Live eternally now

Live eternally now

SIBKL/Pastor Daniel Tan/4/8/12

Life is short but you are not alone! Trials and hardships are part and parcel of life. Some products come with a lifetime warranty, but have you wondered, whose lifetime? The product or ours? In 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, Paul said that our bodies are decaying but we have something that far outweighs this – life in eternity! 2 Corinthians 5:1 actually starts as a direct continuation of 2 Corinthians 4:18. The beginning word “for” leads on to tell us the reason why we should fix our eyes on what is unseen. As a tentmaker, Paul uses the metaphor of a tent compared to a building to illustrate the difference between the mortal body and the resurrection body. We fix our eyes on what is unseen because it just is so much more glorious!

In verse 9, Paul concludes, so (as a result), (the logical conclusion is), our goal is to please God. The meaning of goal here is to devote oneself zealously to a cause, and that cause is to make God happy! In verse 7, Paul explains how God gives us His Spirit as a deposit. In “the Message”, this deposit is described as giving us a glimpse of the real thing – a little bit of heaven in our hearts. In doing this, God has deposited the eternal into the temporal. Heaven is not just a destination, it is a motivation. In Colossians 3:1-3 we are called to set your hearts and pursue things that have eternal value. Why? Because you and I have received eternal life in Christ! Therefore, we should live with an eternal perspective! Why take pride in wealth, health and material possessions? Instead, why not take pride in devotion to God?

How do we possess an eternal perspective? Firstly, as stated in verse 7, we are to live by faith and not by sight. The enemy makes us focus on the temporal – the perils of life and the pleasures of life. Recently, my wife was not well for a month and was hospitalized for a week with high fever. She was cold on the inside even with three layers of blankets. It was probably the longest week of our lives. She was not only battling with physical illness but also spiritual intimidation. The enemy will try to use our physical condition to bring down our spiritual condition. Should I be believing in miracles? She thought she was dying. We prayed. We trusted God. How do we go on praying for miracles? I can’t go on in life if I have a temporal perspective. When I have an eternal perspective, things begin to make sense. God’s eternal purpose is more important than His imminent power. When I’m praying for a miracle and its not happening, I trust that it’s not that God is powerless but because God is purposeful. His power is always manifested through His purpose!

Secondly, as Paul exhorts in verses 11-12, we must fear God and not be self conceited. Verse 10 speaks about the time when we will come before the judgment seat of Christ when we will have our life flashed before our eyes. Make sure its worth watching! Those who care not about eternity fear not the eternal God and therefore disregard his judgment. C.S.Lewis once remarked “if you read Christian history, whose who did most for the present world were those who thought most of the next. What motivated Paul to live for Christ? In verse 14, Paul wrote “Christ’s love compels us”. Paul was so indebted to the love of Christ that he just could not help living for Christ. Friends, have you received the love of Christ? His race? His forgiveness? Have you tasted of the goodness of the Lord? I’m so indebted to Christ that I just can’t help but live for Him and serve Him. It’s not an obligation, it’s a devotion. Hudson Taylor, the man who opened the door of missions into China would interview candidates carefully for his China Inland Mission. During the interview, he would ask them why they wanted to go. One said “that’s what the Lord says”. Another said “millions of souls are dying without Christ”. Hudson Taylor told them “all these reasons will fail you during times of testing and tribulation. Only the love of Christ will sustain you.” If not for the love of Christ, I would have quitted long ago. The love of Christ must be the single most important motivation why we live for him.

Thirdly, practice a ministry of reconciliation. In verses 16-21, there is a wealth of truths concerning salvation. However, for this message, I want to focus on our calling to practice the ministry of reconciliation. There are 2 main things here. First, since we have the message of God’s love, preach it. Second, since we are ambassadors of God’s love, live it! We may be the only Jesus that someone else knows. An ambassador represents the king not just in words, but in person. As a messenger, we connect the person to the originator of the message by delivering it and living it out.

How do we connect people to Jesus? Firstly, we have to change our lenses. In my childhood days, I had a non-Christian friends who came from a family of staunch idol worshippers. She followed me to church a couple of times but was not responsive. The family also spoke in very vulgar language. I said “If this family would be able to become Christians, elephants could climb coconut trees. Amazingly, 10 years later, the whole family came to know the Lord and more than 30 altars were removed in 2 weeks. With the lenses that I wore, I failed to see. Everywhere He went, Jesus saw helpless people, helpless souls. A changed life is followed by changed lens. Is your life changed?

Secondly, we need to create a space for grace. In treating the woman caught in adultery, Jesus did not say that the woman did not sin but He did not condemn her either. The woman knew she was guilty and should be stoned to death. She never walked away when the people left. She stayed because Jesus stayed. In one of the communities GG was helping, there was a power struggle between 2 groups of parties. We had to make a choice to continue walking or go away. We decided to stay and show the grace of God. Finally, they invited us to help them reconcile and they did. One of them commented how curious it was that two parties of the same skin color needed a mediator from a different color to help them reconcile. In another community, we worked for many years with not much fruit  but we stayed and served. Last year, 15 came to the Lord. We didn’t preach. We changed our lenses. How will we do in SMCC? Let us pray for new eyes to see, new hearts to love. There is no guarantee how long we will live. So we should live life to the fullest. Heaven is not just a destination but a motivation to have an eternal perspective, purpose to live for Christ and practice the ministry of reconciliation.

In 1955, 5 young missionaries led by Jim Elliot heard the call from God to reach the Auca Indians of Ecuador. On 8^th January 1956, after making first contact at 3pm, all 5 were speared to death, leaving behind 5 widows and orphans. Jim Elliot wrote famously “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose”. 3 years later, one of the missionaries’ sisters and Jim Elliot’s wife returned to the Auca Indians to reach out and the whole tribe were saved. This story was one of the catalysts that made me enter full time ministry.

Steve Saint, the son of the missionary who was the pilot went with his aunt to stay with the Auca Indians. He shared how people would often ask him how he could forgive the people who killed his father. However, he explained how his perspective was different. The 5 missionaries knew the risks involved in their endeavor. They had guns with them but chose to die rather than use them for the sake of this people. Steve realized how special these people were for them to do this. Later, he formed a special bond with Grandfather Mincaye, the man who had killed his father. When he first came to live with them, Grandfather Mincaye saw that young Steve did not know many things about survival and asked his aunt who would teach him. His aunt replied,” since you killed his father, who do you think should teach him?” So Grandfather Mincaye proceeded to teach young Steve like his own son how to hunt, how to survive and even make weapons. In their culture, once a man killed another man, the man’s offspring had the right to take revenge by killing him and his family. However, after receiving the grace of the gospel, Grandfather Mincaye’s perspective had so changed that he was no longer so concerned about himself, but for others. Steve and his family came to love Grandfather Mincaye as a treasured family member in this amazing true story that could only have been written by God.