Saturday, 11th October 2008Back in the 80s, there was a song made popular by Frankie Goes to Hollywood called "Relax". There were
even shirts with the words, "Frankie Says Relax" that sold by the
thousands.
Well, before they could say it, God already said so. Read on...
I have been a Christian since 1979 when I accepted the Lord at the Billy Graham Crusade. Thanks to having attended Sunday School, I was familiar with the stories in the Bible such as Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah and the flood, etc.
One of the most exciting stories was about the Israelites and how God had set them free from the Egyptians and led them into Canaan, the land promised to their patriach Abraham, the land flowing with milk and honey. However, they had to wander in the wilderness for 40 years because 10 of the 12 spies did not believe God would give them the land.
Well, I have been on a similar spiritual journey. Even though I have been a Christian for more than half my earthly life, I had also been wandering in the spiritual wilderness and not possessing what God has already given to me through the finished work of His Son on the cross...
I did not know that prosperity was mine because Jesus became poor on the cross for my sake (2 Cor 8:9).
I did not know that health and wholeness was mine because Jesus took all my sicknesses and diseases upon His own body when He willingly allowed the Roman soldiers to whip and stripe Him (Isa 53:6).
I did not know that righteousness was mine and I could stand boldly before God without shame or guilt because Jesus who knew no sin was made sin for me and had given me His righteousness in exchange (2 Cor 5:21).
And because I was not aware of what the cross had accomplished for me, I was never at peace and felt a sense of restlessness. I was constantly looking for love, acceptance, fulfillment, satisfaction, etc in all the wrong places. In other words, I was never in a state of restfulness...
... until God in His mercy and providence, revealed to me the gospel of grace, through the sermons of Pastor Joseph Prince of New Creation Church. Those of you who have been regular followers of my blog would have read about how Victor, an ex-colleague of mine who attends New Creation Church, would leave his pastor's sermons in a common area in the office for others to borrow, and how one thing led to another, resulting me being in possession of his entire sermon collection from 2001 to date.
Which brings me to the title of today's post.
The first four letter-word I want to talk about is "LAND".
How many of you folks out there have heard sermons or messages telling us that the Promised Land for Christians is the place somewhere beyond the blue called heaven? Well, if that is what we have been led to believe, it is any wonder then why so many Christians are not living a victorious and abundant life while here on earth?
Jesus said in Jn 10:10, "The thief comes to kill, steal and destroy; but I come to give you life and give it more abundantly." Many of us quote the 2nd part of the verse, but forget that Jesus said those words in the same context as the 1st part of the verse. Jesus could not have been referring to eternal life in heaven, because the devil cannot be killing, stealing and destroying in heaven when he has already been cast out from it and is
persona non grata. The devil is killing, stealing and destroying marriages, relationships, possessions, etc here on this earth, and this is where our Lord Jesus wants us to live a life of abundance, prosperity and health so that others will be drawn to the gospel as well. People of the world will not be attracted by spiritual beauty, spiritual riches or spiritual health, so let us not spiritualise passages in the Bible which clearly refer to the material such as the following...
Gen 2613 The man (Isaac) became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy. 14 He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him.
Obviously this reference is to material possessions. If you know of a spiritual sheep or spiritual cattle, please show them to me because I have never come across such before :-P
So what then is the Promised Land for the believer, if it is not the promise of a place in the sweet by and by?
Consider this passage in the book of Numbers where God told the Israelites that they would not enter the Land because of their unbelief, but instead be made to wander in the desert for 40 years:
Num 14
30 Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun".
31 As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected.
32 But you—your bodies will fall in this desert.
33 Your children will be shepherds here for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the desert.
34 For forty years—one year for each of the forty days you explored the land—you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you.'
35 I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will surely do these things to this whole wicked community, which has banded together against me. They will meet their end in this desert; here they will die."
Now consider the following passages in the book of Hebrews:
Heb 3
16Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? 17And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert?
18And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed
19So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.
Heb 4
1Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it.
2For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith.
3Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, "So I declared on oath in my anger, "They shall never enter my rest.' "And yet his work has been finished since the creation of the world.
Notice how the Holy Spirit inspired the author of the book of Hebrews to refer to that passage in Numbers that Moses had recorded. But notice more significantly how He also replaces the word "
land" with the word "
rest"!!!
Which is the other four-letter word I wanted to talk about :-)
LAND = REST
So while the Israelites, Abraham's descendents under the Old Covenant were promised, a physical land flowing with milk and honey, we as Abraham's offspring under the New Covenant, are promised a state of restedness, based on the finished work of Christ!
We read that the Israelites lived in houses they did not build, drank from wells they did not dig, and ate from vineyards they did not plant (Deut 6:11). Satan may have put giants in the land to prevent God's people from entering it. But God instead turned that around for good such that all the toiling and sweating were carried out by the previous inhabitants, so the Israelites only needed to boldly enter the land and enjoy the fruits of the previous occupants' labour. Cool eh?
If already under the Old Covenant there was a shadow of restfuless, how much more should we experience the substance of restfulness, established upon better blood and better promises! Amen?
So relak lah brother. Jangan buang current...
