What a wonderful reminder from Dr. Bobby Kelly last week about the importance of not only being prepared for the return of Christ, but living each day alert and mindful that it could happen any day.  It brought to mind a journal entry of mine dated May 13, 2006; a portion of which I’d like to share with you:

Our strategy must be…hope in the return of Christ and life in view of that eternal perspective.  When our view is eternal our understanding will change:

• Our view of God will increase–His Sovereignty, His Majesty, His authority, His purpose, etc.
• Our view of ourselves will change–our needs, our desires, our goals, etc.
• Our view of our stewardship will change–accountability, responsibility, etc.
• It will change the choices we make with our time and our resources
• It will change how we live and think

When our view is eternal, it will change the now.  We will understand the abundant life.  Jesus said, “This is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and the One You have sent–Jesus Christ.”  (John 17:3)

I don’t know about you, but I was powerfully reminded of these truths each night of the January Bible Study.  What a blessed time in God’s Word with God’s people!  I pray that as our choir and orchestra rehearsals resume this week, what we have learned will bear fruit in our lives and make us a powerful force in God’s Kingdom as we lead in worship week by week and build up the body of Christ.

Set your minds on what is above, not on what is on the earth.  For you have died, and your life is hidden with the Messiah in God.  When the Messiah, who is your life, is reavealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. (Colossians 3:2-4)

…set your hope completely on the grace to be brought ot you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (I Peter 1:13)

Now that we’ve gazed upon His beauty, let’s gaze upon His strength. A Scripture passage that I suppose has opened up my perception of God’s power more than any other is found in the first chapter of Ephesians. In his letter to the church at Ephesus Paul shared his prayer for the church that they know several things, not the least of which was “the immeasurable greatness of His power to us who believe.” (v.19) He then goes on to describe the vast strength of “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father” as He was described in v.17.

He demonstrated this power in the Messiah by raising Him from the dead and seating Him at His right hand in the heavens—far above every ruler and authority, power and dominion, and every title given, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put everything under His feet and appointed Him as head over everything for the church, which is His body, the fullness of the One who fills all things in every way. (vv.20-23)

Wow! Did you really read that? According to this passage, God’s power was demonstrated by raising the Messiah from the dead. Now, that’s power! In fact, according to Romans 1:3-4, it was Christ’s resurrection from the dead that established Him as the powerful Son of God. But it doesn’t stop there. Did you notice that the Father gave Jesus a seat of authority far above every other ruler and authority, power and dominion, and every title given? That’s Power with a capital P. But that’s not all; that place of honor is not only His for this present age (which, by the way, indicates Christ is already in charge), but also will be His in the age to come. Now, that’s exponential power! And if that wasn’t enough He put everything under the feet of Jesus and appointed Him as head over the church. Now to realize the power of God is one thing, but to realize that the power that raised Christ from the dead and set Him at the right hand of God is the same power that is at work in me is quite another.

Wouldn’t you agree that the greatest display of God’s power is the work of redemption in the life of an individual? By redemption I don’t just mean the work of saving us—that in itself is quite remarkable. But the work of sanctifying us is equally remarkable. He doesn’t just provide for our salvation, He “enables [or qualifies] us to share in the inheritance of the saints.” He imputes His righteousness to us making us righteous. It’s a work in which He persists and that in itself is another proof of His patience and faithfulness.

Philippians 1:6 – I am sure of this, that He who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Isaiah 62:1 – I will not keep silent…I will not keep still…until her righteousness shines like a bright light, and her salvation like a flaming torch.

 
Just how does God go about completing the work He began in us? Though the power of the Holy Spirit at work within us.

Ephesians 3:20 – Now to Him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think—according to the power that works in you—to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Philippians 2:13 – For it is God who is working in you, enabling you both to will and to act for His good purpose.

There’s a good definition of grace: God giving us the desire (enabling you to will) and the ability (enabling you to act) to do His will. It is by the working of His power that the gift of His grace is given.

Ephesians 3:7-12

I was made a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by the working of His power. 

This grace was given to me…to proclaim to the Gentiles the incalculable riches of the Messiah, and to shed light for all about the administration of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things.

This is so that God’s multi-faceted wisdom may now be made known through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavens.

[cp. Col. 2:13-15 – And when you were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive with Him and forgave us all our trespasses. He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it out of the way by nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; He triumphed over them by Him.]

This is according to the purpose of the ages, which He made in the Messiah, Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness, access, and confidence through faith in Him.

What Paul was saying was that it was the power of God that gave him “the gift of grace,” or—to use our definition from Philippians 2:13—the desire and the ability to do the will of God. Only God has the power to give desire and ability; only God has the power to bestow grace. And the grace (the desire and ability) that He gave Paul was to proclaim the Messiah to the Gentiles and to shed light for all about God’s eternal plan which up to that point had been hidden from understanding.

God bestowed His power on Paul, and that power was released in Paul’s life to accomplish God’s purpose as he obeyed. When God called Paul to this ministry He supplied the grace—the desire and the power—to obey. Paul did not resist the grace of God or run from God’s call, but in obedience He accomplished that for which He was called. And that is the same way His power is at work in our lives today. God extends His grace—He gives us the desire and the power to do His will; as we obey the call to do His will, God’s power is unleashed to do above and beyond all that we ask or think.

Sadly, there is another scenario that develops in the case of disobedience. There’s a small phrase in Psalm 78:61 that could almost be missed. It says, “He gave up His strength to captivity…” Why would He do such a thing and allow His strength, His power to be held captive? Verse 62 says, “He surrendered His people to the sword [which was the result of surrendering His strength to captivity] because He was enraged with His heritage.” We only need to back up to v.58 to find out why He was enraged. “They enraged Him with their high places and provoked His jealousy with their carved images.” You don’t have to be a Bible scholar to see that they broke the very first commandment. The result was that God withheld His power from their lives. His design is that we be a conduit of His power, but disobedience keeps the power of the Holy Spirit in us restricted from having His way. But His design for us is “to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man…so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:16,19) O that we would be a people through whom God reveals His strength and power.

Psalm 77:14 – You are the God who works wonders; You revealed Your strength among the peoples.

Our discussions over the last few days haven’t even scratched the surface of the multi-faceted wisdom of God. No wonder the Psalmist could ask for only one thing—the most important thing.

I have asked one thing from the Lord;
It is what I desire:
To dwell in the house of the Lord
All the days of my life,
Gazing on the beauty of the Lord
And seeking Him in His temple.
– Psalm 27:4

Today I want to continue where I left off yesterday by looking at the beauty of the Lord. We don’t often talk about the character of God in terms of “beauty.” Often we think of beauty as an exclusively feminine quality. We may sing about it, but do we regularly pause to observe His beauty and to meditate on just what is beautiful about Him?  By definition, the word beauty means: The quality that gives pleasure to the mind or senses… A quality or feature that is most effective, gratifying, or telling. With that in mind, let’s take a moment to examine the pleasing, effective, gratifying and revealing qualities of the Almighty God.

Probably the most striking aspect of His beauty is the glow of His holiness; the light that radiates from His purity. Think of the color white, which is really no color because white is the absence of all color. A white surface reflects light of all hues completely and diffusely. To be strictly white, a surface would have to reflect 100% of incident light. That’s white in its purest form—it contains no other colors which would obscure light. I might also add that it’s white in its rarest form. Even snow which we consider to be a standard for white and a symbol of purity only has a reflection rate of 80%.

Purity in character then is the absence of all flaws—not perceived flaws (by that I mean flaws big enough to be perceived) but absolute flawlessness. That means there is absolutely no imperfection in His character. I think that surely defines beauty. As a matter of fact, so does the Psalmist. Twice he urges us to “Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.” (Psalm 29:2; 96:9) Do you now understand Revelation 21:23, “The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because God’s glory illuminates it, and its lamp is the Lamb,” and can you imagine the beauty of One so pure and holy?

With the understanding that there is absolutely no imperfection in His character, let’s examine the content of His character. What more accurate description of His character could there be than the fruit of the Spirit, because if these character qualities in us are the result of His Spirit at work within us as the Scripture says, they surely must first reflect His character.

(The Scriptures below are just samplings of the Scriptures that testify to the character of Christ. I encourage you to take time to think about the significance of each quality and read the Scriptures from your own Bible.  As you do, Scriptures that attest to His character will seem to jump out at you from every page. If you’ve never experienced that, I promise you, nothing is more exciting!)

Love – Eph. 3:17-19 I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love, and to know the Messiah’s love that surpasses knowledge, so you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (Remember Col. 2:9 from yesterday? For in Him the entire fullness of God’s nature dwells bodily.)

Joy – John 15:11, I have spoken these things to you so that My joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.

Peace – John 14:27, Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives.

Patience – 2 Peter 3:9, The Lord does not delay his promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.

Kindness – Romans 2:4, Do you despise the riches of His kindness, restraint, and patience, not recognizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

Goodness – Acts 10:38, How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and curing all who were under the tyranny of the Devil…

Faith – Psalm 100:5, For the Lord is good, and His love is eternal; His faithfulness endures through all generations.

Gentleness – Matthew 11:29, All of you, take up My yoke and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for yourselves.

Self-control – Romans 3:25, God presented Him as a propitiation through faith in His blood, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His restraint God passed over the sins previously committed.

I don’t know about you, but so many times I’ve contemplated this qualities  as something I was supposed to possess, not as qualities that find their origin in our Heavenly Father and Savior.  There is a vast difference between assuming the character of God because it’s what you’ve been taught, and knowing the character of God by personal examination and experience.  If you doubt this, just ask Job.

As we’ve talked about the purity and the character of our God and Father as manifested in Christ Jesus by the Holy Spirit, a bit of Scriptural advice from the book of Ecclesiastes comes to mind. Let your clothes be white all the time, and never let oil be lacking on your head. (Ecc. 9:8)

Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me
All His wonderful passion and purity
O, Thou Spirit Divine
All my being refine
Till the beauty of Jesus be seen in me

 
Amen and Amen!