GOD’S WORD FOR AUGUST 20~ ~ Isaiah 62:5 ~ ~ “…..as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, So shall your God rejoice over you.”

From the book, We Shall See God, with sermons from Charles Spurgeon and Randy Alcorn.

JOINING HEAVEN’S CELEBRATION NOW –Part 2

ALCORN:

Spurgeon sees God’s rejoicing over us, His redeemed people, as a prompting for us to rejoice:  “Come now, beloved, rejoice in unity with the divine heart!”  Sick as he was throughout his lifetime, Spurgeon emphasized all the more our reason to celebrate.  God’s redemptive work is what we will celebrate for eternity, and Spurgeon encourages His church not to delay the celebration, but to commence it here and now.

Always concerned about the souls of those who heard him preach, and even more concerned in light of his failing body and the likelihood that he wouldn’t preach much longer, Spurgeon addresses those who haven’t yet grasped the truth of the gospel:  “Some of you are trying to save yourselves and make yourselves right before God.  It cannot be done.  You must be made new by a power you have not within yourself—a divine power.  You must be born again, and this is the work of God, not your work.”

Only God can offer forgiveness.  Only God can empower people to receive this offer.  You may think that you don’t deserve forgiveness after all you’ve done.  THAT’S EXACTLY RIGHT!  NO ONE deserves forgiveness.  If we deserved it, we wouldn’t need it!  THAT is the point of grace!

On the cross, Jesus experienced the hell we deserve so that, for eternity we can experience the heaven we DON’T deserve!

Once forgiven, we can look forward to spending eternity in heaven with Christ and our spiritual family (John 141-3; Revelation 20:11-22:6).  We need never fear that God will say, “If I’d known you did THAT, I wouldn’t have let you into heaven.”  EVERY sin is washed away by the blood of Christ.  God has seen us at our worst and still loves us.  No sin is bigger than the Savior.  If God weren’t willing to forgive sin on the basis of Christ’s sacrifice, heaven would be empty.

Our intimate link with Christ in His redemptive work makes us inseparable from Him, even now.  As we walk with Him and commune with Him in this world, we experience a faint foretaste of heaven’s delights and wonders.

Though it’s true that Christ is with us and within us while we’re on earth, it also works in the other direction—we’re so closely united with Christ that WE ARE SEATED WITH HIM IN HEAVEN! 

He says so:

“God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus”  (Ephesians 2:6)

Notice that the following description, written to believers alive on earth, is in the present perfect (not future) tense, so it expresses a completed action:  “You have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.  You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the Firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect.”  (Hebrews 12:22-23)

In a metaphysical sense, as God’s children, we’ve already entered heavens community.  By seeing ourselves as part of the heavenly society, we can learn to rejoice NOW in what heaven’s residents rejoice in.  They rejoice in God, His glory, His grace, and His beauty.  They rejoice in repentant sinners, the faithfulness, and Christlikeness of believers, and the beauty of God’s creation.  They rejoice in the ultimate triumph of God’s Kingdom and the coming judgment of sin.

Heaven, then, isn’t only our future home.  It’s our home already, waiting just over the next hill.  If we really grasp this truth, it will have a profound effect on our holiness.  People who see themselves seated with Christ in heaven – in the very presence of a God to whom the angels cry out, “Holy, Holy, Holy” (Isaiah 6:3; Revelation 4:8) – won’t spend their days viewing internet pornography or gossiping on the phone or cutting corners on business deals.

No wonder the devil is so intent on keeping us from grasping our standing in Christ!

Have you confessed your sins to the Father?   Have you asked Christ to forgive you? – responded to the Spirit’s prompting and placed your trust in Christ’s death and resurrection on your behalf? – asked Jesus to be your Lord and empower you to follow Him? – “Seek the Lord while He may be found;  call upon Him while He is near”  (Isaiah 55:6)

Wouldn’t it be tragic if you read this book about heaven but didn’t end up going there?  Don’t let that happen!

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John 1:12-13

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

John 3:18

 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

Job 2:10

……. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

Job 19:25

For I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth;

Ps 24:1

The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.

Philippians 4:4-9

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; …

Acts 2:26

Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; Moreover my flesh also will rest in hope.

Nehemiah 8:10

……for this day is holy unto our LORD: neither be sorrowful, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.

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