I Have a Dream

What if I told you that someday the world will finally be set right? That fear of losing your home will be gone, that sickness and pain will no longer break our bodies, that the weak will no longer be trampled by the powerful, and that everyone who wants to work will find work. What if I told you that justice and righteousness will actually reign on the earth. Most of us have a ready answer: yes, Pastor, but the Bible says that happens when the kingdom of heaven comes, when Jesus returns and restores the world. And that answer is true. In its fullness, all of it waits for the day the King comes back. But Jesus stood up in Nazareth and said something that shocked everyone listening: that day is now at hand.

The Kingdom Is Within Reach

In the Old Testament, God's people learned to long for what they called the day of the Lord, the kingdom of God. They understood something we sometimes forget: the forces that keep good things from happening, both human and spiritual, are too strong, too entrenched, for us to overcome on our own. Only if God Himself came in power could things truly change. So the prophets painted the picture and waited.

They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

Isaiah 2:4

Then Jesus arrived with an announcement that seemed too good to be true. Not that the kingdom of God had fully arrived, but that it was at hand, within reach of your hand, which is to say, now available. The presence and power of God, the very thing that creates the beautiful world we all crave, is available to whosoever will come. That is why He said, come, drink, taste and see that the Lord is good.

When Jesus read from Isaiah in the synagogue, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me," and then said, "This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears," He was saying the kingdom is here, because the kingdom is in Him. The good life, God's life, is not something reserved only for the hereafter. It is available to you now, in the here and now.

But How Do We Get In?

One day a crowd came to Jesus, amazed at the works they had seen Him do. He fed thousands with a few loaves. He lived, they said, as if He belonged to another realm entirely, untouched by the scarcity that ruled everyone else. So they asked the honest question: what must we do to work the works of God? What must we do to live like that?

This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

John 6:29

Believe. That single word carries more than agreeing that something is true. Think of it this way: it is by being with Jesus that you become the kind of person who can live like Him. You have to be-live. This is the work of God, to be with Jesus, so that you become like Jesus, so that you can then live like Jesus, under the good rule of God.

Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

Matthew 11:29

Here is a searching thought. The only reason any area of your life still does not look like Jesus is that in that area you have not yet fully believed in Him. You may say you believe, but the real evidence of belief is what you actually do. If you truly believe in Jesus, then in every area of life you will want to be with Him, so you can become like Him, so you can live like Him.

Many of us have believed in Jesus just enough to be saved and taken to heaven one day. That is the entry point, and if you have never taken that step, I urge you not to leave it any longer. But belief is meant to reach further than the minimum. Do you believe that at work, facing a hard problem, you should be with Jesus so you handle it His way? Do you believe that a young person battling temptation can be with Jesus and, drawing on His presence and power, actually overcome? Do you believe that when you speak to your husband or your wife, the goal is not to say what you feel or want, but to say what Jesus would say? Paul put it as plainly as it can be put.

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.

Galatians 2:20

I Have a Dream

After many years of following Jesus, I have become convinced that this, and only this, is how we experience the good life, the good rule of God, here and now. So I have a dream.

• I have a dream that someday the only way I relate to my wife and my children will not be my way, or my culture's way, or the way I was raised, but Jesus' way, because I have become like Him, and life with me feels like life with Him: full of joy, patience, and grace.
• I have a dream that the only way I go about my business and my finances will not be my way, or merely what I learned in school, but the Jesus way, so that my work flourishes as if He Himself were running it.
• I have a dream that the only way I treat people, speak to people, and carry myself will be the way Jesus did it, and that this makes me a person of real influence, not because I demand it, but because His life shines through mine.
• I have a dream that the only way I take part in the family of God, with other believers, will not be shaped mainly by a denomination or a tradition, but by Jesus, because my faith rests not in a label but in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.
• I have a dream that the only way I pursue holiness and the good life will be His way and not the world's way, learned from Jesus rather than from the wisdom of the age.

Why chase all of this? Because when we become the kind of people who live like Jesus, then like Jesus we can face financial need and trust the kingdom of heaven to provide, face pain and need for healing and trust the kingdom to meet us, face rejection or hardship and still be full of good cheer, because in all things, at all times, under every circumstance, we are more than conquerors. That is who we are.

God's Life, Through God's Son, by God's Grace

This is what we are after at Grace Life Center: God's life, through God's Son, by God's grace. Not a perfect life yet, for that waits until He comes again. But surely a life that is better than we deserve and better than what we are settling for right now.

And the most beautiful part is who it is for. When the poor came to Jesus, He said, blessed are you, the kingdom is available to you. When those who mourned came, He said, blessed are you, you will be comforted. When the sinner said, I cannot break free from this habit, He said, blessed are you who long for freedom, you will have it. The kingdom was never only for the impressive people, the wealthy, or the naturally religious. The bad could come in. The struggling could come in. The overlooked and the far-off could come in. It was, and still is, available to everyone.

Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

Revelation 22:17

So this is the invitation. It does not matter who you are or what you carry. A good life, God's life, is available to you today. Will you come and be with Jesus, so that you become like Him, and begin to live like Him? Will you say, in your life let the kingdom come? There is water of life here, and it is free. Come and drink, and taste and see that the Lord is good.