This past weekend I volunteered at a young adults event in Somers Point. A well-known speaker was sharing that night and there were 300 people, mostly young adults, in attendance. I was touched to see that many people gathered together praising the Lord, all from different churches, all from different walks of life.
Lately God has been pressing on me the value of having an eternal perspective and how that is given us in worship. I wanted to share with my Sojourn family what the Lord has been speaking to me.
I know some of you share my love for Christian rap and hip-hop. The song "Hero" by Trip Lee, which I recently discovered, speaks about having an eternal perspective. In an age of Spiderman and Batman movies, where everyone seems to be looking to something or someone else to fill them, this song lifts Jesus up as our true Hero and reminds us of His promise to return again and "rescue" us. This song made me contemplate the greater Eternal reality that we have as Christians.
As Christians, we believe that Jesus is going to return one day and take the Church to be with Him forever. He is going to destroy our enemy, Satan, and "wipe every tear" from our eyes (Revelation 7:17). What strikes me about myself is how I can so quickly forget the Eternal reality that God has given us in Christ. How many of us look to other people, or our jobs, or education, to fulfill us here on earth? To "save" us? Even as believers, we are often guilty of taking our eyes off of the Throne and putting them on other people, on ourselves.
So why does God desire us to have an eternal perspective?
1. When we have an eternal perspective, we view God in His rightful place, as the Lord Who holds ALL things in His hands, and has already guaranteed us a home in Heaven with Him. When we realize that He has accomplished it all, we are able to relax and release any feelings of false guilt or condemnation that we may have because He has finished the work for us. We live in light of His return and make the "most of every opportunity" (Colossians 4:5).
2. When we have an eternal perspective, we view ourselves and the world in their rightful place. We realize that Jesus is the only One Who can truly fulfill all our needs. This allows us to truly enjoy the world He has given us in the way He intended it to work - He is first, then all else falls into place. We do not expect other people or things to fill the need that God is already filling in our hearts, and that only He can meet.
3. When we live with Eternity in mind, we treat our fellow brothers and sisters in light of the fact that we have the same eternal Home, share the same Father and are part of the same Family.
4. When we live in light of our eternal Home, we share our faith with those around us because we want them to know and live forever with Him too.
5. And finally, having an eternal perspective enables us to "cast all our burdens on Him" because we know that in the end, He will make all things right (Rev. 21:4). When we have an eternal perspective, we live in the truth that He holds all things in His hands and is sovereign to work all things out for our good (Romans 8:28). And we are able to rest, "being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:6).
I think that's what God intends worship to be for - to give us a picture of what our Heavenly Home will be like. To give us just a taste of the satisfaction and fulfillment that we will experience in completion when we are in His presence. To get our perspective on Him and off of us. To give us His point of view over our own.
I hope this post brought you just a little bit closer to our Eternal reality as followers of Jesus.
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