The Good, the Fallen, the New, the Perfect (notes)

(given at 'Parallel' service - Northcote Baptist Church, 28 April, 07)

Last Parallel, we talked about Pantheism, Deism and Biblical Theism…

We also talked about how these IDEAS about reality affect HOW WE LIVE…

So, they’re not just abstract, floating ideas, but they MATTER. They affect how we THINK, how we FEEL, and how we LIVE.

Like if you think the world is DIVINE, and your body is DIVINE, you will think you need to try to get in TOUCH with the DIVINE inside YOU, you will FEEL that way about yourself, and you will DO things to try and FIND YOURSELF, etc.

And if you think that ‘matter doesn’t matter’, and that your BODY DOESN’T MATTER, you will THINK that way, FEEL that way, and ACT that way.

We NEED to think about reality the way it REALLY is. God’s PLACE, or God’s REALITY - ‘heaven’ – OVER-LAPS with OUR place, or OUR reality – ‘earth’. God made the Earth and our BODIES very GOOD. That good-ness has been distorted and screwed up by SIN. God is in the business of MAKING IT RIGHT.

I DARE you to think THAT way.

I DARE you to FEEL that way.

I DARE you to ACT that way.

Now…

Tonight, I want to continue along the line of Option 3. The GOOD option.

I want to give you another way – an OPTION 3 kind of way – of thinking about life.

People often think of Christianity in terms of RULES, etc.

I want you to KNOW the BIG PICTURE.

I want you to KNOW the STORY.

Jews - Exodus.

The Jews REMEMBERED THEIR STORY.

It gave them HOPE

It gave them IDENTITY as a PEOPLE

It gave them DIRECTION for LIFE

Their HOPE, IDENTITY and DIRECTION weren’t in the individual.

‘YOU’ matter HEAPS to God, but the STORY isn’t about YOU.

‘YOU’ get to play a PART in the STORY, but the STORY is about GOD.

The STORY is a BIG story – MUCH bigger than YOU.

The STORY is as BIG as the ENTIRE UNIVERSE…

AND…

YOU have a ROLE to play in this HUGE story.

Let’s see what the STORY is… Bird’s eye view…

GOOD – FALLEN – NEW – PERFECT

The GOOD

-God made the World GOOD – not ‘perfect’ but GOOD…

-It was not ‘

The FALLEN

-His AGENTS/IMAGE was shattered by SIN

-God has been at work since then in big, small, personal and national ways to RESTORE it…

-God calls HIS PEOPLE to be HIS agents of this RESTORATION

The NEW

-God’s PEOPLE had failed in their responsibility to be HIS AGENTS

-GOD HIMSELF stepped on stage in HIS OWN PLAY…

-HIS resurrected body was the PATTERN on which the universe will be remade

The PERFECT

-New HEAVEN, and New EARTH

-No pain, crying, death, mourning

-‘Tending the Garden WITH GOD in PERFECT REALITY, not ‘idealistic’, but ‘complete’, ‘fully real’

The GOOD, the FALLEN, the NEW and the PERFECT…

We have the NEW already! In JESUS and HIS SPIRIT!!!

NOW but NOT YET!!! (‘Made of different stuff than when I began…’)

WHAT DO WE DO???

LIVE The STORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-Be God’s AGENTS of RESTORATION

-…for PEOPLE

-…for the EARTH

Tell People the STORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-please STOP telling people the SMALL version of the Story.

-START telling them the BIG picture!!!

-in order to FULLY tell it, you MUST LIVE IT!!! (or they won’t hear)