Communion With the Christ:: The Land of Promises

When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery."Deut:6:10-12

As the people of Israel came near to the land Canaan which had been promised to their Fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob by the Lord God , Moses, the one who led Israel, and bore with them from the slave pits of Egypt to the Red Sea crossing and the years in the Wilderness, now looked out upon a land that had so many advantages prepared for Israel by the Lord God, yet, Moses himself would not enter in, at best he could gaze out and see from a distance the land that awaited beyond the River Jordan.

A Land Prepared

This land held so much for them and it was theirs’ for the having.

"When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery."Deut:6:10-12

This land, had homes and agriculture, and abundant access to fresh water. The Promised Land had an abundance of advantages all for Israel. It was a land prepared for them; the Lord God only cautioned them to remember that it was Him who accomplished all this for them.

Joshua even at the end of his life recalls the same admonition to the people. ‘Then you crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. The citizens of Jericho fought against you, as did also the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites and Jebusites, but I gave them into your hands. I sent the hornet ahead of you, which drove them out before you—also the two Amorite kings. You did not do it with your own sword and bow. So I gave you a land on which you did not toil and cities you did not build; and you live in them and eat from vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant.’ Josh: 24:11-13

Israel was to remember who it was that gave them so great a blessing and not to become distracted with all the material advantages which were now theirs and forget their God.

The Land of Promises

These admonishments to Israel to walk fully within the Promised land with their hearts always inclined toward to the Lord God, this speaks to we Christians today as well.

We Christians walk not in a Promised Land but rather a Land of Promises, prepared for each and all who would but freely receive them.

This is the land that many of the Old Testament personalities truly sought to see, yet, like Moses, could only view them from afar off as they peered down the ages beyond their times and ultimately on into Eternity, under the inspiration of the Great God.

"All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them." Heb: 11:13-16

This "county" which they knew was out there, maybe not fully grasping how the Lord would accomplish it, yet, they sought it and believed that in the end they too would walk within this "country" .

Just Glimpses of It

From the very beginning, to the promises to the Patriarchs and the establishment of Israel. From the Priesthood and the Throne of David, to the words of the Prophets all these things looked ahead and to the coming of Jesus the very one who takes us and guides us to the land of Promises.

Yet all who came before us, just caught glimpses of this reality, that Jesus was and is come. They wanted to understand but never were given this blessing fully as we who are Christians. We Christians are able to walk in the land of Salvation.

"Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care," 1Pet:1:10

In This Life as Well

We are even now in this life able to experience so much of what the Lord has for us. These promises are for us even now, not just in the eternity to come. We do not have to sit and gaze upon this land at a distance, we are invited into it even now, where we can walk the eternal breath of its limitless boundaries. We can climb to the hill tops and reap form the abundance of the vineyards and fields and drink from the deep wells. This truth, that all that our Lord has for us, is already ours in Jesus and will be ours fully in the eternity to come.

All of this all because of Jesus.

The Apostle St. Peter asking our Lord regarding the reward of being a follower of Jesus, receives an answer that encompasses this life here and now upon the Earth and into the Kingdom.

"Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!”

“Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first" Mk:10:28-31

This encouragement speaks to us that, even here "in this present age". We Christians can partake of blessings that are ours in our Lord Jesus Christ. These blessings of the promises are far more than just material, that is wealth, bricks and mortar, position, titles, or fame.

What our Lord has for each of us goes beyond the material, that is, the things that will waste away. Jesus is talking about a relationship which is far more than we could ever hope for.

Our Lord wants each of us to walk fully in the promises which He has for us, but above them all He wants us to know Him. All eternal life is summed up in Jesus in terms of relationship, that is knowing Him.

"Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent."Jhn:17:3

In and by Jesus we find more than we can even begin to understand. In Jesus we find that land of Promises opened to each and all through faith alone by grace alone in Christ alone or as it is said in the Latin; solus per gratiam per fidem in Christum.

Homes Prepared

Before in the land beyond the Jordan the people of Israel were towns and villages with homes built for them, prepared and waiting for them to occupy and dwell with in.

"cities you did not build, houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide"

These dwelling were theirs. In the same way our Lord is providing a home for all who will receive it awaiting each of us, this home is filled with eternal blessing, as the towns were for Israel.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God ; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am".Jhn:14:1-3

Jesus is, even now, preparing this place for us to spend eternity in with Him, an extended community of fellowship and worship without end where we are want loved and included, this very community is pictured ultimately in the New Jerusalem which is in preparation.

" I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband." Rev: 21:2

The True Vine

In the culture of that time, and in the nation of Israel, the idyllic imagery of the Promised land and the life of the people was typified and viewed as being under the vine and fig. Micah the Prophet was inspired to uses this image to present the people of Israel finally experiencing this long-sought contentment.

"Everyone will sit under their own vine and under their own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid, for the LORD Almighty has spoken."Mich:4:4

This is contentment and peace being at rest having every need of the whole person met, living without fear. For Christian this is found in the Promises of and in Jesus Christ, the true vine that we might sit under and being at rest. It is ours and for us if we are careful not to neglect what He so freely offers us.

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples" Jhn:15:1-8

Deep Wells

As we transverse the land of Promises in Christ we find that as we live and walk this land and set our hearts and minds upon Jesus the deep wells of the Holy Spirit, wells, which we did not dig, that is they are for us without works, that is by grace, here through revelation about Jesus our thirst is quenched

The Prophet Isaiah, looking ahead to the offering of the Holy Spirit to all who would receive Him through Jesus, wrote.

"Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost" .Isa:55:1

Standing in the Temple courts Jesus invites us to become outlets for the eternal flow of the Holy Spirit

"but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life." Jhn:4:14

The Holy Spirit will touch our lives and he will speak to us regarding our Lord Jesus, disclosing to us all the Promises that are found in Jesus.

But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. "He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. "All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you." Jhn: 16:13-15

We are invited to enter this Land of Promises that is found in only in the Lord Jesus. It is a land of life eternal and without bounds, but not just for some day in the eternity to come, but we can experience it in and by Jesus. Jesus came that we might have a life that is more than we can imagine.

"I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."Jhn:10:10b

Even now as we walk upon the Earth, we are found in our Lord in the heights of Heaven in the glorified resurrected humanity of Jesus; in Jesus we share in the Kingdom and all that is His except his deity.

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ" Eph:1:3

"But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.' Eph: 2:4-7

Yes

The Great God has offered each and all the opportunity to enter into this land of Promise, He willingly desires us to live in them and affirms them to us in His Son Jesus.

"For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God” 2Cor: 1:20

When we hear the call of God in message of Salvation presented in the Gospel and come to believe in Jesus, we are taking hold of promises that stretch back to the Patriarchs and reaching eternally into the future and joining with them to receive them. The very same ones that they embraced and shared in.

All that the Great God has for them, and we all, if we will but freely receive them and accept His love freely offered.

We need not be as Moses who viewed the Promise land but did not enter, we can instead enter and walk the length and width of this eternal land of promises.

"As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies for your sake; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable" .Rom:11:29

Our Lord has prepared this for us, and it has awaited us, and all who will receive it, from the very beginning. What we can walk in today is what all who went before long to see and understand.

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world."Matt:25:34

It is our Lords' great desire that we all enter the promises which He has affirmed to us through His Son. Jesus is the ultimate affirmation to us that God's love is to us and for us, that He invites us to enter in and walk the length, breadth and height of all that His Son has died that we might have, to live in a vibrant relationship with our God, we can have this even now for each and all who will accept it. We enter not a Promised land but a land of Promises in His Holy Son Jesus

Benediction: May we each enter full that Land of Promises found only in our Lord Jesus Christ, today, tomorrow and forevermore and Amen.