We Seek For The Supernatural City of God!
By Abraham Israel
"For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come." (Heb 13:14).
In today's world we see that a great number of population that are spread across the globe in villages and small towns are slowly seeking to migrate in to big metros to survive and also live comfortably in it. Many who are asked why they would like to go from such good environmentally healthy areas of the country side to high rise concrete jungles of the metro cities, they say that the city urban life is exciting and full of opportunities than the rural areas at least in their eyes. But God wanted men to spread across all the earth and live not in cities but wanted them to enjoy nature and find Him who created it (Gen 1:28; Rom 1:20; Acts 17:26-27).
This is the reason some of our great hymns turn our minds toward nature and incline our hearts to praise and worship God. Notice these selected stanzas:
How Great Thou Art (Second Stanza)
When through the woods and forest glades I wander
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees;
When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur
And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze;
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God to Thee; How great Thou art!
How great Thou art! Then sings my soul, my Saviour God to Thee;
How great Thou art! How great Thou art!
Great Is Thy Faithfulness (Second Stanza)
Summer and winter, and spring-time and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above,
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.
Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!
Fairest Lord Jesus (Second and Third Stanzas)
Fair are the meadows, Fairer still the woodlands,
Robed in the blooming garb of spring:
Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer,
Who makes the woeful heart to sing.
Fair is the sunshine, Fairer still the moonlight,
Robed in the blooming garb of spring:
Jesus shines brighter, Jesus shines purer
Than all the angels heav’n can boast.
Many times as we look to the nature and its attributes, we find God closer to us and speaking through His creations. It makes us be in awe and in wonder of it. When we enjoy nature, it is not wrong and we do not become idolatorous. We should know that nature worship can be found in panentheism, pantheism, deism, polytheism, animism, totemism, shamanism and paganism where deities are viewed as the embodiment of natural forces. Common to most forms of nature worship is a spiritual focus on the individual's connection to the natural world and reverence towards it.
I have seen many people worship sun when it rises up in the morning all over India, they start to worship it by saying that the sun makes them survive and live healthy. These people have turned their focus towards nature to worship it instead of the Creator who created all of the nature for us to enjoy it and live with an attitude of gratitude and thankfulness towards Him who created it all for us. So any blind and excessive devotion towards anything but our Creator God is idolatry. This is why the prosperity Gospel that focuses on the blessings of God and its intricate aspect of how to live comfortably in our earthly existence is nothing but idolatry that makes people of God to take their eyes from the Blessor who gives the blessing and get it settled on material things, thus filling their hearts with nothing but covetousness which is idolatry (Col 3:5). The blessing of God is a byproduct and not the focus in our Christian life. God and His things above which are immaterial should be the only focus of every true Christian. God blesses us to help us use our blessing to gain eternal riches and be a blessing to many in our earthly lives which has repercussions in our after life (2 Cor 9:8; Matt 6:19-21; Luke 16:9).
We as Christians enjoy all of nature with gratitude and thankfulness towards God our Creator who becomes pleased with such sacrifice of thankfulness and praises (Heb 13:15-16). God sends more blessing upon us as we learn to live a lifestyle of gratitude for all that God has done for us. One thing we should never do in our earthly life is that, we should never be satisfied in enjoying the earthly life and forget the real heavenly life for which we are trained by God on earth. Once we are saved, we start to serve God on earth itself by giving our bodies as a living sacrifice to Him (Eph 2:8, 10; Rom 12:1). We enjoy life but do not focus on earthly comfort which will soon pass away (2 Cor 4:18), instead we set our minds on heavenly things which are above waiting for us, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God (Col 3:1-2). God has already prepared things supernaturally for our future life which we cannot fathom or think about naturally with out logical mind, but those are the things the Spirit of God reveals to us in our inner spirit-man to increase our faith for eternal reward (1 Cor 2:9-10, 12).
So even though many of us live in cities around the world, we should realize that we have "no continuing city [here on earth] but seek for the one to come". In other words, once the God given time for us to live on earth is over, our bodies will be buried in the cemetery in our city (Psa 90:10; 31:15). But actually where are we then? Our bodies will perish in a matter of months through decomposition and will become dust, but we will be with the Lord in heaven waiting eagerly for the resurrection in our glorious metaphysical supernatural bodies (2 Cor 5:1; 1 Thess 4:14-18). Therefore, we do not set our minds in our earthly survival and existence as our primary focus in this small life, but we seek for the one Great Glorious City of God where there is only joy and eternal fellowship in service to God (Rev 21:3-4). What are you waiting for saints, serve the Lord with all your heart now, and you will never regret for the way you lived the rest of your eternity (1 Sam 12:24; Deut 10:12; Col 3:23)! Praise the Lord!
Much Blessings.....
In today's world we see that a great number of population that are spread across the globe in villages and small towns are slowly seeking to migrate in to big metros to survive and also live comfortably in it. Many who are asked why they would like to go from such good environmentally healthy areas of the country side to high rise concrete jungles of the metro cities, they say that the city urban life is exciting and full of opportunities than the rural areas at least in their eyes. But God wanted men to spread across all the earth and live not in cities but wanted them to enjoy nature and find Him who created it (Gen 1:28; Rom 1:20; Acts 17:26-27).
This is the reason some of our great hymns turn our minds toward nature and incline our hearts to praise and worship God. Notice these selected stanzas:
How Great Thou Art (Second Stanza)
When through the woods and forest glades I wander
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees;
When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur
And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze;
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God to Thee; How great Thou art!
How great Thou art! Then sings my soul, my Saviour God to Thee;
How great Thou art! How great Thou art!
Great Is Thy Faithfulness (Second Stanza)
Summer and winter, and spring-time and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above,
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.
Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!
Fairest Lord Jesus (Second and Third Stanzas)
Fair are the meadows, Fairer still the woodlands,
Robed in the blooming garb of spring:
Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer,
Who makes the woeful heart to sing.
Fair is the sunshine, Fairer still the moonlight,
Robed in the blooming garb of spring:
Jesus shines brighter, Jesus shines purer
Than all the angels heav’n can boast.
Many times as we look to the nature and its attributes, we find God closer to us and speaking through His creations. It makes us be in awe and in wonder of it. When we enjoy nature, it is not wrong and we do not become idolatorous. We should know that nature worship can be found in panentheism, pantheism, deism, polytheism, animism, totemism, shamanism and paganism where deities are viewed as the embodiment of natural forces. Common to most forms of nature worship is a spiritual focus on the individual's connection to the natural world and reverence towards it.
I have seen many people worship sun when it rises up in the morning all over India, they start to worship it by saying that the sun makes them survive and live healthy. These people have turned their focus towards nature to worship it instead of the Creator who created all of the nature for us to enjoy it and live with an attitude of gratitude and thankfulness towards Him who created it all for us. So any blind and excessive devotion towards anything but our Creator God is idolatry. This is why the prosperity Gospel that focuses on the blessings of God and its intricate aspect of how to live comfortably in our earthly existence is nothing but idolatry that makes people of God to take their eyes from the Blessor who gives the blessing and get it settled on material things, thus filling their hearts with nothing but covetousness which is idolatry (Col 3:5). The blessing of God is a byproduct and not the focus in our Christian life. God and His things above which are immaterial should be the only focus of every true Christian. God blesses us to help us use our blessing to gain eternal riches and be a blessing to many in our earthly lives which has repercussions in our after life (2 Cor 9:8; Matt 6:19-21; Luke 16:9).
We as Christians enjoy all of nature with gratitude and thankfulness towards God our Creator who becomes pleased with such sacrifice of thankfulness and praises (Heb 13:15-16). God sends more blessing upon us as we learn to live a lifestyle of gratitude for all that God has done for us. One thing we should never do in our earthly life is that, we should never be satisfied in enjoying the earthly life and forget the real heavenly life for which we are trained by God on earth. Once we are saved, we start to serve God on earth itself by giving our bodies as a living sacrifice to Him (Eph 2:8, 10; Rom 12:1). We enjoy life but do not focus on earthly comfort which will soon pass away (2 Cor 4:18), instead we set our minds on heavenly things which are above waiting for us, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God (Col 3:1-2). God has already prepared things supernaturally for our future life which we cannot fathom or think about naturally with out logical mind, but those are the things the Spirit of God reveals to us in our inner spirit-man to increase our faith for eternal reward (1 Cor 2:9-10, 12).
So even though many of us live in cities around the world, we should realize that we have "no continuing city [here on earth] but seek for the one to come". In other words, once the God given time for us to live on earth is over, our bodies will be buried in the cemetery in our city (Psa 90:10; 31:15). But actually where are we then? Our bodies will perish in a matter of months through decomposition and will become dust, but we will be with the Lord in heaven waiting eagerly for the resurrection in our glorious metaphysical supernatural bodies (2 Cor 5:1; 1 Thess 4:14-18). Therefore, we do not set our minds in our earthly survival and existence as our primary focus in this small life, but we seek for the one Great Glorious City of God where there is only joy and eternal fellowship in service to God (Rev 21:3-4). What are you waiting for saints, serve the Lord with all your heart now, and you will never regret for the way you lived the rest of your eternity (1 Sam 12:24; Deut 10:12; Col 3:23)! Praise the Lord!
Much Blessings.....
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