play out – first leading up to Jesus coming into this world, followed by the momentous outcome of His life, death and resurrection. From then on, everything has been relentlessly moving towards God's ultimate triumph, as described at the end of Revelation.
I can understand why you might say it often does not look like God is relentlessly moving everything towards that climax. After all, a couple of millennia have come and gone since Jesus came, died and rose … yet here we are today, in a world that seems to be in a worse mess than ever, and many of God’s people living in an increasingly hostile environment! Yes, it can easily look that way – but only because we don't naturally see what is really taking place.
Which brings us back to the ageing prisoner on that rocky island. John had already paid a huge price over the many years since Jesus had said, “Follow me”. And now, having lost everything and with his long life all but over, he could be wondering if it had really been worth it all. Then, as that old man is praying, God suddenly opens his eyes to a reality beyond all realities as that door in Heaven opens, allowing him to see and experience what is really happening – and has always been happening – in God’s world. And then John knows that God is saying: “I am in control and I am accomplishing my purposes!”
But this revelation was given to John, not just for himself, but for each one of us. What joy there is in keeping your eyes on God as you live for Him in this world – not allowing yourself to be distracted by so much that is going on around you. Yes, it is real. Awfully real. But something far greater is taking place in that ‘spirit world’ which you don’t normally see ... which John also did not see until God revealed it to him.
These are the realities the apostle Paul was referring to when he wrote about our battle not being against ‘flesh and blood’. The forces arrayed against God’s people are spiritual. We are engaged in a spiritual battle, as was Jesus. He knew that those who opposed Him were merely puppets of the devil who desperately wanted to bring Him down.
Unless God chooses to bless you with some amazing vision like the one He gave John, you cannot see these things as he did … but you can see and know them in your heart, where God’s Spirit dwells.
In the light of all this, it is inconceivable that we who have yielded our lives to God can have a defeatist view of what is taking place in this world. Paul the apostle ‘suffered the loss of all things’ for Jesus, yet he constantly thanked God for the victory that was his, because he was living in God's world even while inhabiting this world.
If you have yielded your life to God, I urge you to live only by what you know and believe in your heart … because that’s where He speaks to you. Do not ever allow yourself to be distracted, anxious or despondent about anything. Trust Him entirely and know beyond all doubt that He is in control of your life and is having His way in this world.
Jesus said that we who believe in Him are the light of the world and the salt of the earth. You must never see the world, the flesh and the devil as a threat – even in their worst, most anti-God expressions. Light always conquers darkness and darkness is powerless against it!
God will win. That is beyond question. The real question is, will you participate in His victory?
What an immense privilege it is to know he Living God and to live in love with Him every moment of every day! Then, no matter what is taking place around you or what you are facing, you will be able to say with the apostle Paul: “… thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ”!