Participants:
Series Code: SSOS
Program Code: SSOS190005B
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00:01 Welcome back...
00:02 before the break, we were studying "Glorification" 00:04 and we looked at Scripture, 00:07 how glorification begins with character transformation now, 00:11 the Bible says that we are transformed from glory to glory. 00:16 The other part of glorification 00:19 is at the second coming of Jesus, 00:21 we will have a restoration of our physical nature, 00:25 when Jesus comes the second time 00:28 and the clouds open like a scroll 00:30 and Jesus descends and He calls up the righteous dead 00:35 and the righteous living 00:37 at that point, the Bible says 00:39 that we will receive glorified bodies. 00:43 Praise the Lord for that reality, 00:45 I'm looking forward to the day of a new body... 00:48 of a glorified body... 00:49 we're not taking our bodies to heaven, 00:51 we will receive a new body at the second coming 00:54 and here it is in 1st Corinthians chapter 15 00:56 verse 52, 00:57 "In a flash, in a twinkling of an eye, 01:01 at the last trumpet. 01:03 For the trumpet will sound, 01:05 the dead will be raised imperishable, 01:08 and we will be changed. 01:12 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, 01:17 and this mortal must put on immortality. " 01:21 What a day that will be Friends, when Jesus comes the second time 01:24 and we receive a new body... immortalized... 01:28 I imagine looking down at my hands I say, "Ah, new hands!" 01:31 Imagine looking at your face in heaven for this first time, 01:35 and you're like, "Wow! amazing!" 01:37 And we will have no more death, no more pain, 01:42 no more sorrow, no more funerals, 01:44 no more cancer, no more heart attack, 01:47 no more hospitals, 01:48 we will receive immortal bodies at the second coming 01:53 and this is an important part of the restorative process 01:57 and if you give your life to Jesus Christ... 01:59 if you accept Him as Savior and Lord of your life... 02:03 glorification is a guarantee at the second coming. 02:07 Philippians chapter 3 verse 21 says, 02:10 "Who, by the power that enables Him to bring everything 02:14 under His control, will transform our lowly bodies 02:19 so that they will be like His glorious body. " 02:24 We come to our third point of the restorative process 02:28 in glorification... 02:30 environmental restoration, 02:32 glorification will mean the restoration of Eden. 02:37 In other words, our planet today 02:41 has been wearing out like a garment according to Scripture 02:46 there's natural disasters... 02:47 there's thorns and there's thistles... 02:50 there's elements of our planet today 02:52 that are an evidence and a result of sin. 02:56 As soon as Adam and Eve partook of that fruit, 02:59 not only were his physical natures 03:02 and his spiritual nature affected, 03:05 it also affected the entire planet 03:08 and the way that animals related to each other 03:11 and nature itself was affected. 03:14 God never intended for this planet 03:17 to be the way that it is today. 03:20 Now I praise the Lord that even despite the effects of sin 03:24 that we see all around us, 03:26 there are still beautiful things that we can behold. 03:30 There are roses upon the thistles 03:33 but at the second coming of Jesus, 03:36 we will receive our restoration of our physical nature 03:40 and then in the final restoration of our planet, 03:43 after the Millennium... 03:45 according to Revelation chapter 20:21 and 22, 03:48 God will create a new heaven and new earth 03:51 and here is Eden restored. 03:52 Revelation chapter 22 verse 1 and 2, 03:54 "And He showed me a pure river of water of life, 03:58 clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God 04:02 and of the Lamb 04:04 and in the middle of its street, on either side of the river, 04:08 was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, 04:13 each tree yielding its fruit every month. " 04:16 This is Eden restored... 04:17 what was in the Garden of Eden? 04:19 The Tree of Life... 04:20 and here we can see that in the new earth 04:24 the Tree of Life will be restored. 04:27 Eden lost... Eden restored... 04:30 in the book of Genesis, 04:31 on the first part... the first bookend... 04:33 you can see the loss of the Tree of Life. 04:35 At the end of the Bible, in the book of Revelation, 04:38 we can see that the Garden of Eden is restored 04:42 because the Tree of Life is back. 04:45 God will give us environmental restoration, 04:49 I believe that we can't even imagine 04:51 how beautiful heaven and the re-created earth 04:55 will really be like. 04:57 The other restoration that will take place at glorification 05:01 is what we call, "Relational Restoration. " 05:04 Glorification will mean the restoration of relationships. 05:10 As soon as Adam and Eve sinned, 05:12 notice what happened. 05:14 There was a breakdown of their relationship. 05:18 When God talked with Adam and Eve about what had taken place, 05:23 what happened? 05:25 Adam blamed Eve... 05:27 Eve blamed the serpent... 05:30 there was a relational dynamic 05:33 that changed immediately after sin. 05:36 Furthermore, we can see that in nature 05:38 there was a relational dynamic that changed as well. 05:42 We have prey and we have predator... 05:45 this was never meant to be according to God's plan 05:48 but as a result of sin, every relational dynamic 05:52 beginning with the human relationship 05:54 on down to the animal kingdom, 05:57 there was a dramatic change that took place 05:59 but after the restoration 06:01 of the new heavens and the new earth, 06:03 there will be a restoration of animal relationships 06:06 and this is according to Isaiah chapter 11 verse 6, 06:10 Listen to this, "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, 06:14 the leopard shall lie down with the young goat. " 06:18 There will be a restoration of the Edenic relationship. 06:22 There will be no more prey and no more predator, 06:26 the predators will become vegetarians. 06:29 Praise God and the Bible says, 06:31 "They will dwell together 06:33 and there will also be a restoration 06:37 of human relationships. " 06:40 According to Revelation chapter 22 verse 2, 06:42 the Bible says, "The leaves of the tree 06:45 were for the healing of the nations. " 06:49 What does that mean? 06:50 I believe that means that when we get to heaven, 06:54 all of the social dynamics and the strife that we experience 06:59 this side of heaven, 07:00 will be healed in the new earth. 07:03 I praise the Lord for that, 07:04 I praise the Lord that when we get to heaven 07:08 there will be no more genocide. 07:11 There will be no more ethnic cleansing. 07:16 There will be no more racism. 07:18 There will be no more racial tension. 07:22 The Bible says, "The leaves of the Tree of Life 07:26 will be for the healing of the nations. " 07:29 When Jesus comes the second time and brings us to heaven, 07:33 at the end of the millennium, after the 1,000 years 07:36 and the heavens and the earth are re-created, 07:38 every level of the results of sin... 07:42 beginning with our own human interactions 07:44 down to the animal kingdom, 07:46 there will be a restoration that takes place, 07:49 God will bring us all the way back 07:53 and there won't be in heaven... I praise God for this... 07:56 there won't be in heaven any social awkwardness, 08:00 no misunderstandings, 08:03 no issues that crop up because of personality differences, 08:08 we will live in perfect harmony and perfect community 08:12 in the new earth in heaven. 08:15 God will bring us all the way back. 08:17 There will be a restoration of human relationships 08:21 and most importantly, there will be a restoration 08:25 of our relationship with God. 08:28 Here we have it, last book of the Bible, 08:30 Revelation chapter 22... last chapter... verse 4, 08:34 "They shall see His face, 08:36 and His name shall be on their foreheads. " 08:41 We will be restored back to that relationship with Adam and Eve. 08:45 Remember the relationship that Adam and Eve had 08:47 before the fall? 08:49 They were able to have a face-to-face communion with Him, 08:52 open communion... uninhibited... 08:55 they were able to have this encounter with God 08:58 and the Bible says that God's name will be written 09:02 on their forehead. 09:03 This is where God wants to bring us. 09:05 He wants to bring us 09:06 to that restorative relationship with Him 09:09 and God will bring us back 09:11 and notice what the Bible says 09:12 that His name will be on their foreheads... 09:16 on our foreheads. 09:17 Now, this is not saying there will be a literal name... 09:20 a stamp on our foreheads when we get to heaven, 09:22 what that is talking about is the character of God 09:25 will be restored in man. 09:27 "Imago Dei" 09:29 the image of God will be restored in man 09:32 and we'll be brought back to that relationship with Him. 09:36 The relational tensions... 09:38 the relational estrangement 09:41 of every level of humanity will be restored 09:44 and ultimately, when Jesus comes the second time, 09:46 there will be a restoration of our relationship with God. 09:50 Now, the important focus for us 09:53 when we talk about glorification is to recognize 09:57 that if the character is transformed 10:00 and we allow Jesus to be reproduced in us, 10:03 glorification is a surety. 10:07 Now, what is character? 10:10 We're told in the book "Maranatha" page 222, 10:13 "If the thoughts are wrong, the feelings will be wrong 10:18 and the thoughts and the feelings combined 10:21 make up the moral character. " 10:24 If you want to know what your character is, 10:26 what do you think about? 10:28 How do you feel about what you are thinking about? 10:31 What is the thing that you think about 10:33 over and over and over again. 10:36 That is what makes up your moral character. 10:39 You see, God is not just in the business 10:43 of getting external transformation, 10:47 God is ultimately in the work of working from the inside out, 10:52 some people think, "You know what? 10:54 I'm not going to physically do it, 10:56 but I'm going to think about it in my mind 10:58 but Jesus said in the sermon on the mount, 11:00 "If you lust after a woman, 11:02 you have committed adultery with her in your heart. " 11:06 So, God wants to go all the way back 11:09 into the thoughts and the feelings 11:11 and this process of transformation 11:13 begins with the character 11:15 and it begins ultimately with the thoughts. 11:18 Here Stephen Covey says, "Sow a thought, reap an action; 11:21 sow an action, reap a habit; 11:24 sow a habit, reap a character; 11:27 sow a character, reap a destiny. " 11:30 God wants to transform our thoughts... 11:32 God wants to transform our minds from the inside out... 11:36 our thoughts and feelings... 11:37 and when we are baptized, we accept Jesus as our Savior 11:41 and then, we make Him Lord of our life. 11:44 It's important that it's in that order... 11:47 He's our Savior first 11:49 and then we say, "Lord... my Lord and my God. " 11:54 We make Him Lord of our life, we make Him Lord of our thoughts 11:59 we subject every thought to the obedience of Jesus Christ 12:04 and by beholding Jesus daily... in the process... 12:08 we become like Him in character. 12:12 God wants to transform our thoughts and our minds. 12:15 Now, when we think of concrete, 12:17 we need to recognize that there are two phases to concrete. 12:22 The "setting phase" and the "fixed phase. " 12:26 I believe that we are living in the very end of time 12:30 and that during this time of probationary period 12:33 that we have right now, 12:35 God is allowing our characters to be molded 12:38 and to be developed into the character of Jesus 12:42 but there will come a time when we become set in our ways. 12:48 I want to encourage you today 12:50 while you still hear the voice of God, 12:53 to make the decision to follow Him. 12:56 The Bible says, "If you hear His voice, 12:59 harden not your hearts. " 13:03 The implication is that God is not changing... 13:05 He's always calling you. 13:07 The implication is that 13:08 we change in our decision-making process, 13:11 our characters are being shaped and transformed. 13:14 I want to encourage you today to hear the voice of God... 13:18 to respond to Him today and respond to His call. 13:22 Join us again as we study 13:23 the sanctuary, salvation and our Savior. 13:28 May God bless us as we continue to walk with Him. |
Revised 2019-10-01