HEAVEN ON EARTH
MIKE CUNNINGHAM
DECEMBER 2, 2012

I ended last week’s message with the following: “Baptist pastor Edwin Lutzer in his book ‘One Minute After You Die,’ writes: “We have reason to believe that a person may see Christ in the twilight zone between life and death. Before Stephen was stoned God gave him a glimpse into heaven. Stephen said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:56.) This experience was unique in that it happened before Stephen died, not at death.” Pg 24. “The apostle Paul had a similar experience.”

4Paul heard things so astounding that they are beyond a man’s power to describe or put in words (and anyway I am not allowed to tell them to others). 2 Corinthians 12:4 (TLB)

“If Stephen saw our Lord before he died, and if Paul died and was caught up into paradise, it is just possible that other believers might also have such a vision. Reports of seeing Christ or relatives long dead might have some validity. We should not expect such experiences, but they could happen. Pg. 25

I then offered my opinion when I said that “God doesn’t want His children to be spending a lot of time thinking about this kind of stuff. I plan to have more to say about it next week. Instead He wants them to struggle diligently to become increasingly holy.

44 “I am the Lord your God. Keep yourselves pure concerning these things, and be holy, for I am holy; therefore do not defile yourselves by touching any of these things that crawl upon the earth. Leviticus 11:44 (TLB)

44 “Make yourselves holy for I am holy. Don’t make yourselves ritually unclean by any creature that crawls on the ground. Leviticus 11:44 (MSG)

14 Work at getting along with each other and with God. Otherwise you’ll never get so much as a glimpse of God. Hebrews 12:14 (MSG)

14 Try to stay out of all quarrels, and seek to live a clean and holy life, for one who is not holy will not see the Lord. Hebrews 12:14 (TLB)

3 For God wants you to be holy and pure and to keep clear of all sexual sin 1 Thessalonians 4:3 (TLB)

I concluded the message by saying that “Christians can take comfort in the fact that they WILL be holy. God will see to it that they WILL experience hell on earth so that they don’t suffer never ending torment as soon as the die and leave this world. The next time you look at yourself in a mirror I hope you will wonder whether or not you are one of “The Devils Favorite Christians.”

The previous Scripture references and those which follow together with the authors I cite will help you to understand the importance of struggling diligently to become increasingly holy. In “The Brokenhearted Evangelist”, Jeremy Walker quotes King David when he asked God to,

10 Create in me a new, clean heart, O God, filled with clean thoughts and right desires. 11 Don’t toss me aside, banished forever from your presence. Don’t take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me again the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. Psalm 51:9-12 (TLB)

“How can we summarize these things? This is the godly life that is begun, established, and maintained by vital communion with God through Christ by the Holy Spirit.” p. 60 “This is a man who, with his moral compass swinging round and holding to spiritual north, desires holiness above all other things and pursues it with all of his heart and mind and soul and strength, in utter dependence upon the Spirit of God. This man wants to be as free from sin in his deeds as in his record, which has been blotted clean from all trace of iniquity. He wants in his heart and life the mirror image of the book of his sins washed clean by the blood of the heavenly Lamb. He desires to do, be, think, speak, and feel only in accordance with what God would have him to do, be, think, speak and feel.” P. 61

“This is the evident reality of grace in operation in the life of a redeemed sinner, by means of which he desires, pursues, and increasingly attains to genuine godliness. It is evident reality, not manifest absence or manifest perfection. On the one hand, then, it is not the life of a man wallowing in his own sin. It is not the life of a woman sunk in angry despair over sin, living without God and hope in the world. It is not the life of someone who coasts along without regard to the growth in grace and advance in holiness.” P. 61 “It is the life of a person at war with sin, his heart upheld by the Spirit of God as he seeks day by day to put sin to death in his thoughts, words and deeds. It is a life of grace in which Jesus has, by His Spirit, taken up residence in the believer’s heart.” P.61 In his letter to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul wrote:

14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge–that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:14-21 (NIV)

“What are the effects of that consistent life of godliness pursued in dependence upon the Spirit of God? Toward men, it gives a testimony to the truth. It demonstrates the reality of our doctrine and shows that we live in accordance with what we say. It demonstrates the seriousness of what we speak-that when we talk about the need to be redeemed from sin and death and hell and the need to be free of iniquity, those are matters of utmost seriousness. It demonstrates the fruit of faith, that there is a real putting off of sinful words and deeds with a genuine putting on of Christlike holiness that takes place, a process that renovates the human life.

It is a lifestyle that wins a hearing for the gospel, because it unstops people’s ears. It is a life that vindicates the gospel and the people of God from all charges of hypocrisy, because it presents a watertight case. It is a life that testifies to the conscience of the ungodly, because they see it in spiritual realities, things that they do not have and cannot have outside of Jesus Christ. It ministers to the need of those who are in need.

It is a life that gives itself in humble, self-denying obedience to Christ, putting others first. It is a life that maintains the honor of Christ, because you were the badge of Christ while you name the name of Christ. It is a life that breaks-eventually through many obstacles to love, a life that credibly displays the grace of God in Jesus Christ. It is an undeniable testimony to the reality of the truth we profess and teach.” P.63

The anonymous author of the recently published insightful book, ‘Embracing Obscurity’ starts chapter 3 with the following scriptures:

5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Philippians 2:5 (NIV)

16 Without question, this is the great mystery of our faith: Christ was revealed in a human body and vindicated by the Spirit. He was seen by angels and announced to the nations. He was believed in throughout the world and taken to heaven in glory. 1 Timothy 3:16 (NLT)

Anonymous continues, “The Supreme Being; the One who spoke our entire universe into being with a word, yet cannot be bound by human language; the Namer of stars and the Crusher of mountains; the God whose face necessitates veiling to preserve a man’s life; the one responsible for each breath you’ve taken while reading this paragraph; the only omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent reality-yeah, this God-became a roughly eight-pound mass of created cells. He took on skin, blood, and DNA and all the pain, heartbreak and weakness that go along with those trappings. He became human. The weakest form of human at that.” pg. 38

“You really can’t get any more helpless than an infant. If you’ve taken care of one, you recognize that his existence depends on another human being to keep him alive. He can’t eat, take shelter, or keep from danger on his own. A baby’s life depends completely on his or her caregiver’s competence. So there was Jesus-Son of the everlasting God as homosapien, relying on his mommy to nurse Him and change His diapers. How can the magnitude of this escape us? How can we get through a complete day without falling on our knees in awe of this truth? What keeps us numb to the jaw dropping implications of Creator becoming creature.” P.38

“Ironically, it’s hard not to get numb to the splendor of a God-Man when we have an entire, exhausting season to celebrate it-every year. We get lulled into thinking that we are keenly aware of this unlikely plan of God’s to send His Son as a baby. After all, it’s the reason for church musicals, gift exchanges, brightly lit trees, Christmas carol-a-thons, and festive sleigh rides through the snow. Even amid the blatant materialism of the season, the true message surrounds most of us for a good month out of every year. Thus, Satan hasn’t had to do anything on his own to divert our full attention from marveling at the ridiculousness. Instead, he has allowed us to backhandedly keep ourselves from soaking in the glorious hope of the reality of Christ’s birth by sanctioning an entire holiday season to just that. They don’t call him deceiver for nothing. What’s also incredible to me, and sheds so much light into God’s nature, is that He lets all this happen.” Pg. 39

“I try not to do much shopping in the mayhem of the holidays, but sometimes it’s inevitable. On one such outing, a common sight struck me as rather peculiar. A traditional nativity scene sat on a shelf, under a large sign reading “25 percent off.” I noted the usual attendees: Mary, Joseph; a couple shepherds; the chronologically and numerically inaccurate wise men; and in the center a Gerber baby-esque infant looking bright eyed and cheerful lying in His unlikely crib. Right next to the nativity scene was an eight inch jolly ol’ Santa, rosy cheeked and seeming to look down on Jesus through his bifocals, as if to say, Oh-ho, isn’t He cute?” pgs. 39,40

“I stared for a minute, until the subtle message sank in: The birth of our Lord reduced to discounted holiday ware, given the same shelf space as a fictional (and rather ridicules) character! I quickly walked away, half envisioning a bolt of lightning blazing down from heaven to incinerate the blasphemy! But of course no bolt came, and that got me to thinking too. What kind of God would allow His act of mercy and salvation to become common fare at a discount store? An incredibly humble God. Not weak, not ignorant, not even complacent or oblivious to the injustice. A justly and graciously humble God who manifests His humility not only in overlooking our profanity for a time but in sending His Son, Jesus Christ, in the first place, Jesus Christ, who;

6 Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. 7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, 8 he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Philippians 2:6-8 (NLT)

“Savor those words. Let the implications sink deep into your soul.” P.40 “As if becoming human wasn’t debasing enough, He came as the most humble, least showy of men. Jesus model of selfless service and obscure suffering doesn’t live with our subconscious of what God-of-the-universe-turned-man should be. Humanly speaking, how much more likely would Brad Pitt be as a candidate for messihship than “Mary and Joseph’s kid”? p.41 “This well known actor holds the world captive with good looks, charisma and the universal draw of philanthropy. In contrast to Jesus, who the Bible says had “nothing beautiful or majestic about His appearance, nothing to attract us to Him,” (Isaiah 53:2 NLT) Brad seems to hold the backing of an entire class of people simply by being a two time “Sexiest Man Alive” winner. P.42

“Have you ever marveled that 90 percent of Jesus Christ’s earthly life could be described much like ours? He spent roughly thirty of His thirty-three years living a largely ordinary life; being submissive to sinful parents, maturing, living, working, building relationships, studying and teaching the Scriptures, loving people, and loving God. We’d be simpletons to believe that a God who so obviously orchestrated His Son’s birth and public ministry down to the minutest detail would leave the bulk of His life to happenstance. No, Christ’s obscurity was as purposely planned-and equally glorifying to God-as His journey to fame and His fall from the public’s favor.”

“He sure wasn’t out to win any elections; He didn’t crave the attention of crowds, either. Even though He was forced to spend most of His time surrounded by fans judging by the number of times we’re told that Jesus ducked out of the crowds. He didn’t base His worth on the accolades. He often went into seclusion to escape the fame and focus on His Father and mission. A hillside in Galilee, a boat on Lake Genessaret, the Mount of Olives just outside Jerusalem-all places to escape others’ accolades, expectations, and demands and just be.”

“Words that describe the disposition of Christ we see in Scripture: humble, thankful, righteous, a servant-His only ambition to submit to His Fathers’ will. He was consumed with loving God and those around Him.” “Words that describe many of Christ’s followers (Christian famous or otherwise): proud, greedy, sinful, self-focused-our most driving ambition to free ourselves and use those around us for our own advancement. Christ brought the Father glory by becoming nothing. pg.47 Speaking of himself, the Apostle Paul penned these words,

5 For I went through the Jewish initiation ceremony when I was eight days old, having been born into a pure-blooded Jewish home that was a branch of the old original Benjamin family. So I was a real Jew if there ever was one! What’s more, I was a member of the Pharisees who demand the strictest obedience to every Jewish law and custom. 6 And sincere? Yes, so much so that I greatly persecuted the Church; and I tried to obey every Jewish rule and regulation right down to the very last point. 7 But all these things that I once thought very worthwhile—now I’ve thrown them all away so that I can put my trust and hope in Christ alone. 8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

I have put aside all else, counting it worth less than nothing, in order that I can have Christ, 9 and become one with him, no longer counting on being saved by being good enough or by obeying God’s laws, but by trusting Christ to save me; for God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith—counting on Christ alone. 10 Now I have given up everything else—I have found it to be the only way to really know Christ and to experience the mighty power that brought him back to life again, and to find out what it means to suffer and to die with him. 11 So whatever it takes, I will be one who lives in the fresh newness of life of those who are alive from the dead. Philippians 3:5-11 (TLB)

Here’s my final quote from Anonymous, “If He is our example in everything, it follows that we will also glorify our God when we embrace an obscurity of heart for His sake. We are told, “Make your attitude that of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5.)

So instead of spending a lot of time thinking about accounts of near-death experiences, as inspirational as some of them are, and things such as Santa and Rudolph, and Jingle-bells, and Christmas presents; get a printed copy of this message, find a quiet place, and read it slowly. Then think about it for about fifteen minutes. If you do, those of you who are already Christians WILL enjoy a foretaste of Heaven on Earth.

Lord willing, next week….