GOD'S KINGDOM
ON EARTH AS
IT IS IN HEAVEN
Our Lord
Jesus Christ taught His disciples to pray:
“After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father
which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done
in earth, as it is in heaven.” (Mt. 6:9-10)
The first
thing we learn from our Lord Jesus Christ about prayer is to address God as “Our Father.” In the Old Testament people did not address
God in this way. By calling God “Our Father” we have
established a very close relationship with Him, something we did not have
before we accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to
become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.” (Jn. 1:12) After
receiving the Holy Spirit we have an even more intimate relationship with God. “And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and
to those who were near. For through Him
we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.” (Eph. 2:17-18) “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the
sons of God. For you did not receive
the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the Spirit of
adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.” (Rom. 8:14-15)
God is our
Father in Heaven who is not only majestic and holy, but also intimately
personal and loving. God’s sacred name
is “YAHWEH” which
means “I AM WHO I AM.” (Ex. 3:14) “YAHWEH” is a name that describes His eternal power, everlasting
presence and unchangeable character. In
a world where values, morals and laws change constantly, we can find stability
and security in our unchanging God. In
many world religions man go and seek their gods in various forms. The One True God of the Christians is the
only One who comes down from heaven to seek the lost ones.
The
universe has two divisions – “In the beginning God
created the heavens and the earth.” (Gen. 1:1; 14:19) In the visible heavens are the stars and
planets. (Gen. 1:14-17) The apostle
Paul wrote about “the third heaven.” (2 Cor. 12:2) Heaven is the
throne of God (Isa. 66:1). Jacob
dreamed about heaven’s gate. “And
he was afraid and said, ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the House of God, and this is the Gate of
Heaven.” (Gen. 28:17)
God
has given us some truths concerning a few things that will be absent in
heaven. What are they?
“And God will wipe away
every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow; nor
crying; neither shall there be no more pain. For the former things have passed
away.” (Rev.
21:4) What a
wonderful thought to know that these things that are the curse of sin on this
earth will not be in heaven at all.
Our
God in heaven is full of love. It is through this great attribute of love that He came to save mankind. In order to reflect the condition in Heaven,
God’s Kingdom on earth must also be filled with the love of God.
“ Beloved,
let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of
God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is
love. In this the love of God was
manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world,
that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God,
but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one
has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His
love has been perfected in us.” (1 Jn. 4:7-12)
At
the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ an angel announced: “Do
not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be
to all people. For there is born to you
this day in the cty of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. . . . And
suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God
and saying: ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward
men!” (Lk. 2:10-14) In
God’s church there must be love, joy and peace of the Lord.
A
Church sister dreamed about a great banquet in heaven. There were many long tables laid out with
all kinds of wonderful food. There were
long chopsticks and spoons. People were
joyfully feeding and serving one another sitting on the opposite sides of the table. Everyone looked healthy, happy and
contended. God’s people can bring
heaven down to earth when they love, care and serve one another. The church sister then dreamed about hell
where the people looked horrible, miserable, unhappy and malnourished. They were fighting one another and
scrambling for the food. We can make
our church look either like heaven or hell.
The
beauty, the excellence and the attraction of heaven are indescribable. “But as it is
written: ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for
those who love Him.” (1 Cor. 2:9) What
the apostle John saw in heaven is a description of a city that is built with
the most expensive and precious metals.
“And the construction of its wall was of jasper;
and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. . . . And the foundations of the
wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones: . . . And the
twelve gates were twelve pearls; each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold,
like transparent glass. (Rev.
21:18-21) Here
is how God show that heaven represents the best, the most beautiful, the most
precious and the most expensive things in terms that man can understand. God gives us the best things therefore He
also desires the best things from us.
In
the Lord’s Prayer Jesus taught His disciples to say: “Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in
earth as it is in heaven.” (Mt. 6:10) There
is no doubt what is God’s will concerning what He wants from His people on
earth as it is in heaven. He wants the
best. When the children of Israel were
in the wilderness God instructed them to build a tabernacle. He gave them clear instructions on the
quality of workmen who should do the work.
“Then the Lord
spoke to Moses, saying: "See, I have called by name Bezalel the son
of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. And I have filled him with the
Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of
workmanship, to design artistic works, to work in gold, in silver, in
bronze, in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all
manner of workmanship. And I, indeed I, have appointed with him Aholiab
the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and I have put wisdom in the hearts
of all who are gifted artisans, that they may make all that I have commanded
you:” (Ex. 31:1-6) God
wanted only experts in their field of building and craftsmanship to work on the
tabernacle. This is what He commanded
the children of Israel. The tabernacle
symbolizes heaven. It serves as “the
copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when
he was about to make the tabernacle.
For He said, ‘See that you make all things according to the pattern
shown you on the mountain.” (Heb. 8:2,5)
When the temple was built God had blessed Israel
with workmen in abundance: “hewers and workers of
stone and timber, and all types of skillful men for every kind of work. Of gold and silver and bronze and iron there
is no limit. Arise and begin working,
and the LORD be with you.” (1 Chr. 22:15-16)
In obedience to God’s instructions only skilled
and experienced building workmen can be used to build churches. Only the best design and workmanship in a
church building reflect heaven and glorify God.
Oftentimes
we discuss amongst ourselves whether or not we should build a cover over an
area for cooking or a walkway to another building. The main consideration is whether or not we need it. The main function of any building is
protection against the external elements of the sun, wind and rain. A building complex is not complete and
functional if we are unprotected from the rain in moving from one part of the
building to another. In California we
may not need it, but in Houston we do need it because it rains so much. We have to distinguish between a need and a
luxury. Building a covering is not a
luxury but a need. The issue we are
talking about is the improvement and progress of our church. If having a covering is an improvement then
we should seriously consider it.
Completely ignoring it is an indication that we do not want to improve
ourselves, and that is not a good attitude for Christians to have. Our church must keep on improving in all
spheres of activities.
Another
thing we need to consider is whether or not we can justify spending so much
money now when we may need to spend it on something else in the future. What does our Lord Jesus Christ teach us?
“And
when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, a woman came to
Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on
His head as He sat at the table. But when His disciples saw it, they were
indignant, saying, "Why this waste? For this fragrant oil might have been
sold for much and given to the poor." But when Jesus was aware of it,
He said to them, "Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good
work for Me. For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have
always. For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she did it for My burial.
Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world,
what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her." (Mt.
26:6-13)
The
value of anything can only be measured by what you can get out of it. Jesus needed the costly fragrant oil at that
moment. To the disciples it was a waste
of money to pour it on the Lord’s body.
They had plans to use the money for other purposes, but Jesus wanted it
at that moment.
We
have a building fund that can be used for improvements to our church. Using the funds to improve our church
facilities is better and wiser than leaving it in the bank where it earns very
little interest nowadays. Money in the bank decreases in value due to
inflation. Improvements to the property
have become assets even when the property is sold in the future. Building is called real estate and increases
in value in time. Jesus wants us to be
good stewards of money that can increase in value (Mt. 25:14-30)
When
we built this chapel in 1983 I strongly recommended to our congregation to
spend $15,000 to buy more dirt to raise our building and the parking lot to
prevent flooding. It was a lot of money
at that time especially when our congregation had less than twenty
members. It is still a lot of money
now. Our church members at that time
loved God and one another and were all in one accord. We bought more dirt and today we are enjoying the wise decision
that was made nineteen years ago. Our
small congregation gave their best to God and heaven came down to earth.
In
any setting of discussion it is difficult or impossible to reach a common
decision when different people insist on their opinions. In last evening’s Bible Study Brother
Patrick said. “We pray to God and ask
Him for direction and leading. He has
given us clear directions and instructions in His Word. Why don’t we follow what the Bible tells us
instead of keep on praying for God’s leading?”
I totally agree with him. Let us
do what God has already told us in His Word, then heaven will come down to
earth and our Church will be richly blessed.
A sermon based on this Article was preached by Paul Wong
to a Congregation in Houston, Texas on November 23, 2002
For comments please write first to: ark@pdq.net
May God bless you.
Paul Wong is a Christian minister and the
President of ARK International.
His ministry also serves as an architectural service company in Houston.
The ARK Forum on the Internet is international and non-denominational.
 |
|
|
|
