Imagine with me what it must have been like for Eve to be loved by God; to walk and talk with God; to walk among the beauty of the garden alongside her soul mate.
If what God has planned for us is so amazing then why does life become so hard? Let’s keep reading…
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"
The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' "
"You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, "Where are you?" He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."
Somewhere along the way Eve decided God was not enough for her, she knew better than God, and she believed Satan’s lies which included… God didn’t really say this…you know better….God is keeping you from fullness of life by limiting you…
Eve did it her way instead of God’s way, and this resulted in her losing the amazing plan God had for her. She was left feeling ashamed and afraid.
Things haven’t changed much since the beginning of time. God has an amazing plan for us and yet we too often listen to the same lies, with the same results. Fortunately, God’s plan didn’t end here….
God came looking for Eve, just as he comes looking for us. We are sought after by God; he wants a relationship with us. Eve needed her relationship with her God. She had made wrong choices. To regain a relationship with God took humility and awareness on her part.
She had to see her need for God….
We must recognize our need for God
We all have sinned. We have lied, been sexually impure, lost our temper, been selfish, gossiped, …etc….. These cause us to miss the mark of the amazing plan God has for our lives.
Like Eve, we mess up, we sin against God. We also think we know better than God and like Eve, we are left with shame, guilt and fear.
We need forgiveness, we need God’s amazing grace; yet we get fearful of giving God the controls of our life.
We get fearful of change….but do we really want to stay where we are?
John 12:22-26
Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus. Jesus replied, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.
Be willing to get help!
Recently we witnessed history as 33 Chilean miners were pulled to the surface after being entrapped in a mine for 69 days. It was dark and they were separated from loved ones. Imagine being there with them. (If a mine of smelly men weren’t enough, remember they survived on tuna for the first 17 days). Some drank their urine for hydration. They were in a desperate situation with little hope. They needed faith, and someone needed to help them out.
We, too, need someone to help us out of spiritual darkness.
Jesus came that we might have life, and have it to the full. First, we must enter into him.
John 10:7-10
Therefore Jesus said again, "I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
What if the capsule came to the miners and they said…”no thanks…I like it here”…
Or…”can’t you find another way out?…”I don’t do capsules well”
Or.. “I’ll climb out myself thank you”!
That would be CRAZY!!! And yet we can do we do this when we are too fearful or proud to accept the help that Jesus offers me.
Amazing is waiting and we can get so used to our surroundings that we stay too “safe in our sameness” to get into the capsule and get into the light …what a tragedy!
We desperately need Jesus! He is the one who can give us what we need. He is the only one who can forgive our sins and the only one who can give us eternal life, because he died and rose from the dead.
We also need others to help us find our way to him and to remain in him.
Let’s look at another scripture in the book of John
John 3:3-7
In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." "How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!" Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.'
Don’t be afraid to be born into God’s Kingdom!
God has something amazing prepared for us. Imagine what it would be like to be a baby in the womb. Obviously, we have experienced this though we can’t remember.
This image of a womb is likely what an unborn child would see. It’s not too exciting. Can you imagine looking at that teeny tiny opening. You might say “you want me to go through there? Right…No way! I’m warm here… I have everything I need……..thank you very much!”
Why would we leave the comfort of the womb?
We go because it’s amazing on the other side!!
Here are pictures of one of my granddaughters, Alexandra Jean, known as Lexi
Why is it worth it? …because on the other side are loving arms of parents; on the other side is…..a whole big world!
On the other side are…
siblings who can’t wait to lavish their love on you
on the other side there’s cake
and ice cream
pizza
and the ocean
exhilaration
corn on the cob
imagination that entertains
and that’s on this physical side of eternal life!
When I saw my need, learned the Bible and gave up my fear of change and experienced that new birth in baptism, I was able to overcome my fear of this change because I knew that on the other side waiting for me was a God with open arms, who had given his life for me in Jesus.
For those of us who have have done this, we understand that with this new birth comes a new life. A life with a whole new way of thinking as we wake up wondering how can we please God today instead of how we can please ourselves?…(which ironically doesn’t fulfill us anyway)
This new life has a whole new way of living that honors God with our thoughts, words and actions, instead of the ways of this world.
This life brings us a spiritual family (the church) that calls us to become givers and involves us in a community where we are all trying to help each other get to heaven
This new life also calls us to a whole new purpose that is focused on pleasing God and helping others to know him.
And we have confidence that “amazing awaits” beyond this physical life
1 Cor. 2:6-9
We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. However, as it is written:
"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him".
A few days ago a twenty year old sister in Christ, Katie LaPointe, passed on to the other side after a hard fought battle with cancer.
Katie saw her need, surrendered her will to God’s and became a Christian as a teenager when she was baptized into Christ five years ago.
My friend Peggy called me a few days ago to tell me about her visit with Katie a few nights before her death. She had stayed over with Joan and Katie as Katie awaited heaven from her home on earth.
While too weak to lift her head and barely able to talk she started smiling and laughing…”Mom, Peggy…do you see them?” She tried to get up, as she wanted to go with them. She then described angels she saw surrounding her in the room. I don’t claim to know all about angels, but I know God promises their presence. Here are just a few of many scriptures concerning angels.
Psalm 34:7
The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.
Psalm 91:11
For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;
Matthew 18:10
"See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.
Acts 27:23
Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me
Hebrews 12:22
But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly,
Friends and sisters…AMAZING AWAITS! Even the ice cream, the pizza, the ocean, even family and friends…they can’t compare with what God has in store for us in heaven.
“No one’s ever seen or heard anything like this,
Never so much imagined anything quite like it-
What God has arranged for those who love him.”
But you’ve seen and heard it because God by his Spirit has brought it all out into the open before you. (I Cor. 2: 9-10) The Message Bible
Jesus loves us so much he gave his life for me and for you. Trust him and his plan for your life…no matter how scary it seems! Don’t let fear hold you back!
Remember that heaven is our home and we are only temporarily here.
AMAZING AWAITS!
