The The Greatest Honors List

Yesterday we celebrated the Queen's birthday as a national holiday in Australia.  On this day each year another group of leaders in Australian national and community life are named on the Queen's Honor List.   Of course, my name is always omitted. Very few names of we ordinary people will ever appear there, but have you ever thought about the greatest honor you have ever been given or could conceivably receive?
For the athlete it might be to be selected to represent his country at the Olympic Games. For the doctor it might be to be named to the College of Surgeons. For the barrister it might be selection to sit on the High Court. For the parent it might be to be named Father or Mother of the year. For simple folk it might be more mundane or simple things. I'll never forget the thrill I felt the first time my name was called to leave the end of the bench I was warming, and play football for my High School team.
But just what is the greatest honor possible for man? We Christians should have little doubt about the matter. The honor of being chosen in Christ Jesus as the eternal sons of the Eternal God far outweighs any attempt by mortal man to give recognition or honor to his fellow man. Accompanying this honor is the additional blessing of being chosen to serve the Sovereign King of the universe.
Did you ever think of just what it really means to be chosen to be a servant of God? The Word of God tells us we have been chosen to be ambassadors for Jesus Christ on planet earth. (II Cor. 5:17-21) This means we are chosen, in Christ's stead, to fully represent the eternal Kingdom of our God on earth.  What an honor!

God also tells us we have been chosen to be living love letters of God's love for man. (II Cor. 3:2-3) What an honor! Jesus Himself said He has chosen us to be his very special and personal witnesses. To give witness to His resurrection and saving power. (Acts 1:8-11) What an honor!
Isn't it wonderful that God has chosen such sinful vessels of mortal clay to bear about the glorious gospel of His Son? Perhaps it is the greatest display of God's marvelous and matchless grace that He chose sinners, saved by that grace, to proclaim the good news of the gospel of grace.
But some might say, what other choice did God have? His choice of saved sinners as His instruments of grace was absolutely necessary. Perhaps so, but I dare say those who say that may be limiting the omnipotence and omniscience of an infinite God. Could not the Sovereign Creator have chosen to paint his gospel in every sky or echo it from every hill in the language of every man, if that had been His eternal will? But instead He has chosen our feet to stand in Christ's stead, our hands to handle His Holy Word and our tongues to tell out His glorious good news! What an honor! Praise be unto our great God!  What an Honor!

The Greatest Marvel Of All

The marvels of the electronic and computer age constantly amaze me. All the talk of the radical changes taking place in the transmission and use of information sometimes could be a bit intimidating to one who can recall the wonder and thrill of the early eras of radio and television. But I am sure some might be surprised that some sixty-five or so years ago I routinely sat at a desk and chatted via a keyboard with other airmen halfway around the world.

Even though I have watched the development of all the wondrous gadgets that bridge these  eras and sometimes might have to ask my son or a grandson to help me along the way, I have never ceased to be impressed.

One area of fascination has been the development and proliferation of radar, satellites, gps and other electronic navigational devices. Man is now able to pinpoint his position to within a few millimetres in a vast sea or in the vastness of space. He can fly giant aircraft automatically with absolute accuracy. (But sometimes seems unable to locate one that has been obviously flown into a disaster.)

He can fly an armed missile through a window from a ship hundreds of miles away. He can send a moon rocket through a window of opportunity with the same accuracy required to hit a fast flying bee with a bullet at a thousand meters.

During the Korean conflict I was involved in military communications. On occasion I worked with those who used what would now be viewed as very primitive Ground- Control Equipment to guide crippled or air medical evacuation planes loaded with wounded to a safe landing. The key to it all was being able to electronically penetrate the thickest cloud or fog and plot a path of safety through the storm.

I will never forget the tenseness of the moment of truth when a plane broke through a very low ceiling and made a safe touch down. Even harder to forget are the few that did not make it. Good guidance was essential and the gratitude expressed by those who received it was really appreciated by those who went through the agony of having the lives of others absolutely dependent upon their ability to accurately use primitive guidance equipment.

All of this has often made me think of the greatest  guidance marvel of all. The infallible ability of the Holy Spirit to guide God's people through the troubles and storms of life. His all seeing eye is in every place beholding both the good and evil. He knows the end from the beginning and all that lies in between. His ability to assure a safe landing and good conclusion has no parallel. There is no cloud of trouble or fog of despair too heavy or storm of life too severe for our paraklete. He is able to work all things together for the good of those who love the Lord.

It is marvelous, but true, that our Lord knows the way in the wilderness of this world and all we have to do is follow! We can be sure He will land us safely on the other side!

A Prepared Place For A Prepared People

The hope of a home in heaven has always been central to the Christian message.  But to the child of God,  it is more than a hope  It is life's greatest certainty.   But, after all,  when all is said and done, it is as the apostle Paul said,  "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable."

When people think of  heaven, a number of questions naturally arise.   Is it a real place?   Or is it, as some assert, merely a figment of a fertile imagination.  Has man, in facing his obvious fragile existence and mortality,  merely conjured the concept up to fulfil his wistful longing for immortality?   Or could it be, as some insist, just pie in the sky by and by, used as a tool of manipulation by religionists in order to deceive the gullible masses?   Is such a  longing and seeking just another expression of  Lenin's discredited thesis that "religion is the opiate of the people"?   Is it, as some sceptics say,  that if God and heaven did not exist, man of necessity would invent them?   Even sincere seekers for truth may understandably ask:   "How can we ever know for sure there is a  heaven for believers and a  hell for Christ rejecters?"

If  it is all just pie in the sky,  please don't tell me!    I am as convinced of the reality of heaven as I am  of the reality of a Creator God! Paul said that those who seek Him by faith can come to Him and He will reward those who diligently seek Him.  I have sought and found God by faith in Jesus Christ and have become a child of the King;  a joint-heir with Christ of all the glories of heaven and eternity!  I can say with John, by faith, "Now I am a son of God.  I do not know  what I shall be, but I know when He shall appear, I shall be like Him for I shall see Him as He is!"

We who know Him by faith know that heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people.  Enoch is an example of such a person.  He walked with God and was no more.  Someone has proposed a beautiful scenario.  Enoch and God walked together daily.   As the quantity and quality of their walk increased, God said at the end of one of their daily walks,   "It's closer to my house than yours, just come on home with me today!"   Our walk with Christ on earth is designed to mature us and prepare us for an eternity with Him in heaven. After all, those who love the world and the things of the world would probably be unhappy in heaven in any case.

But just where is heaven?   Astronomically some speak of a great empty place in the North.  The Bible speaks of a third heaven - beyond the bonds of earth and over and above any astronomical heavens.   Personally,  I like the response of a little girl, who, when asked by a sceptics where heaven was, simply said,  "It's where Jesus is."  When the sceptics pressed the point and asked,  "But where is Jesus?"  The little girl replied,  "Well, I don't know exactly, but where Jesus is - is heaven enough for me!"