Good Morning, Meetpastordan Readers… Isn’t it interesting that in the New Testament we don’t find the words “punish or punishment” used unless it is a reference from the Old Testament, or in reference to God’s wrath and final judgement of the wicked. “They will be punished with everlasting destruction, forever separated from the Lord and from His glorious power when He comes to receive glory and praise from His holy people.” (2 Thessalonians 1:9) For those of us who are in Christ, that is very good news, especially when we look back and see God’s punishment of the pagan nations in the Old Testament. But today, God doesn’t punish people because He has given everybody the opportunity to be saved. If in the end people find themselves experiencing His wrath and judgement leading to eternal separation, that is because they refused to accept His Gift of Grace. SALVATION!
In the Old Testament, God’s chosen people, the Israelites, had crossed the Jordan River and were positioned to take the Promised Land, which God had already promised to deliver to them. However, the Promised Land, Canaan, was inhabited by pagan nations of giants (Nephilim – fallen angels who had taken human wives and produced a hybrid offspring). These nations, the Hittites, Amorites, the “Thistites” and “Thattites” were abhorrently evil in God’s eyes because they portrayed evil and worshiped other gods. Consequently, His plan was to wipe out these bloodlines from the face of the earth as the Israelites took the land of Canaan for themselves. Therefore, His directive was particularly harsh: “In the cities of the nations the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes. Completely destroy them…otherwise they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods, and you will sin against the Lord your God.” (Deuteronomy 20:16-18)
Clearly, God was protecting His chosen people from the evil that existed in their Promised Land, but can you see a parallel between that decision and the promise we find in Revelation concerning our future promised land, the New Jerusalem: “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega – the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give the springs of water of life without charge! All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children. Nothing evil will be allowed to enter – no one who practices shameful idolatry and dishonesty – but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.” (Revelation: 21:6-7,27) The same way God eliminated evil from the Old Testament Promised Land, He has promised us there will be no evil in our New Jerusalem to come. (Nothing evil will be allowed to enter.)
Punishment, by its very nature, is payment for something we already have done or are in the process of doing. Since God’s plan from the beginning was to provide a Redeemer to do for us what He knew we would prove ourselves incapable of doing through our best effort, Christ’s death on the cross paid the sin ransom (penalty) for ALL humanity. All we have to do to receive this free gift is believe that Jesus was/is the Son of God and that He came to die for OUR sins. Romans 10:9 spells this out: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved! For those of us who have accepted this free gift, we now have the privilege of being in Christ. This means that we do NOT have to worry about His wrath or judgement because we are now sin-free, covered by the blood of Jesus.
In the New Testament we find a new word introduced that is relative to our new relationship with Jesus Christ. That word is “Discipline.” It differs from punishment in that it isn’t exacting payment for something we have done; instead, it is preparing us for a reward in the future. Quite simply, punishment is bad; discipline is designed for good. Let me explain.
If an athlete has his eye on the prize at the end of a race, he prepares himself for that race by disciplining his thoughts and his behavior. He strives to see himself as the winner; he envisions running the race; he hears the cheers and applause as he’s approaching the finish line; he’s eating a healthy diet; he’s working out and training daily; he gets plenty of sleep; he avoids negativity and focuses on positive thinking.
It’s interesting that Apostle Paul equates growing in Christ with running a race in two different places. “Remember that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize. You must run in such a way you will win. All athletes practice strict self-control. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run straight to the goal with purpose in every step.” (1 Corinthians 9:24-26) And again in Philippians 3:12-16: “But I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ Jesus saved me for and wants me to be. No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead. I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven.”
Growing in Christ requires tremendous discipline. We have to make decisions that bring honor and glory to God; we have to decide to become the person He created us to be; we have to stay in The Word; we have to fellowship with other Christians; we have to make the decision to “die to self” daily and exercise our authority in Christ to overcome this fallen world, our flesh, and our enemy, satan. But “Thank God” we don’t have to do it alone.
In God’s perfect salvation plan, there was a specific provision for us who are still contending with life and all of its trials and tribulations. Jesus was up-front about this. He said in John 16:33: “In this world you will have trouble, but fear not, for I have overcome the world.” Because we are in Christ, we inherit everything Christ did for us. If He has overcome the world, SO HAVE WE, just as it says in 1 John 4:4: “He that is in me (Holy Spirit) is greater than he (satan) that is in this world.”
The secret weapon of every Christ-follower is the Holy Spirit. This is a gift given to us so we too can overcome this fallen world, our flesh, and all the evil wiles of satan. But as I stated last week, the Holy Spirit does not take control of our lives. We have to make the choice to call Him into action. For instance, “Holy Spirit, give me Your wisdom, strength, courage, patience, words to speak, ears to hear” – whatever it is we need to bring honor and glory to God, and His promise to us is… HE WILL DO IT! It’s all about bringing honor and glory to God in our thoughts, words, and deeds.
Growing in our relationship with Jesus and living in the Spirit (getting “self” out of the way so the Holy Spirit can work through us) is all about making different choices. As it says in Romans 12:2: “Do not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by changing the way you think. Then you will know how good and pleasing and perfect God’s will is for your life.” The more you call on the Holy Spirit to empower you to be victorious, the more you attain this supernatural way of living and thinking that surpasses all human understanding. This is our prize at the end of our race. Amen!
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May God Bless Ya,
Dan Presgrave
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