Father for this morning, thank you for life itself and for the strength and provision that you've given us. Thank you Lord for your mercies which are new every morning and for your grace which you have shed upon us in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Pray Lord that this morning that Christ would be glorified and that he would be central and exalted to this message and a prayer that you would give me words to speak and you know all things Lord and you know my heart so just pray that you would guide and direct me and that you would guard my mouth and also just help me this morning and praying Jesus name. Okay.
So this is a message about Christian worldview and specifically about destiny. So by destiny when I say that I really just mean destination or end. So where do I go when I die? And this is part four of a series before.
So I'm going to start with a little bit of a refresher and review on worldviews in general and then specifically I'm going to talk a little bit about Christian worldview and then finally I'm going to speak to believers a little bit about destiny. So I need my clicker so I can advance the slides. Thank you. Hard to unless you just want to look at that the whole time.
So there's that and once you click on the slide itself then it will zoom it'll open that window and windows and then it'll be able to talk to this. Yes. So now I should have yes. Perfect.
So thank you. All right. So what is a worldview? A worldview consists of fundamental beliefs that we have about ourselves and the reality that we live in about our lives.
And I think of it kind of as an operating system for your brain. So most of you are online somewhere and you're seeing this through an Android phone or a Windows computer or an iOS tablet or something and it's got an operating system on it and that allows you to get on the internet and then see me. And so you're seeing me through this kind of lens or window and in real life we also see real life through a kind of lens or window which is your worldview. And it's something we all have whether we want it or not or realize it or not or talk about it or not.
We all have this and we all have fundamental assumptions and sort of like a framework that maybe unconscious maybe unspoken but we all have it. And so I think we would all like to have a good and accurate worldview because just like if you're going to go on a road trip you want a good and accurate map and a bad map can really derail your whole road trip. Life is like that. We want to have a good worldview because it can make navigating life that much better that much easier at least I think that.
So how can we think about worldviews? Where do we start? I think we should start with fundamental cross-cutting questions like these that really get to the heart of the issue. So origin.
Where do we come from? Morality. Is there right and wrong? Meaning does my life have a purpose and destiny?
Where do I go after I die? So the answers to these questions should be consistent with reality. They should be coherent among themselves and they should be experientially relevant. That's the truth test that we would give to basically anything and we should do that with our worldview.
We should give our worldview the truth test should be consistent with reality, coherent among themselves and experientially relevant. We don't want to just be armchair theoreticians. We don't want to be have these theories that are removed from reality or that don't line up with truth or that are irrational. We're seeking to have rational truth in our hearts and in our worldview.
And so these are powerful and practical questions and they actually have a critical impact on life depending on how you answer it. This isn't again, this isn't just armchair theory. The way you answer these questions sets the stage so to speak on which you act out your life and it's a matter of life and death, which I'll get into in more detail later. So origin, morality, meaning and destiny.
If your worldview is the lens through which you view the world, these four topics are the frame in which the lens sits. Just a little picture, very memorable. Pictures are good. So just a few kind of broad notes have been thinking about worldviews.
I'll try and just breeze through this really quickly. So I think we can't really escape having a worldview. I think deep down everyone has some belief. Even if your belief is that you have no belief, you're I believe you're just in denial.
It's not possible not to believe anything. We all have some kind of framework and some kind of view. And so I also believe that no matter what you believe or no matter what one believes, reality itself and the experience of being human will test you and test your worldview. So we test our worldviews intellectually, but our worldviews also test us and they test the human soul and the human heart because at times your heart is going to demand answers because I believe reality is just like, you know, sometimes it's just like this storm and it's like a hurricane and your worldview is like a lighthouse in that storm and how well your worldview stands up in that storm is like a measure of how good it is because if it just crumbles and falls apart as soon as life gets hard, well, your worldview isn't very supportive and not very useful.
And you also can't say to a hurricane, well, this is really inconvenient and I don't want to think about it. Can you just go away? Sorry. I believe that these are important because things are going to happen and I believe that we should have a sturdy, meaningful worldview that's going to support us in those times.
Okay. What you believe has an immense impact on your life. Everyone has a deep, tectonic connection and commitment to their worldview. Everyone has deep faith, I believe.
Why? Because we build our lives on these assumptions and we may not pay much attention to it on a daily basis like the ground beneath us. But when there's tremors and earthquakes that come up from time to time, your life can be shattered because what you believe has become not true. And so it has an immense impact.
It really influences how you live your life. And if your ground becomes unstable beneath you, you're going to run into trouble in life. Okay. Our beliefs are often unconscious assumptions, emotional and even denied.
I believe this and I believe this is really important. You may be in that position. You may have never thought about it. You may have a position, but based on perhaps feelings.
And you may even refuse to face the truth because it's uncomfortable. Okay. I don't know who's out there who's listening, who's thought about this or not. Okay.
But today is a great day to begin to work through these things. It's perfectly normal to be in a mixture of those positions, unconscious assumptions, emotional, perhaps, and even an end in aisle. Today can be your day to move forward. God says in the Bible, at just the right time I heard you on the day of salvation.
I helped you. Indeed, the right time is now. Today is the day of salvation. Every day is the day of salvation.
So if you're not saved. Today is a good day to get saved because it looks like there's not a lot of looks like the world may be wrapping up. I can say that maybe just looking at world events. But so turn your Bibles to John chapter one.
And I think that's good to just have your Bible open. Maybe you can write notes in it if you like to. And we're going to work through a little bit of Christian worldview as a kind of a brief surface overview. And I'm going to really try and breeze through this and just just kind of move along here so we can get to destiny.
So unsurprisingly, Christian worldview is all centered around Christ Jesus. Okay, we're called Christians because we're followers of Christ. And so Christ is really central to Christian worldview. He is the center of everything.
So those four questions that we had mentioned, origin, morality, meaning and destiny, crisis at the center of all of these. And so we can talk about origin. Let's read John chapter one verse one to five first. Okay, it says in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God.
He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him and apart from him, nothing came into being that has come into being. In him was life and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it.
Versus one to five. So that basically sets the stage for Christian worldview. So origin, where do we come from? Well, the word in John chapter one is Christ.
And so Christ is the creator of everything. He's the creator of the universe and everything that was made was made through Christ. And he specifically gives life to each person. And so we can see that in verse three, because it says, through him, all things were made.
And without him, nothing was made that has been made. Okay, so I always think about the vastness and greatness of the universe. And I think it speaks to God's majesty, consider the size of the universe. Uncountable galaxies, each of those have uncountable stars in them.
Each of those stars is many, many millions of times. Most of the stars are really big. Many times the size of the earth. We live on the earth and we're like ants on the earth.
Like the earth itself feels pretty big. And so if you think about the vastness of the universe, that points to God's glory. That's a testimony. And if you think about these celestial bodies, they all follow precise, strict laws that if these laws changed even just by a fraction of a percentage, even just a tiny, tiny bit, then it would all fall apart.
All these celestial bodies would start crashing into each other and the universe wouldn't work and life wouldn't exist. Okay, so that's because God's law is perfect and God's design is perfect. And that's all from Christ. And that's what Christians view things.
If I think if you don't believe in God, the vastness of the universe and the time scales of the universe becomes problematic because, you know, it's huge and we're just like a speck. But the good news is that, you know, in Christian worldview, God specifically created you, specifically gave you life. You're not just a random speck of dust in the universe because God breathed life into you, specially you have a soul and God's eye is on you. What do we see that?
Well, you can look into it more deeply in the Bible, but in John chapter 1 verse 4, it says in him was life and that life was the light of all mankind. So God illuminates from the light of himself, all of mankind and in Genesis, it said that God breathed life into man and became a soul, a living soul. So it's origin. Where do we come from?
Christ, Christ created us. Morality is the right and wrong. What about morality? The second question.
So the person of Christ forms the basis for morality. Christ is the basis for morality. So John chapter 1 verse 5 says the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. Christ is that light, that light shining in the darkness.
And Jesus is sinless perfection. He is God and he has no sin. And so that is really the standard by which God looks at morality. The standard is Christ and none of us who are not God and not Christ.
So no one is that level of holiness and righteousness and perfection. So the Bible says that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. That's consistent with reality. I've never met someone face to face who's perfect.
I've never met someone who hasn't messed up. I've never met someone that doesn't have regrets. And so the good news is, well, the bad news first is that the Bible says that the wages of sin is death and that's also consistent. I've never met anyone who's not going to die.
So morality, because of the righteousness of God, the righteousness of Christ, we're in trouble because that's the standard. And this is written by the finger of God in stone. All right. It's not wishy washy.
It's not relative just because it's uncomfortable. It doesn't make it not true. This is absolute. The absolute is Christ.
Christ is the absolute. And he is the standard by which everything is judged and he's perfect. And so we're in trouble because we're not perfect. And so if we're judged by that perfection, we'll fall short.
The Bible says we all fall short of the glory of God and the Bible says the wages of sin is death. The great news, the wonderful news is that in Christ, there is also forgiveness for sins. So both justice and forgiveness are found in Christ. So Christ is the basis for morality, great justice and great forgiveness, both meet in the person of Christ.
And so the great news is that the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ, Jesus, our Lord. That makes meaning possible in life. So what about meaning? Does my life have meaning?
Is there any purpose and significance to life? Well, I believe that if life ends when you die and your being ends when you die, your meaning also ends when you lose being. If you believe you lose being when you die, that's it for you. And you may find some relative meaning in the interim, but ultimately in absolute terms, you know, in the grand scheme of the universe, then that sum is basically zero.
If you don't believe in God, I think if that's how you think meaning is impossible. It's precluded if you don't believe in eternal life or eternal existence. And so we do believe in eternal existence and we do believe in internal life. And that eternal life is offered freely by God to everyone.
It's offered to you and it's offered to you through Christ. And so we can be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ because of his substitutionary sacrifice on the cross. And so Jesus, like I said, doesn't have, doesn't have any of his own sins to die for. He didn't die for himself.
He died as a sacrifice for you and for me, for our sins, so that we can have eternal life for those who choose to accept and receive that gift. So John chapter one, where we are in verse 12, it says that, but, but as many as received him, to them, he gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in his name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. So if you're born again and you're born of God and you're a child of God, you're living as a child of God and you have eternal life, your life has immense meaning and it has significance. And on the other hand, if you're not saved, you're not really living.
The Bible says you're spiritually dead and trespasses and sins against God and that you must be born again, born out of repentance of sin and born out of regeneration of the Holy Spirit. And every moment of life is loaded with significance and purpose. The Bible says Jesus said that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every idle word that they have spoken or every empty word that they have spoken. So it's actually more meaningful than we even kind of give a credit for because we lapse into that kind of a numb like whatever state and say things in idleness or empty words without really meaning it.
But God says that even those idle empty things count, everything counts, every moment counts. And so it's loaded with significance and purpose. So I think that brings us to just destiny, sorry, because we just said judgment, the day of judgment, that kind of brings us to destiny. Where do I go after I die?
As I've already said, life doesn't end at death. And so Christians don't believe that that life ends at death. You have a soul and it's eternal, whether you like it or not, you have an eternal soul and that existence basically continues and depending on what you believe and if you accept Christ or not, your soul has an eternal destination in heaven or hell. And what you believe in this life makes a difference.
It makes a difference and it's important. And so I think worldviews are important because everyone has faith of some kind and everyone's faith gets tested in this life. And Romans chapter one says this, that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all godliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth in unrighteousness because that which is known about God is evident within them. For God made it evident to them.
For since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly perceived being understood by what has been made so that they're without excuse. So God witnesses to everyone and makes certain things at a certain level evidence to everyone. So everyone has their excuse removed, that excuse of ignorance and has to make a choice to either accept or reject God and that choice determines your destiny. So this is fair.
God doesn't force anyone into heaven. If you say to God, your will be done, your God, I'm not. I'll just go your way. And if you say that to God, God will say, Jesus is the only way.
Jesus is the only way into heaven. God provided away. And your final destination, if you believe that Jesus paid your sins, then your destination is heaven. If you say to God, my will be done, I am my own God.
I'll go my own way. Then God will say to you, your will be done and give you your own way and your final destination will be without God away from God for eternity and hell. And so God doesn't force anyone into heaven and your decision to accept or reject Christ is the most important decision that you can make in your life because it determines your eternal destiny. And so we're going to talk more about destiny and Christian, Christian destiny and what we can think, what we can know about destiny.
But ultimately in these four things, just as an overview to wrap that overview up, Christ is at the center of Christian worldview. He created everything. He's the basis for morality. He gives meaning to life and he is destiny.
Everyone has an appointment where they meet Christ and Christ will judge everyone based on their deeds or based on if they're covered by his sacrifice. And so it's all about Christ. He's a center. He's a source and sustainer of all life and all creation.
And one day all of creation will answer to him. Very, very much the person of God with whom we have to do a lot, very much primarily. So I added this just minutes ago because I thought it would be good to just read it as kind of just a primer for the fact that basically the fact that life doesn't end at death. And so for Christians, we believe in a resurrection.
So the fact that Christ is resurrected, that is the ultimate hope because in that resurrection, the resurrection of Christ's life, we have hope that we too can be resurrected after we die. So 1 Corinthians 15 starting at verse 49, just as we have borne the image of earthly, we will also bear the image of the heavenly. Now I say this brethren that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery.
We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable and we will be changed for this perishable must put on the imperishable and this mortal must put on immortality for when this perishable will have put on immortality, then we'll come about the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. Oh, death, where is your victory? Oh, death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord. And so there's great hope because it's not over when it's over. There's the hope of heaven and the hope of a glorified body and incorruption and meeting with Christ and seeing him and being glorified with him.
So how do we as Christians live in light of that? What does that mean to us? I'd like to give a brief, just go through this, Colossians chapter 3, and take a look at these four verses and see what they tell us. Colossians chapter 3 says this, therefore if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things that are above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
Set your minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth, for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory. So there's a lot there. I'd like to unpack that a little bit because it's encouraging.
So this is the outline. Look where you're going and two parts, first two verses I say it's just for your memory, the upward look and the last two verses are the lasting investment, the upward look and the lasting investment. Those are the outline just for the sake of memory hooks. Okay, so first verse, therefore if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things that are above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
So there is a challenge here for all believers. Therefore if you have been raised, if you have been raised, so that is a challenge because and we need that challenge because if you're alive, if you've been resurrected from death, do these things. If Christ is raised from the dead and you're raised with him, do these things. And there's power and there's conviction in that challenge because sometimes we don't really live according to Christ's resurrection as much as we should.
And sometimes we don't really realize the power that's with us and in us because of Christ's resurrection and because of the fact that we're saved. And so there is victory for believers, victory in this life over sin, victory over challenges, and it's through Christ. It's all through Christ. It's not that we can be exalted in ourselves or prideful in ourselves.
We're pretty much as useless as the day before we were saved, but the difference is that Christ is covering us and empowering us and strengthening us. But if you've been raised with Christ, do these things. Keep seeking the things that are above. That's what we're to do.
Keep seeking the things that are above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. That means our focus and our attention should be on heavenly and spiritual things, not money, not careers, not news about coronavirus, not about the car you have. That's broken, not about the car you want to have. That's not broken.
You got the picture. Put in the things you really like that are not heavenly or not spiritual because we all have those things. Those kinds of distractions, your Instagram page and how many likes you get on it. Whatever.
Focus on Christ. Are you saved? Then focus on Christ. That's basically what it's saying.
Are you saved? Then focus on Christ and the fact that he is on the throne, seated at the right hand of God. He is the place of judgment. Christ is king.
And so keep looking up. If you keep your eyes on the king, you'll save yourself out of grief. Think of that hymn. What a friend we have in Jesus.
It says, what a friend we have in Jesus. All our sins and griefs to bear. What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer. Oh, what peace we often forfeit.
Oh, what needless pain we bear. All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer. If we keep our eyes on the right place, save us all to grief. Okay.
Verse two. Look up. Set your minds on things that are above, not on the things that are on earth. Very familiar.
So it's basically the same content, but I see the word set. And I think that this is a long battle that requires persistence and determination and consistent effort. Set your minds. I think, basically, I think of Jell-O.
And this isn't an instant adjustment. This is a long battle to set your mind, transform your mind. And you can't just boil the water, mix in the Jell-O powder, and then look at it and throw your hands up and say, ah, this is taking too long. I want my Jell-O now.
Okay. You got to stick in the fridge overnight and wait a little bit. So to die to self, to belong to Christ, to be conformed to his image, it's a long battle. All right.
Set your minds. Let your mind set. You kind of have to have that static condition of having your mind in the word, like putting the Jell-O in the refrigerator. All right.
You need to have that environment for the Jell-O to set. If you put a Jell-O in the oven, it's not going to set. So if you keep your mind in the world, it's not going to set. You need to have your mind in scripture and on things that are above and set your mind on things so that it's in the right environment with the right inputs, the right stimulus, your mind can set on Christ.
And that can be very helpful in life dealing with challenges. So remember that challenge, if you've been raised with Christ. Well, you can't really be raised unless you've died. Galatians 220 puts this in a nutshell.
It says, I have been crucified with Christ. And it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me and the life which I now live in the flesh. I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me. And that challenge just rings there if you've been raised.
So if you've died to this life, what are you living for? What am I living for? What are we living for? We are living for Christ who loved him, who loved me and gave himself up for me.
And so the world tells you that it's all about the here and now and what you can see and touch and feel. And the opposite is actually true. Life is not all about the here and now. Life is about eternity and your eternal destination, which is Christ.
And so for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. And so for you have died and your life is unseen and spiritual. And those unseen spiritual matters that spiritual battle in your life, that has eternal significance and that hidden life, that's what's really important. And so your focus, my focus should be that hidden life.
And 1 Corinthians chapter 3 says this, 1 Corinthians chapter 3 and verse 11. It says, for no one can lay a foundation other than the one that is already laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay or straw, each one's work will become evident. And so you can show it because it is to be revealed with fire and the fire itself will test the quality of each one's work.
If anyone's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. And if anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, yet only as through the fire. So you can make lasting investments in this life. And you can hide your life with Christ.
The work of the gospel and the work of the church has lasting eternal value. So you can make investments in this life that pay out, so to speak, in the next life. And both of these activities fall under the instruction that Christ gave in the Great Commission to make disciples of all people. And Matthew 28, the Great Commission says, and Jesus came up and spoke to them saying, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me, go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to follow all that I commanded you and behold, I am with you even to the end of the age.
So Christ is still with us and that command is still there. And aggressively, if need be, hide your life, focus on that hidden life. And you may have to fight tooth and nail against your normal regular life, against your schedule, against the demands and responsibilities that you have. That's absolutely normal to have to fight and play that game of tug of war and try and carve out time that you can hide away with Christ.
Carve out time from your real mundane life and focus on that hidden life. Hide your life from your life and make time for spiritual things. Invest wisely. Invest your time wisely.
And then says, when Christ who is our life is revealed, then you will also be revealed with Him in glory. This is the best part. This is the hope, the hope of glory being revealed with Christ and with Him in glory. I think of the words of that Him, praise the Savior, ye who know Him, says this.
Then we shall be where we would be, then we shall be what we should be. Things which are not now nor could be, then shall be our own. The fulfillment of all that hope is going to be a wonderful day. John 1 John chapter 3 verse 2 says this, beloved, we are now, now we are children of God and it has not appeared as yet what we will be.
We know that when He appears we will be like Him because we will see Him just as He is. And so being glorified like Christ with a glorified body, being like Christ, having our sin finally put away the flesh, finally fully dealt with. And that's going to be a great moment for all believers no matter what. But we should invest towards that moment and dig deep and give to God what belongs to Him in this life so that that moment is all the more rewarding.
And that moment of revelation and resurrection will be all the more wonderful and beautiful. So remember the two points, the upward look and the lasting investment. If we live as Christians according to our destiny, according to what we know, our lives will be marked and look different. I won't read that again just for time's sake, but just to close off, I'd like to read a scene you all know, Revelation 21 and it says this.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth passed away and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And he allowed voice from the throne saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is among the people and he will dwell among them and they shall be his people. And God himself will be among them and he will wipe away every tear from their eyes and there will no longer be any death.
There will no longer be any morning or crying or pain. The first things have passed away. And if you jump down to verse 22, it says of that heavenly city, I saw no temple in it for the Lord God, the Almighty and the Lamb are in art its temple. The city has no need of the sun or the moon to shine on it for the glory of God has illuminated it and its lamp is the Lamb.
So when you're in heaven, when you get there, if you're a believer, you won't care about the pearly gates or the streets of gold or the diaspora or Chalcedony or the other stones and foundation blocks of the city. None of that stuff is really going to matter. What matters about heaven is that Christ is there and that he's at the center and he's illuminating that whole city. And the light, the illumination is the Lamb.
And that really I think brings home the point that Christian destiny is not so much a place as it is a person. If you're saved, your eternal destination, your eternal destiny is Christ himself. And so all of this is to say that Christ Jesus is the ultimate reality. The Creator and Sustainer of the universe, it's Redeemer and King, it's final judge, and in origin, immorality, in meaning and destiny, it's all about one person, Christ Jesus.
That's the whole point of this universe. And so just to close off, Jesus said in Revelation 22, Behold, I am coming quickly, and my reward is with me, to reward each one as his work deserves. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. So I say the day of the Lord is not too far off, and Christ will be revealed soon, and we should stand firm, we should stand tall, and look towards that day, and be mindful of our destiny.
So thank you for listening, and I'll just close off in prayer and maybe we can sing a song. I probably went way too long, eh? Thank you Heavenly Father for this day, and thank you for the life that you've given us. I pray for all believers in this time.
I pray that you would lift up and encourage everyone with your Holy Spirit Lord, and let us not be downcast, but let us look towards that beautiful day when we'll see the face of Christ, and we'll be no more tears and no more suffering, no more parting. And so I pray that you would throw the gates of heaven open wide, so to speak, Lord, I pray that more would be saved and ushered into the ranks of the elect, and Lord I pray that whosoever would come in, and I pray that you would help us all as Christians to be witness to the truth. Pray that you would help us to live sinless lives, as you've commanded us, Lord, I pray that you would help us to love one another and hold each other up, and that you would give us strength, and that you would build and bless the church, and that your kingdom would show itself to not be based on these mundane things, but Lord, that you would show us that upside down kingdom that you want us to live in, and let us love our neighbors as ourselves, and all the rest, I just pray that you would keep us in your word and preserve us, and help us to focus on the right things. And I pray in Jesus' name, amen.