Information Related to "Three Mind-Bending Truths About Your Future"
| Audio/Video |
Alondra Olivas/Unsplash
How many troubling, unresolved issues do you have in your life? We all have something we're dealing with. It could be loved ones struggling with unemployment, addictions and broken relationships. We've learned that issues go unresolved.
What's going to happen in life? That kind of stress and pressure around us can steal our hope and joy. If ever there were a time to be reminded of the consequences, it's now. There's a terrible cost to sin and wrong living.
Even though life's problems can seem overwhelming, the Bible's message about your future will bring life's troubles, sufferings, joys and experiences into beautiful clarity.
In particular, there are three absolutely mind-bending truths the Bible has to teach us about what God has in store for us. When you begin to truly believe these three things, God can begin to change your life for the better.
Think about it for a moment: Have you ever felt like a fish out of water?
Living in this world without knowing God's plan is like being a fish out of water.
When my kids were little I liked to take them fishing. It wasn't serious fishing -- just for fun, off the stream bank. On one "expedition" I remember catching quite a few small perch. Of course the kids couldn't just catch and release them. They wanted to take them home for supper! So I put them in a live-well basket to keep them until we were ready to go.
As we were fishing, my son got distracted. I looked over, and there he was trying to play with a fish on the shore. Of course it was flopping and jumping all around. I came over and asked my son what was going on. He said he was teaching the fish to like it on the shore.
I told him it would be tough convincing the fish of that. In his little-boy wisdom, he reasoned that it would be good if the fish learned to like the land, as it would be easier to play with him.
I thought for a moment on how to help him understand. "We've got to put it back because it can't be what it's been created to be when it's out of the water."
So we grabbed that little fish and put him back in the water, and, sure enough, the little fish's desperation was gone, it seemed to come to life, and it swam and swam. We couldn't help but smile.
I think my son realized then that no matter how long the fish flopped on the beach, it would never adjust to land. It would never fit in on the shore and couldn't be satisfied or happy. Even if the fish tried to believe it could adapt and learn to like it, it never could succeed. In fact, it would eventually die.
Here's the question: Do you feel like a fish out of water?
Facing all the challenges of life -- your problems, your jobs, your dissatisfaction and, yes, even your religion -- can make you feel like a fish out of water.
Is it possible that God is telling you that you are a fish out of water in this world? In fact, yes!
You were created for a great purpose. You don't have to be like that fish. If it seems like you're flopping and wiggling your way through life, it's time for a change. Don't let the world around you try to convince you to just blend or fit in and conform to its ways.
It's tough to be what you've been created to be when you're a fish out of water -- not knowing your ultimate purpose.
That's why you need a more satisfying stream. This world is making you a fish out of water. It's a shoreline of disaster that wants to mold and shape us into something God did not intend.
But when you can finally answer the question "What's the point?" it changes everything. And these three mind-bending truths about your future will answer that all-important question.
All Christians realize that God wants a close relationship with us. What you maybe haven't realized is just how close. You have a truly loving Father -- a God who wants the absolute best for you. Notice how much He wants for us: "It has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is" (1 John 3:2 , emphasis added throughout). What exactly does that mean?
From the beginning God's purpose was to create an extraordinary family: "Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness …' So God created man in His own image" (Genesis 1:26-27 ). There is no doubt that men and women are created in God's image and likeness. Why? To be like Him.
There's another important detail in that verse: "Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness."There's more than one individual here. Now that's a mind-bender!
Did you realize that from beginning there were two divine Beings? There's God the Father and One the New Testament identifies as God the Word (John 1:1 ). The Gospel of John reveals that God the Word became Jesus Christ.
From the very beginning we see that the word "God" used in this passage is not just referring to the Father. In essence it's like a family name. Have you ever thought about the God family? God is a divine family made up of more than one individual -- with God the Father and Jesus Christ both existing as God.
And note the relationship of Father and Son. This points to the extraordinary family They have. It's all about family!
As incredible as it may seem, God wants you and me to be part of His divine family in immortal glory -- with us as His very own children!
Now that's a mind-bender! You may have been taught that you die and go as an immortal soul to heaven. That's a myth. If you'll take the challenge and check it out, you'll find that it's not what the Bible teaches.
But you can be sure about God's plan for you. His plan is about family -- God is producing spiritual children. In a nutshell, your incredible potential is to be born into God's own family. You'll be His child, having His attitude, His perspective, His character, His own divine nature.
Think of it this way. We've all seen SUVs with the stick figure family decals. The characters represent dad, mom, son, daughter. Now you can get these little figures showing their interests or hobbies. So you have the soccer player daughter or the golfing dad, the football son, business mom.
When you're in the family, you're on the car window.
I recently noticed a neighbor's car had a change on the rear window. When their new little addition was born, sure enough, there was a little stick figure baby, with diapers and a stroller, added to the back window.
Here's the point: God gave us the human family as a representation of what He is doing spiritually. When you're born into a physical family you're like your father.
When you're born into the God family, you'll be like God.
Looking at the car window, you can tell that the family goes together. The little ones aren't pets or some other kind of being -- they are human beings just like mom and dad.
So for a moment, let's imagine looking at what God's car window might look like. The Bible reflects His window. It started at creation. Remember the story? God created night and day, sky and sea, land and plants, and stars and planets, sea creatures and animals too.
But have you ever noticed what God said as He created plants and animals? Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind; and it was so" (Genesis 1:24 ).
How did they reproduce? It says it was "each according to its kind." So lions produce lions and giraffes produce giraffes and flowers produce flowers and dogs produce dogs.
But here's the mind-bending truth: It's no different for mankind. After what "kind" were we created? People were created according to the "God kind" -- not just to be physical beings. That's why God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness." Consider that the first man Adam later "begot a son in his own likeness, after his image" (Genesis 5:3 ).
So God's purpose goes far beyond the creation of mortal, physical, perishable human beings. He wants us to ultimately be a part of His spiritual family. In His Kingdom, we are to be like God -- spirit members of His family.
If you think of it in terms of God's car window, it would have God the Father (the head of the family) and Jesus Christ -- and our potential is be right there on the window too, a part of the divine family! We would not be the cat or the dog at the end of the line. We'd be full-fledged family members!
No wonder God also tells us, "I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty" (2 Corinthians 6:18 ). And He really means it. The Father wants us to be His full children, to transform us into the very kind of beings that He and Christ now are!
That family relationship -- becoming children of God the Father -- is the heart and core of God's incredible plan for mankind and for you! God wants to bring you into His eternal family forever as one of His offspring.
Have you ever noticed this mind-boggling passage before? God says this to us: "I said, 'You are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High'" (Psalms 82:6 ).
God is making an amazing point from the fact that human children are like their human parents and like their brothers and sisters. They're all the same kind of beings -- human beings. Now, what will God's children be like? God's children will be like the Father and like Jesus Christ their divine Brother. Jesus Christ is God the Son and is like God the Father -- with the same kind of glory and power.
Can you grasp it? Scripture tells us that God's other children, resurrected and glorified, will be like the Father and Christ! That's talking about us. We will be the same kind of beings that the Father and Jesus are -- divine beings!
If it weren't there in black and white, you might say that it's farfetched. But it's not. God is opening your eyes to truly see. Take note of all the biblical passages that prove it to be true. Here's another: "God is the One who made all things, and all things are for his glory. He wanted to have many children share his glory … Jesus, who makes people holy, and those who are made holy are from the same family. So he is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters" (Hebrews 2:10 , New Century Version).
Did you catch the wording? What does God want? He wants many children to share His glory. He wants many children who are made holy, of the same family -- brothers and sisters of Christ. Isn't that the kind of family that you've always wanted? That's the ultimate Family!
This awesome future is the whole purpose and reason that God made mankind. It is why we were born. It's why we exist!
Now to our third mind bending truth.
We've established that the destiny of Christians is to be God's literal sons and daughters. But what does that really mean? Will we be just a little bit like God? Notice how the apostle Paul explains it.He says he was given the job to "reveal for all people what is the fellowship of the mystery … according to the eternal purpose" (Ephesians 3:9-11 , Modern English Version).
Paul was writing about God's amazing purpose for you. God's plan reveals His awesome commitment to you. Paul says that the plan is so amazing and God's purpose so incredible that it causes Paul to worship: "For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named … and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God" ((Ephesians 3:14-19 , MEV).
What does that mean? Let's break it down. If you're named after God, what's your new family's last name? It would have to be God, right? And the Bible says Christians are named after God -- meaning they have to be a full-fledged member of God's family.
And here's something really incredible:Your ultimate purpose is to be filled with all the fullness of God. What would you be in that case? You'd have to be a divine spirit being like God -- glorified in His eternal family!
So this mind-bending part of the plan is that we won't be just a little bit of God -- we won't be sort of, kind of, somewhat like God. The Holy Scripture -- the very Word of God Himself (2 Timothy 3:16 ) -- reveals that we will be filled with all the fullness of God. Not just a little bit, but with all the fullness of God.
The incredible reality is that God is building His family. In the Kingdom of God you can become a literal son or daughter. Imagine it: being like God -- a full member of His spiritual family. No wonder God is called our Father. He's fathering His own spiritual children.
That's why the apostle Peter writes, "He has given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, so that through these things you might become partakers of the divine nature and escape the corruption that is in the world through lust" (2 Peter 1:4 ).
Did you catch that priceless promise? We can be given God's divine nature. The Father and Christ will be at the top of the family forever, reigning supreme. We can be spirit-born members of His family. That's the mind-bending purpose for which you were created. It's the incredible truth as to why you and I were born! It is the ultimate potential destiny of all mankind. Your future can't get any better than that!
God has an incredible purpose for your life. He doesn't want you to feel like a fish out of water. Your destiny, the reason you were born, is to become an immortal member of God's family.
The mind-bending reality is that God is a family. The Father and Jesus Christ will head up the family of potentially billions of divine children forever.
Today, we may be ordinary people, but we have an extraordinary heavenly Father. He is creating children with His own divine nature -- His holy, righteous character -- and giving us His family name.
So never underestimate the value of your life. You were born to become one of God's children. You were born to receive His nature and eternal life in His Kingdom.
This amazing truth should change your thinking and perceptions and the way you live your life today.
You were born to become an immortal child of God in His divine family forever. So keep looking to His Word to learn more of His plan for you!
©1995-2022 United Church of God, an International AssociationRelated Information:
Table of Contents that includes "Three Mind-Bending Truths About Your Future"
Other Articles by Steve Myers
Origin of article "Three Mind-Bending Truths About Your Future"
Keywords: God family purpose of life family of God children of God God's children
God's family: