IS ETERNITY YOUR PLAN?

Many people today have lost sight of eternity and think they are just going to die and cease to exist.  They believe that the goal of this life is to stay alert and alive until they breathe their last breath.  Two weeks ago I used the phrase that they just “exist until they expire”.  The truth is that God would have done a great disservice to His creation if He only gave them 80 years, as He is an eternal being.   He makes it pretty clear that we were created for spending time with Him and that would not be much fellowship time on God’s calendar.  God had a plan and He doesn’t change.

I’m often so saddened by even the number of church going Christians who live as though this life on earth was the most important aspect of their existence.  They invest all of their energy trying to obtain a few moments more on this planet or spend all their time trying to improve this life that lasts so briefly.  They search for happiness and pain free living at the cost of loosing eternity with God.  The stuff of this world enamors these people and getting it and keeping it seem to be a number one priority.

Far to many Christians are uninformed or uneducated as to their real existence and so they live like earth-walkers not sky-walkers headed to heaven.  I want to take you back to God’s original plan and show you that if you struggle to live for only 80 years, you are misinformed and will waste the best years of your life.

Let’s go back to the beginning when God created a place for mankind to live.  He made an extraordinary expression of His power and creative genius and it was called the Garden of Eden.  

Genesis 2:8-10  …Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed.  And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  A river watering the garden flowed from Eden…

Eden was a place of beauty, perfection and filled with the lush expressions of God.  It was a place of plenty and a place of intimate interaction with its creator.  God’s description was that He called it “Good”.

Genesis 2:15-17  …The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.  And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”     

Mankind was given total dominion in the Garden and was allowed full access to all of its splendor except for the one tree that was filled with the knowledge of good and evil.  Mankind chose to focus on the one thing they should stay away from.  Adam and Eve disregarded the whole lavish garden to have the one thing that would bring them death.

Genesis 3:22-24  …So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.  After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.     

The Garden of Eden has been closed to human access until it is reopened after Satan is removed from the scene.  We have been relegated to live out our earth existence on the cursed side of the dividing wall.  We must labor to seek out a living and exist.  A couple of weeks ago I used the language of seeing this present time as one of living in the desert, but the possibility of thriving still exists and this desert will someday bloom again and become God’s original plan of Eden.

God has given you and I the same setting today with a little twist.  We are placed in a desert we think is a garden, but it is full of good and evil.  Everything in it is trying to destroy us and we have been instructed that we must eat from the one tree of life (Jesus) in order to live with God eternally.  Most people, even church people, have chosen to stay away from the one life-giving source.  They find themselves grasping for more of this cursed desert and forsaking the one source of deliverance.

Will you join me in a revolt against the curse and choose to live for eternity with God through Jesus Christ?  Listen to the Apostle Paul speak about his quest to escape the desert.

Philippians 3:12-21  …Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.  Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you.  Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.  For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.  Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.  But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. 

Are you living with Heaven in mind?  What is your plan for your eternity?   Have you a view of heaven from where you stand?  If not, then invite the Savior of the world into your heart to rescue you from this dry, arid land we live in and join me on the road to eternal life with Christ.  Join me as we endeavor to live in the New Heaven and New Earth, beyond this mere 80 years plus and see that the best years of our life lie ahead of us if Christ is resident in our hearts.

2 Peter 3:10-14  …But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.

Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.  But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.

So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.        

Next week I’m going to speak directly on the topic of Heaven and you can decide if you are on the right road to arrive in Heaven as your destination or do you need to look for the appropriate exit sign from this desert travel?

Notes from Pastor Pasch's May 17, 2009 message; to get a free CD of the complete message, contact Christ's Family Church at 651.437.2340.