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Jonny Whisenant
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HighRoads
Friday, April 26 2019

 

 

The Promise of Discipleship is -

- The Promise of Life (Life never ending with our Father)

   - The Promise of a “New Life” (Identity, work, mission, abilities)

- The Promise of a “People” (God’s Family)

and

- The Promise of a “Land” (The New Heavens and New Earth)

So, The Goal of this life…is not just “THIS” life…

Hello Everyone,

In our last entry we talked about the ultimate purpose of our discipleship being our adpotion into the Family of God and  that we have come home to a Family, and are now learning the Family character and ways. We will continue to in this entry today to show Gods plan for us and why our "discipleship/education is so important. 

This "Family education"  has meaning and purpose beyond what we may immediately think. In other words, the discipline and character that the Lord seeks to build in us, as burdensome as it may seem at times, has rewards and far reaching implications that we may have never considered. Grasping that truth and vision requires that we lift our heads out of our preoccupation with our momentary desires, issues, and demands, to look deeply into what God Our Father tells us about our future. The Apostle Paul in his letter to the believers at Corinth speaks of the importance of aligning our present actions with purposeful goals when he says, “Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim.” I Cor. 9:26

The late Stephen Covey, in his listing of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, indicates that as we evaluate our life actions we should:

"Begin with the End in Mind"

He explains that,

“To begin with the end in mind,” means to start with a

clear understanding of your destination.

It means to know where you’re going, so that you better understand where you are now,

so that the steps you take are always in the right direction.

In order for us to do this, we must first understand what God’s original intention for mankind was, what it is now, and what it is for the future. To guide us we will ask a series of questions and use quotes from Pastor/ Author Randy Alcorn’s book, Heaven, with the explanitory and entertaining videos that will enhance our grasp of these truths.

                                

Question 1: What was God’s original intention for creating Mankind?

“God’s intention for humans was that we would occupy the whole Earth and reign over it. This dominion would produce God-exalting societies (cultures) in which we would exercise the creativity, imagination, intellect, and skills befitting beings created in God’s image, thereby manifesting his attributes. To be made in God’s image involves a communicative mandate: that through our creative industry as God’s sub-creators, we should together make the invisible God visible, thus glorifying him in the sight of all creation.”

“Culture encompasses commerce, the arts, sciences, athletics – anything and everything that God-empowered, creative human minds can conceive and strong human bodies can implement. In The King of the Earth, theologian Erich Sauer writes of the phrase in Genesis 1:26 “let them have dominion”: “These words plainly declare the vocation of the human race to rule. They also call him to progressive growth in culture. Far from being something in conflict with God, cultural achievements are an essential attribute of the nobility of man as he possessed it in Paradise. Inventions and discoveries, the sciences and the arts, refinement and ennobling, in short, the advance of the human mind are throughout the will of God. They are the taking possession of the earth by the royal human race (Genesis 1:28), the performance of a commission, imposed by the Creator, by God’s ennobled servants, a God-appointed ruler’s service for the blessing of this earthly realm.”

Genesis 1:26-28

26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Please watch the video, Managers Of Creation below:

Application Question: According to this video, how does your discipleship/education fit into God’s intentions for you?

 

Question 2: But hasn’t that all changed because of sin and the Fall?

“This reigning, expanding, culture-enriching purpose of God for mankind on Earth was never revoked or abandoned. It has only been interrupted and twisted by the Fall. But neither Satan nor sin is able to thwart God’s purposes. Christ’s redemptive work will ultimately restore, enhance, and expand God’s original plan.”Daniel 7:25 tells us that the saints will be handed over to the earth’s kingdoms, which will persecute them for a season. But then a stunning reversal will occur. “Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be handed over to the saints, the people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him” (v. 27). The Kingdom will be God’s, yet he will appoint his saints as rulers under him, and they “will worship and obey him.”

Daniel 7: 13,14 & 27

13 “I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him.14 “And to Him was given dominion,Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and men of every language. Might serve Him.His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed.

27 Then the sovereignty, the dominion and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him.’

Please watch the video, Heaven -The Eternal Empire of the Son of Man at:

Application Question: Then Is your discipleship/ education just for this life?

 

Question 3: But if that is in the future, what does it have to do with our lives today?

“His plan is for us to develop, as apprentices to Jesus, to the point where we can take our place in the ongoing creativity of the universe.” Dallas Willard

God is grooming us for leadership. He’s watching to see how we demonstrate our faithfulness. He does that through his apprenticeship program, one that prepares us for Heaven. Christ is not simply preparing a place for us; he is preparing us for that place.

Through adversity and opportunity, as well as in their (our) artistic and cultural accomplishments, they (we) will be groomed for their (our) leadership roles in Christ’s eternal Kingdom. Their (our) society-transforming creative skills will be put on prominent display in the new universe, where they (we) will “shine like the sun in the kingdom of their (our) Father” (Matthew 13:43).

Please watch the video, What is the Kingdom of God? at:

Application Question: Are you willing to be groomed and apprenticed, and use your life and disipleship/education in this life for a greater purpose in the next?

 

Question 4:  Well then, if that is the Goal, what will it be like, and how will I use my disipleship/education and experiences in that life?

What is the “greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven” that will be “handed over to the saints”? I believe it includes all that makes the nations great. That would include, among other things, their cultural, artistic, athletic, scientific, and intellectual achievements. All of these will not be lost or destroyed but “handed over to the saints” as they rule God’s eternal Kingdom on the New Earth. We will become the stewards, the managers of the world’s wealth and accomplishments.

There’s not a millimeter of cosmic geography that doesn’t belong to him, and by extension to his children, his heirs. Our Father has a family business that stretches across the whole universe. He entrusts to us management of the family business, and that’s what we’ll do for eternity: manage God’s assets and rule his universe, representing him as his image-bearers, children, and ambassadors." That is the ultimate goal of our discipleship/education in this life , to display our Fathers image, rule, and, glory to all of the New Heavens and New Earth.

“Nothing of ultimate worth from the long history of the nations will be omitted from the heavenly community. Everything which authentically reflects the God of truth, all that is of abiding worth from within the national stories and the cultural inheritance of the world’s peoples, will find its place in the New Jerusalem.” Bruce Milne

Please watch the video: What will Heaven be like? at:

Application Question: In what ways do I need to begin to think or re-think my life and education in the light of this goal so that the steps I take are always in the right direction”?

 

Question 5: Sounds like that might require some re-thinking about what is really important?

Matthew 6:19

19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; 21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Please watch the video: Live for the Line at:

 Application Question: Am I willing for Jesus sake to always be “rethinking” what is really important in life in light of “The Goal”?

 

Concerning that, have you ever really wondered what the end of this life “pilgrimage” is all about? Many of the above quotes we used were taken from the book  “Heaven”by Randy Alcorn. We all have questions about what Heaven will be like, and after twenty-five years of extensive research, Dr. Randy Alcorn has answers. In the most comprehensive and definitive book on Heaven to date, Randy invites you to picture Heaven the way Scripture describes it—a bright, vibrant, and physical New Earth, free from sin, suffering, and death, and brimming with Christ's presence, wondrous natural beauty, and the richness of human culture as God intended it.

I highly recommend that you obtain a copy of it for your family so you too can have “a clear understanding of your destination” . You can purchase a copy of it at his website Eternal Prespective Ministries http://www.epm.org/ .

Hoping this “helps”,-- until next time -- May God Bless!,

Jonny

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