The Team: The Church

God wants to build us up so that we become mature, attaining the “whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”  This is what Jesus called the abundant life.  This is what I am calling A Garden Walk.  God gives us the picture.  God gives us the path to get there.  That’s because God is the giver of all good gifts.

From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. (Ephesians 4:16 NIV)

God’s Church is not a building.  It is not a club.  It is a group of people who are building one another up into Christ, so that they will all become more and more mature.  It comprises of people helping one another to experience, more and more, A Garden Walk.

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:1-6 NIV)

How about you?  Are you a part of God’s team?  Are you in unity with others on God’s team?  Do you build one another up in love?  Are you a part of God’s Church?

The Process: The Path of Life

Building projects begin with a picture in mind.  They move forward with a process.  Thankfully, God has a process already in place to help us experience A Garden Walk.

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:11-13 NIV)

People who are mature in their faith are supposed to build into others who are not as mature.  Their responsibility is to equip God’s people for works of service.  In other words, these “builders” are supposed to build into people so they become “builders” as well.

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. (Ephesians 4:14 NIV)

This building process makes us all stronger in our faith; giving us the tools we need to better navigate life.  The struggles we face do not change, but we change.  So, we handle the struggles with more ease.

Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. (Ephesians 4:15 NIV)

This process, builders building new builders, is described in many places throughout Scripture.  The process, like the picture, is designed by God.  The Psalmist acknowledges this by thanking God for “the path of life.”

You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever. (Psalms 16:11 NASB)

How about you?  Do you see the process?  Do you see yourself in this process?  Where are you in the scale from “infant” to “mature”?  Are you being built up into Christ?  Are you building builders?

The Picture (An Abundant Life)

It’s easy to dismiss what I talked about yesterday.  Why would I think that we could live like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden?  That was perfect for them back then, but we don’t live in the world described in Genesis 2.  That’s because they listened to the serpent in Genesis 3 and got kicked out!

So the LORD God sent him away from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. (Genesis 3:23 HCSB)

It is true that we don’t live in the same world that Adam and Eve enjoyed.  Now, we need to work by the sweat of our brow.  Now, their is pain in childbearing.  Now, the world is filled with people who have eaten from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  Now, one out of every one person dies.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” (Revelation 21:1-5 ESV)

While these things all may be true, we see another part of God’s picture at the end of the Bible.  In the book of Revelation, we see a vision of a new heaven and a new earth.  We see a picture where God makes all things new again.  That’s because God’s design and desire for our lives was best seen when everything was new.  When things are made new again, we will get to enjoy A Garden Walk just like Adam and Eve did back in the original Garden of Eden.

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. (Revelation 22:1-3 ESV)

We don’t need to wait until Jesus returns, though, to start experiencing A Garden Walk.  Jesus came to earth, taught, died, rose, and ascended into heaven so that we could start experiencing a taste of it now.  When we live A Garden Walk today, God’s Kingdom comes and His will is done here on earth just as it is in heaven.  We start experiencing the benefits and blessings that go along with walking together with God.  Jesus told us about it when he was here, but he didn’t call it A Garden Walk.  He had a different term for it: an abundant life.

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. (John 10:10 NKJV)

How about you?  Do you see the picture God is moving us toward in the future?  Do you look forward to the perfect Garden Walk someday in the future?  Are you ready to live an abundant life now?

The Picture (A Garden Walk)

Whenever I enter into a building project, I like to have a picture in mind so I know what I am trying to build.  The same is true about building a life with God.  We need to have a picture in mind.  What does it look like to walk together with God.

The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. (Gen 2:15 NIV84)

The good news is that God already has a picture.  We see it when we look at the original people placed in the Garden of Eden.  I like to call this picture, “A Garden Walk.”

Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. (Gen 2:22 NIV84)

This picture gives us a lot to see.  God provided light, air, water, food, a sense of purpose, and even other people.  We can see what it looks like to have a healthy life, marriage, and family through the picture in the Garden of Eden.

The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame. (Gen 2:25 NIV84)

Adam and Eve lived A Garden Walk.  They had perfect relationships with God and with one another.  They loved God with their whole heart.  They loved each other as much as themselves.  Things were so perfect that they had nothing hidden and nothing to hide.  This is a picture worth pursuing.  That is a picture worth building into our lives.

How about you?  Can you see the picture?  Are you ready to build A Garden Walk into your own life?

Building Projects

When we began the last series, we watched as God’s chosen people split into two groups and became a kingdom in the north (Israel) and a kingdom in the south (Judah).  Over time it became obvious that the north was not walking together with God, so the LORD sent the Assyrians to defeat them in battle and deport the remaining people.  Judah, the south, walked with the LORD for a long time before finally turning away themselves.  After over 100 years of rebellion, the LORD finally sent the Babylonian empire to defeat and deport them as well.  Now, the remnant (remaining leftover) of God’s chosen people are living in captivity.  Samaria, in the north, is destroyed.  Jerusalem, in the south, is destroyed.  The Temple of the LORD has been looted and torn down as well.  The Israelites are completely defeated.

Last week, however, we saw as God continued to work with the people who were living in captivity.  Ezekiel, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were a few of the men that the LORD was working in and through during this time period.  The LORD was not finished with them yet!

In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, the LORD fulfilled the prophecy He had given through Jeremiah. He stirred the heart of Cyrus to put this proclamation in writing and to send it throughout his kingdom: "This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: "The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has appointed me to build Him a Temple at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. (Ezra 1:1-2 NLT)

This series will take us through the books of Ezra and Nehemiah.  They overlap in the timeline, but Ezra picks up first.  Each one focuses on a building project.  In Ezra, the Temple of the LORD is rebuilt.  In Nehemiah, the walls of Jerusalem are rebuilt.  Both of them will show us more than a physical building project, though.  These projects will help us see the rebuilding of God’s chosen people into people who humbly start walking together with God.

Early the following spring, in the month of Nisan, during the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes' reign, I was serving the king his wine. I had never before appeared sad in his presence. So the king asked me, "Why are you looking so sad? You don't look sick to me. You must be deeply troubled." Then I was terrified, but I replied, "Long live the king! How can I not be sad? For the city where my ancestors are buried is in ruins, and the gates have been destroyed by fire." The king asked, "Well, how can I help you?" With a prayer to the God of heaven, I replied, "If it please the king, and if you are pleased with me, your servant, send me to Judah to rebuild the city where my ancestors are buried." (Nehemiah 2:1-5 NLT)

How about you?  Are you ready for some building projects?