Part 1The transitory nature of this life

Part 1The transitory nature of this life

Hebrews 11:9	By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:
10	For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
James 4:14	Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is yourlife? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
Psalms 90:10	The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.

Recently I have been aware of so many Christians being taken home; it seems hardly a week goes by without hearing of someone who has died. This got me thinking about the transitory nature of this life and the need to live our lives like Abraham who looked for a city whose builder and maker was God.  We get so caught up with the material physical world in which we live and the reality of our real home in heaven is dimmed to such a degree it is never much in out thoughts, unlike the apostle Paul who said;

Philippians 1:22	But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not.
23	For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:

We can become over caught up with our destiny here in this world, but this needs to be put into a proper perspective. Sure we have a destiny a plan for our lives here on earth and we need to find our way into that plan and fulfill it however this is not the major objective for being here on planet earth. If our concept of why we are here is not sound then we miss the major purpose for being on this earth.

Hebrews 2:10

For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

It has been said many times that “life is not easy”, well it wasn’t meant to be, and the conditions here on earth are perfect for the making of sons of God. Even Jesus had to suffer as part of His sojourn here.

Hebrews 5:8	Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;
9	And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;

Jesus suffered much anguish during His days in the flesh in this world; heartache was a part of His life here.  You cannot escape suffering and some heartache while here on this earth; it is part of the deal.  Life on this planet is hard enough to give us the opportunity of becoming sons of God. You may say “I became a son of God when I was born again! Not so you became a child of God.

1 John 3:2

Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

The word Son here in this verse is the Greek Word  5043. teknon, tek'-non; from the base of G5088; a child.

The Jewish custom of the placing of a Son was a very important time in Jewish life. When a child came of age, usually around thirty years of age he went through a ceremony which initiated him into sonship.  The father would called friends and relatives to this ceremony in which the boy became a son, up till now this boy had never been referred to as a son, at the end of this ceremony the father would say” THIS IS MY SON” and from that time on this SON had rights and privileges that he had never had before. This son could now transact business in his father’s name he could as it were sign checks and generally represent his father. This is what was happening to Jesus in Mat 3:16-17.

Matthew 3:16	And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
17	And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

Every Jew who was there at that time and heard this voice from heaven new exactly what it meant. Jesus was being placed as a son by His father.
Gods major purpose for us
Gods first and foremost purpose for us is that we become Sons of God while still in the flesh in this life. God’s foremost purpose for you is that you become like Him, conformed to His image and likeness. God made man in His own image and likeness but this was lost through the fall of Adam. Genesis 1:27.

Romans 8:29

For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

This is Gods prime purpose for you being here

In the midst of all the work we do for the Lord here the prime purpose is not in what we do for Him but it is in what we are becoming. We fail in the reason for being here if we do not become like Him, to become like Him is what our destiny here on planet earth is all about; anything else is secondary to this. The real gain, the real merit is not in what we do for the Lord, important as that is, but is in who we are becoming.
Planet earth a schoolhouse for sons of God
Many attend university for four or five years gaining knowledge that will hopefully be used in their vocation in this life, however very few have the understanding that God has placed us in His university His school house with a limited time in which to graduate with the
required spiritual knowledge and understanding coupled with the required changes in us that this earthly course is designed to achieve, namely to become like Him
We are in Gods school house and even as Christians we can die without graduating, sure we will go to heaven but the main purpose for coming here to earth is not achieved and this affects our ongoing role in eternity.
Our real life and purpose begins when we finish our schooling here on earth.
We need to become heavenly minded, like Abraham who looked for a city whose builder and maker is God. Life here is very short compared to eternity. This planet presently is a school house designed to produce sons of God who will become part of His kingdom ruling and reigning in the eons to come.

Romans 8:18	For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
19	For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

God Bless youNeville Johnson © May 2006