What Are You Waiting For? (1 John 3:2)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:10.029 Well, let's hear God's Word From First John Chapter three, just one verse 2 00:00:10.070 --> 00:00:17.350 verse I read, as I preached a larger section last week, but want 3 00:00:17.429 --> 00:00:22.579 to spend a little time thinking about one of these verses in particular. First 4 00:00:22.579 --> 00:00:31.859 John Three, verse two. God's Word says this, beloved, we are 5 00:00:31.940 --> 00:00:38.009 children, or we are God's children now, and what we will be has 6 00:00:38.090 --> 00:00:43.929 not yet appeared. But we know that when he appears, we shall be 7 00:00:44.130 --> 00:00:51.520 like him, because we shall see him as he is. May God bless 8 00:00:51.600 --> 00:00:59.719 his word to us. You may be seated, if you want to understand 9 00:00:59.759 --> 00:01:06.430 the Christian mind, you've got to understand how forward thinking it is, and 10 00:01:06.549 --> 00:01:11.230 I don't mean in kind of the way we often talk about in political categories, 11 00:01:11.790 --> 00:01:19.260 but I mean the way we structure our lives as Christians. We structure 12 00:01:19.260 --> 00:01:23.500 our lives, we do things because of something that is in front of us, 13 00:01:23.379 --> 00:01:29.540 something that is very much ahead of us. Christians live their lives according 14 00:01:29.579 --> 00:01:34.930 to a joy and a hope that is set before them. We live our 15 00:01:34.010 --> 00:01:40.250 lives in a certain way because God has made a promise to us about the 16 00:01:40.370 --> 00:01:47.799 future. Take today, for instance, today's Sunday Day that Christians call the 17 00:01:47.879 --> 00:01:52.680 Lord's Day. We're gathered together on the Lord's Day because we believe that God 18 00:01:52.840 --> 00:01:59.400 has made a decision and has acted in history. That influences our daily planners. 19 00:01:59.439 --> 00:02:04.069 Are Weekly, monthly planners. That's an amazing thing, isn't it? 20 00:02:04.670 --> 00:02:07.669 There's lots of things that might influence how we spend our time, but here's 21 00:02:07.750 --> 00:02:12.629 one of them. Every Sunday, as much as we can, we gather 22 00:02:12.870 --> 00:02:19.060 together. We gather together to look forward to heaven, to our final rest 23 00:02:19.099 --> 00:02:23.419 or, as Hebrews puts it, our sabbath rest, this thing that was 24 00:02:23.500 --> 00:02:29.860 anticipated in the Old Testament. We have been given in the new a final 25 00:02:30.169 --> 00:02:36.050 resting place, and so we rest on Sundays. We avoid our earthly work 26 00:02:36.090 --> 00:02:40.409 as much as possible and we anticipate our heavenly rest, particularly as we gather 27 00:02:40.650 --> 00:02:46.639 together and worship together as the saints. Because of this hope that is set 28 00:02:46.759 --> 00:02:52.400 before us, because of what Jesus has done, we do things differently, 29 00:02:52.479 --> 00:02:58.240 and there's lots of other examples. At the beginning of our lives we baptize 30 00:02:58.280 --> 00:03:01.830 our children, believing that there's a heavenly kingdom ahead of us and ahead of 31 00:03:01.870 --> 00:03:09.789 them that requires washing to enter, requires forgiveness of sins, requires repentance because 32 00:03:09.830 --> 00:03:14.819 of something that is yet ahead. There's something better, there's something waiting in 33 00:03:15.539 --> 00:03:19.979 the middle of our lives. We enjoy the blessings that God gives to us 34 00:03:20.099 --> 00:03:25.740 in wealth and honor and bodily pleasures, but we know that these all pale 35 00:03:25.900 --> 00:03:32.729 in comparison to the treasures of Heaven. So we're willing to let go good 36 00:03:32.849 --> 00:03:44.280 food, wealth achievement. Then we might have something greater, the promises of 37 00:03:44.439 --> 00:03:49.319 glory and eternity. We let these things go for the sake of hot something 38 00:03:49.360 --> 00:03:54.680 higher. And so you often see Christians who suffer, who endure suffering with 39 00:03:54.870 --> 00:04:00.189 tears and struggle, but also do so knowing that one day the Lord will 40 00:04:00.229 --> 00:04:04.629 remove all suffering, as revelation says, will wipe every tear from our eye. 41 00:04:06.270 --> 00:04:11.539 And so Christians, because of this thing that's in front of them, 42 00:04:11.620 --> 00:04:16.259 they get down and they get depressed, they walk through the Valley of the 43 00:04:16.379 --> 00:04:27.810 shadow of death, but Christians never fall into utter despair or final death because 44 00:04:27.889 --> 00:04:32.290 of the hope set before us. Is Christians we run, we pray, 45 00:04:32.529 --> 00:04:38.569 we endure, we love, we forgive, we laugh, we sing, 46 00:04:39.639 --> 00:04:47.439 we repent, we praise. This is something of what John has in mind 47 00:04:47.720 --> 00:04:51.949 in this passage when he's talking to us about something that is coming, this 48 00:04:53.149 --> 00:04:57.990 thing that is yet to appear, he's giving US comfort. He wants us 49 00:04:58.110 --> 00:05:01.029 to have confidence so that on that day we will stand and not just have 50 00:05:01.230 --> 00:05:06.139 confidence on that day, the last day, but have confidence every day to 51 00:05:06.300 --> 00:05:11.699 move forward in the faith and in the grace of God. But, as 52 00:05:11.860 --> 00:05:17.180 you all know, hanging on to hope is not always easy. In addition 53 00:05:17.300 --> 00:05:24.810 to praying and laughing and singing and praising, we also fight and we struggle 54 00:05:24.850 --> 00:05:29.170 and we sin and we doubt, we get anxious, we get greedy, 55 00:05:29.250 --> 00:05:35.000 we get distracted. God knows this about us. He knows your heart, 56 00:05:35.000 --> 00:05:43.199 he knows everything about you, and so, because he loves you, he 57 00:05:43.319 --> 00:05:49.230 gives us this verse, one among many, many verses in the Bible that 58 00:05:49.389 --> 00:05:56.870 bring us encouragement and comfort. Indeed, to the one who believes and trusts 59 00:05:56.990 --> 00:06:01.430 in Jesus Christ, all of scripture is this way and encouragement to comfort, 60 00:06:01.509 --> 00:06:06.459 a reminder of the promise. You see it even in the way that the 61 00:06:06.579 --> 00:06:16.220 verse starts. Beloved. It's not a throwaway word, beloved. He calls 62 00:06:16.300 --> 00:06:24.009 you beloved because you are loved by him. He calls you beloved because he 63 00:06:24.089 --> 00:06:29.250 has things to say to you out of his love for you, because he 64 00:06:29.410 --> 00:06:33.519 wants to help you, because we live in an age of grace before the 65 00:06:33.600 --> 00:06:39.920 age of glorification, and that age of grace requires a lot of trusting, 66 00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:46.040 a lot of faith, a lot of perseverance and striving in God. And 67 00:06:46.149 --> 00:06:50.350 so that's what this passage is about. It's about helping US along, giving 68 00:06:50.430 --> 00:06:56.430 us the encouragement we need to remember what's it heat, what's ahead of us 69 00:06:56.990 --> 00:07:01.699 and to strive in it. So, beloved, what does God say to 70 00:07:01.819 --> 00:07:09.259 you? He says two things. First, he says that you are God's 71 00:07:09.300 --> 00:07:17.569 children now. Beloved, we are God's children now, and second, what 72 00:07:17.769 --> 00:07:24.290 we will be has no not yet appeared. In other words, the second 73 00:07:24.329 --> 00:07:29.689 thing is that something remains to be seen. Your God's children now, but 74 00:07:29.850 --> 00:07:34.959 what you will be finally has not yet repeared appeared. In other words, 75 00:07:35.000 --> 00:07:39.920 we're not expecting a change in our status. It's not as though your children 76 00:07:39.959 --> 00:07:43.839 of God now, but you are going to be something else later, but 77 00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:46.269 meaning that your children of God now and you will be in the future, 78 00:07:46.829 --> 00:07:50.829 but you can expect to change. In the way that that looks, in 79 00:07:50.910 --> 00:07:55.790 the way that it appears currently, is different. Than the way it will 80 00:07:55.790 --> 00:08:01.579 appear in the latter time, in the age to come. Something about the 81 00:08:01.740 --> 00:08:07.660 status that you have now as a child of God will look different in the 82 00:08:07.779 --> 00:08:13.850 future. These are the two things that he says and he reminds us of. 83 00:08:13.050 --> 00:08:18.009 He assumes that we already know them. He says, beloved, we 84 00:08:18.050 --> 00:08:22.569 are God's children now and what we will be has not yet appeared, but 85 00:08:22.689 --> 00:08:26.089 we know, he says that when he appears, we shall be like him. 86 00:08:26.170 --> 00:08:33.039 This is something that you know if you know the scriptures. And how 87 00:08:33.080 --> 00:08:35.559 do we know this? What are the grounds for this? Well, because 88 00:08:37.279 --> 00:08:41.399 we shall see him as he is. Another truth, a thing that we 89 00:08:41.549 --> 00:08:43.789 know from the scriptures, that we will see, as Paul says, God 90 00:08:45.269 --> 00:08:50.990 face to face. Because of this truth, we know that things will be 91 00:08:50.190 --> 00:08:54.029 different, and because we know things will be different, we can have a 92 00:08:54.230 --> 00:09:03.419 hope in the future about our status. That is right now. Let's think 93 00:09:03.419 --> 00:09:05.700 about each one of those that we can impress them on our hearts and walk 94 00:09:05.779 --> 00:09:13.169 away this morning encouraged. So first, we are God's children right now. 95 00:09:13.529 --> 00:09:18.250 Yes, there's something that we're looking forward to in the future, but it's 96 00:09:18.409 --> 00:09:24.919 connected to something that has already happened. What does it mean to be God's 97 00:09:24.039 --> 00:09:30.399 child. One one sense there's there's two ways in which we can mean this, 98 00:09:31.200 --> 00:09:33.200 and one way we mean it in a very general way, and that's 99 00:09:33.200 --> 00:09:37.789 not how John Uses it here. Sometimes we speak about people, people, 100 00:09:39.070 --> 00:09:43.549 any person in the whole world who's ever lived, as someone who is a 101 00:09:43.590 --> 00:09:46.549 child of God, namely that they are created by him, cared for him, 102 00:09:48.190 --> 00:09:52.190 they're born by means of his will, they're carried out through life by 103 00:09:52.309 --> 00:09:56.940 His grace. Each person dies exactly at the moment that God, the father 104 00:09:58.019 --> 00:10:03.500 appoints in this sense, God is father of every single person who has ever 105 00:10:03.620 --> 00:10:07.049 lived and ever will lived. But John is speaking to us as children in 106 00:10:07.090 --> 00:10:13.250 a different sense. The Bible speaks of God's children most often in terms of 107 00:10:13.330 --> 00:10:18.330 those whom he has specially elect did in an adoption of love, to belong 108 00:10:18.570 --> 00:10:26.000 to him and to receive an inheritance of glory that they did not deserve out 109 00:10:26.039 --> 00:10:28.879 of all the wickedness in the world. God says, you are mine, 110 00:10:28.919 --> 00:10:35.070 I want you to belong to me and I want to give you something beyond 111 00:10:35.110 --> 00:10:41.309 anything that you can imagine. He adopts us. There is this language of 112 00:10:41.590 --> 00:10:48.710 adoption in the Bible in which we are given this right to be a children 113 00:10:48.950 --> 00:10:52.820 of God. Let me read to you a little bit from Romans Chapter Eight 114 00:10:52.980 --> 00:10:56.500 on this point. The Romans a verse twelve, Paul writes. So then, 115 00:10:56.620 --> 00:10:58.940 brothers, we are debt ors, not to the flesh, to live 116 00:10:58.980 --> 00:11:03.539 according to the flesh, for if you live according to the flesh, you 117 00:11:03.620 --> 00:11:05.409 will die, but if, by the spirit, you put to the death 118 00:11:05.490 --> 00:11:09.970 the deeds of the body, you will live. Here's his reason for that. 119 00:11:09.929 --> 00:11:15.169 For All who are led by the spirit of God are sons of God. 120 00:11:16.409 --> 00:11:20.639 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, 121 00:11:20.120 --> 00:11:26.440 but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry 122 00:11:26.039 --> 00:11:31.200 Abba Father. You see what he's saying. He says that you once belong 123 00:11:31.360 --> 00:11:37.629 to a state that everyone belongs in wickedness, slavery, fear, but you 124 00:11:37.750 --> 00:11:43.590 have been adopted out of that family another place in scripture. We are those 125 00:11:43.629 --> 00:11:48.100 who do not belong to God, is his children. Are called children of 126 00:11:48.340 --> 00:11:52.340 the devil of Satan. We have been brought out of this devilish, demonic 127 00:11:52.539 --> 00:11:58.779 family, a kingdom of wickedness, and brought into the family of God. 128 00:11:58.860 --> 00:12:05.370 We receive a new name. We are called Christians, we become a new 129 00:12:05.570 --> 00:12:09.490 people, we are used, as Jesus says in John Three, we are 130 00:12:09.850 --> 00:12:18.120 born again. Even we receive this spirit of adoption because it's a family that 131 00:12:18.200 --> 00:12:22.639 we don't rightfully belong to. Our sins and our wickedness are in righteousness, 132 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:28.759 make us belong to somewhere else, but God adopts us by giving us his 133 00:12:28.919 --> 00:12:35.789 spirit, through whom we cry to him ab a father, in fact, 134 00:12:35.950 --> 00:12:39.909 Paul says, the spirit this, that is the spirit of God. The 135 00:12:39.070 --> 00:12:46.580 Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. And 136 00:12:46.700 --> 00:12:52.419 if children, then ares heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ. He 137 00:12:52.580 --> 00:13:01.370 says. This is what John is referring to when he calls Christians, those 138 00:13:01.690 --> 00:13:05.570 in his audience here, of the Children of God beloved. We are now 139 00:13:05.970 --> 00:13:16.080 God's children. We are God's children. Now, this eternal adoption, in 140 00:13:16.200 --> 00:13:20.840 which we have received a new name, gives us a right, Paul says, 141 00:13:20.799 --> 00:13:26.269 to an inheritance that is given to us by Christ. Remember the passage 142 00:13:26.269 --> 00:13:31.309 I read earlier. In Philippians were because of the work Jesus did God, 143 00:13:31.590 --> 00:13:35.669 he was highly exalted so that at the so that at so that he might 144 00:13:35.750 --> 00:13:39.990 be given the name above every name. He was given this great kingdom, 145 00:13:41.070 --> 00:13:46.899 he was given honors and and and a praise and adoration because of his ascension, 146 00:13:46.940 --> 00:13:52.340 and all of this, God says, is yours, fellow heirs. 147 00:13:54.460 --> 00:13:56.370 Well, you might say, well, I didn't do anything to deserve that. 148 00:13:58.049 --> 00:14:01.730 Christ did it. Well, that's exactly right. If you say that 149 00:14:01.970 --> 00:14:07.210 and you understand that that's what the scriptures are saying, then you have understood 150 00:14:07.649 --> 00:14:13.960 the Gospel, you've understood the good news that God has brought into the world, 151 00:14:15.080 --> 00:14:18.919 that, though you didn't do anything to deserve this adoption, God has 152 00:14:20.080 --> 00:14:26.909 given it to you through Christ. Amazing, isn't it? Well, there's 153 00:14:26.909 --> 00:14:30.389 so much more that we can say about this. As those who are adopted, 154 00:14:30.470 --> 00:14:33.350 we are made fit for this family, as those who are being reborn, 155 00:14:35.110 --> 00:14:39.299 a process that begins inwardly, in our in all inwardly and which are 156 00:14:39.460 --> 00:14:46.539 mys, are remade, our hearts, are wills and eventually your bodies. 157 00:14:46.659 --> 00:14:52.529 To Paul says in First Corinthians fifteen that what is sown and dishonor will be 158 00:14:52.570 --> 00:14:58.090 raised in honor, speaking about being buried into the earth and raising in the 159 00:14:58.169 --> 00:15:05.009 resurrection. What is sown is fleshly will be raised as spiritual, not spiritual 160 00:15:05.529 --> 00:15:13.399 meaning incorporeal or without body, but spiritual as in remade by the Holy Spirit 161 00:15:15.000 --> 00:15:20.639 of a spiritual order of the new age. John goes on in verse three 162 00:15:20.759 --> 00:15:24.669 here of our chapter and says everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as 163 00:15:24.710 --> 00:15:33.590 he is pure. We begin a change, we begin a process of purification, 164 00:15:33.710 --> 00:15:41.299 of glorification, of sanctification. We are sanctified, we are made pure, 165 00:15:41.340 --> 00:15:45.940 as he has made pure, as sons of God, we become people 166 00:15:45.980 --> 00:15:50.409 who are made and being made in the image of him. We become like 167 00:15:50.970 --> 00:15:56.769 the way children, earthly children, do with their earthly fathers. They they 168 00:15:56.889 --> 00:15:58.769 love what they love, they hate what they hate, and it's like that 169 00:16:00.009 --> 00:16:04.639 with us. It's like that with us in God, and in a way 170 00:16:04.679 --> 00:16:12.440 will even come to look like in not by US becoming deified gods, but 171 00:16:14.000 --> 00:16:22.710 in him becoming a glorified man, and us in him. There will be 172 00:16:22.110 --> 00:16:30.269 something of a family resemblance when Jesus becomes man and takes on an incarnate body 173 00:16:30.470 --> 00:16:37.179 and is glorified in that body, and we are promised to be glorified in 174 00:16:37.340 --> 00:16:41.620 him and through him, there will be a way in which we will look 175 00:16:41.659 --> 00:16:47.250 like each other we won't look like God in his essence, for God is 176 00:16:47.450 --> 00:16:52.570 a spirit and cannot be seen, but we will look like him in his 177 00:16:52.889 --> 00:16:59.090 incarnation. Again, not in US sort of transforming ourselves into some sort of 178 00:16:59.610 --> 00:17:07.680 new kind of creature, but by God becoming us and glorifying us in him, 179 00:17:08.240 --> 00:17:15.869 we become like him, even in a physical way. Let me make 180 00:17:15.950 --> 00:17:21.190 it, perhaps a somewhat of a silly argument yet even further. For this 181 00:17:22.029 --> 00:17:29.990 I'm it said that even dogs and their masters come to look like one another 182 00:17:30.500 --> 00:17:33.019 when they spend enough time, and you know this is true, right. 183 00:17:33.140 --> 00:17:37.660 You've seen people like this. Or, take a more serious example, a 184 00:17:38.579 --> 00:17:45.089 couple that is lived their whole lives together. Is it not true that they 185 00:17:45.130 --> 00:17:51.089 start to look like each other a little bit? It's hard to say why. 186 00:17:51.329 --> 00:17:55.890 It seems somewhat impossible. Maybe it's in the mannerisms, maybe it's in 187 00:17:55.970 --> 00:18:00.359 their gait, maybe it's in the way they talk. But our bodies are 188 00:18:00.519 --> 00:18:06.240 very much attached to our minds and our hearts and our wills. We are 189 00:18:06.480 --> 00:18:11.839 whole people and when God saves us and makes us into his image, we 190 00:18:12.069 --> 00:18:21.430 take on his characteristics. It's an amazing thing to be adopted as God's children. 191 00:18:21.509 --> 00:18:26.109 And finally it again to draw from the Apostle Paul. We are given 192 00:18:26.140 --> 00:18:34.019 this inheritance as children of God, this great, this lovely, this beautiful 193 00:18:34.180 --> 00:18:42.170 kingdom described in revelation in these fantastic terms, with be decked in jewels and 194 00:18:42.450 --> 00:18:48.250 angels singing and streets paved with gold and all the rest, a land that's 195 00:18:48.329 --> 00:18:55.569 described and foreshadowed in earthly form, and the land of Canaan. Take every 196 00:18:55.880 --> 00:19:00.400 image in the Old Testament of the land of Canaan to the highest degree, 197 00:19:00.519 --> 00:19:06.000 land flowing with milk and honey, peace and prosperity, of fruitfulness, of 198 00:19:06.519 --> 00:19:10.349 every kind of womb and grain and all the rest. Take it to the 199 00:19:10.470 --> 00:19:15.470 highest degree and you might begin to partially understand with the new heavens and the 200 00:19:15.549 --> 00:19:22.269 new earth will be alike, this Kingdom of God, this dominion of happiness 201 00:19:22.390 --> 00:19:27.339 that will be ours, and God himself is the center of it all, 202 00:19:29.299 --> 00:19:33.819 the lights by which all of the Kingdom is illuminated, the thing which we 203 00:19:33.940 --> 00:19:41.450 all desire, the source of all blessing and happiness. This is what it 204 00:19:41.569 --> 00:19:48.930 means to be a child of God, to be given this kind of inheritance. 205 00:19:51.170 --> 00:19:57.279 Beloved, we are God's children. Now, John says, this is 206 00:19:57.519 --> 00:20:03.519 something we have right now. We have God right now. Do we not? 207 00:20:03.720 --> 00:20:08.869 That highest chief, the highest, most important, the chief of all 208 00:20:08.990 --> 00:20:15.470 blessings, the source of all blessings, the one through whom all blessing comes? 209 00:20:15.710 --> 00:20:22.500 Do you not have him right now as your heavenly father? You Do, 210 00:20:23.059 --> 00:20:26.579 and as a Christian. Do you not have new life right now, 211 00:20:27.579 --> 00:20:33.059 having been born again? Do you not have victory right now over Satan, 212 00:20:33.380 --> 00:20:37.930 over evil? Do you not have love and protection? You Do, and 213 00:20:38.130 --> 00:20:47.210 also supply and riches and community and worship and grace and glory. It belongs 214 00:20:47.250 --> 00:20:53.200 to you. But of course there is something yet to come, something that 215 00:20:53.319 --> 00:20:57.759 he has not yet appeared. I think of it kind of like being at 216 00:20:57.759 --> 00:21:03.400 your own birthday party with your eyes closed and a present placed before you. 217 00:21:03.509 --> 00:21:07.589 The present is yours, it belongs to yours. It's right there, but 218 00:21:07.789 --> 00:21:14.869 you can't see it because the blindfold hasn't been taken off yet. We have 219 00:21:15.190 --> 00:21:22.819 these things right now. Jesus Christ didn't make salvation merely possible. He accomplished 220 00:21:22.940 --> 00:21:27.180 redemption on the Cross. He ascended into the high and heavenly places as a 221 00:21:27.339 --> 00:21:34.849 victorious king. He rules and reigns right now over US and over all the 222 00:21:34.970 --> 00:21:42.690 world as a victorious king, but we can't quite see it. The scriptures 223 00:21:42.890 --> 00:21:48.240 testify to it, testify this to us. It has not yet appeared, 224 00:21:48.319 --> 00:21:52.720 and so there is a way in which we are yet waiting to fully possessed 225 00:21:52.920 --> 00:21:57.559 or comprehended, in a way that we are waiting for that day when God 226 00:21:57.720 --> 00:22:07.589 says open. So there is something still ahead, the revealing of Christ and 227 00:22:07.670 --> 00:22:11.109 his kingdom, a way in which it will appear. A new heaven and 228 00:22:11.349 --> 00:22:17.779 New Earth, resurrection of our bodies, the final banishment and vanquishing and defanging 229 00:22:17.900 --> 00:22:23.220 of all unrighteousness, the Angelic Human Union where, all together, all God's 230 00:22:23.259 --> 00:22:29.299 creatures and every every creature in heaven and on the Earth and under the earth 231 00:22:29.539 --> 00:22:34.769 will praise God. This is what I mean when I say the Christian is 232 00:22:34.809 --> 00:22:41.970 a forward thinking person. Right the Christian mind can't get this out of its 233 00:22:42.049 --> 00:22:48.640 head. The Christian heart is a heart that longs for this day and maybe 234 00:22:48.680 --> 00:22:53.599 even cries for it sometimes. The Christian will is the will that steadfastly endures 235 00:22:53.640 --> 00:22:59.430 everything, anything for the sake of the hope that is set before us for 236 00:22:59.589 --> 00:23:08.509 receiving this crown and reward. And how will we receive this reward. How 237 00:23:08.589 --> 00:23:14.579 do we know? Because we have been promised that when he appears, we 238 00:23:14.660 --> 00:23:19.500 will be like him. We, like Jesus, will be robed in glory, 239 00:23:21.099 --> 00:23:26.339 immortal, righteous, made fit for the consummated, Eternal Kingdom of God. 240 00:23:27.049 --> 00:23:32.410 The Psalm, psalm of teen, says who will ascend God's Holy Hill? 241 00:23:32.730 --> 00:23:36.529 Him who does not all these things. You can go read the list. 242 00:23:37.130 --> 00:23:41.049 It describes a person who is righteous, who is holy, one who 243 00:23:41.170 --> 00:23:47.440 is fit to belong to that kingdom. God is making us fit. We 244 00:23:47.559 --> 00:23:52.359 are. We will be made a people ready for Zion, and at that 245 00:23:52.480 --> 00:23:56.589 time we will see him as he is, not as he will be, 246 00:23:56.309 --> 00:24:03.430 not as he was, but as he is and will forever be. Now, 247 00:24:03.589 --> 00:24:08.109 some streams of Christian thinking like to think that when it says we will 248 00:24:08.150 --> 00:24:11.980 see God as he is, that we will somehow see God in his essence, 249 00:24:14.180 --> 00:24:18.859 that will he see him sort of stripped of all the barriers between the 250 00:24:19.019 --> 00:24:26.730 infinite and the finite. But this isn't true. We will never know God 251 00:24:26.930 --> 00:24:32.410 as he knows himself. This is not what God is saying, this is 252 00:24:32.609 --> 00:24:37.369 not how we ought to imagine it. It's also impossible, even though we 253 00:24:37.529 --> 00:24:47.559 will obtain a glory and an immortality. We will mate, remain finite creatures. 254 00:24:48.640 --> 00:24:56.390 We will not become God, as both the Eastern Church and the Protestants 255 00:24:56.430 --> 00:25:00.910 of rightly affirmed, it is impossible to see God in himself. It is 256 00:25:00.990 --> 00:25:04.750 impossible to know God in his essence. We are finite, he is infinite. 257 00:25:07.069 --> 00:25:11.740 The vision of God is indeed a blessing, but don't hope that one 258 00:25:11.779 --> 00:25:15.660 day you'll finally get to see God in the nude. God comes to us 259 00:25:17.059 --> 00:25:22.130 in Jesus Christ, in the word. That's how we come to know him. 260 00:25:22.329 --> 00:25:26.490 It's how the world came into existence, when God said let there be 261 00:25:26.609 --> 00:25:30.210 light, and it's how new life comes to existence when the light of the 262 00:25:30.369 --> 00:25:36.480 gospel of Jesus Christ shines in the darkness of the world and the world and 263 00:25:37.119 --> 00:25:42.279 the darkness does not overcome it. This luminous, beatific vision of God is 264 00:25:42.440 --> 00:25:48.799 a blessing, but it's because he comes to us in this way, in 265 00:25:48.960 --> 00:25:53.990 a saving way, in a way in which he takes on all of the 266 00:25:55.109 --> 00:26:02.069 obligations of the Covenant that he has made with us and fulfills them and gives 267 00:26:02.109 --> 00:26:07.500 us his righteousness. It's not just that Jesus became a man. The humanity 268 00:26:07.619 --> 00:26:12.099 is outlifted up. It's because he became a man and went to the Cross 269 00:26:12.619 --> 00:26:21.170 and died and justified all who are in are in him. So this means 270 00:26:21.250 --> 00:26:26.250 that seeing God is not an intellectual assent into the mystery is of God. 271 00:26:27.289 --> 00:26:33.799 Seeing God is seeing Jesus, Him who saved us. Of course, it's 272 00:26:33.839 --> 00:26:40.079 more than just seeing Jesus, it's being drawn by his spirit into a union 273 00:26:40.160 --> 00:26:51.190 of love with him. But before we end, I want you to remember 274 00:26:51.349 --> 00:26:55.509 that these two things that John Talks about, the fact that we are children 275 00:26:55.589 --> 00:27:00.109 of God and that we are waiting for something to appear the now in the 276 00:27:00.190 --> 00:27:04.460 later. I want to finish by reminding you that these two things can never 277 00:27:06.019 --> 00:27:11.980 be separated. If you are not a child of God before he returns, 278 00:27:14.500 --> 00:27:18.809 you will not be a child of God after. And, on the other 279 00:27:18.890 --> 00:27:22.529 hand, go on the flip side of that, if you are a child 280 00:27:22.569 --> 00:27:29.009 before his return, you will be a child after. Seeing God in this 281 00:27:29.329 --> 00:27:34.279 way, this consummated, glorious way, is not something for a few select 282 00:27:34.480 --> 00:27:41.440 saints, as some people have suggested. We don't get to God by sending 283 00:27:41.480 --> 00:27:48.470 up ascending some kind of spiritual ladder, either through mystical practices or through righteous 284 00:27:48.509 --> 00:27:53.750 acts. Know, we ascend to God by means of him and descending to 285 00:27:53.950 --> 00:28:00.220 us and then raising us up with him, it's coloss and says, into 286 00:28:00.220 --> 00:28:06.539 the heavenly places. Our confidence in the future is based on His grace, 287 00:28:07.220 --> 00:28:11.339 on his condescension, on his coming to us, not in our works, 288 00:28:11.980 --> 00:28:17.170 moving up to him. And this means that, because we are children of 289 00:28:17.250 --> 00:28:22.690 God now, the promise, in the hope of the future is for sure 290 00:28:23.170 --> 00:28:30.400 and we can have, as John says, confidence in it. So where 291 00:28:30.480 --> 00:28:33.759 does this hope come from, this hope of Heaven? On what basis do 292 00:28:33.880 --> 00:28:38.519 we change and restructure and do everything different in our lives? This is a 293 00:28:38.680 --> 00:28:42.829 very important question. Let me tell you. Let me imagine with you just 294 00:28:42.910 --> 00:28:48.509 a quick story. Imagine you're eighteen and your father tells you that when you 295 00:28:48.670 --> 00:28:53.750 turn forty, you are going to receive a billion dollars, billion dollars from 296 00:28:53.750 --> 00:29:02.099 a fund set up by some mysterious but loving relative. Would you worry if 297 00:29:02.140 --> 00:29:06.059 you knew that in just a few years you were going to receive a billion 298 00:29:06.180 --> 00:29:11.809 dollars? Would you get all stressed out about student loans? Probably not. 299 00:29:12.930 --> 00:29:17.609 Would you take more risks? Would you try to start more businesses? Would 300 00:29:17.609 --> 00:29:21.849 you be more generous than you otherwise might be. Yeah, you, probably 301 00:29:21.970 --> 00:29:26.640 he would. But of course that all depends on a measure of certainty that 302 00:29:26.720 --> 00:29:30.160 that's going to happen. But Your Dad's not just blowing hot air, but 303 00:29:30.319 --> 00:29:36.960 actually is telling you the truth. So let's think about this in terms of 304 00:29:37.079 --> 00:29:41.950 reality. We're not talking about a billion dollars. We're talking about eternal life, 305 00:29:42.589 --> 00:29:49.150 the state of your soul forever. Where will you be? Heaven or 306 00:29:49.309 --> 00:29:55.980 Hell? Will you enjoy all the blessings of the light and life of God 307 00:29:56.259 --> 00:30:00.859 or not? Well, if you think you will, then what is your 308 00:30:00.900 --> 00:30:04.579 basis for that hope? Are you simply leaping into the dark and hoping that 309 00:30:04.619 --> 00:30:11.569 it'll work out? Don't be foolish. Are you hoping in this glorious future 310 00:30:11.650 --> 00:30:17.450 on the basis of your spiritual prowess? Are you hoping that if you strive 311 00:30:17.650 --> 00:30:22.240 hard enough, you might get into heaven? If so, don't kid yourselves. 312 00:30:22.480 --> 00:30:30.920 The holiest of holy people have not obtained everlasting happiness this way. Moses 313 00:30:30.000 --> 00:30:33.160 saw the face of God, but he didn't even make it into the promised 314 00:30:33.160 --> 00:30:41.470 land. Paul says he counts all of his righteousness as like filthy rags. 315 00:30:41.670 --> 00:30:45.390 If that's the case for men like Paul and Moses. What makes you think 316 00:30:45.750 --> 00:30:51.299 that somehow you're an exception to the rule that even the Apostle Paul couldn't meet? 317 00:30:52.460 --> 00:30:56.980 Paul says he was caught up into the highest heaven. Paul received revelations 318 00:30:57.140 --> 00:31:02.900 from God. Paul was a holy man who did amazing and mighty works. 319 00:31:07.089 --> 00:31:12.289 Paul says he counts all that he does, even the works done in the 320 00:31:12.410 --> 00:31:21.359 Holy Spirit, as useless in maintaining a righteousness only he can have. Only 321 00:31:21.400 --> 00:31:27.400 the only thing that qualifies him is the Righteousness of Christ. Perhaps you think 322 00:31:27.400 --> 00:31:30.839 the what wealth of this world will just spill over into the next? Again, 323 00:31:32.000 --> 00:31:34.710 why? If a fortune in this world can be lost in an instant 324 00:31:34.750 --> 00:31:40.589 for any number of reasons, why not in the next, especially when God 325 00:31:40.710 --> 00:31:45.630 has said we can't take into the next world what we have here. Beloved, 326 00:31:47.819 --> 00:31:51.660 there is only one reason for certainty, and it is the word of 327 00:31:51.900 --> 00:31:57.660 God that is given to us, the promise of the Gospel, the promise 328 00:31:57.819 --> 00:32:07.210 of justification on the Cross, a right to an inheritance, a legal right 329 00:32:07.650 --> 00:32:15.609 that you have that is based on something God has done. These promises are 330 00:32:15.690 --> 00:32:22.359 not empty promises, because they have been guaranteed by the very blood of Jesus. 331 00:32:22.839 --> 00:32:29.319 The promises of Sanctification, the promises of union, the promises of glorification, 332 00:32:29.480 --> 00:32:37.109 of Heaven of all the rest, are not empty promises. There promises 333 00:32:37.190 --> 00:32:44.779 that have been written in blood by the very son of God, who says, 334 00:32:45.460 --> 00:32:54.059 if you believe on him, you will have eternal life. So our 335 00:32:54.299 --> 00:33:02.369 hope in heaven is not a fool's errand it's not pie in the sky wishful 336 00:33:02.490 --> 00:33:08.450 thinking. It is a guarantee. We're simply waiting for our eyes to be 337 00:33:08.650 --> 00:33:15.720 opened, for it all to be revealed. That's it. This promise has 338 00:33:15.759 --> 00:33:22.559 been fulfilled on the Cross and the promise has not been paused. It is 339 00:33:22.759 --> 00:33:30.990 being fulfilled even as I speak, even in my speaking. The ascended king 340 00:33:31.349 --> 00:33:38.349 rules over us now through his word and spirit. Beloved, in your trials 341 00:33:38.390 --> 00:33:44.140 and your suffering, in your waiting, in your longing, remember this, 342 00:33:45.339 --> 00:33:50.779 that you are God's child now, through faith in Christ and the work that 343 00:33:50.900 --> 00:33:53.619 he has done, and that when he appears, you will be like him. 344 00:33:54.059 --> 00:33:58.930 You will see him as he is, as he is right now. 345 00:34:00.250 --> 00:34:05.690 All that is hidden will be revealed. And so right now, as he 346 00:34:05.809 --> 00:34:10.320 makes this promise to you, it is if, or rather it is that 347 00:34:10.480 --> 00:34:16.079 he holds you close and he makes you this promise and by his spirit, 348 00:34:16.239 --> 00:34:22.840 he he's testifies to your spirit that you are sons of God and you can 349 00:34:22.880 --> 00:34:29.510 call to him Aba father. And one day, when the Lord Jesus returns, 350 00:34:29.550 --> 00:34:35.510 he will be visible to us, a stunning sight, a radiant, 351 00:34:35.590 --> 00:34:42.539 glorious, victorious King Riding With Power and might into this world. And when 352 00:34:42.579 --> 00:34:46.380 he appears, we shall be like him, immortal, righteous, filled with 353 00:34:46.619 --> 00:34:52.489 glory. In the luminous light of God's God's blessing, our bodies will shine. 354 00:34:53.610 --> 00:34:59.650 We will see him, his kingdom and the church purified, not as 355 00:34:59.690 --> 00:35:05.530 we imagine, not as we remember, but we will see him as he 356 00:35:05.650 --> 00:35:13.639 is. Hope for that day, Hope and God through Jesus Christ. Let's 357 00:35:13.679 --> pray