Saturday, November 15, 2014
Hebrews 12:28 Since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.
THE END OF THE WORLD IS THE BEGINNING FOR US
For "the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells" (2 Peter 3:10-13).
The apostle Peter here tells us that, knowing that the end is coming, we ought to lead godly lives. It is true that we are not saved by the good works that we do. We do not contribute to our salvation, for that is entirely the work of God. However, our text warns us that while we are not saved by what we do, we can lose our salvation by the things that we do. If we grow weary of awaiting Christ's return and decide that we can join the world in willful sinning, figuring that we have time before Christ's return, we have heard the warning, "The day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night" (2 Peter 3:10). If we decide that eternal life is not worth the suffering we undergo in this world on account of our faith, the holy writer warns, "God is a consuming fire!"
That said, we do not live in fear of the judgment, for we know that "The blood of Jesus Christ, [God’s] Son, cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7). We are called on in our text to remember that we are under grace and not under sin. Having been set free from sin, we have become servants of righteousness (Romans 6:14f). Having been set free from sin, we serve, not out of fear of the last day, but we "serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear." Having godly fear is another way of saying that we give all glory to God for we stand in awe of Him. It is godly because it is a gift of the Holy Spirit who works that awe and reverence in us through the Gospel.
Because of what God has done for us in Christ Jesus, you and I "are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken."
In that kingdom we shall reign in eternal life with Christ as kings. This is guaranteed because of Christ's death and resurrection from the dead.
With this in mind, it is therefore the grace of God "by which we may serve God acceptably." Good works don't save us. Rather, good works are fruits of the godly reverence and fear (i.e. faith) that rules in our heart. "He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins" (Colossians 1:13-14).
We know that the Last Day is coming. The signs in nature and among mankind show it. They've been showing it for two thousand years. Surely the time must be getting close. Knowing this, we don't sleep in the darkness of sin.
Rather we watch and we wait, eagerly anticipating eternal life free from sin and death, rejoicing with our Lord. Until that Last Day we serve God, not so that we get to heaven, but we serve God because we're going to heaven. We serve God because of the grace that He has given us through His Son Jesus.
