Revelation 21:5-8 - Growth Mindset for God's Children
We are made in God’s image. Beyond that, believers have the Holy Spirit to guide and direct us, to admonish and show us our sins. So it makes good sense that we have volition-free will to make this choice rather than that one.
It’s risky these days to challenge Christian men to be authentic - to be the husbands and dads Jesus expects us to be. We can’t make disciples of Christ if we are not first disciples of Christ ourselves.
It also makes sense that we should find repugnant what God disdains. In this short life, God is after our character. It is those who are victorious in Christ, those who hunger and thirst for God that we’ll find in the 1,400-mile cubed eternal city of God (21:16). Heaven really is for squares!
We may sometimes think that God is unfair because He seems to allow injustice - the old ‘when bad things happen to good people’ mindset. The proud, arrogant, and mean people may seem to get ahead. The coward may live now while the brave young man is killed selflessly serving his community. How can we make sense of it?
If we, mere humans, can’t stand the presence of the insufferably wicked, the arrogant, the blowhards that talk about themselves and their achievements, do you really think the King of kings has any interest in calling them His people and living among them for eternity? Not a bloody chance.
God wants all of us. He wants our heart, mind, soul, and strength. God wants us to believe in the Son (John 3:16) first and foremost - and He wants us to be made new, and to grow in the Son.
Sadly, it’s true that we see open corruption in the church. We see an endless stream of lies and twisting of the truth. For-profit charlatans cheat and steal and covet - all in the precious name of Jesus mind you - to fulfill their selfish ambitions. They justify it however they want and in so doing they appear to sleep well at night - but God sees through everything. He’s the judge of each of us - you and I included.
So yes, I think it’s worth the risk of challenging men to step up, to plead with men to respond well to God’s call for righteousness. I think the truth is that many don’t fear God. They don’t think God is serious about His command to love others and to genuinely change into a new creation in Christ. He is.
Here’s how God puts it plainly in Revelation, “But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars—their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death” (21:8). They will be nowhere to be found in the presence of God.
And listen to how Paul pleads with us to mature. He says, “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect” (Romans 12:1-2). We are all sinners saved by God’s grace alone. But let’s challenge each other to be the real deal. We can’t say God hasn’t warned us.
God expects in my humble estimation far more from us than we think He does. It seems many have bought into the anything-goes Christianity. The theology is that if you buy your easy alter-call ticket to ride you can then do whatever the hell you want and God is forced by His terms to suffer with you for eternity no matter how repugnant your behavior. The problem with that view is that it is dead wrong and not what the Bible says. In fact, as Rev. 21 makes plain God pleads with us to grow up. Like the parable of the ten bridesmaids (Matthew 25:1-13), we must be found acceptable by God upon His return, ready and expectant and excited to meet our Savior.
Lord Jesus, we know that You love all people. And we know You expect us to mature and to represent You well. Please help us to be honest in everything today, especially in our evaluation of ourselves. Please help us to be transformed into the victorious and good people You want us to be, hungry and thirsty for adventures with You. Amen.
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