Oh, To Be Like Him!

I John 3:2 “Beloved, now are we the sons of God and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be LIKE HIM, for we shall see Him as He is”

In our century it has become increasingly clear that man’s desire to be free of the surly bonds of earth and soar into the heavens has brought him to the very brink of a new era. He has reached for the stars and seems to have taken a first feeble step into near space. Armstrong’s historical statement, “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” seems to summarise man’s eternal quest for the heavens.

In spite of all the fantasising of science fiction, man is quickly becoming acutely aware of the many practical scientific problems posed in his penetration of outer space. It would seem that man is just too inhibited by the continuum of time, matter, energy and space to ever conceivably achieve his dream.

The time required for man to travel safely at the speed required, using any propulsion and environmental survival systems that can be envisioned today, far exceeds man’s survival capacity. The fragility of man’s frame and the sensitivity of his biological systems mitigate against successful extended space travel.

Man’s only real hope of breaking away from the forces of gravity and truly leaving the restrictive confines of this earth, lie in another direction entirely. Man has the answer he seeks and the freedom he desires, but he does not seem to be willing to understand it or accept it. Man is truly designed for the stars, but he does not seem willing to fully come to grips with or grasp his eternal destiny. A simple statement in the Word of God clearly settles the issue. John, in speaking of eternal sons of God said,“We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is..” If we are to know the fantastic future our Creator God has in store for those eternal sons He has chosen as the eternal objects of His love in Christ Jesus, we only need to know what He is like. What He is like, physically, intellectually and spiritually is the key to our eternal existence.

To really explore our future we must examine what He is like in His resurrected body. Because, as even Job understood two thousand years before the event, eternal sons and daughters of God will be given a completely new resurrected body - like Him.

Paul made sure we understood that this new body entailed an entirely different and glorious sphere of existence. Physically, that automatically entails repealing or setting asides the laws of nature that normally place restrictions or limitations upon our human body. The record of all the observed activities of our resurrected Saviour during the days He spent among upwards of five hundred of His followers before His ascension gives us some indication of that fantastic future. Evidently he travelled from earth to paradise, to heaven and back to earth in an instantaneous manner. We can only speculate about the vast stellar distances involved. He also demonstrated the ability to appear and disappear. The account of His walk with the two disciples to Emmaus clearly illustrates that as well as His appearance in the midst of His disciples, evidently without walking through a door!

In doing so laws relating to matter and energy would of necessity be negated. Because our finite minds cannot comprehend such fantastic phenomenon we are hesitant to fully accept it or speculate upon its full implications. Perhaps it is enough to rejoice in being the eternal sons of God who will see some day Him as He is and be like Him in eternity!

The Geography of Happiness

Perhaps one of the greatest of the Bible preachers and teachers of the past generation, Vance Havner, once said, "The business of a doctor is not to make sick people happy , but to make them well. When they are well, they should be happy.

Christ came to earth not primarily to make everybody happy, but to save us from our sins. When we have been healed , we shall be happy. Moreover, getting sick people to act as if they were well does not cure them of their infirmity. We must deal with the trouble (sin) itself."

This philosophy of life is hard to find and even harder to place into practice in our day and time. We seem to feel that happiness is the great pursuit of mankind. But are somewhat like the dog chasing his tail in our perpetual quest for it. We seem to spin around in endless circles seeking it. I often think of this when I observe the things people are involved in and the places they seem to go in search of happiness.

Have you ever noticed that those who live in the mountains or outback seem to think happiness lies along the coast and beaches of this great land? Or that those who live along the beautiful coast line seem to feel that happiness must lie over the horizon in the mountains or outback? Or that those who live in the north seem to think the geography of happiness lies southward and those in the east think it lies westward and vice versa? And that during holidays all these people meet each other on congested highways in a frantic scramble to squeeze the last ounce of happiness out of each precious moment? Or is it that everyone feels that variety is truly the only spice of life?

But Biblical philosophers such as Vance Havner are not the only ones who see the truth that the geography of happiness has a vertical rather than a horizontal dimension. Most psychologists and counsellors of any note and worth now seem to agree that the best therapy man can receive is to experience freedom from guilt (sin) and a sense of oneness and rightness with His Creator.

The fountain of happiness does not flow from some mystical and magical garden to be found at the end of a ceaseless earthly quest, but from the very throne of God in the garden of God. In spite of all those who would deride and decry the quaint idea, the paradise lost in the garden must truly be found by each individual before happiness can flow in life, both in the here and now and the then and there. This idea is not just someone's wistful vision of pie in the sky by and by, but the only basis for true and lasting happiness. And all those who say they are not looking for that pie in the  sky by and by, but will grab theirs right now, seem to be doomed to continue their sad, senseless and ceaseless quest.   - Pastor John White

Three Wise Men

Why has the story of the wise men who travelled far and brought gifts to Jesus come to represent real wisdom throughout the ages? It’s unlikely these wise men were university graduates with Ph.D.’s. We have no record of their academic pedigree, yet we know they were wise men. Their wisdom is not necessarily reflected by the enormity of their intellect or accumulative knowledge, but by their simple act of seeking to know and worship Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

So it is today. Many in our world are seeking many things. Some seek riches, and upon accumulating them, find the need to accumulate more an all consuming passion. They finally conclude that there are not enough riches in the whole universe to satisfy man’s desire for more affluence.

Inevitably, at the end of life’s way, they find the acquisition of riches has no eternal value or significance.  The words of our Saviour about the temporal nature of riches are all too apt. No matter how much a man may accumulate, when he leaves this world he leaves it all behind. As someone said,  “Have you ever seen a hearse pulling a trailer?” Those seeking fortune always find it cannot buy the simplest joy or real happiness.

Some seek fame, and upon achieving it, find the fleeting fragility of fame and fortune. Just a surface survey of the tragic stories of some recent and contemporary politicians, entertainers and entrepreneurs, will easily confirm the illusory nature of imagined fulfilment through fame and fortune.

How many spend their last days amid the ashes of decaying memories of fleeting moments spent in the fading spotlight of public adulation and popularity? It is sometimes sad to see how the mighty have fallen as a result of man’s cruel propensity to cut down the tall poppies.  Some seek power as the ultimate high of human experience. Only those who have experienced power over the lives of others can really know how seducing this temptress can be. As it is said, “Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts, absolutely.” But one only has to consider the end of some of the most powerful men of history to realise the futility of such seeking. Nebuchadnezzar, the Ceasers, Hitler and more recently, the tyrants of the totalitarian communist world, vividly demonstrate the vanity of the quest for ultimate power.  But others, real wise men such as these, seek Christ. Real wise men seek Him as the eternal God of eternal spiritual salvation. After all, it was the Christmas angel that said, “They shall call His name, Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sin.” When real wise men bow their knee before Him in true repentance and faith, they discover eternal and abundant life in all its fullness and eternal significance. Why not be wise and seek Him with all your heart during this Christmas Season?