The Big Picture

Today’s lesson is on the “big picture”.  When we look at discipline, we often think of punishment as God’s means to shaping our character so that we will behave better.  Well, as children that may be what parents are aiming for; better behavior.  But what do hardships and trials form in adults?  Hebrews 12:7 tells us that we are to “endure hardship as discipline: God is treating you as sons.” Further, “God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness” (verse 10). We see a bigger picture for God’s purpose of discipline: He is shaping our character so that we will be like Him.

Seeing the bigger picture helps us individually, and corporately.  When we look at the nation of Israel in the Old Testament, we see that they were under the guardianship of the Law because they were children in their faith and not yet adults.  Paul writes that “as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate.  He is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father.” (Gal 4:2) and that “the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ (so) that we might be justified by faith.” (Gal 3:24).  Though the Law was important, it was not God’s end-purpose.

In the Old Testament one problem that occurred was that the scribes and the Pharisees thought the Law was God’s full intention and the end-work of His purposes.  They missed the coming of their Messiah because they thought the Messiah would fit into Temple Worship and the Law.  They received judgment ultimately because the discipline did not form God’s character in them, neither did the law.  Because we have an account of God’s dealings with the Jews there is every opportunity to learn from their mistake and be prepared through faith for Jesus’ second coming.  But, will we, as the New Testament Church, suffer the same problems as the Jewish leaders of Jesus’ time?

In looking at the bigger big picture, what has God wanted from the beginning that we see is accomplished in the end of His Word?  In the beginning, we see that God fellowshipped with Adam and Eve.    In the end, God has a people of His own (Rev 22:3-5).  His work amongst men has been to draw them unto Himself.  In ancient times, when nations were in their infancy, God brought up a man of faith. Through him (Abraham), God established a nation.  This was so that the nation of Israel would be a light to the nations (Is 42:6; Lk 2:32) and then all would come to know Him. The Temple leaders and Jewish rulers did not comprehend God’s bigger plan because they were stuck on the Law and the Temple. 

What prevented Jesus’ contemporaries from seeing that He was, indeed, their Messiah?  One thing was that these leaders had their eyes on this world, whereas the father of their faith had his eyes on the City made by God (Heb 11:10).  The Jews were more impressed with what they could build than what God wanted to build.  Will we do the same?

The Father sent His Son so that men could see for themselves what He was like.  Jesus’ death released the Holy Spirit so that many could become sons and daughters of God, to show the world what He is like through their lives.  God’s people are no longer contained within one nation, but are in every nation to be a light to those around them.  However, like the Jewish leaders of Jesus’ time, many Christians have built their own kingdoms instead of the Father’s.  It has become too painful for them to personally lay their lives down for others.  They do not seek the City God built, but are in love with what they themselves can build for God.

We are to work for God.  In fact, there are good works appointed to each one (Gal 2:10) because people see God in our good works (Mt 5:16).  But when men see us do good works for our own sakes, they see us, and praise us.  God can get lost in what we do, and faces of people come to the forefront.  If we are laboring for what we can have and who we can be in this world, God’s name will not be on people’s lips; ours will be.

The concept of seeking and laboring for the City with true foundations, “whose architect and builder is God,” (Heb 11:10) is the concept of faith in God and leaning into God’s works.  If we build on our own, we labor in vain (Ps 127:1).  God is building a City that endures, which we see in Revelation 21:2.  It is the Bride of Christ.  For men to think God is interested in buildings and programs is for men to think like the religious leaders who missed the first coming of their Messiah, Jesus.

On 3/2/08 the Lord gave me a dream wherein I saw a house on top of the mountain of the Lord.  There was a table saw with saw dust all around on the floor, and the house was only half finished.  I understood that the generation before ours had been working to build the house of the Lord, but our generation had stopped its work.  In the months and years since this dream I have come face to face with the main reason the work of the Lord has stopped; religious leaders are becoming more interested with physical buildings and personal renown than with building God’s spiritual house.  Peter writes that “You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5).  When the leaders of our churches stop building up the lives of their people, God’s work stops.

In my next lesson I will talk about God’s big picture for the Church and why His judgments at the end of time are so severe.  God bless.