2114

October 5, 2014 (Wade Hammond in Concert)
2114
Philippians 2:1-13                    NOTES NOT EDITED

SIS – Even though we live in a world that is changing rapidly, the most important things in life, never change.

I like to set the stage by going back in time to a show that looked ahead in time.  Anyone remember, “The Jetsons.” The Jetsons were a futuristic cartoon that fantasized about what life might be like in the future.  They debuted on T.V. 52 years ago in 1962. I was six years old and it was one of my favorite shows. The Jetsons were a futuristic family with fabulous and far out things like a robot maid, a flat-screen television, a flying car, and a tanning bed—the stuff of science fiction back then, but common now—though a flying car is probably not in everybody’s garage . . . yet—though many have cars that will parallel park by themselves.  The future is arriving much faster than anybody could have predicted 52 years ago.  The pace of change is maddening and for many not the least bit unnerving.

A recent article reflecting on the possible changes coming in our future asked these questions:

One hundred years from now:
- Will holographic communication, teleporting, 3-D printers and robots with artificial intelligence be passé?
- Will wealthy people be able to select some elements of their child's genetic makeup?
- Will humans have a base on Mars?
- Will the singularity point actually happen in which some machines have greater intelligence than humans?
- Will we be able to log onto our computers directly from our brains?
- Will cars be purely automated and driver-free?
The article went on to muse about some more mundane changes:
Will our great-grandchildren of the 22nd century will be excited about more mundane developments, like transparent toasters, self-cooling beer cans, phones that charge themselves, laptops that are paper-thin and so on.

We have reached a place in technological expertise that, “anything is possible.”  I remember Dick Tracy’s famous, “smart watch,” in the 1950’s.  Kids thought this was neat but we all knew it was just, “science fiction.”  For us, a phone was that black, hulking hunk of indestructible plastic connected to the wall by a thick black wire.  A “smart phone, much less a smart watch” was simply fantasy.

Well, so was space travel when my grandparents started reading Buck Rogers in magazines back in 1928.  1928!  Didn’t dinosaurs still roam the earth back then!

 I hate to admit it, I am so old that when I went to college they didn’t even have laptops, let alone smart phones. That was nearly 37 years ago! That was back in the Dark Ages. Now, even MIT has put their curriculum online and you can become a geek without even leaving your living room. I am so old that a telephone was this big, heavy black thing on the table that you did not even own but leased from the telephone company. I’m so old that not only did many cars not have seat belts, they had metal dashboards! That really made crash test dummies nervous! As old as I am, I really haven’t been around that long, but the changes have been nothing less than “Buck Rogers” kind of changes. Can you imagine what life will be like 100 years from now in 2114? I cannot even imagine. It is quite possible that each of us will have a spare clone in the closet to provide “spare parts.” That will certainly give new meaning to the phrase, “a skeleton in your closet.” Of course, all this presumes there will be a 2114. There may not be a 2015. With all that does and will change, some things never change and they are the issues that really matter. 

Let’s read our text to see a few things that will never change.  Phil. 2:1-13.

1.  First, Human Nature Never Changes (1-4)

Experts in every field are making predictions in regard to the future.  One Nobel Prize winner, Robert Shiller predicts that the future will be marked by much more “limited resources,” . . . unbelievably dangerous strategic weapons of mass destruction, flourishing new changes in internet technologies that will make labor markets unstable and career longevity very shaky.  Alvin Roth, another Nobel Prize winner from Stanford, forecasts monumental changes in medicine, including transplants.  Roth states, “the idea of cutting a kidney out of one person and sewing it into another will seem like . . . barbarity.”  And, when I spoke earlier of a clone for spare parts in your closet, you thought I was crazy—which I may be but that is beside the point.  I could site many, many big changes coming in the very near future that would seem as fantastically impossible as the space travel of Buck Rogers, phone watch of Dick Tracy, or the flying car of the Jetsons—all things common today.  But, regardless of how many things are predicted to change, not body is predicting that human nature is going to change.  In fact, it has not changed since Adam sinned in the garden a few thousand years ago. 

Notice verses 1-4 again:  ¹If then there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love,  if any fellowship with the Spirit,  if any affection and mercy,  ² fulfill my joy by thinking the same way,  having the same love,  sharing the same feelings, focusing on one  goal. ³ Do nothing out of rivalry or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. ⁴ Everyone should look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.

Keep in mind this was written over 2000 years ago.  Also keep in mind it was written to “believers in Christ.”  Paul exhort the Philippian believers to practice “encouragement, love, Spirit-led fellowship, affection and mercy.”  Now, we know that the Philippian church was very dear to Paul and he held them in high regard (v7).  Yet, he still felt led of the Spirit to remind them of the importance of “Christian unity.” Paul understood the ugliness of human nature and we know from what Paul writes to the Galatians that our human nature will be in constant conflict with our Spiritual nature as long as we are in the body of flesh.  So Paul reminds the Galatians:

^5:16 I say then, walk by the Spirit  and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.  Then, in verses 19-21 he describes the flesh, or human nature—and it ain’t pretty!  ¹⁹ Now the works of the flesh are obvious:  ^a sexual immorality,  moral impurity,  promiscuity,  ²⁰ idolatry,  sorcery,  hatreds,  strife,  jealousy,  outbursts of anger,  selfish ambitions,  dissensions,  factions,  ²¹ envy,  ^o drunkenness, carousing,  and anything similar. I tell you about these things in advance—as I told you before—that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Let me see a show of hands:  how many of you ever thought you would hear of a video showing journalists being beheaded by a man dressed head to toe in the black garb of the Middle East?  Not many hands.  Man has made tremendous advances in technology, but ZERO advances in human nature.  Human nature never changes.

2.  The Wages of Sin Never Change (v 8; Rom. 6:23a)

Look again at verse 8:  ⁸ He humbled Himself by becoming obedient

to the point of death—even to death on a cross.

Many of you know the story:  God promised Adam and Eve, our first parents and the first sinners on earth—among many to follow—that He would send someone—the Messiah—to pay for the penalty of their sin once for all.  We read this all the way back in Genesis:

3:15 I will put hostility between you (serpent, Devil) and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.

Now, the serpent was cursed for being a willing vessel of the Devil.  We’ll not dwell on the interesting issues that raises at this time.  The snake is not what God is speaking to so much as what the snake represents—the Devil, the adversary of God and enemy of man.  The Devil is a murderer, a destroyer, the antithesis to all that is good.  Notice God promises a “hostility” (meaning an “enemy”) that will be born of woman and will destroy the Devil (crush his head) after the Devil strikes His heal.  That “Enemy” of evil and the Devil is Jesus Christ.  Jesus came from heaven, born in a manger through the virgin birth of Mary, lived a sinless, perfect life as a man and then died upon the cross. 

Why did Jesus, God the Eternal Son (Second Person of the Holy Trinity) have to die?  Paul gives us a verse that helps us understand:

Rom. 6:23:  For the wages of sin is death.

We all understand what “wages” represent.  Wages are what we are owed for what we do.  When we give the boss eight hours of our time, he “owes” us our wage.  Well, when man gives time to the Devil—and we all do—“for all sin and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23)—then we will get the “wages” that sin pays—eternal death.  Now, this isn’t just being separated from our body at the moment our heart stops beating or our brain waves cease.  This “eternal separation” means those that die as unforgiven sinners, will die for eternity in hell.  Jesus describes hell as a place “ where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched” (Mk. 9:44).  Hell is represented by a garbage dump that is constantly on fire and the maggots feast forever.  I don’t apologize for that graphic language because it is the language of Our Lord, and I speak this in hopes that no one would ever have to go there.  I say something more about that in a moment.

Wages have changed a lot since I was a kid.  My first job after my paper route was pumping gas at Don Ruch Sunoco.  I loved that job!  My wages were $2.25 for every hour I worked, and time and half for overtime!  Wow! I was rolling in dough.  Now, the minimum wage has changes significantly.  It is now somewhere around $9.00 an hour and people are pushing for it to go to over $15.00 an hour.  Human wages change—but the “the wages of sin” never change.  Jesus—Who was Eternal God—had to die to pay the wages of sin for every person that ever lived, is living, or ever will live.  That never changes.

3.  Let me say briefly, the Death Rate never changes (10-11)

Look at verse 10: ¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow —of those who are in heaven  and on earth and under the earth —     ¹¹ and every tongue  should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory  of God the Father.

Notice first of all who is covered in this verse:  verse 10 speaks of “every knee” and verse 11 mentions “every tongue.”  Nobody is excluded from the requirements of this verse.  But, notice something else—the groups mentioned those in heaven, which probably refer to all angelic beings, those on earth which are those now living, and those “under the earth,” which I think speaks for itself—as in “six feet under!”

Here’s my point:  everybody is going to die.  Hebrews 9:27 states this unequivocally:  And just as it is appointed for people to die once.  Now, dying “once” refers to physical death.  The Bible also speaks of a “second death” (Rev 2:11, Rev 20:6 & 14, and Rev. 21:8).  This refers to the “eternal death” in hell that I spoke of just a few minutes ago.  Everyone is going to die.  The death rate has never changed and it will never change:  it remains at 1 to 1, or 100%!  Studies have shown that one of the top fears of people surveyed is the “fear of death.” Part of the fear is knowing we cannot avoid it and another part is NOT KNOWING how it is going to happen.

I remember reading about the funeral of Old Fred.  He had been a faithful Christian and was in the hospital, near death. The family called their preacher to stand with them.  As the preacher stood next to the bed, Old Fred's condition appeared to deteriorate and he motioned frantically for something to write on.  It was clear that Old Fred was in distress.  The pastor lovingly handed him a pen and a piece of paper, and Old Fred used his last bit of energy to scribble a note, then he died.  The preacher thought it best not to look at the note at that time, so he placed it in his jacket pocket. At the funeral, as he was finishing the message, he realized that he was wearing the same jacket that he was wearing when Old Fred died. He said, "You know, Old Fred handed me a note just before he died. I haven't looked at it, but knowing Fred, I'm sure there's a word of inspiration there for us all." He opened the note, and read, "Hey, you're standing on my oxygen tube!"

Just like Old Fred, we do not know how or when we are going to die, but we can be sure of one thing:  WE ARE GOING TO DIE!  The death rate never changes—it is still 1-1!

Well, we live in a time when almost everything is changing and changing at a pace that is unimaginable.  Almost everything changes, but as we have seen some things never change.  Human nature never changes. The Wages of Sin never change.  The Death Rate never changes.  There is one more thing that never changes:

4.  The Purpose of Life Never Changes (10-13)

The most important question anybody could ever ask is:  “how can I know for sure I will go to heaven when I die?”  Now, not everyone asks that question, and not everyone that asks that question actively seeks to discover the answer.  Yet, the central issue of Christianity deals with that question.  The vast majority of people who have lived, or ever will live have never discovered the purpose for which they were born in the first place. 

Many unique messages can be found on tombstones as we noted earlier.  But almost all of them contain three basic elements:  The date of birth, the date of death, and a dash that separates the two.  We do not control the date of our birth, nor do we control the date of our death.  Oh, but some would argue that people who commit suicide control the date of their death.  Not so.  In fact, have you not heard of “attempted suicide?”  People try to kill themselves but for one reason or another they fail to do so.  Even in cases where a person does commit suicide, it is not outside of God’s control.  The Bible teaches clearly in Psalm 139:16, among other places:

¹⁶ Your eyes saw me when I was formless; all my days were written in Your book and planned before a single one of them began.

We do not control the date of our birth, nor the date of our death, but we do have a great measure of control in regard to the “dash” that separates these two events.  Being born is not great accomplishment (except for the mother perhaps).  Dying is common to all men so it is nothing of note.  But that dash!  What about that dash.

Every person that is born is born with the same purpose.  Look at verse 11, noting especially the last few words: ¹¹ and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

We live and move and have our being in order to please God and bring glory to Him.  That purpose never changes.  Whether we praise God by beating a hollow log or praise Him with a sophisticated modern instrument, the purpose of our life is the same.  Whether we travel as our forebears did by horseback across the country, or whether we travel into space like Buzz Aldrin in a spaceship, the purpose for our lives is always the same:  “to bring glory to our God and Father.”  Now, what must we do?

Here’s the unique thing about Christianity—we don’t DO anything.  It has already been DONE.  DO. . .DONE!  Say that with me: DO --  DONE.  This is what verses 6-8 are all about:

6 who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be used for His own advantage. 7 Instead He emptied Himself by assuming the form of a slave, taking on the likeness of men. And when He had come as a man in His external form, 8 He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death—even to death on a cross.

Look also at verses 12-13:  ¹² So then, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now even more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. ¹³ For it is God who is working in you, enabling you both to desire and to work out His good purpose.

As we said earlier, it is clear that human nature does not change.  We see evidence of that on a daily basis on the news.  But, we can see the same evidence every day simply by looking in the mirror.  As Paul said, “All of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” (Rom. 3:23).  What did we fall short of:  “the glory of God.” 

What really is sin, defined in its simplest form:  “sin is missing the target” (Greek, harmatia).  Sin is simply failing to live according to the purpose for which God created you—to bring glory to Him.  Sin is simply “doing as you please,” instead of “doing what pleases God.”  This is the root of all the evil, darkness, and despair in our world—people living with NO purpose or the WRONG purpose.  You will never have a sense of satisfaction in life if you do not align your life with the purpose of bringing glory to God with your every deed and every thought.  Though everything in our world does and will change—the purpose for which you and I were created will never change.  We are born to bring glory to God, Our Father.

If the Lord tarries, 100 years from now you may “teleport” yourself to church—or perhaps send your clone or hologram.  I hope not, but if we do, the purpose will not change however.  We live and breathe to “bring glory to God our Father.” 

100 years ago, my grandparents (some of you it would be great-grandparents) marveled at the adventures of Buck Rogers. Exposed to radioactive gas, Rogers falls into "a state of suspended animation, free from the ravages of catabolic processes, and without any apparent effect on physical or mental faculties." Rogers remains in suspended animation for 492 years.  Rogers awakens in 2419.  He awoke to a vastly different world where “ray guns” were the weapons of choice, robots roamed freely, and space travel was commonplace.  That was 492 years for Buck Rogers.  All that and more has taken place in only 52 year!  What will life be like in another 50, or 100 years?  Even your imagination is not big enough to conceive what will be possible then, that is simply unimaginable now.

But, the real important issues will never change:  human nature, the wages of sin, the death rate, and the purpose of God.  Think big thoughts.  Live for eternity.  As one historian said, “learn that little things are little and big things are big.”  Live to bring glory to God, Our Father and you won’t have to worry no matter how much every thing changes.

Earlier we read Romans 6:23, the first part.  Let me share that complete verse: ²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God offers each of us a very special gift:  eternal life through Jesus Christ.  Whereas sin is simply failing to live according to God’s purpose, salvation can be simply defined as “completely fulfilling God’s purpose” through surrendering to Jesus Christ as the Lord of Life.  Why not get started on living out God’s purpose, today.

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