“Lord Jesus, we are here with Your road map. We are not aimlessly marking time. We are preparing for the heavenly kingdom, where righteousness dwells. In Your name, we pray. Amen.”
Acts 3:19-21 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, (20) and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, (21) whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.
Peter and John were reminding the Jews of the fullness of life that the Lord had promised through all the prophets. This fullness of life is the outcome of the redemption that we receive through the forgiveness of our sins by the blood of Jesus.
Ephesians 1:7-10 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace (8) which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, (9) having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, (10) that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him.
God is gathering together all things in one in Christ. This is the destination, where the Lord is taking us. This is what we must keep as our focus and move along with God.
Colossians 1:19-20 For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, (20) and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.
God is reconciling and restoring all things in heaven and on earth to Himself through the blood of Jesus, shed on the cross. We must not narrow down the Gospel message to our personal salvation. Our personal salvation is primary and a requirement. It is a vital part of the process by which the Lord is restoring all things to Himself through Christ.
Psalms 72:6-8 He shall come down like rain upon the grass before mowing, Like showers that water the earth. (7) In His days the righteous shall flourish, And abundance of peace, Until the moon is no more. (8) He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, And from the River to the ends of the earth.
Righteousness, peace, and joy, in His Holy Spirit, are the ethos of God’s kingdom.
The wholesome picture of the ethos of God’s kingdom is what was given in the very beginning. Genesis 1:26-28 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” (27) So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. (28) Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
As we live on this earth, we must know that we have a road map to follow. This is the ‘God culture’ on the culture of God’s kingdom rule. Even as we follow our God-given road map, to navigate the world that we live in, we are also assured that this is just the preparation time for greater things to come.
Since we are looking forward to the new heaven and the new earth, we are diligent to be found in Christ, without spot or blemish. II Peter 3:13-14 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. (14) Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless;
There will come a day when all sorrowing and sighing will flee away. Isaiah 51:11 So the ransomed of the LORD shall return, And come to Zion with singing, With everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness; Sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Therefore, we set our minds on things above and not on things of the earth. Colossians 3:1-3 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. (2) Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. (3) For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. We have died with Christ and we live only for Him and in Him.
Our God is a consuming fear and so let us serve Him now with reverence and godly fear. Hebrews 12:27-29 Now this, “YET ONCE MORE,” indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. (28) Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. (29) For our God is a consuming fire.