ADAM
AND EVE / THE FLOOD / ABRAHAM / MOSES
/ JESUS /THE CHURCH
In the beginning---there is.
Did you know that in the beginning Adam
and Eve thought things would always remain as they were? How
could they have imagined what all we know now? They couldn’t have and weren’t
meant to know. It wasn’t possible, yet we today, believe
that maybe we have at least most things figured out. We’ve
studied and calculated and think we have been given all the information
about God’s plan that we need to finish out time on planet
earth. Just as Adam and Eve probably thought. That was
their –what is.
However there was to be a --what will
be-- making their what is—what
was-- or a new –what is. Anything different in our past,
however to us, is –what was. What is-- was always changed
into what was by what will be. (now breathe)
This may sound ridiculously confusing,
but it is very important for us to come to grips with this
part of reality so we won’t
miss our --what will be-- when it comes. Many people have. We,
by nature, are so afraid of what we do not understand that we
would rather stay where we are, even if we don’t particularly
like it, just so we don’t have to deal with—change.
I have heard it put this way –“don’t rock my
boat.” Unfortunately, many of us aren’t even willing
for God to do that. I heard someone say once that they didn’t
want to see the movie, The Passion of the Christ, because they
were afraid it would change their world, or rock their boat.
Do we really want to shut God out? If
not, we need to be very sure we aren’t. We can, and many
of us are doing it without realizing what we are doing.
When Adam
and Eve walked on the earth and on up to the time of Noah and
the flood the only way people communed with God was by just
believing in His existence and communing with Him if they chose
to. As far as we know, they had not been given a set of rules
or laws to follow. The world as it was then, became very wicked
and Noah and his family were the only ones that loved and communed
with God by then. We read in the bible that they were spared
and everyone else was destroyed by the flood God sent to cleanse
the earth. There is other information recorded that is not
in the Bible that tells why the earth became
so hopelessly wicked.
The great flood was a --what will be-- and changed
the --what is --into --what was. Did Adam and Eve know what all
was to come?Noah and his family repopulated the earth and
that was the new –what
is. The next big event that was recorded is far down the time
line to Abraham. Things were about to change—again. But
that’s ok with us because we are still reading proven history.
That was all about those people. We are still ‘safe’ in
our-- what is. Are you getting nervous?
Through Abraham and Sarah God began a new nation of people,
a Nation that He wanted to be set apart, one that would live
holy according to His mandate of holiness. God wanted to have
a people that would want Him. God promised to make Abraham the
father of many and he started with Isaac. You know the story
of how the nation grew and was eventually moved to Egypt and
later held captive by Pharoah until----change.
Moses was the deliverer that God used
to free the Jews from captivity in Egypt and they wondered
in the wilderness for 40 years. What a change that must have
been. Sometimes they thought the old way was better. We don’t ever do that do we? As
they wondered in the wilderness they must have often thought
about their what was and felt very uncomfortable about the new –what
is. They now had been given the Law and many other rules and
eventually this new nation was instructed to go into the promised
land and overthrow the current inhabitants. Their current “what
is” had met with the “what will be” and as
they obeyed, they moved into the new--what is. It was the change
God wanted to make in their lives at that time. If they wanted
to have their new -what is- they had to obey and-- change.
The
new nation, the Jews, now looked forward anxiously for the promised
Messiah. It’s what they talked
about and lived out through all of their ceremonies every day
and would for many years. But would it be as they thought?
God had given them many rules and laws.
They were all given to them to protect them from the sin and
decay of this fallen world. They were God’s chosen people.
To me the biggest and most difficult transition was to come.
The coming of the Messiah. It was the -what will be- arriving
but not at all as they thought it would. What transpired is the
perfect example of people having pre-conceived ideas about God
and his plans and refusing to accept anything else. To this day
the Jews by in large, have rejected the-what will be -and have
chosen to stay in their -what is.
The Gentiles embraced the Messiah and have been experiencing
their- what is- in the Church age. However, The Church itself
has gone through some real changes as it has evolved into what
it is today.
The Church was originally Catholic but
collided with Martin Luther in the -what will be- for that
time. The protestant religion was born and has segmented into
many parts with over 40,000 different beliefs. That doesn’t
really bother us much though, once again, because we ARE the
protestant movement. So far we are OK with all of history because
we are still in our safe zone at this point in our -what is.
Right?
Well, there have been other ‘moves’ of God that
brought change and challenged God’s followers. Among
them is the move that occurred in the late 60’s and into
the 70’s. There was another -what will be- that came on
the scene and disrupted the current what is and once again the
Church. God’s people had to decide whether to receive it
or reject it as God. It was dubbed the Charismatic Movement and
at first most rejected it.
The new group of Christians were referred
to as Charismatics, Holy Rollers, and worse by most of the
Christian community and if they had all decided to give in
to the persecution and rejection by family, friends and church,
things might not have progressed as God wanted. Many experienced
alienation and ridicule from those closest to them and were
even ‘asked’ to leave
their churches.
However, the few gradually became the many because
of the brave ones who wanted truth and this new presence of
God more than they wanted comfort. They embraced the change
and welcomed this new depth of God, the baptism of the Holy
Spirit, into their lives. It is true that some, maybe
many, couldn’t
handle the hard and sometimes lonely and uncomfortable conditions
and drifted back into the comfort zone, turning their backs on
the things of the Spirit that they had both learned of and experienced.
But, many did persevere and thankfully so.
Today the Spirit filled as they were called, now represent the
largest and fastest growing segment of Christianity in the world.
God was able to change his church to a large degree from -what
was- to what now is. But, is he through? Does he have to be?
Will his church let him do whatever he wants to do? Will you?
Will I? What does he want to do?
Recently there was a report concerning
a ‘new movement
in the Church. There is an estimated 20 million plus Christians
in America alone that have left the Corporate Church setting
and are meeting in much smaller groups and more intimate settings.
They meet in homes, business office spaces, parks and anywhere
they can get what they are hungry for. What exactly is it that
they are hungering for? MORE. Just MORE.
They are not content with the status quo. They have gone in
search of more intimacy and power and presence of God in their
lives and a freedom of worship not bound by schedule and program.
They are not too interested in catering to the casual seekers
and comfort creatures. It has cost them too much and no longer
is it worth it. For too long the few have carried an expensive
burden for the majority who have proven to be more interested
in not being too interested.
Like the pioneers of the past, however, this
group is ridiculed and accused of being rouges, rebellious and
just plain wrong.
But once again, perhaps God has grown board
with His church playing church and perhaps lonely for his prized
loved ones. Lonely for more two way intimacy with them. Just
perhaps.
In Acts we read that when Jesus left earth
for heaven He told his faithful few that if they only knew
who He was sending back they would want Him to go. He said
wait until I send Him—the
Holy Spirit. He said you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit
and will be filled with his power to be my witnesses.
The bible tells us what the services were
like in the beginning. The Holy Spirit was in charge. Maybe—just
maybe He wants his Church back without the stifling restrictions
of schedules and the program that may be more about our plan
than his. You may want to read 1 Corinthians 14:26 and following
and make your own comparison.
What is-What was -and -What will be--
Has God ever been stopped by those who were comfortable? No.
I think we can see that. It just took longer and maybe there
were fewer who would be moved from their “what is” by God’s “what will
be”, but I pray he will never be stopped from giving us
more of him and having more of us.
What will be, will be decided by your
ability to hear the voice of God. God does not change according
to Malica 3:6. He expects us to change. That is called obeying.
We seem to think obeying is what we read in the Bible. That
represents what they were to obey. Can we learn from what they
learned…yes. It is
from God, why should we not want to know what God was saying
to His creation. The question is why do we think that God was
finished speaking almost 2,000 years ago and will never change
or alter things in any way?
He is alive in us and preparing us for
the “what will
be”. Are we going to listen, or just be content with the “what
was”? Heaven and reigning with Christ as sons and daughters
is the final “what will be”. The space between our
now “what is” and the final “what will be”,
will be determined by our ability to hear and obey the Spirit
that exist inside of us.
Who is in control, our comfort zone or
God? What difference can that make? I believe the past has
shone that if we refuse to change when God calls we will have
to be left out of the plan. That is to say, left behind at
the point we preferred to stay at. Do we really want that?
I believe God has certainly earned the
right to be in control while man has repeatedly shown how he
can mess up God’s
plans and stifle progression.
I pray that we, the ones that say we want
God will also want what He wants whatever that is, even if
it means leaving behind our ‘what is’ to take hold of His ‘what
will be.’
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