NAOS
– THAT PART OF THE TEMPLE WHERE GOD HIMSELF RESIDES
Right
from the beginning of His public ministry, Jesus made His mission known. To the
religious leaders, who challenged Him, He responded….
…
“Destroy this temple (naos), and in three days I will raise it up.”
John
2:18-19 NLT
Jesus
specifically used the Greek word, “naos” for “temple” which
John interpreted to mean His body as the “naos” which, according to
Strong’s concordance, means ‘the shrine… that part of the temple where God
Himself resides.’
What
an awesome thought! From the moment of His conception, Jesus, the Second Person
of the Trinity, took on a body which became the temple in which God resided. He
took on a human name, Jesus, as well. Now both His body and His name are part of
His human identity forever.
When
Jesus ascended into heaven in His resurrected body, He did not shed that body
and become pure spirit again. Paul tells us that it is “the man, Christ
(His official title and office) Jesus (His human name which means ‘Saviour’),”
who is the Mediator between God and man.
His
full name is “the Lord Jesus Christ”, signifying everything that He
is now, in His glorified person – the Lord (Supreme Authority), Jesus (the Man)
Christ (Messiah, the Anointed One).
Who
Jesus is now, the God/man in a resurrection body, acting for us as mediator and
high priest, has huge implications for us as believers.
Firstly,
according to Paul, we are now the “naos” in which God resides in the
person of the Holy Spirit. Just as the Holy Spirit lived in Jesus here in
earth, so now He lives in us.
“19
Don’t you realize that your body is the temple (naos) of the Holy Spirit, who
lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, 20 for
God bought you with a high price. So you must honour God with your body.”
1
Corinthians 6:19-20 NLT
Secondly,
Paul made it clear {to the Corinthian Church} that Jesus rose from the dead as
the first fruits of the resurrection, guaranteeing the full harvest of all who
believe in Him when He returns. His resurrection is the victory over the last
enemy, death, and spells the final judgment and punishment of Satan and his
demons in the lake of fire.
Not
only does Jesus’ resurrection guarantee ours but His resurrection body is also
the blueprint for our resurrection bodies. John tells us…
“Dear
friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we
will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for
we will see him as he really is.”
1
John 3:2 NLT
How
do we know that our resurrection bodies will be exactly like Jesus’ body?
“35
But someone may ask, “How will the dead be raised? What kind of bodies will
they have?” … 49 Just as we are now like the earthly man (Adam) , we will
someday be like the heavenly man, (Jesus) …
51
But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will
all be transformed! 52 It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when
the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died
will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed.
53 For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die;
our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.”
1
Corinthians 15:35, 49, 51-53 NLT
The
writer to the Hebrews assures us that God’s plan is to restore the family
likeness to Jesus, the Son in all God’s children…
“10
In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom
and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation
perfect through what he suffered. 11 Both the one who makes people holy and
those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call
them brothers and sisters.”
Heb.
2:10-11 NIV
During
the time of the Old Covenant, no one was able to see God’s face and live. God
shielded Moses from the sight of His glory by hiding him in the cleft of a
rock.
“20
But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”
Exodus
33:20 NIV
However,
in the New Covenant, we shall see Jesus face to face, we shall see
and hear with heightened awareness all the sights and sounds of God’s
realm. It will be quite a noisy place according to John’s visions in
Revelation!!
Look
at what Paul has to say about “now” and “then”.
“12
For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to
face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully
known.”
1
Cor. 13:12 NIV
There
are also implications for us in this life because we have this hope of
resurrection bodies and perfected minds and senses and the likeness to Jesus as
perfect sons. Our time on earth and the lives we live now are an
“apprenticeship” for the life to come.
1.
We are to honour God with our bodies.
…
“God bought you with a high price. So you must honour God with your
body.”
1
Corinthians 6:19-20 NLT
2.
We are to purify ourselves
“2
Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been
made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we
shall see him as he is. 3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just
as he is pure.”
1
John 3:2-3 NIV
“Therefore,
since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from
everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of
reverence for God.”
2
Cor. 7:1 NIV
3.
We are to persevere…
“23
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is
faithful…”
4.
And we are to encourage and build one another up…
“…
24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good
deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing,
but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day
approaching.”
Heb.
10:23-25 NIV
Not
even our wildest imagination will be able to conjures up what God has in store
for us.
“9
However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and
what no human mind has conceived”— the things God has prepared for those who
love him— 10 these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The
Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.”
1
Cor. 2:9-10 NIV
In
response to all the glorious promises God has given us and the changes
that await us, through Jesus’ death and resurrection, Paul burst out…
“33
Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How
unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! 34 “Who has known
the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counsellor?” 35 “Who has ever given
to God, that God should repay them?”
36
For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory
forever! Amen.
Romans
11:33-36 NIV
And
with David, we respond…
“17
How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 Were
I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand— when I awake, I am
still with you.”
Psalm
139:17-18 NIV
“20
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine,
according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the
church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!
Amen.”
The second beast was given power to give
breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause
all who refused to worship the image to be killed. 16 It also forced
all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark
on their right hands or on their foreheads, 17 so that they could
not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the
number of its name. 18 This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has
insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. That
number is 666. Revelation 13:15-18
There
are so many interpretations of this strange “mark” that believers are
told to avoid at all costs that believers have no idea what we are to refuse in
the “end times”.
Before
we try to understand what this mark is, let’s look at something the Scriptures
tell us about the mark or “seal” that God has put on His own
children.
There
is nothing to confuse us about God’s mark because Paul tells us quite
clearly…
“And you also were included in Christ when you heard
the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were
marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit…”
Ephesians 1:13 NIV
When
we believed in Jesus as Lord, God came to live inside us through His Spirit,
taking ownership of us, body, soul, and spirit. However, the Holy Spirit isn’t
just a “family crest” to identify who we are. His presence in us has
a very practical outcome. He is at work in us, transforming us into the likeness
of Jesus. So, Paul could say, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy
peace…” Fruit is the evidence of the nature of the tree.
The
evidence of God’s presence within us is an ever-increasing likeness to Jesus.
We have become “participants in the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4).
So,
God’s mark on every believer is His nature being formed in us as we respond to
the work of the Holy Spirit in us.
Would
it not be possible, then, that the “mark of the beast” is the
counterpart of the mark of the Holy Spirit? Since the Spirit is reproducing the
nature of Jesus in us, what is the beast and what does the “beast” do
in those who refuse to believe that Jesus is Lord?
The
beast is a kingdom ruled over by the God of this world. He reproduces his image
in those who unwittingly follow him as Lord by living according to their fallen
nature which is otherwise called “the flesh”.
The
mark of the beast, according to John in Rev. 13:18, is the number of man (also
translated “humanity” or “one of the human race”), which is
666, the number of incompleteness. God made man in His image. God is three in
one; man is also three in one, body, soul and spirit, but without God, he is
incomplete.
God’s
number is 7, which is the number of completeness. Since God is three in one, His
number would be 777. The Holy Spirit in Revelation is called “the
sevenfold Spirit of God.”
Therefore,
man without God has the nature of the one who influences his life through his
fallen nature. He bears the fruit of that nature in his rebellion,
disobedience, and refusal to obey the gospel and come under the authority of
Jesus as Lord.
All
mankind without God is eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil, living in the kingdom which this tree represents by making their own
rules and producing the chaos and destruction which are the hallmarks of
Satan’s dominion of darkness.
In
the Book of Revelation, John was writing to encourage believers in the first
century after Jesus, who were suffering severe persecution for their faith in
Jesus as Lord. Therefore, to interpret “the beast” and the
“mark” of the beast as anything outside of the understanding and
experience of those first-century believers is to defeat the purpose for which
John wrote.
Perhaps,
in John’s day, persecution reached its zenith by ungodly authority, whoever
they were, preventing those who confessed faith in Jesus from buying and
selling in the local market, subjecting them to intense suffering by cutting
off their food supply.
Very
simply, all who believe in Jesus as Lord are marked by the nature of God being
formed in them by the indwelling Holy Spirit. All who reject Jesus have Satan’s
mark in them, the nature of man without God (666) produced by following the
unrestrained appetites of the flesh.
As
a young student at Bible College, perhaps one of the most significant lessons I
learned then, and am still learning today, comes from a short prophetic book in
the Old Testament, the prophecy of Habakkuk.
There
are many parallels between Habakkuk’s times and our own. Society in his day was
out of control. Despite God’s covenant with Israel, choosing them above all the
nations to be His own people, they were no different from their wicked,
idolatrous neighbours.
They
despised God’s instructions on how to live in harmony with one another and with
their neighbours. Instead, crime was rife, law and order had collapsed, the
rich oppressed the poor, and the justice system had failed to stop the rot.
Habakkuk
was desperate. The situation was intolerable. It seemed to him that God was
either deaf to his cries or powerless to do anything to intervene. He was
sitting on His hands, perhaps even indifferent to the mess His own people were
in.
When
we read the opening verses of Habakkuk’s prophecy, we could be reading today’s
newspapers.
“How
long, O Lord, must I call for help? But you do not listen! “Violence is
everywhere!” I cry, but you do not come to save. Must I forever see these evil
deeds? Why must I watch all this misery? Wherever I look, I see destruction and
violence. I am surrounded by people who love to argue and fight. The law has
become paralyzed, and there is no justice in the courts. The wicked far
outnumber the righteous, so that justice has become perverted.”
Habakkuk
1:2-4 NLT
How
often do God’s people cry out to the Lord to intervene in a situation like
Habakkuk’s, but God is seemingly doing nothing! All we see is that sin is
escalating everywhere in the world, and not only in our own country. The whole
world has gone crazy!
(Despite
what is happening around us now, and the apostle Paul’s warning of a state of
meltdown in society that will characterise the end times, there are many
so-called “prophets” who happily and confidently predict a great and
worldwide revival before Jesus comes. Who is telling the truth? Jesus Himself
said that the love of most will grow cold).
God’s
response to the prophet’s complaint was both startling and frightening. “I
am doing something that, if I told you what it is, you would not believe me. I
am raising up the Babylonians.”
The
threat of Babylonian invasion may have seemed remote to Habakkuk at that time,
but God alerted him to the reality that the Babylonians were coming, and they
would inflict great suffering on God’s people.
Perhaps
what troubled Habakkuk the most was that God claimed responsibility for raising
them up and letting them loose on His own people.
How
could God use such a vicious and cruel nation to punish His own people who
were, to the prophet, “more righteous” than the Babylonians? Doesn’t
God hate sin? Wasn’t He too pure to condone evil? Why would He use Babylon’s
wickedness to punish His own people?
Habakkuk
was determined to get answers from God, so he declared his intention to wait
until God answered him (most probably to his own satisfaction, since God’s
response up to this point provoked more questions than provided answers).
“I
will climb up to my watchtower and stand at my guard post. There I will wait to
see what the Lord says and how he will answer my complaint.”
Habakkuk
2:1 NLT
Eventually,
God answered Him, but again, not in the way the prophet expected. Yes, the
Babylonian army would invade Judah. Yes, they would destroy Jerusalem and take
God’s people into captivity. Yes, God’s people would suffer at the hands of the
invaders but….
God’s
focus is on those who remain faithful to Him throughout all the times of
hardship.
“Look
at the proud! They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked. But the
righteous will live by their faithfulness to God… “
Habakkuk
2:4 NLT
God
is never indifferent to the suffering that ungodly people inflict on those who
are faithful to Him. His cup of wrath guarantees that the wicked, be they
individual or nations, will be made to drink that cup to its dregs.
Habakkuk
finally got the picture. God uses situations that force people to make choices
that separate the godly from the ungodly. He never imposes change on people. He
uses circumstances and situation to drive them into a corner so that they must
choose for good or evil. (Hebrews 12)
Change
comes from within, and change happens when we recognise the evil of our ways
and return to the standards of God’s word.
And
so, when Habakkuk finally understood how God works, though His way might be
painful and difficult through hardship and suffering, his faith in God became
stronger and more resilient. Justice would be served on those who inflict
hardship on others. The prophet rejoiced in God’s grace to endure when
everything around him failed and fell apart.
“Though
the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the
olive crop fails, and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in
the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be
joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet
like the feet of a deer; he enables me to tread on the heights.”
Habakkuk
3:17-19 NIV
How,
then, can we understand and participate with God in prayer in what He is doing
in our world today, as Habakkuk did in his day?
Let
me tell you what the Holy Spirit has revealed to me through His Word…
Some
time ago I asked the Lord why He has not stopped the war in Ukraine, since many
people around the world are praying. His response surprised me as much as His
reply to Habakkuk’s question stunned him.
He
took me to a verse in Genesis 15.
“In
the fourth generation, your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the
Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”
Genesis
15:16 NIV
God
told Abraham that his descendants would be enslaved in a foreign land for 400
years. After that, they would return to the Promised Land (and conquer it –
understood) because God was giving the Amorites time to repent or to fill up
His cup of wrath against them.
In
a process of unfolding revelation, He told me that Russia’s cup of wrath is not
yet full. He took me to the prophecy of Habakkuk and showed me the parallels
between the prophet’s dilemma and the dilemma of the church in our day.
South
Africa is not a nation in covenant with God but the church in South Africa, as
part of His church through the ages, is a covenant “nation”
spiritually.
“But
you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special
possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of
darkness into his wonderful light.”
1
Peter 2:9 NIV
The
church is God’s representative to the world in the New Covenant era as Israel
was to the surrounding nations in their day. God’s attention is always on His
covenant people since they are part of His plan for showing the world who
He is.
“You
show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not
with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on
tablets of human hearts.”
2
Corinthians 3:3 NIV
When
the church fails to live as citizens of God’s kingdom in this evil world, the
Lord disciplines and trains us through hardship and suffering so that we might
be a holy people, set apart for God. As, with Israel, He uses circumstances…
including people and nations, to do His work of sanctifying us for His glory.
“Moreover,
we have all had human fathers who disciplined us, and we respected them for it.
How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They
disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us
for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems
pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of
righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”
Hebrews
12:9-11 NIV
A
short while after this encounter with Scripture, I had a mental picture, out of
the blue, of a huge ship ploughing through stormy seas, then slowing down and
turning around. The words came to me, “The juggernaut is turning around.”
Juggernaut? I looked up the meaning of juggernaut – an unstoppable force.
I
had no clue what this picture meant until I was riveted by a statement in a
weekly newspaper called “The Daily Friend” which I receive by email.
The articles are written by knowledgeable people who view current affairs with
insight and discernment.
The
article I was reading examined the reason for President Ramaphosa’s agreement
with Minister Gwede Mantashe that an “Eskom 2” was a “good
idea” and should be built to stimulate competition with Eskom1 as one
option to deal with the energy crisis in South Africa.
What
was underlying this ridiculous proposal to solve the problem of an already
failing state enterprise? The writer’s conclusion, (that Gwede Mantashe is a
“died-in-the-wool” communist whose sole purpose is to turn South
Africa into a socialist state, to which President Ramaphosa agreed at this
point), set alarm bells ringing.
This
was not the president merely giving nodding approval to the suggestion,
according to the writer, but a deep-seated conviction that this is the way to
go for this country, underpinned by the SACP’s partnership with the ANC in
government.
Imagine
my surprise when I read this statement near the conclusion of this article…
“The
ANC, which has always been under the tutelage of the SACP, is intent on turning
the ship of state around (!!!!!!) and leaving this embarrassing period of state
failure behind them….”
Shortly
after reading this, I learned that South Africa is to become the headquarters
of the news channel, “Russia Today” after other countries had refused
them.
With
South Africa’s sympathetic attitude and close links with Russia, is there
every possibility that the “ship of state” is intent on leading South
Africa towards becoming a socialist state? We have only to examine the new
policies the government is proposing (e.g., EWC, NHI, BIG, etc.), and new
legislation being inflicted on the people in South Africa to recognise that the
ANC is moving us ever closer to absolute control over our nation.
How
does this tie in with Habakkuk’s interaction with God?
God
claimed responsibility for raising up the Babylonians. His purpose was to
punish His people for their disobedience to His covenant, and to bring them
back, through their suffering, to faith in Him.
He
also had to deal with Babylon. Their wickedness, cruelty, and oppression of
God’s people may have been the final drops in God’s cup of wrath which they
would drink when the Medes and Persians overthrew Babylon in one night (see
Dani 5).
I
present my conclusions in the form of questions since I have no right to put
words in God’s mouth or claim to speak for God. I can only conclude, on the
strength and authority of God’s Word, that He might be using similar tactics as
He did in Habakkuk’s day to bring His church back to Himself or, at least, to
refine the remnant of His faithful ones who will survive the troubled times we
are living in.
Since
God is sovereign in all human affairs, can it be that He has raised up the ANC
to purify His church and restore the simplicity of faith in and obedience to
Jesus as Lord?
What
if the ‘ship of state’ is turning us back to communism – the scourge that
Russia let loose on the world – with its avowed intent to rid the world of
faith in God and in Jesus as Lord, and to control the world and its wealth by
oppressing the poor. Is that not Putin’s intention – to restore Russia’s rule
over its once vast empire by bringing its former member-states to their knees?
Russian
and Chinese communism’s attempt to destroy the church failed. It produced,
instead, a purer and more powerful witness to Jesus. Perhaps this shaking may
just be what the church in South Africa needs to sift out the counterfeit
church and refine the bride in preparation for the Bridegroom’s return.
I
claim no prophetic gift or office. I ask only that you consider what I have
offered you and heed the message that faithfulness to Jesus and His ‘law’ of
faith in Him and love for one another (1 John 3:23) is our only hope of
survival despite all attempts to nullify our faith and drive us to deny our
allegiance to Jesus as Lord.
How
did Habakkuk respond to God’s startling and terrifying revelation of His ways?
Did
he “pray against” the invasion by the Babylonians? Did he “take
authority” over the devil and his attack on God’s people? Did he
“identify” and “pull down” altars and strongholds? Did he
organise “prayer walks” and mass prayer meetings to deal with the
situation he was enduring?
“No!”
to these reactions which are so often typical of the current “prayer”
movements.
Habakkuk
reflected on the coming destruction of those who harmed God’s people. He
remembered God’s great deliverance of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. He
remembered how God’s power over nature destroyed the enemy and opened the way
for His people to escape. If God did that for His people, then He could do it
again. His prayer, in response to all that God had revealed to him, was simple.
“I
have heard all about you, Lord. I am filled with awe by your amazing works. In
this time of our deep need, help us again as you did in years gone by. And in
your anger, remember your mercy.”
Habakkuk
3:2 NLT
Armed
with a renewed confidence in the sovereignty, power, and wisdom of God, Habakkuk
ends his encounter with the Lord in a song expressing his profound faith in God
despite absolute disaster. The Babylonian army may come and destroy everything
but… accompanied by wild music and dizzy dancing, the prophet expresses his
confidence in God’s grace to see him through the test.
“The
Sovereign Lord is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to
tread upon the heights.” (For the choir director: This prayer is to be
accompanied by stringed instruments).
Habakkuk
3:19 NLT
Is
it possible, then, that God’s message to Habakkuk is His message to us today?
It is not our mandate or role to try to direct the political affairs of state
by interference or prayer. Our role as members of Jesus’s church is to be
faithful to Him, to live in obedience to His word and the leading of His
Spirit, and to trust Him that He is working, in all things, for our good, to
conform us to the image of His Son (Romans 8:28-29).
All
the signs of South Africa becoming a socialist state under the present
government are there. Communism’s ultimate goal, as demonstrated in the history
of Chinese and Russian communism, is to destroy the church and annihilate God’s
people.
Unless
God rescues us from the present regime with its hidden and not-so-hidden agendas,
the church in South Africa will be shaken as never before. Whether we stand or
not will depend on our commitment to be faithful to Jesus, no matter what.
Communism
or not, God is sovereign. He will use whatever is necessary to transform us
into true children of God. His perfect family is His goal.
JESUS DID NOT SAY THAT WE WOULD BE
JUDGED BECAUSE OF THE SINS WE HAVE COMMITTED
How often we hear these words from the
mouth of a preacher, “When you stand before God, He will condemn you
because you murdered someone by your anger… you lied… you stole… you
committed adultery…!
Not so, my friend, according to Jesus,
there is only one standard by which you will be judged.
“Whoever believes in him is not
condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they
have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”
John 3:18 NIV
You see, both unbelief and faith produce
fruit, the first of rejection of Jesus, the second belief in Him as Lord.
All the sins we commit are the fruit of
unbelief in Jesus. All our good works are the fruit of lives transformed by the
power of the gospel.
“Everyone who does evil hates the
light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be
exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be
seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.”
John 3:20-21 NIV
Paul confirmed the truth that God will
judge the world by this one standard.
“God is just: He will pay back
trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and
to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in
blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God
and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting
destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of
his might on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be
marvelled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you
believed our testimony to you.”
2 Thessalonians 1:6-10 NIV
There are only two kingdoms that people
live in, the kingdom of God or the dominion of darkness. We are citizens of one
or other of these two realms, depending on our allegiance and obedience to its
ruler.
Everyone is born into the dominion of
darkness and lives under the influence of Satan, its ruler. Everyone is born
with a nature that is pulled towards sin. Everyone is an enemy of God, rebels
against His instructions and is destined for the same punishment as its ruler,
eternal separation from God in hell.
God’s grace, through faith in Jesus,
rescues us from wrath and give us a place in His eternal kingdom.
I
have an avid interest in a series on Open TV called “Masterchef
Australia”. Beginning with 24 of Australia’s best home cooks, the search for
the best of the best to become Australia’s “Masterchef” starts its
course. The winner gets a huge monetary prize, a spot in Australia’s most
prodigious culinary magazine for a year, his/her name engraved on a floating
trophy, and the title of “Masterchef” for that year.
Over
the three months of the contest, with the involvement of world-renowned chefs
from across the globe and through a process of elimination, the number of
hopefuls is whittled down to two grand finalists. These two experts must fight
it out in the toughest of cooking tests to determine who is the ultimate best.
2016 produced two brilliant finalists, Matt and Elena. Their growing skills and consistently high standard of cooking brought them into the final battle. Where Matt’s strength lay in his production of savoury dishes, Elena was excellent in both savoury and dessert.
This
finale was not only a test of cooking skills but also of determination,
perseverance, and calm and clear thinking. Since every test took place within a
strict time limit, any mistake put the contestants in danger of not completing
their task.
The
grand finale consisted of three rounds in which each had to produce an entree,
a main course, and a dessert. Three judges, skilled chefs who had coached and
tested the contestants throughout the process, each scored the contestant’s
efforts out of ten. After 2 rounds, Matt was ahead of Elena by three points.
The
final round was a “pressure test” of unbelievable difficulty. The
contestants had to produce an exact replica of a dessert prepared by one of the
most skilled chefs in his field. Each was given a step-by-step recipe for the dish
and all the ingredients needed for each element.
Unfortunately
for Matt, in his haste to get going, he misread a step and had to redo his
work, putting him behind in his time constraints. Elena worked consistently and
steadily, finally reproducing the chef’s quality dish flawlessly.
As
Matt watched in horror, his family in the gantry sharing in his pain from
above, his beautiful dessert began to fall apart, and with it his dream of
becoming “Masterchef 2016” and the prize which would kick-start his
new career.
I
watched his face and the reality of his dream melting away before his eyes. I
could almost read the thoughts that slowly gathered in his head; frustration,
anger, remorse, regret, hopelessness… “If only! If only! If only I had
been more careful. If only I had thought about what I was doing! If only I had
stayed focused!” But it was too late!
Elena
won the prize, and the title, and the trophy, and the glory of the moment, and
the means to fulfil her dream. Matt had to settle for “runner-up” in
the grand finale and a lesser prize to help him start his dream.
What
lessons can I draw from this magnificent series?
I
have learned much about human interaction from the judges and contestants
alike; the contestants’ camaraderie, their bonds of friendship, their support
of one another despite being contestants, their handling of stress and
pressure, their joy of success, their desire to learn from failure, their hopes
and dreams, the judges’ love of fun, lightening the load at times and always
giving encouragement and positive input.
However,
most of all, it was Matt’s emotional reaction to his mistakes that set me
thinking. Despite his loss, Matt could go home and set up his new career, a
food truck to supply the most delicious of dishes cooked by a Masterchef
finalist.
Elena
would also, no doubt, return home with a substantial amount of money in her
pocket, the title of Masterchef 2016, and her name engraved on the floating
trophy, all under her belt. What then? She would also get on with her life by
doing whatever was needed to establish her culinary career.
Another
chapter in the lives of these two contestants would be closed. The pain of
costly mistakes would be forgotten as they built their lives on their
experiences in the Masterchef kitchen. They used their opportunity to
participate in a gruelling contest that prepared them to fulfil their dreams.
There
is a far more significant contest being fought in the arena of life that is
preparing every human being for a future that will never end. Everyone on earth
has a death to die and after that the judgment.
What
words will you hear when you finally face the Judge? “Well, done, good and
faithful servant. Enter the joy of your Lord…? “ or, “Depart from me…?
” I cannot imagine the horror of hearing Jesus say to one and another who
never took the time to prepare for this moment, “Get away from me. I never
knew you.”
If
Matt’s regret was painful as he watched his dream slip away, what of those who
will spend an eternity of regret as they watch all light, love and goodness
fade into eternal darkness, separation from God and everything good and sink
down into an eternity of hopeless regret…”If only…”
The
world is full of atheists, both those who live as though God does not exist,
and those who vehemently deny that God is real. However, the truth is that God
does exist, and He is real. The wonders of the natural world are enough to
testify that there is a God, so that all people are without excuse.
‘But
God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress
the truth by their wickedness. They know the truth about God because he has
made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen
the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his
invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse
for not knowing God.”
Romans
1:18-20 NLT
Like
a circular tape that plays the same words over and over, those who forget God
will remember again and again their wasted opportunities. They could have had
an encounter with Jesus and received the gift of eternal life, but they did
not. They could have confessed Him as their Lord and believed in their heart
that God raised Him from the dead, but they did not. They could have secured a
future in the presence of God, enjoying the glories of heaven by believing in
His name, but they did not.
They
were too busy playing in the world of transient pleasures to heed His call and
His warnings. They considered the world’s trinkets of more value than eternal
life.
Could
an eternity of excruciating regret be the fires of hell of which Jesus spoke?
Could everlasting, relentlessly driving, but unfulfilled lusts, ungodly desires
and addictions be the burning passions of hell?
“If
only…” is a regret that will never have closure in the life to come if
you never answer the one most important question in this life, “Who do you
say that I am?” If you do not bow to Him as your Lord (your Supreme
Authority in this life), you will fall before Him as your Judge to be consigned
to an eternal hell of regret, “If only…”
The
greatest of all sin, leading inevitably to all lesser sins, is to ignore and
reject the one who commands you to repent and believe the good news.
“…
When the Lord Jesus appears from heaven, He will come with his mighty angels,
in flaming fire, bringing judgment on those who don’t know God and on those who
refuse to obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with
eternal destruction, forever separated from the Lord and from his glorious
power.”
2
Thessalonians 1:7-9 NLT
We
have been warned. Satan told Adam, “You will not die!“ but, sadly, Adam
believed his lie, and death came upon the whole human race. Do not allow his
lies to keep you from believing and embracing the truth.
“Jesus
told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father
except through me.”