LITTLE CHRISTS

Hear the words of C.S. Lewis: “Now the whole offer which Christianity makes is this: that we can, if we let God have His way, come to share in the life of Christ. If we do, we shall then be sharing a life which was begotten, not made, which always existed and always will exist. Christ is the Son of God. If we share in this kind of life we also shall be sons of God. We shall love the Father as He does and the Holy Ghost will arise in us. He came to this world and became a man in order to spread to other men the kind of life He has — by what I call "good infection." Every Christian is to become a little Christ. The whole purpose of becoming a Christian is simply nothing else.”

God became man for no other purpose then to draw men into Christ... into Himself, to make them little Christs; the whole universe was created for this very purpose. Jesus commanded: “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” It is our conformance into the likeness of Christ... our transformation, which is at issue in this command, our spiritual maturation. The “Consuming Fire”, the Love that made the worlds, will never rest... or let us rest, until we are literally perfect, the perfect reflection of our perfect Savior. God’s purpose is not to torment our natural Self but to kill it. No half measures will do, the whole of Self must die to make way for the spiritual nature of Christ to manifest and flourish in us. This is the whole enchilada, the whole essence of Christianity, the foundation on which Kingdom life is built – Christlikeness!

Of the purpose of the Church, Lewis said that it “exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became Man for no other purpose.” “As our heavenly Father has in Christ freely come to our aid, we also ought freely to help our neighbor through our body and its works, and each one should become as it were a Christ to the other that we may be Christs to one another and Christ may be the same in all, that is, that we may be truly Christians” (Martin Luther)

THE WHOLE PURPOSE OF BECOMING A CHRISTIAN

IS SIMPLY NOTHING ELSE

FOR MY DETERMINED PURPOSE IS TO KNOW HIM

FORGETTING WHAT LIES BEHIND...

STRAINING FORWARD TO WHAT LIES AHEAD...

I PRESS ON TOWARD THE GOAL...

But whatever former things I had that might have been gain to me, I have come to consider as one combined loss for Christ’s sake. Yes, furthermore, I count everything as loss compared to the possession of the priceless privilege, the overwhelming preciousness, the surpassing worth, and supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord and of progressively becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him -- of perceiving and recognizing and understanding Him more fully and clearly. For His sake I have lost everything and consider it all to be mere rubbish, refuse, dregs, in order that I may gain Christ... the Anointed One. And that I may actually be found and known as in Him, not having any self-achieved righteousness that can be called my own based on my obedience to the Law’s demands -- ritualistic uprightness and supposed right standing with God thus acquired. But possessing that genuine righteousness which comes through faith in Christ the Anointed One, the true right standing with God which comes from God by saving faith.

For my determined purpose is that I may know Him, that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly, and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection which it exerts over believers. And that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed in spirit into His likeness, even to His death, in the hope that if possible I may attain to the spiritual and moral resurrection that lifts me out from among the dead -- even while in this body.

Not that I have now attained this ideal, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to lay hold of -- grasp and make my own -- that for which Christ Jesus the Messiah has laid hold of me and made me His own. I do not consider, brethren, that I have captured and made it my own yet; but one thing I do -- it is my one aspiration: Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the supreme and heavenly prize to which God in Christ Jesus is calling us upward.

(Phil. 3:7-14 Amp.)

I PRESS ON TO LAY HOLD OF

GRASP AND MAKE MY OWN

THAT FOR WHICH CHRIST JESUS THE MESSIAH

HAS LAID HOLD OF ME

AND MADE ME HIS OWN

AND MY HEART SINGS

Merciful Father, there is none that compares to You. Who can take my bitterness, and make something sweet... Only You. You are so beautiful; there is none that compares to You. Who can take my brokenness, and make something new... Only You. You're beautiful to me; You will be my song for all eternity. You're overtaking every part of me; You're beautiful to me...  And I am left in awe of You...

You are God alone, from before time began, You were on Your throne, You are God alone. And right now, in the good times and bad, You are on Your throne, You are God alone. Unchangeable... Unshakable... Unstoppable... That's what You are...

The more I seek You, the more I find You. The more I find You, the more I love You. I want to sit at Your feet, drink from the cup in Your hand. Lay back against You and breath, feel Your heart beat. This love is so deep; it's more than I can stand. I melt in Your peace, it's overwhelming...

I hear the voice, it’s the voice of the One I love, He’s calling my name... I hear You calling me Jesus. He's saying… Come up higher and hear the angels sing, come up higher my beloved. Come up higher and leave this world behind, you are so beautiful to me...

So I am running, running after You, You've become my soul’s delight. I am running, running after You... here with You I find my life. I am running, running after You... here with You I find my life...

So may the eyes of God be on me here, Lord, revive me by Your grace. Holy Spirit be forever near... saturate this place. Let Your glory and honor fall on my face. Holy Father... rest in this place. Let the fire fall... Let the wind blow... Let the glory come down. My heart is overflowing to pour my love out on You... Daddy, You’re beautiful to me...

I AM RUNNING, RUNNING AFTER YOU

IS HEAVEN A PHYSICAL PLACE

We have often heard the only physical things in heaven are the scars on our Lord’s body, but this is actually wrong. In addition to our Lord’s scars we have Christ’s physical resurrected body, which could be seen, felt, and required food. Note also, Enoch and Elijah were both translated to heaven in their physical bodies. And then there is Moses who, with Elijah, appeared physically with Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration. So where did Moses get his physical, after death, body? Good question! This physical visitation by Moses demonstrates that God, at least sometimes, creates intermediate bodies for dead saints in heaven to inhabit prior to the bodily resurrection of the dead. This opens the more likely possibility that all the saints in heaven have intermediate physical bodies.

When Jesus said, “Today you will be with Me in Paradise”, He was using “Paradise” as a synonym for heaven. Paradise is from the Greek paradeisos meaning a “walled park” or “enclosed garden”, and is used in the Septuagint to refer to the Garden of Eden. Paradise does not refer to wild nature, but rather nature under cultivation. God said, “To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the Tree of Life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” The same physical Tree of Life which was in the Garden of Eden and will one day be in the New Jerusalem – the New Heaven -- on the New Earth, is currently in the present (intermediate) heaven. And... We will one day eat its fruit! The “Third Heaven”, the abode of God, which lies beyond the Hemisphere (first heaven) and Firmament (second heaven), is called “The Paradise of God” by the Apostle Paul.

Jesus ascribed physical properties to Heaven and Hell in His account of the rich man and Lazarus – where He refers to heaven as “Abraham’s Bosom” -- including their physical form. To interpret this passage strictly literal suggests thing that are not taught anywhere else, and to interpret it strictly figurative makes it difficult to understand the message... the value of all its details. I do not believe every detail of this passage is literal; rather that Jesus was painting a picture for us. I believe Jesus intended for us to picture people in the afterlife as real humans with physical form, thoughts, and capacities – with identity, memories, and awareness – and to envision Heaven and Hell as real places, all of which is substantiated in other scripture.

We should not assume the numerous scriptural references to physical objects in heaven are figurative language.  That our resurrected Lord now dwells in Heaven is an indisputable fundamental article of the Christian faith. And, He dwells there in the same physical body that He had on earth -- a body that ate and drank, and could be touched and felt – the same body that will one day return to earth: “This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.” So we know there is physical substance in heaven – Christ is there in physical form – and can assume the numerous other references to physical forms and objects in heaven are literal rather than figurative. The present heaven, though intermediate in the sense it is not the “New Heavens” associated with the “New Earth”, is, none the less, a physical place. When Stephen seen the heavens open and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, our Lord was standing on something!

AS REAL AS RAIN

(Lk. 23:43; Rev. 2:7; 2 Cor. 12:2, 4; Lk. 16:19-31; Acts 7:54)

NO OTHER GODS

“You shall have no other gods before Me ... For I the Lord your God, am a jealous God”: The word “before” as used here means in precedence of, the condition of being considered more important, superior, preeminent, a priority in order or rank. This passage is addressing a condition of the heart. You shall “have”...  possess, own, or hold, no other gods... small g, in greater love, esteem or importance than Me. Our greatest love, admiration, and respect must be for our Lord, and only our Lord. So... what kind of things can become “other gods” to a saint? Things like spouses, parents, children, grandkids, friends, hobbies, possessions, social position, physical appearance, education, accomplishments, pets, career, etc., and... of course, our Self – the pretender to the throne of our heart. Truth is... we have an endless supply of “gods” to choose from. Anything we esteem, respect, admire, value, regard, Anything we esteem, respect, admire, value, regard, acclaim, appreciate, like, love, prize, recognize, honor,  treasure, favor, or revere in any sense as more or greater than God is an “other god” to us.

There are three attitudes of the heart which must be preeminently fixed on God, our Love... our Fear... and our Reverence. God must have the prominence in our Love: We must love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. The “all” here is emphatic, expressing the thought forcibly and clearly, intended to point out the quality of our love. All does not mean some... it means ALL. God must have the prominence in our Fear: “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Misplaced fear can turn the speed-bumps of life into idols we fear more than God. Fear of God is essential to faith – residing in true faith -- eliciting total trust in God. Remember, over thirty times scripture commands, “Fear not, For I AM with you.” When we fear God and only God... we “fear not”, recognizing His loving presence overwhelms and puts to flight all other fears. And, God must have the prominence in our Reverence: We must stand in awe and wonder of God, expressing deep abiding respect... and wholehearted adoration. Reverence is the essence of worship, prompting a lifestyle of 24/7 worship. If we possess and express these attitudes of the heart God will be preeminent, for there will be no room for “other gods.”

FOR I AM A JEALOUS GOD