Sunday 04/03/16
Series: Living in the Kingdom XXVII
Message – Unified in Purpose XVIII
Living in the Kingdom
We’ve been talking about the Kingdom, the power and the glory and how they are directly tied to ‘Living in the Kingdom’ AND being ‘Unified with God in Purpose’.
Last week on Easter Sunday, we began our teaching with the story of Zacchaeus leading to the death, burial and resurrection of Lazarus.
This week I want to revisit a few points of that story, with the intention of seeing the truths we been learning illustrated in the facts of that event.
In that chapter of Lazarus’ life, he was mightily used of God to illustrate the power of God over death. This was a strategic move! As you may remember, it was Jewish tradition or folklore that the spirit of a man hovered over the corpse for up to 3 days before departing. In the Jewish mind, it was at this point that the person was dead …..truly dead ……beyond recovery – because by that time the corpse begin to stink! Decay had set in – which was absolutely proof that death had won!
Being led by the Father, Jesus deliberately waited until 4 days after Lazarus had died to raise him.
Why do you think that was? No doubt the Father wished to do this in order to extinguish yet another Jewish fable and to glorify Himself by displaying His power that has no genuine limits. By this action he settled once for all that death NEVER has the final say…God does!
Death as separation
Now from a Biblical worldview death is separation from God in general and from the Father specifically. It is the Father Who alone is the Architect of all creation and it is therefore to HIM that we live, breathe and exercise our stewardships. So death – true death is to be separated from God the Father.
2Thess 1:5-10, “(5) For these are a plain token of God’s righteous judgement, which has in view your being deemed worthy of admission to God’s Kingdom, for the sake of which, indeed, you are sufferers. (6) A plain token of God’s righteous judgement, I say, since it is a righteous thing for Him to requite with affliction those who are now afflicting you; (7) and to requite with rest you who are suffering affliction now–rest with us at the re-appearing of the Lord Jesus from Heaven, attended by His mighty angels. (8) He will come in flames of fire to take vengeance on those who have no knowledge of God, and do not obey the Good News as to Jesus, our Lord. (9) They will pay the penalty of eternal death, being banished from the presence of the Lord and from His glorious majesty, (10) when He comes on that day to be glorified in His people and to be wondered at among all who have believed, including you–because you believed the testimony which we brought for your acceptance.”
All of the other trifling issues which we associate with death from our completely human perspectives are really just results of that separation from the Father – whether that result be an eternity in hell, the decay of the body or the sorrows which engulf our hearts after the physical death of a loved one…. all of these are just the ‘birth pangs’ of separation from God on one level or another. They serve to illustrate in very powerful and sobering ways – the greater truth. God has so orchestrated the natural world so that in every way and by its very nature it illustrates spiritual truths by following their natural course of decay beginning from conception all the way through to death. As we learned on Wednesday – creation is Speaking His Words.
So now as we turn our attention to The Story of Lazarus, let’s consider what Jesus said about his death.
As we said last week, Jesus made a statement which outwardly made little sense. He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God.”
Now, if Jesus was saying that the sickness of Lazarus was not unto physical death, than we have here a very clear case where Jesus lied…or was deceived…. but that is not in any way what He was saying.
So what WAS He saying by the words “NOT UNTO PHYSICAL DEATH”?
This is actually made abundantly clear by what He said afterwards… which was, “but for the glory of God”.
So we see that the words “not unto” actually mean, “was not for the purpose of”.
Jesus did not mean that this sickness will not result in physical death, but that its purpose was not for physical death. This is also further clearly understood by the fact that Lazarus did not remain dead.
The scriptures tell us that it is APPOINTED unto man ONCE to die… then the judgment. The death of Lazarus in John chapter 11, was not his appointment with death but his appointment with the glory of God!
His appointment with physical death came later.
There are times when these two are synonymous in terms of time and experience.
For example Peter was warned by the Lord after His resurrection that he would died when he was old and that the method of his death would be such as he did not desire. Specifically Jesus said,
“when you were young you gird yourself and went wherever you desired, but when you are old someone else will bind you and lead you where you do not desire. This Jesus said in reference to the death by which he would glorify God.”
So in the case of the Apostle Peter both his APPOINTMENT with death and his APPOINTMENT with the glory of God were one in the same!
Death does NOT Glorify God
Now let’s be clear! Death – in and of itself never glorifies God – though He can be glorified THROUGH IT!
God is Not glorified by death because death represents either separation from God directly or the pain, decay and grieving associated with separation.
These things reveal substances which are so contrary to the person and nature of God as to be completely offensive to Him. Death does not emanate from God. That is the result of separation and in fact if it is spiritual death then it is separation specifically from the Father. So even when we die to ourselves, the death itself is not what brings glory to God, but the resulting life that springs forth from the grave of that separation from our sinful flesh is what glorifies Him.
Our appointment with God’s Glory
As we have been progressing through the Lord’s Prayer we’ve been looking at how the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory was the very heartbeat of Christ. His every moment was consumed with the one delight of His heart – to honor His Father and do His will. To glorify Him in all things.
Every action of Christ – and let’s be specific here….every word He spoke, every interaction with man, every teaching, every deliverance from demonic oppression, every healing of every disease – ALL SERVED as illustrations of what happens to us in the New Birth by being awakened in our conscience to God…. By our being connected to Him through relational Trust in Christ – being reconciled to God through His person and through His actions.
We enter into a new kingdom by faith – not faith in word only, but an actions of allegiance towards another Lord. Then by the power of the reigning king of that Kingdom, Jesus Christ THE RIGHTEOUS, we overcome sin in the flesh.
Next week we will have a more interactive service where people in the church will share their reflections on the lives of those who knew and walked with Jesus and the impact that His death, burial and resurrection had upon them…Blessings!
I hope this teaching will challenge you and encourage you to place your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
You have a special place in God’s family & kingdom. If you do not know Him, please use our ‘Contact Us‘ page and reach out so we may have the privilege of introducing you to the Lord. Attendance at our church will NOT even be mentioned nor will money.
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Blessings!
