Living Anew in 2019

Living with Renewed Hope Anew in 2019 Isaiah 60:1–6 (NIV84) 1 “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. 2 See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you. 3 Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. 4 “Lift up your eyes and look about you: All assemble and come to you; your sons come from afar, and your daughters are carried on the arm. 5 Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy; the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come. 6 Herds of camels will cover your land, young camels of Midian and Ephah. And all from Sheba will come, bearing gold and incense and proclaiming the praise of the Lord. Friends, we know that Isaiah lived and prophesied between the years of 739 B.C. to 702 B.C. In the few verses that we’ve shared this morning Isaiah prophesied that something will occur to make it possible that people can see the glory of the Lord. That something is the conquest of sin by the Divine Warrior. It is the Servant who will be the light for the nations. We grew up with the proclaimed message that Jesus is the Light of the World. This is how John’s Gospel starts: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.” John 1:1–5 (NIV84) And in In John 9:5 Jesus declared boldly: “I am the light of the world!” however, only when God’s grace is released in the lives of his servants can they manifest his righteous character in such a way that they enable the nations of the world to see Him and come to Him as He desires. Friends, the New Year is only 6 days old. I don’t know about you, but as the New Year replaced the Old, I reflected on all happened during the past year. Reminiscing over the past can cause us to very easily become very morbid. It reminds us of so much that we were not in control of. My reflection inadvertently caused me to remember those who started 2018 with us but who are not here to continue to enjoy 2019 with us. I reflected on the appearance of Qld fruit fly and the adverse effect it had on farming in spots on the North West Coast. However, I’d like to acknowledge that even though we are sometimes unpleasantly surprised by past events that can cause us to only remember the negative things that happen, Scripture reminds us that God is never taken by surprise. To me personally this truth is a great source of peacefulness and contentment. For instance, Scripture reminds me that God has committed himself to the future of this world. It reminds me that His grace will triumph permanently and universally. It reminds me that all the races and cultures of this world have a place of honour in God’s plan. I just need to spend more time in God’s presence and the more time I spend in His presence the clearer the picture of His commitment to us become. Friends, the more time we spend with God the more we will realise that we have a reason to expect sweeping spiritual revival throughout the world, however formidable the opposition. Why can I say this to you today? That reason is the Word of God. It proclaims a message of hope, joy and peace – even when we experience that we are not in control of what happens in life. Today I’d like to ask you to start at Genesis 12, where the gospel begins. Think about this good news: 1 The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. 2 “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” Genesis 12:1–3 (NIV84) Friends, if Abram reminisced about his life there would’ve been lots of things that happened where we weren’t in control or where he thought that he could take control and messed it up greatly. Just think about the situation with Lot; or the time of the great famine where he told the Egyptians that Sarai was his sister because he was afraid that they’d kill him. Think about the situation with Hagar and Ishmael. It seems to me as if Abram struggled with the same things we struggle with – for instance it seems to me that he didn’t grasp that God is not indifferent to wrong. Or maybe just as profound – it seems to me that he didn’t realise that we cannot rescue ourselves – that only God can. A lot of Abram mistakes in life boils down to this: he tried to take charge of situations and tried to control the outcomes. And Scripture tells us that every time he did that he failed miserably. Yet, God promised him that He would bless Abram, that He would make Abram a great nation, yes, that through Abram He’d bless all peoples on earth. Friends, for me personally this is a good thing to remember. When I reflect on 2018, and I see the effects of fruit fly, or the damage caused by storms – the broken glass and the ripped plastic – I might feel that right now the progress of the gospel is too slow or laborious for my liking. But then Scripture reminds me that the past and the present is not the full measure of the future. There is a time that is coming where all the things that we experience as out of control will be under control. Friends, Abram received the promise regarding this. But you and I know that through the birth of Jesus this promise became reality – in Him all the nations of the earth became blessed. How could it be otherwise? The goodness of God is of a spreading nature. Christianity is not a private preference; it’s an uncontainable power for world renewal. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12), and light by its nature illuminates everything around. Even so, the gospel will brighten the world: 27 All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him… Psalm 22:27 (NIV84) Isaiah 2:2–3 (NIV84) 2 In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. 3 Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. Where do we modern people typically find our incentives for living? In the present. Isaiah link hope with humility, because we use the idol of self-advancement to stabilize ourselves. But God replace our fear and pride with hope and humility. When we reminisce about the past, like I did with 2018, and we focus only on what went wrong, the future threatens to rob us of all we have and the hope to have. We might argue: How do I know that 2019 is going to better that 2018? Friends, the answer is that we should trust in God, all the way. If we realize that our sense of stability is not grounded in in our pleasant surroundings but in God alone our perspective regarding the future changes. Think about it; If we see ourselves as successful people and we have nothing beyond the status quo, the uncertainty of fruit flies and storm damage and old age and frailty, we will respond to earthly loss with rage and despair. Then we feel that we have we worked so hard, and that we deserve better. Friends, think about it, when we remove God out of the picture, are we not only creating our own vulnerability? It is only as we come alive to God’s promised future, it is only when we dethrone our idolatrous Idea that we should be in control of our lives that God alone is exalted within us. This is what we should think about during 2019. World events are forcing us to think about that. Every day terrorist fanatics are plotting to murder us. Even if we get to them first, how do we save ourselves from the powers of nature that slammed Java and Sumatra with killer tsunami waves of 24 December 2018? Left to ourselves, we are defenceless before the beatings of life. That is when Jesus comes to us. Through Him our losses can become pathways to hope. For us privileged people in the Western world, the supreme privilege of life is when we find that God himself is all we really need. Scripture helps us set our hearts on God. The key is not just what we believe but what we value. Daniel 7:13–14 (NIV84) 13 “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. Daniel 7:22 indicated that the Ancient of Days would come and pronounce judgment in favour of believers. Now in these verses we get a picture of what that means. Daniel says that “one like a son of man” would come with the clouds of heaven. Jesus picked up on this name while He was here on earth. The name Jesus used for himself more than any other was the Son of Man. He took it from this text to remind the people who he really was. Reminiscent of John 1:1, he was with the Ancient of Days, and he was the Ancient of Days. Jesus quoted part of Daniel 7:13 -14 in Matthew 24 so we could understand what Daniel was seeing. Paul says virtually the same thing as Jesus, using the terminology of Daniel: 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 (NIV84) Friends, as the years replace each other it is good to remember that our citizenship is in heaven. It is good to reassess our preparedness for the return of our Messiah. “…our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ…” Philippians 3:20 (NIV84) It is when we get this right that we are looking forward 2019 as the possible coming of God’s Son from heaven – Jesus whom God raised from the dead. It is then that we experience that God will provide rest for us when we feel that life circumstances cause us to feel as if we are being persecuted. It is then when we can look forward to when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven. 2 Thessalonians 1:7 (NLT). Friends, it is only when we have the right perspective regarding God’s role in our lives and God’s control over our lives that we can live the humble lives that God is calling us to. In my mind there is no better example of what we are called to than Philippians 2:5–11 (NIV84) 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. However, as we all know, hearing the truth and making it part of our lives are not the same thing, even when we are devoted to Jesus. As I reflected over 2018, I realised that too often I allowed circumstances to cause me to be a grump. Am I allowed to get away with it? Imagine Jesus as a grump, so negative by midday that people cross the street to avoid eye contact. Or imagine Jesus waking in the morning and making statements like, “What a dull day. I’m sleeping in.” If Jesus doesn’t fit these scenes, neither should you. In the morning, get up with the zest Jesus had, sure that God the Father will guide each hour. As dusk approaches, refresh yourself in the tender mercies of the Lord, and don’t let the day’s pressures make you a grump. Live your day like Jesus lived his. Many people feel that they can’t control their moods or attitudes. The joyful unity of believers in Christ offers a powerful testimony to the world that the God of love they preach is real, active, and eager to bring others into His loving family. So the question is: Am I going to be less of a grump in 2019? Given my natural bent, it would be highly possible. But Paul doesn’t accept the fact that Spirit-filled Christians are slaves to their attitudes. Christ had this attitude; so must we. Friends, this brings me back to remembering those who started 2018 with us but who are not with us in 2019 anymore. It also inadvertently causes me to think about who will not be here in 2020. Now, this can cause us to become either morbid or filled with joy. To me it is the joy that prevail and the following Scripture passage should reveal to you why: Revelation 7:9–10 (NIV84) 9 After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” This is not a deviation in the Bible. This is the gospel. If we enjoy Jesus at the present moment, however sincerely, but with a fear that tomorrow we might die, He might be forever defeated, would the gospel be good news? Friends this passage reminds us of Jesus’ final victory. God’s mercy is incalculable, and he has spread it widely. The innumerable multitude is from “every nation” and “all tribes and peoples and languages” (Revelation 7:9). They are the ones who will not be here in 2020. But look closely; it is not a bad thing. It is actually a wonderful thing. They have received their reward and is celebrating the triumph of Jesus. Yes, they are celebrating His provision on the way to the land of promise, the new heavens and the new earth. They give credit where it is due in Revelation 7:10, “crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’ ” They do not credit themselves for overcoming. God sealed them. They state plainly that salvation belongs to God. This means that their salvation is not due to the right choices they made, the virtue of their character, the superiority of their wisdom, or the strength of their will. Salvation belongs to God. God saved them. So they praise God. Don’t you think that this should be our attitude in 2019? Therefore, we should live with a sense of personal possession in the future. The Bible says, “All things are yours … whether … the present or the future” (1 Corinthians 3:21- 22). Whatever your life is now, you are immeasurably rich in what will be. The Bible says, “Neither things present nor things to come … will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38- 39). Why do we fear the future? Because it can only bring us more of the love of God. It might be hard for us today to appreciate the full significance of what God has shared with us today. But friends, I’d like you to remember during 2019 when circumstances are not panning out exactly the way you’d liked it to, that God had a “secret plan” to which no one outside the heavenly council was privy until the predetermined time. Remember that we know that plan, because that plan has been revealed in Jesus. We can live life peacefully with hope and joy even when we don’t know the detail of tomorrow. We have a true friend in Jesus who will enable us to make sense of life as we journey trough it. Amen.