The End

Part of the reason God gave us divine revelation about the next life is to motivate us in this one. Some have said Christians can be “so heavenly minded, they are no earthly good.” But as C.S. Lewis rightly pointed out, Christians are no earthly good until they are heavenly minded. Until we digest what God says about the end of this world and the beginning of the next, we will never truly embrace Christ’s values or live a Christ-like life. The New Testament repeatedly drives this point home, frequently exhorting us to “set our hearts on things above” (Col.3:1-2). Jesus calls us to punctuate our prayers with an ardent request for God’s “kingdom to come” (Mt.6:10). Because our decisions, our discussion and our disposition need that eternal perspective, may God empower us today to “fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, for what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2Cor.4:18).

For more devotionals and sermons from Pastor Mike Fabarez visit the Focal Point website.

Life Perspective

Do you long to see Christ face to face (1Cor.13:12)? Do you truly feel your citizenship is in another world (Phil.3:20)? Have you laid up sufficient treasure in heaven so that your hope is really set on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ (Mt.6:20; 1Pt.1:13b)? If so, most people will think you’re crazy, but actually you’ll be living out one of the fundamental virtues of New Testament theology. Longing for the next life is the expected result of a regenerate heart. You should, with the rest of God’s people, be “eagerly awaiting a Savior from heaven – the Lord Jesus Christ” and together we should be “longing for a better country – a heavenly one” (Heb.11:16). When passion like this is absent in the hearts of professing Christians the Bible calls it “worldliness.” We are told that a fondness for the present life is antithetical to loving God. John exhorts: “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1Jn.2:15). Like Demas, you’ll see a love for the world supplanting your zeal to risk and sacrifice in service for Christ (2Tim.4:9-10). Like Judas, you’ll find that a love for the world’s silver will be a source of chronic compromise (Jn.12:6). In contrast, like Paul, our willingness to continue on this planet should be out of a singular interest for the next one. Consider the conflict created by his passion for the next life: “If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body” (Phil.1:22-23). May we genuinely be able to say with the apostle: “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil.1:21). Maranatha! Come quickly Lord Jesus! (1Cor.16:22b; Rev.22:20).

Real Pleasure

As the people of this world perpetually chase after good feelings by doing whatever their selfish impulses dictate, God has called his children to take hold of profound joy and lasting gratification by cultivating a deepening relationship with their Maker. Sin is deceptive and in the end Satan always discards his heroes, but God’s servants have his unending love and his grace-filled presence as their ultimate reward. This is real pleasure and lasting contentment. King David addressed God after surveying the hedonistic and rebellious culture of his day, and with an optimistic call to the faithful wrote: “But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you. For surely, O Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield” (Psalm 5:11-12). God is good. Knowing him is cause for celebration.

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Tree of Life

Proverbs 13:12 says that “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.” While that principle holds true for all varieties of hopes and desires, the ultimate hope of the Christian life is bound up in the arrival of Christ and his kingdom (Titus 2:13). That is one reason the “tree of life” finds a prominent place in the descriptions of our eternal home in the Book of Revelation (Revelation 2:7; 22:2, 14, 19). So then, if our supreme hopes and desires are in the right place we should expect that a healthy Christian life would always carry some palpable level of “heart sickness,” as we ache for the consummation of God’s eschatological plan. Paul often revealed his godly and mature “unsettled spirit” that “groaned” and “longed” to see us all “put on our heavenly dwelling” (2 Corinthians 5:2). He knew that “to be with Christ” was “far better” than any pleasurable experience this world could possibly afford (Philippians 1:23). Therefore, if you sense you are growing in Christ, but can’t shake that blue sense of dissatisfaction about your present experience and the state of the world, rest assured your spiritual growth is right on track. That ache is a sign of your increasing maturity. Make sure it is tempered with a joyful anticipation, and don’t allow it to degenerate into bitterness. Be reminded each day that with the imminent arrival of our King, the definitive “tree of life” will be here before you know it.

For more sermons and devotionals on the Tree of Life, please go to the Focal Point Ministries website at www.focalpointministries.org. 

Future Good

Because mature Christians have learned that all good things in this life come from God’s generous hand, they are usually careful to give thanks to him whenever they experience them. And so we should (James 1:17; Ephesians 5:20). But the Bible also calls us to learn to give thanks for the good things we’ve yet to receive – the ones we will experience in the next life! Colossians 1:12 says you ought to be “giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints.” The “inheritance” Paul has in mind is the unimaginable blessings and rewards that will be permanently lavished upon us when we enter into God’s presence (Ephesians 1:14; 1 Corinthians 2:9). This practice of thanking God ahead of time for the blessings we will receive in the next life has a way of producing a current surplus of endurance, patience and joy (Colossians 1:11-12). And that’s helpful, especially when the “good things” here and now are in short supply. Peter writes to a group of suffering and persecuted Christians about their extravagant “inheritance”, which is reserved in heaven for them (1 Peter 1:4). He then speaks of the transforming power of being thankful now for those future gifts, saying, “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials” (1 Peter 1:6). So let us add to our spiritual disciplines the daily practice of expressing our thanks to God, not only for the good he supplies day by day, but also for the incomparable good he will bestow when we see him face to face.

For more sermons and devotionals on Future Good, please go to the Focal Point Ministries website at www.focalpointministries.org. 

Live for Christ Today

Peter motivates his readers to pursue godliness and holiness by reminding them that the world’s enticing temptations are a part of a value system that God has promised to destroy. He poignantly describes the complete decimation of the current order of things. “The day of the Lord will come” he writes, “like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved” (2 Peter 3:10). Because the present world is the source of endless distractions and sinful enticements that assault our devotion to Christ, Peter calls us to remember what endures. What we do for God will last. How we invest our hours in Christ’s agenda will have a transcendent worth. “Since all these things are thus to be dissolved,” Peter goes on to ask, “what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness?” (2 Peter 3:11). Clearly it makes no sense to dabble in the world’s agenda and imbibe in the passing pleasures of sin. Every sinful impulse that is denied and every idolatrous path that is forsaken will yield eternal dividends and be pondered from the next world as a small sacrifice in such an advantageous investment. You can be sure that one day soon this world will be gone and “the time for rewarding God’s servants will come” (Revelation 11:18). So remember what lasts and live a godly life for Christ today.

For more sermons and devotionals on living for Christ daily, please go to the Focal Point Ministries website.