VIDEO Revelation 21:3-5 Song “Behold, I Make All Things New”

Jul 5, 2012

Revelation 21:3-5 (NKJV) …”Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.”

Music Copyrighted by Esther Mui.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission.
Background photo © All rights reserved by publik_oberberg. Used with permission.

Binding the Broken

Jesus stepped into our shattered world to transform it, and He’s not content to leave anything (or anyone) unfinished.

It’s hard to tell what’s really going on in people’s lives. For instance, at church on Sunday mornings, people smile, greet friends, and tend to look their best. But what if we could see the truth of their interior lives manifested in their physical bodies? We would discover that many of our fellow churchgoers are walking around crippled by pain. We’d know instantly if something was wrong and would do whatever we could to help them.

That’s probably how Jesus perceived people as He sought to minister to them. Although their physical ailments were more obvious, He also discerned the spiritual darkness and emotional hurts that left them fractured within. And while Christ always intervened to heal them physically, His main purpose was to save them from sin and give abundant life (John 10:10).

I wonder how many believers today could honestly say they enjoy that great gift. Sure, they’ve been saved and are going to heaven, but life seems more like a dry desert than an overflowing, vibrant stream. What causes a believer to live this way? It’s certainly not what Christ intends for His followers.

Fragmentation is the result of sin.

Brokenness began when sin entered the world through Adam and Eve. It created an immediate separation between mankind and God, produced discord between people, and resulted in illness and death. Because of our fallen environment, we suffer the emotional damage of painful childhoods, broken relationships, and devastating circumstances. However, sometimes we suffer not because of what has happened to us but as a result of our own poor choices. If we allow sin in our lives, we’ll experience internal conflict and division.

Whatever the cause of our fragmentation, it negatively affects every area of our lives—job performance, relationships, health, thought patterns, attitudes, and emotions. The tragedy of this situation is that we’ll never have the abundant life Christ promised if we settle for something less. How the Lord must grieve over the brokenness sin causes. His desire is to heal the fractured areas, put the pieces back together, and seal them with His love and grace.

Jesus came to make us whole.

As we consider what it means to be complete, we must first understand that the Lord created people as trichotomous or “three-part” beings composed of spirit, soul, and body. The spirit enables us to relate to and interact with God. The soul is our innermost being that consists of the mind, will, and emotions. And the body is the physical part of us. When Jesus ministered to people, He dealt with all three aspects of their humanity.

The Spirit. In His encounter with Nicodemus, the Lord explained that the only way to enter the kingdom of heaven was to be born of the Spirit (John 3:5-6). Since we are all born spiritually dead in our trespasses, the only way to be made alive is to receive Christ’s forgiveness (Eph. 2:1-5). Until that need is met, we will never be whole. However, once we are born of the Spirit, He comes to live within us forever. As we yield to His leadership and let Him fill us, the Holy Spirit produces fruit in our character (Gal. 5:22-23).

The Soul. Jesus also focused on the internal issues of the soul. In John 4, the Samaritan woman’s failed marriages and current extramarital affair revealed her deep emotional hurt. Christ offered her living water, the only thing that could truly satisfy and spring up into eternal life (vv. 10, 14). Believing in Him resulted not only in forgiveness but also in her transformation. After she encountered Jesus, her testimony caused many others in that city to believe in Him (v. 39). Christ desires the same for His followers today—He wants to transform us into people who can grow spiritually and become emotionally healthy.

Do you feel alone, isolated, or out of place even when you’re with others? Do you see yourself as unloved or think no one really cares about you? Are you struggling with feelings of inadequacy or inferiority? If you answered yes to any of these questions, know that you don’t have to live in bondage. Jesus wants to heal your soul so you can live abundantly, fulfilling His plan for your life.

Just consider what He’s already done for you. First of all, He has made you a citizen of His kingdom, a member of God’s family, and a part of His body, the church. No matter what you’ve experienced, you belong to the Lord forever, and He delights in you. Moreover, He sent His Spirit to live within you as your comforter and helper. He walks beside you every moment, giving you the ability and confidence to accomplish whatever He requires of you.

The Body. Ever since Adam and Eve’s disobedience, mankind has suffered with infirmity, sickness, and death. No one can avoid it. Perhaps the question that so often haunts us is why the sick aren’t healed. After all, wherever Christ went, He ministered to physical needs. The Gospels are filled with stories of the blind gaining their sight, the lame walking, and the sick being made well.

The truth is, we don’t always know what causes sickness or why the Lord doesn’t cure every ailment. Although Jesus did restore many people to health, He didn’t heal everyone in Israel. His purpose was to give people a taste of His future kingdom, when He will come to rule on earth as King of Kings. Constant good health isn’t promised in this life. Only after we receive our glorified bodies will we be made completely whole—spiritually, emotionally, and physically.

Christ will accomplish His work.

Jesus began restoring us to wholeness with His first coming and, when He comes again, will complete the good work He began. At the moment of salvation, He gives life to our spirits. Then He works to restore our souls through the process of sanctification, whereby He progressively transforms us into His image. The final stage will be glorification, when we are given new bodies that never age, suffer illness, or die (Phil. 3:20-21).

However, until that day arrives, we will continue to deal with brokenness. But we have hope because the Lord never gives up on sanctifying us. His goal is that our spirit, soul, and body “be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 5:23). And as He works in our lives, we discover the boundless joy that comes from being children of the King.

by Charles F. Stanley

The Truth About Self-Love

Galatians 5:13-14

Although a number of places in the Bible contain the command, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev. 19:18; Matt. 19:19; Gal. 5:14), Christians often overlook the “as yourself” part. But did you know that no one can fully love the Lord or anyone else unless he loves his own being? This means reverencing oneself as a child of God, created for fellowship with Him.

All people are valuable to the Lord. But the believer’s self-worth is rooted in the fact that we have a relationship with God. We are to care for ourselves, based upon the fact that He has provided for our salvation, given us the Holy Spirit, and developed a unique plan for our life.

Love of self is essential to God’s plan for every believer. He desires that we exercise care for our own person, which helps us relate to Him. If we dislike ourselves, we may feel unworthy of God’s love and refuse to approach Him as Father. But love teaches us to see ourselves the way the Lord does—as available vessels, each with unique gifts and talents. Then we can offer greater usefulness to the kingdom. Using us to the fullest extent of our God-given abilities is the Father’s goal, and if we have a righteous love for self, that will be our goal as well.

Whoever you are and whatever your circumstances may be, I can tell you something about yourself: God has a special plan for you. But He cannot set you on the path to achieving His goals for your life until you recognize your worth and learn to love the person He created you to be.

Scripture Songs

“Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel.” (Deuteronomy 31:19)

The book of Psalms was essentially a song book for Old and New Testament Jews, while other songs are scattered throughout Scripture written by a variety of prophets and leaders. Our text tells us that the Lord commanded Moses and Joshua to write aspects of the Law and details of God’s dealings with the nation, as well as His promise of judgment, should they disobey—in a song.

This song would serve several functions. First, it would be a memory device. “It shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed” (v. 21). Those who have been around good church music probably know many portions of Scripture set to music, including the grand old hymns of the faith which are frequently conglomerates of many verses around a doctrinal theme. Many of us probably have memorized without trying, and maybe without realizing it, many, many Scripture verses. In fact, this may be the very best way to build biblical principles into the lives of our children.

The second function of Moses’ song would be to convict those in disobedience (32:7, 47, etc.). As with the people of Israel, our hearts should be receptive to the teachings contained within the songs that we know.

Unfortunately, Israel seldom listened, even to those songs they had memorized. Thus, the third and evidently primary function of this song was to “testify against them as a witness” (31:21). Much of this song carefully explains their coming apostasy and inevitable judgment. No doubt many remembered this song and its message with tears as they marched into captivity, unable to charge God with unfaithfulness. JDM

Dead Churches

These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest and art dead. —Revelation 3:

I think we are going to have to restudy this whole teaching of the place of the Holy Spirit in the Church, so the Body can operate again. If the life goes out of a man’s body, he is said to be a corpse. He is what they call “the remains.” It is sad, but humorously sad, that a strong, fine man with shining eyes and vibrant voice, a living man, dies, and we say, “the remains” can be seen at a funeral home…. The living man is gone. You have only the body. The body is “the remains.”

So it is in the Church of Christ. It is literally true that some churches are dead. The Holy Spirit has gone out of them and all you have left are “the remains.” You have the potential of the church but you do not have the church, just as you have in a dead man the potential of a living man but you do not have a living man. He can’t talk, he can’t taste, he can’t touch, he can’t feel, he can’t smell, he can’t see, he can’t hear—because he is dead! The soul has gone out of the man, and when the Holy Spirit is not present in the Church, you have to get along after the methods of business or politics or psychology or human effort.

Lord, send Your Holy Spirit in power, that we might not be a dead Church, striving to look alive, pretending to function as though alive, while the life is actually gone. Amen.

Live for Christ? Then Die with Him First

Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. Romans 6:8

Do you realize that many, many persons now take it for granted that it is possible to live for Christ without first having died with Christ?

This is a serious error and we dare not leave it unchallenged!

The victorious Christian has known two lives. The first was his life in Adam which was motivated by the carnal mind and can never please God in any way. It can never be converted; it can only die (Rom. 8:5-8).

The second life of the Christian is his new life in Christ (Rom. 6:1-14). To live a Christian life with the life of Adam is wholly impossible. Yet multitudes take for granted that it can be done and go on year after year in defeat. Worst of all, they accept this half-dead condition as normal!

Another aspect of this attitude is the effort of many to do spiritual work without spiritual power. David Brainerd once compared a man without the power of the Spirit of God trying to do spiritual work to a workman without fingers attempting to do manual labor. The figure is striking but it does not overstate the facts.

The Holy Spirit is not a luxury meant to make deluxe Christians, as an illuminated frontispiece and a leather binding makes a deluxe book. The Spirit is an imperative necessity. Only the Eternal Spirit can do eternal deeds!

Man’s Wasted Potential

Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. MATTHEW 25:41

God has made it plain that hell is a real place—a final abode for people who do not want to love God and serve Him!

The sadness and the tragedy of this fact are that these are human beings, all dear to God because He created them in His own image. Of nothing else in the Creation is it said that it was created in the likeness of God!

Because fallen and perishing man is still nearer to God’s likeness than any other creature on earth, God offers him conversion, regeneration and forgiveness. It was surely because of this great potential in the human personality that the eternal Word could become flesh and dwell among us.

We are assured in many ways in the Scriptures that God the Creator does not waste human personality, but it is surely one of the stark tragedies of life that human personality can waste itself!

A man by his own sin may waste himself, which is to waste and lose that which on earth is most like God. The man who dies out of Christ is said to be lost, and hardly a word in our language expresses his condition with greater accuracy!

Lord, make me sensitive today to opportunities to share Your love with someone who does not have a personal relationship with You.