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Eternity 79 - Thrown Down By God
(Malachi 1:4 NKJV) Even though Edom has said, "We
have been impoverished, But we will return and build the desolate places,"
Thus says the LORD of hosts: "They may build, but I will throw down;
They shall be called the Territory of Wickedness, And the people against
whom the LORD will have indignation forever.
If you saw Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - you saw Petra in Edom, and
the cities carved out of rock. Grand but desolate until today and a reminder
of a once great past civilization. Edom tried to rebuild - but God tore
it down. God will tear down things that are built in sin or in wickedness
- such as the Soviet Empire in our day. He will tear down dictatorships,
and corrupt corporations, the get-rich-quick IPO's and the violent aggressors
alike.
They can plan and sweat and labor away- but in the end it will crumble
and fall, thrown down by the Lord. On the other hand God establishes the
righteous in the land and builds them and plants them and causes their works
to endure. The dynasty of David and the descendants of Abraham are two spectacular
examples of this.
An article came out today on the National Geographic website and the Christian
Science Monitor about a recently discovered ossury dated 63 BC with the
inscription "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus". This limestone
box has lasted for 2000 years. God has preserved its inscription for us
today. God Almighty can preserve that which He wishes to preserve and destroy
that which He wishes to destroy. As I get older I think about this - will
anything I do last? Will the words I write matter in ten, fifty or a hundred
years time? Will what I build continue to have influence - or will it subside
like a ripple in a pond? That which is carefully crafted in God lasts. The
Proverbs of Solomon are 3000 years old and still fresh today, and the writings
of the classic Christian authors, though not Scripture, still seem timeless
and true.
Sometimes in the search for "the latest" we worship the fleeting,
the ephemeral and the "trendy". Our work is a vapor, swooshing
here and there but looking outdated in two or five years time. The management
consultants of the nineties, the church consultants, the gurus and the pollsters,
all boastfully giving opinions that fade away with the echoes of the sound
bite. Before I sound too negative, I used to work as a careers and management
consultant!
They have their place, but it should be a humble one. What I am opposed
to is building vast, proud human edifices. Building for the world and for
human vanity - and in the end building against God. The things of ego and
vanity will come to nothing. Like Edom they will at best be an empty grandeur,
a lost civilization, a shell of their former glory. We need to ground our
business on eternal values and lasting truths. The corporations that endure
for centuries (and some have) generally have a solid core of good practice
and human decency. They are not charities, and God does not requite them
to be. But they are wise, sound, solid, careful and humane.
Ministries can be like that too! Some seem to be "fly-by-night"
affairs, of spectacular vision for a very short season, while others build
solidly through the centuries. For instance the Anglican "Church Missionary
Society" is over two hundred years old and is still doing high-quality
evangelical ministry today, and the Moravians had a 24-hour missionary prayer
vigil that went for 150 years!
What characterises good ministries that outlive their founders and which stay fresh? I think you will find a solid and clear Christology at the center of them all. They know Jesus and they know why Jesus matters and they know how their ministry flows from the cross and from the gospels.
The Moravians used to have mottos such as "Tell the story of the Lamb" and "Preach the wounds of Christ". It was their Christology that drove their ministry - and it lasted because Christ is eternal and the ground of all that is eternal. Sociological, anthropological, missiological and financial principles matter and can be helpful, but they should never be foundational!
It is Christology that must be the foundation of ALL ministry that is called
Christian. From His incarnation to His baptism, healing ministry, teachings,
suffering, death, resurrection, ascension, high-priestly ministry, right
through to His return. Our ministry must be the sort of ministry He would
do, and run on the principles He espoused and towards the goals He set for
His church. Sit down with pencil and paper and ask "How is Jesus central
to my ministry?" and develop your own foundational Christology. Build
a work that lasts - and will not be torn down by time and by God.
For Christological articles try: http://www.aibi.ph/articles/messiah/
John Edmiston
Asian Internet Bible Institute
Visit the Asian Internet Bible Institute