Rejoicing in God Your Savior

Luke 1:46-55.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on May 9, 2021, Mother’s Day.

Today, as we honor moms, we recognize The One who gave them the honorable position that they hold.

There are many days in the course of being a parent that would easily be classified as “not-rejoicing-days.”  However, there is one thing that moms can always rejoice in, no matter what kind of day it has been.  When you realize that our God is also our Savior, you can rejoice in the midst of very difficult times.

Let us remember as we look at our passage that Mary speaks these things and rejoices even though, culturally and socially, she is in a tough place.  It is the character and work of God that fills her heart with joy.

Let’s look at our passage.

Mary worshipped God

We do not know the full situation of Mary’s background.  She is from a small village in northern Israel with a population between 200 and 400 people.  We do know that Mary was a devout follower of God who found His favor.  She would be the woman through whom the Messiah entered the world.

In verses 46-47, Mary breaks out into praise and worship of God.  There are many today who try to teach us to worship Mary, and say of her that she was without sin, but the real Mary teaches us just who she really is, a worshipper of God.  There are two aspects emphasized in her worship.  She magnifies Him from her soul, and she rejoices in Him as her savior.  None of us can make God greater in being, but we can speak out how great He is and lift up His reputation. 

In a world that is cynical, may we be a people who are worshipping God, by magnifying Him before others.  Moms, your focus is often on husbands and children, but make it your primary duty to worship God.  Worship is a whole life endeavor to declare to God that you know that He is worthy of being the center of our lives.

Mary also saw God as her savior.  This seems to be what makes her rejoice.  Who was she in Israel?  Yet, the Lord chose her to be the mother of the messiah.  This would be seen as a huge social changer.  The Messiah was destined to be the king of Israel.  Of course, we don’t know all that Mary was thinking.

There is a clear parallel between Mary’s worshipful praise in this chapter and the same type of thing from Hannah in 1 Samuel chapter two.  Some of the wording is similar, and perhaps Mary is thinking of Hannah’s situation when she found out that she would finally have a child.  Clearly, Mary’s situation is different from Hannah’s, but it reminds us that there is more to the story.

Mary isn’t just declaring that she is a saved person spiritually.  She is declaring that God is the one who saves her when she needs saving, past, present, and future.  All moms need a spiritual savior, and it would seem a near impossible task if God were not with you.  This seems to blow the idea out of the water that Mary was without sin at birth.  She had a savior because she was human like us and needed one.  She found for herself that God saw here lowly state and was blessing her.  So, moms also need one who can deliver them, or help them, in those moments that threaten to overwhelm them.  God had let Mary know that she was valuable to Him and that she had found His favor.  In Jesus, all moms can know that they have found the favor of God.  You don’t have to have the perfect child to get it.

In verse 50, we see that Mary feared God.  God’s mercy is on those who fear Him.  We’ve talked about this concept of fearing God before.  It is that recognition and understanding of the position and power that God holds.  It is a reverence that does not dwell in a place of fear, but shrinks back from the thought of walking away from God.  To walk away from God is to walk away from the source of all goodness in this universe.  It is to shut yourself off from that goodness and to become your own source.  Becoming the only source of goodness that you depend on in this life should fill you with dread, and a desire to run back to God our savior.  Mary clearly saw herself as receiving God’s mercy along with the rest of the remnant of Israel who feared God too much to cast off the Bible and follow the ways of the world.  They were waiting upon the Lord, though it seemed that He tarried.

In verse 52, Mary once again references the lowly and the mighty.  Mary sees herself as a part of those who are humble in circumstance, but she also has been humble in spirit because she looks to God to be her savior.  Too many people are grasping at life trying to save themselves, or find a new guy to be the latest greatest savior in their life.  Instead, we must humble ourselves and wait upon the Lord.  We must let Him lift us up in the proper time.  God is not enamored with men or women who are in high and mighty positions.  Rather, He identifies with those who are in lowly positions, which begs the question.  Does the exaltation that we want bring out the best in us when we get it?  Let God determine the proper time to lift you up and rejoice in His wisdom.  Besides, the only exaltation that truly matters in the end is the resurrection from the dead. 

Many times, we may feel like God has forgotten that He is merciful. Yet, Mary recognized the mercy of God.  In verse 54 and following, she is not just focused on herself.  She is rejoicing because God has not abandoned Israel, despite the many cynical voices within Israel.

How many moms have lived through the centuries where it seemed like God had forgotten Israel?  Here, we have a testimony from a woman 2,000 years ago saying, “He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy!”  Listen, God is not just concerned with Israel.  He is concerned with you too.  He is concerned with America and all of the other nations.  It is sad to see the gentile nations turning away from the Gospel as an answer, but in the midst of these nations, there is a remnant of those who still trust in God, who rejoice in Him as their savior that knows just when to deliver, and deliver He shall! 

Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, for His mercy endures forever!

Rejoicing in your Savior audio

What Are We Doing at Abundant Life? Connect Part 1

Matthew 11:28-30; John 4:23-24; 15:2-4; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Romans 8:14-17.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, April 19, 2020.

In this modern world, there are many who see the Church as an antiquated relic of the past that holds no help for modern man.  Of course, if the Church was only an organization created by humans then that would be true.  However, if what the evidence from history tells us is true then the Creator of the Church was not just a human.  And, that makes all the difference.  Yes, humans were involved, but that doesn’t discount the overall work of God, and we should not be quick to toss it aside.

I want us to stop looking at what people have done in and through the Church, whether when we were kids or even recently as adults.  Instead, I want us to stop and just listen to what the Creator of the Church said that he intended for the Church to accomplish.  When you simply look at what Jesus told his Church to do, you find a revolutionary concept that is timeless, and one that saves us from our own penchant for self-destruction, whether as individuals or as a world.

In some ways, this sermon is about convincing people to connect to Jesus.  If you are a believer, it may come across a bit like a married person watching a wedding.  However, that can be a good thing because it reminds us why we married in the first place; it reminds us of when our love was fresh.  Let this sermon inspire you to a deeper connection and a more intimate relationship with Jesus.

Whole-Life Worship

Years ago, our leadership sat down and worked to develop a model or image that would picture exactly what Jesus said he wanted to accomplish through us and the Church world-wide.  Here is what we developed (figure 1).

figure 1

At the heart of this picture, is the concept of whole-life worship.  Everything that we do should be in worship of God.  Yet, even those things that we do should be instructed and informed by the Spirit of God working in us.  As we focus our whole life upon Jesus, he teaches us and leads us in fulfilling God’s purposes rather than the destructive purposes that our heart and mind draw us towards.

So, what does God want us to be doing as an individual Christian and as a local expression of his Church?  It all begins with connecting to Jesus and moves around this cross through three other facets and back to connect again.  They are all happening at the same time, and yet, they are connected to one another.  They are all different facets of our worship of God through our life.  The more you try to analyze them and break them apart, the more they all sort of dissolve and fall back into worship of God.

I should say that, by worship, I mean living in such a way as to demonstrate that God is worth more to us than anything else.  It is literally all that we do to show that God is worthy of our life.

We connect to Jesus as a declaration that God is worth it.

We grow to become like Jesus as a declaration that God is worth it.

We serve Jesus in the way that he tells us to do as a declaration that God is worth it.

And finally, we share Jesus with others as a declaration that God is worth it.

In short, this image pictures the full, abundant life that God wants you to have on this side of eternity.  However, abundant life doesn’t end at death; it has only just begun.  In fact, Jesus is Abundant Life and the only source of it for all humanity.

We have simplified this whole image into the mission statement: “Connecting people to the Abundant Life found in Jesus Christ.”  Everything begins with connection to Jesus and it ends with connection with Jesus.  Let’s look at some Scriptures about connecting (figure 2).

The Call

Figure 2

In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus is calling us to come to him.  There is much in the Scriptures that emphasizes the rebellion of humanity against the Creator, and the judgment that has come upon the whole world because of it.  However, the other side of the coin is that God does not want to leave us under that judgment.  He wants to save us.  Like Adam and Eve, we run from God when we realize that we have broken His ways.  However, God came after them, not to destroy them, but to redeem them.

Have you ever stopped to think that Jesus is inviting you to come to him?  Before we get into the details, just let it sink into your heart and mind that God is calling out to you and inviting you to come to Him.  Why would He do that if He only wanted to judge and destroy you?  He wouldn’t, and He doesn’t.

The Bible tells us that God is patient towards us, not willing that anyone should perish, but that all would come to repentance through faith in Jesus.  He simply says, “Come to me.”  There are many who have written Jesus off as a mythical story like Santa Claus.  Others are simply afraid to get involved with any religious leader.  Don’t just pass him by.  Take a hard look in this passage, and others, and see just who this guy is who is telling you to come to him.

Jesus is describing those whom he is calling, those who are laboring under a heavy burden in their life.  Human governments at any level very rarely actually care about the difficulties of your life.  Jesus is not talking about how bad it is to have to work for a living.  Work is not what makes life heavy.  It is the pressure that we put on ourselves, and the pressure that society puts upon us to live for purposes and goals that God never intended.  It is the lack of true care for your soul that makes life heavy.  Yet, like a loving parent whose child has gone far, far astray, God still cares for you and longs for you to come to Him.  He knows how tough it has been.  He actually has compassion for your predicament.

Thus, He offers you rest.  This is the same kind of rest that God gave to Israel on the seventh day, when all the other nations were out breaking their backs seven days a week.  It was always intended to be much more than a physical rest from work.  It was a rest from the pressure that everything depends upon us.  It is learning to rest, to lean, upon the grace and help of your heavenly Father.

Today, humanity has co-opted God’s plan for rest and added another day for pleasure.  But, what has it become?  For many, the weekend is no rest, but a flurry of activity which leaves us empty.

It is interesting that, after Jesus says that he will give us rest, he offers us a yoke.  The imagery is that of a beast of burden like an ox.  A yoke would be used to harness the ox to a cart, a plough, or a carriage.  Thus, a yoke represents the work and the purpose to which we are connected.  No matter how free you try to be, you cannot grow up in this world without having a multitude of yokes around your neck.  We can get to the point of near suffocation under them.  Some are from yourself, and many others are from the world around you, but Jesus offers a different yoke, a lighter yoke.  Yes, it is a burden; that is, it is a purpose and a task.  However, it is singular and good.  You are exchanging a large number of heavy yokes for a single light yoke.  This yoke does not leave you worn-out, over-burdened, and empty.  It leaves you rested and satisfied.  It is not tyranny.

So, God is calling you to come and connect to Him through Jesus.  Jesus is our point of contact with the Creator.  However, we need to take a closer look at the connection itself.

The Connection

In John 4:23-24, Jesus tells us that God is looking for people who will worship Him in spirit and in truth.  In short, He is looking for people who will connect to Him in a relationship of faithful worship.  This connection is spiritual, but also real (truth).  It is a spiritual connection that cannot be shut-off, taxed, or infringed upon by this world.  These are not just nice archetypal stories meant to inspire us into performing certain roles.  This is a real offer from our heavenly Father saying that we can connect to Him by connecting to Jesus.

Jesus came into this world to do many things, but one of the greatest of them was to create a real point of connection between us and God.  Later in John 15:1-4, Jesus gives us the image of a vine that has branches connected to it.  He tells us that he is the vine and that we are the branches.  God intends us to be branches that have a living connection to Jesus, a connection through which we can draw life.

This spiritual and real connection to Jesus is able to make our lives fruitful.  We are not talking about being able to build an international business that makes you billions of dollars.  Of course, God could bless you with that, but it alone is not the fruit that He is looking for.  He is looking for a life that is itself life-giving, no matter what station or level of ability you find yourself.

Jesus tells us that he will pour into us when we connect to him.  That life will work inside of us until it produces external evidence of its internal existence, that is fruit.  Everyone in the world bears some kind of fruit, but most of it is deadly.  Only the fruit that Christ produces in us can truly give life.  He mentions that when we are fruitful, there will be times of pruning (John 15:2-3).  Pruning is part of becoming more fruitful.  Sometimes, perfectly good things in my life need to be cut off in order to focus more energy on doing what has eternal value, as opposed to temporary and transient value.

The fruit of my life comes from what is at the center of my heart.  So, what is at the center of our hearts?  Is my heart connected to Jesus, or is it connected to the desires of my flesh and the hopes of this world?

The third thing about this connection is that it needs to continue or persevere (vs. 4).  You can’t connect for a while in order to get a little bit of religion; you know, just enough to do a person good.  This is about much more than an ethical framework for life.  Jesus tells us to “Abide,” or “Remain” in him.  The word has the idea of taking up residence in him, making him your home for life, i.e. like a marriage.

If we don’t have a real and living connection that is healthy and fruitful then the perseverance of our connection can be threatened more easily.  There is a spiritual enemy called the devil who is looking for people to devour.  He devours us spiritually to the point that we see no hope in God, and especially in Jesus.  We have to guard our hearts from the temptations and philosophies of this world that would draw us away from continuing to trust in Jesus.

Now, the imagery of a vine and branches is very informative, but it does come across as kind of cold, when you think about human relationships.  This is because the analogy points to something much bigger than itself.  We are not connecting to a religion, but to a relationship with the Lord of Life!  The more noble image is that of a family relationship.

A New Creation

In 2 Corinthians 5:17, it says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”  When we connect to Jesus, we become a new creation, a new person.  There is a difference in us that is new, and yet needs to grow, like a newborn baby.  This creates a tension between the “old me” and the “new me.”  This verse says that the “old things have passed away.”  Another way to say this is that we have moved past our old way of living.  It doesn’t mean it no longer tries to tempt us back.  Rather, I have reached a place where I am moving past the old selfish life and choosing to live for God and His purposes.  I am now spiritually alive and responding to the Holy Spirit within this fallen world.  Of course, we are not mind-swiped.  The old me is there struggling to regain control.  However, its way of living produced very little, if anything, that was truly living and full of life.  Even that which seemed to have life at first, very quickly loses its flavor and becomes a mouth full of gravel in the end.  The new creation has come to see that Jesus is the source of life itself, not just a source of a life.

Let's finish this with looking at Romans 8:14-17.  Here the Apostle Paul uses the same family terms that Jesus and others used of our relationship with God.  The Holy Spirit is working all the time to draw people to Jesus, and we must never forget this.  Those who put their faith in Jesus are responding to His drawing.  When that happens, they are adopted into the family of God.  They are “sons of God” (vs 14) and “children of God” (vs 16).

Have you ever thought about the fact that life on this world is just the nursery of eternity?  As we trust Jesus and maintain a living connection to him, we will grow up to become adult sons of God in eternity.

Jesus is much more than a static vine that can do nothing about our connection to Him.  He is a being with a heart that loves you so much that he has come down after you into the muck and filth of this world.  He wants to have a relationship with you.  Sure, at first it may seem strange to have a relationship with a spiritual being.  It may seem strange to pray “into the air” and fear that someone might see you and think that you have lost your mind.  However, it is what you were created for, relationship with your Father in heaven.  When we go through this life without having a living relationship with our creator, we are empty, and the things of this world are vain and unsatisfactory.  The entropy of this world seems to squeeze the life out of even that which is good.

Yet, God loved you.  He was not content to be separated from you.  He paid the price so that you could join His family.

This brings us to the last part of the Romans 8 portion we are viewing.  We will inherit all things with Jesus, if we keep connected to Him.  God’s plan is that He will resurrect all those who belonged to Him at the end of this age in immortal bodies without a bent towards sin.  He will then fix this world and hand it over to Jesus.

The doors are still open.  God is still calling to people to come to Him through Jesus.  So, what must I do to connect to Jesus?  It is simple.  First, we are embracing Jesus through repentance from our old life and faith in his new life for us.  This relationship with God is described as a whole-life worship.  This makes us the children of God with a destiny that is more amazing than fiction.

Don’t delay.  Make today the day that you surrender to the calling of the Holy Spirit.  Join the Lord Jesus today by Admitting that you are a sinner who is under God’s judgment, and then Believing in your heart and mind that God raised Jesus from the dead as a covering for your sins.  Lastly, Confess Jesus as your Savior and Lord with your words and your deeds.  In so doing, you become a new creation, and a child of God!

Connect part 1 audio

Traditions and Rituals

Mark 6:53-7:8. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, October 27, 2019.

As we head into the holiday season, the subject of traditions is an especially timely one.  The traditions surrounding Christmas within our society are quickly becoming outdated and tossed aside.  It is becoming controversial among some people to wish others a “Merry Christmas.”

Even the traditions of families require a bit of flux as the generations replace each other and the new stuff to do is determined.

In all of these issues, we can lose sight of the truth of God’s Word because of the sentimentality of a tradition that may or may not be based upon the commands of God.  Some of the traditions that our elders have passed down to us are healthy and worthy of keeping, but some of them are not.  As we approach Halloween and the celebration of all that is wicked and dead, it seems like harmless fun, but it has no connection to God’s Word, unless you consider the false religions that it describes.  Of course, some attempts were made to sanctify the period through the celebration of the saints on November 1, making October 31 All Saints Eve, or All Hallow’s Evening. 

Regardless of these things, our passage today will challenge us to make a distinction between the commands that are given to us by God and the traditions that were given to us by our fathers.  At the end of the day, we must never let tradition and rituals help us to lose sight of the commands of God.

Jesus continues to heal many

At the end of chapter 6, Mark starts with a specific event where Jesus and the disciples enter the Gennesaret Area.  This is on the western shores of the Sea of Galilee, southwest of Capernaum.  He then expands the scope from this specific event to how things were generally going at this period in the ministry of Jesus.  Jesus was still quite popular among the common people at this point, and he was still quite unpopular with the religious leaders.  Of course, this is easy to understand due to the fact that Jesus was healing so many and had also fed thousands in the wilderness.

Mark tells us that the presence of Jesus in these areas would draw people to him.  Part of his popularity was due to his novel character, the possibility that he was the Messiah, and his unique teachings, which were quite different from the religious leaders of their day.

However, the biggest driver of people towards him was the desire for a miracle, particularly healing.  We are told that the people were begging him to let them touch just the hem of his garment, and when they did touch it, they were healed.  Of course, the clothing Jesus wore did not have any healing power.  However, God saw their faith in Jesus and rewarded it with a healing.

We would like to think that people who come to us are always led by the Holy Spirit, and seeking God, but often they simply come out of desperate need.  It is challenging to help people in their physical need and yet open their eyes to their spiritual need.  There are many religious ministries that feed the poor and homeless to this day, but very few of the people who gather to them do so in order to be spiritually changed.  Notice that Jesus was compassionate enough to minister to these crowds even though many of them were only looking for a natural benefit.  Jesus could heal their bodies in an instant, but the healing of their hearts and minds would require their willingness to do more than travel to a particular city and beg to be healed.

So, we can see through the ministry of Jesus that drawing a crowd is not all that it is cracked up to be.  I am not saying that we shouldn’t draw crowds, but that we should be aware of the finicky nature of such things.  People gather because they want something, and if they are not interested in true spiritual food then you will only succeed in feeding their bellies, their curiosity, and their desire for entertainment.  It is in this that we must see that if anything spiritual is going to occur, it will only be by God’s Holy Spirit, and by the grace of Jesus.

In fact, it would be a crowd that would later shout, “Crucify him!”  So, when the people heard that Jesus was in the territory, they picked up their sick and gathered where he was at, hoping to be healed.

Jesus is confronted about traditions

As we go into chapter 7, Jesus is confronted with the fact that his disciples are not keeping certain rituals that had become tradition within Israel.

The Pharisees had been watching Jesus.  They had sent representatives to the Galilee area with the task of watching Jesus, and determining the best way to stop him.  This led to increasingly confrontational situations. 

It can be easy to worry about people who are “watching us.”  What if political operatives were coming into our churches and watching us in order to determine how best to stop us?  What if the things that we teach were to end up reported in the headlines of tomorrow, only twisted and put in the worst possible light? 

Jesus knew these things were happening, but he did not fear them.  He kept focused upon the mission that had been given to him by the Father.  We also must remain focused upon the mission that has been given to us.  Unless we shine the true light of Christ, people will have no hope of finding salvation for their souls and rescue from their sins.  May God fill us with strength by His Holy Spirit.

This issue that is noted in our passage has to do with washing one’s hands before eating.  For us today, we would think that this is about hygiene, and that those backwater, Galilean fishermen were eating without cleaning their hands.  This is not what the passage is highlighting.  There was a whole ritual of hand washing that started with the physical cleaning of the hands, or pot, or utensil that would be used to eat.  After this, a ceremonial or ritual washing would be done to cleanse the hands or cooking pot spiritually.  I won’t go into all the details of how they would do this.  However, the point is that the disciples were not doing the ritual hand washing as was tradition.  This passage reminds us that religious tradition can be very powerful.

So, how did this tradition get started?  The Law of Moses refers to the priests washing their hands and feet at the bronze laver before they entered the tabernacle (later the temple).  It clearly represents cleansing oneself spiritually before entering the place of God’s presence.  Over the years, one rabbi’s ideas stacked on top of another rabbi’s ideas, the idea developed that all of Israel should observe ritual cleansing for particular situations, and eating was one of those.

The Pharisees put the question to Jesus rightly.  Why don’t the disciples of Jesus observe the tradition of the elders in this matter?  This is going to set up an important distinction, which Jesus points out to us here.  We must learn to discern between what is a command of God to us in the Scriptures, and what is a tradition that our elders have given to us.  God’s commands must always be obeyed.  Traditions are not so.

Traditions can be good and healthy if they encourage us spiritually to follow the commands of God.  Yet, traditions accumulate changes and lose meaning over the years.  We can fall into the habit of ritually observing traditions that have long since lost their meaning.  The very nature of traditions requires every generation, every individual, to search their heart before God and seek the truth beneath them.  It also requires us to be honest about how useful these traditions are today in highlighting the truth of God.

A classic example of this is all the commercial trappings that have become connected to Christmas.  Or how, about the overeating and, again, commercialism of Thanksgiving?  May God help us to hear the voice of Christ through this ancient custom of ritual, hand washing.

Let’s analyze the first part of the answer that Jesus gives, and next week we will look at the second part. 

Jesus reminds them of a passage in Isaiah 29:13 (I would suggest reading this whole chapter).  God chastises Israel for saying the words that honor Him, but not having a heart that honors Him.  The outward talk of honor is not enough.  It is not enough to say that Jesus is the reason for the season when our heart is really fixed on something other than Jesus.  In other words, our hearts are actually dishonoring God when we are not caring for His ways and longing for Him, period.  Do I want the grace of God that Christmas promises, or do I want merry, nostalgic emotions that make me feel good?  Do I want to give thanks to the God who provided for me when I wasn’t sure how I was going to make it, or do I want to overindulge my appetites, watch entertainments, and then go buy a bunch of stuff? 

The problem is not the eating, football, and new gadgets.  The problem is whether we are truly thankful to God and honoring Him in our hearts.  The problem is whether or not I am truly amazed at the incarnation of Jesus and the hope it brings to all mankind.  Is there an inner honoring of God that matches the outward words and actions?

The Isaiah passage then mentions empty worship, or worshipping in vain.  Many in Israel had fallen into the sin of empty worship and exalting the dictates of men over those of God.  God does not need all of the churches that exist in this country today.  He does not need the millions of songs that are sung throughout each week.  He is not impressed with our amazing talents, musical ablilities, and laser light shows.  He is listening to the hearts involved.

To worship in vain is to be like a person who brings someone else a cup of water and yet it is empty.  What good is it?  We can do all the right things on the outward, but if our heart is not honoring God, worshipping Him, desiring Him, then those things are empty.  Don’t settle for being an empty vessel.  Don’t settle for filling your life with the things of this world, and yet, not have the hunger for God that you should.

Israel had fallen into the trap of exalting the teachings and dictates of wise men throughout their history.  We must never forget that.  No matter how wise men or women may be, they cannot give the Words of Life without God.  Only God can give the words of life, and He has been faithful to give these to those who seek Him with all their hearts. 

This holiday season, let’s not just say that Jesus is the reason for the season.  Let’s also invite Him into our hearts in a fresh way, and truly make it about Him.

Tradition and Ritual Audio

Your Personal End Times: The Millennium Part II

Zechariah 14:8-11, 16-20; Romans 8:18-25.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on October 14, 2018.

We are taking time to see what the Bible has to say about the period of time that we call the Millennium.  This is the promise throughout the Old Testament that God would deliver Israel and rule over the nations of the world through His righteous, anointed King, who will sit upon the throne of David.  We are given a taste of this righteous King and his righteous kingdom in the Church.  Jesus is our King and we obey his commands.  However, the fulfillment of these Old Testament passages is about more than a metaphor for our current experience in Christ.  It truly is about an earthly kingdom that will occur when Christ returns to earth.  Thus, our current experience simply prepares us for that reality.

Now the Church has preached that Jesus is the coming King of kings for the last 2,000 years.  It is clear that, though many people within the nations of the world have embraced Him, the governments of the world have no interest in Jesus being King over them.  Not even the “Christian” nations in the West show any true desire for Christ to return and rule over them.  Instead we keep doubling down on our own human wisdom and looking for anyone, someone, who will come along with better answers.  In short the governments do not like the Savior that God has given and seek another savior, or an antichrist.  Eventually God will allow them to have their wish.  However, such a hope will be short lived.  Jesus is destined to reign over the earth and His divine wisdom will usher in a new time of peace that the world has never known.  Let’s continue our look at this 1,000 year kingdom and what it will be like.

The nations of the earth will worship the Lord Jesus

Our first passage today will be in Zechariah 14.  You will notice that the millennial passages in the Old Testament have a distinctive, Jewish flavor to them because the Israeli people will be re-gathered, and Christ will reign from Jerusalem over them and the world.  You may remember Jesus speaking to His disciples in Matthew 19:28.  He promised the Twelve, “In the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” (NKJV)   

However, the Millennium is not just about Israel.  It is also about the nations of the world.  Thus Zechariah speaks about the whole earth worshipping the Lord Jesus.  Now, we should not expect that we will have church services exactly as we do now.  However, neither should we expect that all cultures will have to adopt a Jewish-style service.  This passage is not saying that we will have to follow the Old Testament laws on worship.  Rather, it makes clear that there will be universal aspects of worship that all nations will do.  In this case, all nations will gather once a year to celebrate the Feast of Booths (The last feast of the 7 feasts of the Lord, which is in the Fall).  This is a super-corporate event.  It leaves the question of what worship will be the other days of the year.  I believe this passage leaves room for cultural differences, but also makes clear that Jesus will give some specific directions, much like Moses directed Israel in how God wanted them to worship Him.

We are told that there will be some big topographical changes to the area surrounding Jerusalem.  Most of the area will be flattened like a plain.  However, Jerusalem will be raised up above the plain.  This topography actually will occur, but it also symbolizes God’s decree.  All who approach the City of Jesus do so from a humble position and should have an attitude of worship.  In verse 4 we are told that the Mount of Olives will be split in half as the Lord stands upon it.  We are also told that water will flow out of the city of Jerusalem, some towards the Mediterranean Sea and some towards the Dead Sea.  This actual water flow is also intended to symbolize what God is doing spiritually.  His truth will flow towards the East and towards the West and fill the world.  He will lift up Jerusalem and dispense the Life of God to the nations.  Ezekiel 47 actually states that the waters that flow from Jerusalem will heal the Dead Sea so that fish swim in it and vegetation grows around it.  It also states that the water will flow all year long.  In the Pacific Northwest this may not sound like an important statement.  In the Middle East this is a powerful statement.  It will not just be a powerful spring river that is completely dry by the end of summer.  Rather, it will flow continuously, making the land a land of milk and honey once again.  Water shortage has been a big problem in the Near East for centuries.  The fact that this land lacks water and would be barren without modern technology, despite clearly being bountiful during the times of Moses, points to the judgments of God.  During the Millennium the land will be blessed and have plentiful water.

In verse 16 we see the worship of the Millennial Kingdom.  The passage uses the term “survivors” for those who remain after the devastations of the Tribulation, and the Second Coming.  Under the Beast and the False Prophet, the kings of the earth had gathered their armies against Jerusalem in order to destroy it, but now the nations will come up to worship rather than to attack.  The Feast of Booths is also called the Feast of Tabernacles.  In Ezekiel 45 we also see that the Feast of Passover will be observed.  However, it does not say that the people of the earth will gather for it. 

Some believers are bothered by the idea that at least some of the Jewish feasts will be reinstated and that sacrifices are described.  Let’s remember that they are not Israel’s feasts.  They were originally described as the Feasts of the Lord.  Clearly, we will not be under the Old Covenant of the Law of Moses.  However, there will be some symbolic rituals and memorial offerings that will function much like Christian Communion does today.  We do not look to the juice and the bread as our salvation, but rather a celebration of what Christ did.  Thus these feasts and their sacrifices will function the same way during the Millennial Kingdom.  They will point to the work of Christ.  We also should remember that there will be mortals as well as immortals on the earth in those days.  Thus the sacrifices will also testify and remind the mortals of where their salvation lies.  It lies in Jesus and His ability to atone for sins and to forgive them.   This snapshot of global worship doesn’t imply that we will worship only once a year, but that there will be an annual global, worshipful, celebration.

The last part of our section brings up a hypothetical situation where the nation of Egypt might choose not to come to the feast.  It describes the “blow” or punishment that Christ will give to any nation that refuses to come.  They will lack rain in their country until they comply.  This strikes me in two ways.  On one hand it is clear that Christ means business and Egypt will have to comply, if they want their country to survive.  However, on the other hand, there is no executing of rebels and military occupations either.  There will be no tactics of the Antichrist, or the empires of this world, in play here.  His response is both extremely powerful and yet extremely gracious.  It reminds us of the punishment of a Father who does not wish to destroy a child, but rather to help them learn righteousness.  This gives a picture of what the Bible means by the phrase ruling with a rod of iron.  His commands will be unyielding and yet they will still be gracious, as is his character.

It is the hope of all creation

This concludes the passages that we are going to look at, which describe the Millennial period.  However, I want to end today’s lesson by making this one last point from Romans 8:18-25.  In this New Testament passage it refers to the time when Jesus returns to earth as the “hope” of all creation.  Paul seems to personalize all of creation, as he describes its eager awaiting of this time.  It is referred to as the revealing of the Sons of God.  This is what the Apostle John spoke of in 1 John 3:2-3.  “Beloved, now we are the children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.  And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”  You and I presently do not look like “Sons of God,” which was a phrase used in the Old Testament for the angels.  However, when we are resurrected and come with Christ from the clouds at His Second Coming, it will be made clear, or revealed, just who we really are.  We need this personal revelation from time to time.  Don’t forget what your destiny is and trade it for a bowl of beans in this life.  The whole creation is groaning for deliverance and crying for you and I to be revealed for who we really are, the Sons of God.

We can look at this groaning and travailing of creation in a couple of ways.  First the sentient parts of creation, angels and humans, literally groan and travail.  The righteous angels and righteous men long for the Lord to come back and deliver the earth from the bondage of The Rebellion.  However, there is also a symbolic groaning and travailing that we see in the earth itself, which is racked with quakes, tsunamis, and volcanic activity.  As we approach this blessed event, all of creation will groan more and more, louder and louder.

In verse 20 and following, it refers to the fact that the creation was subjected to futility.  This word has the sense of something that has been perverted and lacks truth, or is devoid of the ability for good.  This is the same word in Ecclesiastes used to translate the Hebrew, “Vanity, vanity, all is vanity.”  Some versions also translate it “meaningless.”  I believe that Paul has the curse from the Garden of Eden in mind.  There Adam’s sin causes changes to the ability of the earth to produce.  However, this curse was not intended to be forever.  God’s punishment was given in the “hope” that it would one day be removed.  Thus, we should not let the difficulties that we face today cause us to lose hope in the God who will one day lift this curse and celebrate the creation as it was meant to be with us.  This is His promise to those who trust Him.

The freedom of the Sons of God will bring freedom to creation, just as the bondage of Adam, the son of God, brought bondage to creation.  The Millennium is about Jesus, but it is also about His ability to bring forth the Sons of God.  The righteous of every generation are those who put their faith in God.  These will enjoy the glorious freedom of Christ as they are set free from death and this freedom will release freedom upon all of creation.  Thus the Second Adam brings life where the First Adam brought death.  May the Lord fill our hearts with faith even though we may not see these things now.  It is the same Lord, who rose up from the dead and ascended into heaven to the right hand of the Father, who will set creation free from the bondage that it is currently under.  Amen!  Don’t squander another minute without turning towards Jesus in faith and trust.  Give your life to Him and become a disciple of the greatest Master who ever lived, God Himself.

The Millennium Part II