A Different Life Focus

A Different Life Focus

This raises a very interesting and relevant question. The barrier to fully accepting Jesus’ words is the cost involved in following him and his teachings. To follow his teachings, and the teaching of the Bible at large, requires a different type of focus. That is, one not focussed upon material or present benefits, but rather upon following the truths of God no matter what the present cost, because something far greater has been purposed and promised by God.

This is the point of the words found in Luke.9:57-62.

We are very familiar with this form of rationale, as many of us will delay gratification and sacrifice present benefits to achieve some future goal. For example, you may stay at home to study so that you can pass some future exam that will provide a qualification for a future benefit, or you may work longer hours to receive some future monetary benefit for the good of the family. God requires of us the application of a similar type of reasoning and effort, with one major difference. The benefit or reward is in the future, not in this life, and the present cost may be much higher than we are comfortable with. The Bible is very clear on these issues.  

Contrary to the example of those who rejected Jesus’ teachings, those who hearken to God have their focus very clearly upon the future and not the present. The following reference indicates that this has always been so with the faithful throughout the ages.

Heb.11:13. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

The things of this present world were clearly not their primary objective or hope. They saw themselves as strangers and pilgrims in the world, not as its citizens. This causes them to interact with the world differently (1.Pet.2:11-25), after the example of Jesus Christ. For those who align themselves with God and Christ will also end up seeing things with a different type of vision, not with the eyes only but with the ‘vision’ that faith provides.-

2.Cor.4:18.  While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Heb.11:27. By faith he (Moses) forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible

Yet, for all that, God calls upon all to walk with integrity and honesty in all their dealings. To be in the world, but not of the world. This means that they don’t follow the world’s ways or standards, neither do they follow its aspirations and pursuits. Everything is different.

1.Thes.4:11-12. … that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing.

John.17:16. Jesus said - They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

Just what are they focussing their attention on? What are the promises that have been made, the things that are eternal? The general idea, which is almost universally accepted, is of some form of spiritual existence where all the pains and challenges of life will be over and old friends re-united. Some call it heaven. In some theories, evil doers are consigned to hell for eternal torture. However, none of these ideas and concepts comes directly from the Bible. They are mostly adapted from the mythology of ancient religions and cultures, such as Egypt, Babylon, Greece and others.

The Bible quite clearly speaks of a future that involves both physical resurrection and eternal life, and an eternal inheritance upon the earth in a kingdom that is built upon the ruins of all that exists now. This is a challenging concept, as it is totally different to the commonly held belief. However, it does provide real and tangible reasons why we should understand what God has declared, and the motivation to align ourselves with God’s purpose. It also explains why those with vested interests in the present have resisted and will resist these ideas. Consider these plain words –

Matt.5:5. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. (KJV)

Matt.6:10. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. (KJV – The Lord’s Prayer)

Dan.2:44. And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.

Dan.7:26.  Then the kingdom and dominion, And the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, Shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And all dominions shall serve and obey Him.

Rev.5:10.  And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.”

Rev.20:6. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.

Just how this promised future is to be realised for those who believe is the underlying theme of the whole Bible. Although the promises of a renewed earth are of themselves quite clear, there stands a barrier between what and who we are now and the realization of what has been promised in the future. That barrier is what is called in the Bible ‘the law of sin and death’, which is Bible shorthand for our sinful and mortal condition.

The Bible quite clearly says that all have sinned, and all die. Yet these promises are for an eternal inheritance. The missing element and the key that makes all the promises of God available to us is bound up in the person and work of Jesus Christ. He is called, ‘the way, the truth and the life’ (Jn.14:6). He is the one provided by God, through whom God worked. If we understand and know him, and have faith in him and what God achieved in him, and align ourselves with him, then all the promises of God can be ours too. For Jesus came to ‘confirm the promises made to the father’ (Rom.15:8). The identity of Jesus is one of the great questions that need to be answered. Some say that he is God, and others say that he was just another man. Contrary to what men think, God has plainly declared who Jesus is and how he fits into God’s great scheme of things. We will look more closely at this question in chapter 5.