Heaven and Earth
Be renewed from the spirit and let it present itself into your behavior as God accurately reproduces his character in you. (Ephesians 4:22-24)
Many religions sell the old lie that we are sacred or can become gods.
We are too far from becoming a god.
That prideful invention is Satan’s oldest attraction.
Satan deceived Eve in following his advice by telling her that she will become like God.
The Fall
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 certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from 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.(Genesis 3:1-6)
This desire to be an icon shows up every time we try to control our environment, our future, and people around us. As creations, we will never be the creator.
God wants us to become godly but not to become a god.
God wants us to take on His values, attitudes, and character.
God wants us to take on an entirely new way of life fashioned by Him.
We were instructed, with respect to our previous way of life, to put off our former self, which is being demoralized by its corrupt desires. God wants us to be made new in the perspective of our minds and to build on the newfound self, created to be like God in perfect righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:22-24)
God’s ultimate goal for our life on Earth is not luxury, but character development. He wants us to grow up spiritually and become Christ-like. It does not mean becoming a clone. God created our uniqueness, so He certainly does not want to spoil it. Christ-likeness is all about transforming our character, not our personality.
Every time that we forget that our character is one of God’s purposes for our life, we will be disappointed with our circumstances.
You may be wondering why you have such a hard time. An answer to that is life is supposed to be difficult because it is what enables you to develop. But the earth is not yet heaven.
Many Christians misunderstand the promise of Jesus of the abundant life to a comfortable lifestyle, constant happiness, full understanding of our dreams, instant relief from problems through faith and devotion.
These demand Christian life to be easy.
These people wanted Heaven on Earth.
God is not a genie who only exists to serve you in your selfish pursuit of personal fulfillment.
God is not your slave.
If we fall for the idea that life is supposed to be easy, we either become severely disillusioned or stay in denial of reality.
Life is not about you.
We live for God’s purposes, not the other way around.
God does not allow Heaven on Earth because He has planned it for you in paradise.
God gives us our life on earth to build and strengthen our soul for Heaven.
God wants us to get the kind of character described in the Beatitudes of Jesus, which are to be poor in spirit, meek, starved for righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, peacemaker, and righteous. (Matthew 5:1-12)
God wants us to produce the fruit of the Spirit such as love, joyfulness, peace, forbearance, benignity, goodness, fidelity, mildness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)
He wants us to make every effort to add to our faith love and to love, cognition, and to knowledge, self-discipline, and to self-control, persistence, and to perseverance, godliness, and to godliness, shared warmheartedness, and to mutual affection, love, because possessing these qualities in increasing measure, will keep us from being poor and useless in our discernment of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:5-8)
God wants us to love others by exhibiting patience, kindness, trust, humility. He wants us not to be rude, self-seeking, irritable. God doesn't want us to keep a record of complaints. God wants us to be disappointed with corruption, but happy with the truth. God wants us to put up with all things, trust in all things, hope for all things and endure all things. He wants us to love unfailingly. (1 Corinthians 13)