By David Hobbs
What would you think of a birthday party with many exciting-looking, fancy-wrapped gifts on the table; but as the people crowd around in expectation, the birthday boy opens the first gift, and in wonder and excitement starts to play with it, then leaves the rest of the gifts on the table while he spends the rest of the party playing with his first gift? We’d go home disappointed and sad, saying, “Wow, he never opened his bicycle; he never opened his baseball bat, ball and glove, his chemistry set, his skateboard…. What a lot he missed out on by just being content with his first gift!”
Sound like a crazy scenario? “Brother Hobbs, that would never happen!”
But it does happen every day in our churches! Sinners open up their first present from God—salvation--and then spend the rest of their lives caught up in that, while never opening the rest of their presents.
My question is, “Is salvation the end, or the beginning?” To most Christians it’s the end. They are perfectly happy with the concept of going to a heaven where there is no more toil, no more pain, no more sorrow, no more separation from loved ones, no more tragedy of any kind. They are perfectly happy to mark time in their churches singing about heaven and waiting for the Lord to come to take them there through death or rapture--perfectly happy singing “Build Me a Cabin in the Corner of Glory Land.”
But wait a minute. Who purchased that wonderful gift of salvation for us? Jesus. And not only did He purchase it, but at great cost to Himself—His life! And that was the only price that could have purchased it. It was a costly gift, beyond measure. So shouldn’t we consult the Giver of the gift to see what He wants from us in return?
Since the whole root of our sin problem that required such an extreme sacrifice was our self-will—wanting what we wanted and to heck with what God wanted—are we going to continue in that same self-will now that we have salvation? Are we going to try and use heaven for our own purposes, like "hanging out with loved ones by the tree of life?" Or are we finally going to turn back to God in truth and say, “Lord, what is your will in my salvation?”
How do we discover His will? By reading the Bible and by prayer.
We quickly see that God’s will has never been to build us a cabin in a corner of glory-land. In fact, such a concept, while noble-sounding to us, is in fact an insult to Him.
Salvation is not an end, but a beginning. There are many more gifts on the table still to be opened. The next one, that many Christians pass on, is the baptism in the Holy Spirit: that dynamite power of God coming to dwell within us so we can do the things that Jesus did like healing the sick, raising the dead, and cleansing the leper.
But that’s only the second gift. Take a few minutes to read Revelations 2 and 3, paying special attention to the rewards given to the overcomers in each church: the right to eat from the tree of life, receiving the crown of life, a stone containing a new name, being made a pillar in… “But Brother Hobbs, Brother Hobbs, what does all that mean? I can’t understand those gifts!”
I can’t tell you; when you open the presents you’ll get the wonder of finding out!
But notice this—it doesn’t say these presents go to them who believe. Salvation goes to them who believe. These presents go to them who overcome. Overcome what? The world, the flesh and the devil.
It breaks my heart, but many Christians will arrive in heaven, receive their asked-for cabins in the corner of glory land, and be filled with profound remorse when they see others enjoying gifts that could have been theirs as well: being married to Jesus, sitting with Him on His throne, reigning and ruling with Him, etc. God will love the cabin-dwellers as much as anybody else in heaven. He will wipe the tears from their eyes. But He will give them what they asked for and what they qualified for while living on earth.
Posts
