Expecting God – To Be Real

The Advent church season is a time of preparation for the coming of the savior of humankind.

For centuries the Jews were expectantly watching for the coming of the Messiah. As expectant as they were, they still missed him. Jesus failed to look like or act like they expected the Messiah to look and act like. They were expecting a conquering warrior and, instead, got a suffering servant. As we prepare our hearts this Advent I pray we don’t miss the Messiah. Jesus was called Emanuel which means God with us. What are we expecting God to be like and act like? Sometimes when it comes to things spiritual we tend to make them other-worldly, unreal and a bit strange. My hope is that when we are looking for God to be with us (Emmanuel), we are expecting God to be real.

The most important preparations we can make for the coming of the Messiah is Getting our Heads on Straight.

After we arrive on this earth, we start the process of learning and developing. In the process we develop a World View. Our world view is the lens through which we sees the world; attempt to make sense of the world; makes our decisions; makes judgments; makes plans; it is how we see and understand other people; it dictates how we live. The recent events in the news clearly show that different people have different world views which cause us to live differently and see and understand events differently.

As Christians our challenge is to have a Biblical Worldview. We are called to learn, as best we can, to see the world through the viewpoint of God as He is revealed in the Bible. It is a difficult challenge in many ways. First because research tells us that Americans are basically Biblically illiterate. And that includes a majority of us who claim to be Christ followers. And it is a challenge that is not for the meek nor the weak. Non-believers like to proclaim that claiming a faith in God is a copout for those too weak to live in “the real world.” Those who espouse such a view obviously don’t understand the full and true ramifications of being a disciple of Christ.

Jesus calls us to be Upstream People in a Downstream World. He asks us to love the unlovely and the unlovable. He insists that we no longer insist on being first in line and the center of our little universes. We are told to give rather than receive, to be givers instead of takers. He told us to forgive early and often. To even forgive the unrepentant. The world says that seeing is believing but we are encouraged to live by faith, not by sight. That believing is seeing.

If it is so difficult, why not take the easy road and live by a non-Biblical world view? There are a multitude of reasons. But central is the fact that such a world view doesn’t take into consideration God’s plan. The difference looks subtle but it is huge. The non-Biblical world view seems to make sense - like in this short story. “From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” (Matthew 16:21-23)

What Peter said made sense but was uninformed because he did not have an understanding of God’s plan.

Without a Biblical worldview we are left to make up our own standards for living. This leads to ungodly living and to our approving of ungodly living. Paul, in his letter to the church in Rome said this about that: “Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind; to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.” (Romans 1:28-32)

Why live by a Biblical worldview? What are the advantages? What is the payoff? Again looking at the letter to the Roman church: “Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.” (Romans 8:5-8)

We begin to understand and pursue the things of God. We are empowered to do what God is calling us to do and be who God is calling us to be. As we understand the ways and will of God, we can please God. We see others with the eyes of God. “’For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 2:16)

At the core of having and living by a Biblical worldview is the choice of making Jesus the Lord of your life. Jesus put it like this. “You can’t worship two gods at once. Loving one god, you’ll end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other. You can’t worship God and Money both. If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body.” (Matthew 6:24-25)

As a young person I was urged to accept Jesus as my savior. And I did. But then I did something radical. I read the Bible. Over the years I have come to the conclusion that one cannot accept Jesus as ones savior. It is not an option. One must accept Jesus as the Lord of one’s life and he becomes ones savior.

It is a decision that will impact every area of your life: how you live; how you treat your family; who your friends are; your lifestyle; your spending; your use of time; every decision and choice you make.

Again in Romans: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:1-2)

Give yourself completely over to God as a living sacrifice and decide to no longer live like the world. Allow God to change your life and renew your mind through study, prayer and fellowship. Let the God who is with us be the God who changes us.

Copyright © 2014, William T. McConnell, All Rights Reserved

Bill McConnell is Senior Minister at Lindenwood Christian Church in Memphis, Tennessee and is a Church Transformation consultant and a Christian Leadership Coach. He is a frequent speaker at Church Transformation events. His latest book on church transformation is DEVELOPING A SIGNIFICANT CHURCH and is available at Westbow Press.

He can be contacted @ bill45053@gmail.com. Connect with him on Facebook @ William T. McConnell or on Twitter @billmc45053 or visit his Amazon Author Page @ Amazon