“…for he that cometh to cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is the rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6
The basis for understanding how we are to live on this earth, at this time in history, begins with the One who has declared Himself to be “the Beginning.” This is the God of the Old Testament, and Christ of the New. The triune God alone can give to mankind by His Spirit, and His written word, both the knowledge and the power to live in a manner designed by God, and for the glory of God. If we would live TODAY in a manner worthy of the blessed, gracious, and merciful God, then we must lay aside all concepts that do not correspond to Him, His nature, and the revelation of His purposes. If we would live for Him, we need to know how to live BY Him, coming to know daily what it means to abide in Him and He in us. Where is the great reference point, which then leads us to understand on a daily basis how we should live, and how we can?
The first thing we must always do is to look heavenward to God the Father, and to Christ seated at His right hand. It is there, in a holy context that is without sin in its principle or effects, that we are called to pray: “Our Father, which art in heaven, hollowed be Thy name.” The beginning point is God upon His throne, sovereign Creator and Redeemer. The natural result of a clear vision of God in His holiness is that the cry of man’s heart should be “…Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done.” However, unless a man is born of the Spirit of God, the power, and grip of the law of sin broken in his life, there can be no realization of life in the kingdom of God, and certainly not the accomplishment of His will. Therefore, the second thing man must do to live worthy of God today, is to look at the cross, or rather, the One dying on the cross.
When the gaze of the seeking heart passes from the elevated vision of God upon His throne to the condescending vision of Christ dying on the cross, there is such a contrast, such a convicting difference, that in one’s consciousness of being helplessly and hopelessly lost in sin’s downward death-spiral away from God, His love, and goodness, there can be no other response than the cry of the heart to God for His mercy. The plea is one for forgiveness of sins, but also, for a change of life. The new cloth cannot be sewn onto the old, and rotting fabric of this world. The new wine cannot be put into a hole-riddled empty and decaying vessel of this creation. The holiness of God has nothing to do with the darkness and ungodliness of sin, man’s attitude of independence of God, revealed by his active or passive rebellion to God. God in His mercy has done everything to save man from his perilous perishing, and plight of destruction. He waits to hear the call of the heart for mercy to be heard and accepted, and abounding grace to be saved. Man’s true and ever-lasting beginning is created at this point, when one is born again by the Spirit of God, and the fallen man of the past has become a new creation in Christ.
What then of going forward, upward, and onward, in full assurance of faith in God? God is not only the God of eternity, but of time, today. Every day is a gift, and opportunity, and even an obligation to seek to know the living Christ, by His Spirit, according to His word, the Gospel. Every believer is a temple in which the Spirit of God dwells. The call of God to the new man is to live by faith in the faithfulness of God, seeking first Christ’s kingdom or reign, and receiving everything from Him daily.
Dear Father, Fill us with expectation. In Jesus’ name, Amen.