The soul of a missional community consists of the sum total of the souls of regenerated, transformed and faithful disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. Such souls are characterised by the upward look that A.W. Tozer calls ‘the Gaze of the Soul’ in his book ‘The Pursuit of God’.
Our world is plagued with destructive forces that bring about widespread loss of lives and properties even as topography gets disfigured and ruined. Change and decay occur not only in the physical arena, but also in the moral and spiritual realms. Sadly, we witness the disappearance of ‘things bright and beautiful’ along with values that were once held dear! Hence we need to look for things that are imperishable.
God’s Word is imperishable.
Isaiah 40:8 says ‘The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the Word of our God stands forever.’ While perishables take their course, the Word of God stands imperishable. 1 Pet 1:23-24 explains: “For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring Word of God. For ‘All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the Word of the Lord stands forever.’ And this is the word that was preached to you.”
Our Lord Jesus Christ asserts in Matthew 24:35, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” And He has significant words for us regarding the signs of His Return and of the end of the age. (Matt 24:3-34).
Christ’s Kingdom is imperishable.
When God shakes the heaven and the earth to remove the created things that can be shaken, that which cannot be shaken – the imperishable – will remain. (Heb 12:26-28) This imperishable is God’s kingdom which God promised to His faithful servants who would receive it (Heb 11:14-16). In the Old Testament, the prophet Daniel referred to it. (Dan 7:14) All who faithfully follow Christ as His true disciples will receive His imperishable kingdom (Heb 12:28-29). Those who serve and worship God acceptably are motivated by the love of the Father and are doers of His will. They are not at all seduced or enamoured by the things of this world as they do not love any worldly thing, especially money. (1 Tim 6:10)
A Doer of God’s Will is imperishable.
1 John 2: 15-17 instructs us thus: “Do not love the world or anything in the world…. The world and its desires pass away, but the one who does the will of God lives forever.” Hence, the doers of God’s will are imperishable. In John 3:16, ‘…whosoever believes in Him shall not perish….’ the original language uses the Greek present tense for ‘believes’ which should be translated as ‘keeps on believing’ or ‘continually believe’. Therefore, the imperishable ones are those who keep on believing in Jesus Christ continuously, or have the faith of obedience like Abraham’s faith and are declared righteous, being justified by an authentic faith.
Let us praise our gracious God for the imperishables and embrace them in the face of all that is perishable! Let us ‘…then go to a world that is dying, His perfect salvation to tell’. ‘Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus’. May we thus be a truly authentic missional community!
By Mrs Leong-Lian King Teng (YCKC Bulletin 30 September & 1 October 2017)