Standing Sure

Standing Sure in a troubled time

By: Dr. Jeff Fuller

We are living in troubled, difficult times.  As believers were are facing more than ever before things which I forefathers only dreamed of happening.  Christians are taking a beating!  We need to be reminded of three things today.

You have been called His children.

It is by adoption that you are no longer children of darkness and of the evil one.  No, as a believer, you are called sons and daughter of the most high, most holy God.  As His children you will be seen and judged by others by your response to difficult times which come in your life.  They will watch and see how you react or respond; their judgment will be fair as they test you strength and confidence by a simple test.

Children are a representation of the parents.  If you see a child who is a bully, most likely they have a parent who is a bully; a child who is depressed will most likely have a parent who abuses them or puts them down; and the list goes on.  Yes, the child is a mirror of their parents.  My father use to say, “If you see an ugly kid, follow them home and you will find an ugly mother or father.”  His statement, while humorous, was applicable to the biblical standard: God’s children will reveal God.  We have been called His children!

You have been placed above.

In Ephesians 2, Paul gives these words:

“And you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you previously walked according to this worldly age, according to the ruler of the atmospheric domain, the spirit now working in the disobedient.  We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and by nature we were children under wrath, as the others were also.  But God…made us alive with the Messiah even though we were dead in trespasses. By grace you are saved!  He also raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavens, in Christ Jesus…” (Ephesians 2:1-10 HCSB)

Here we find that we once were one way, but in Christ we are now something different.  We once were dead, sinners, under the penalty of a death sentence; but becomes of Christ and His grace we are now alive, made new, changed, recreated and in fellowship with the Heavenly Father.

In verse 6 the verse says that we are “seated in heavenly places.”  Kind of hard to comprehend, would you not say?  We live in society of sin; but we are seated in a place that is akin to heaven.

Physically, you are in this world.  You and I are walking in the mire, muck, and mud of this old sinful, crumbling, sad world.  Spiritually, you are “seated in heavenly places.”  You are a child of the king, with privileges at the seat of the Savior.  You are welcomed to the banquet table.  You are His by adoption and a part of the family of royalty.  Sure, we may be in the world but we are not of this world.

It is not easy; but then nothing in life really is easy.  When we live in a sin-sick, hell-bent world it is hard to realize our spiritual placement.  But then that is the reason we have the word of God, prayers of the saints and fellowship with brothers and sisters.  These are vital to our everyday life, yet so easily we take them all for granted.

You have been steadied by a Firm Foundation.

In Timothy, Paul writes to the young preacher boy these words which we should allow to penetrate our hearts and lives: “God’s solid foundation stands firm…” (2 Timothy 2:19)

When the tides of life seem to roll in, when the coaster you are on makes a sudden, drastic decline, and when all of the world seems to be turned upside down, remember you are placed on the foundation that will not, cannot move.  The world may be crumbling before your very eyes, but the Fathers world is being made new.

His foundation is based on four important principles.  One is that His foundation is based on a Son.  The Son of God that came into this world to bring the good news of peace and love, life and hope.  His Son lived in this world as a peasant, walking among the people of common standing, and never-not once-sinning.  This foundation is based on a Son, who is a Savior.  God’s Son, Jesus Christ, was sent into your world and my world to redeem mankind, but His willingness to die the death of a criminal.  He gave His life so I might have life!  The Son, who became a Savior, gives security to all who come to Him.  He makes eternal promises to us that are sure and secure.  Not one of His will escape the big hand of God.  And lasting, this Son who is the Savior giving security is a soon returning King.  Oh, yes, my friend; believer you are His and there is nothing else that can be done to earn your salvation and because you are His He is coming one day; one glorious day; to take us out of this sinful world and take us a place that cannot be touched or tainted by sin and sorrow, death and dying, hopelessness and despair.  We will be at home with Him, “seated in Heavenly places” for all of eternity.  Oh, what a glorious day that will be! 

That’s my foundation!  I stand strong on that ground, promised by His mighty, true Word!  I stand there now, here, and hereafter!  Because “all other ground is sinking sand…”

Amen!

(Dr. Jeff Fuller is pastor of the Rockford Baptist Church in Rockford, Alabama.  You may reach him through the church office at 256-377-4900 or by email at fuller0717@gmail.com)