Freedom is Good News Part 63

Last week I ended the article by quoting from Hebrews 11:13-16 but I left out the last sentence of verse 16.  I called it a very important line and so I quote it here: “Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.”

Let’s take a look at this in two pieces.  First, “God is not ashamed to be called their God” is a very powerful statement.  This is sort of a “left handed” way of saying that God is honored to be their God.  But, we might also realize that it implies there are some individuals whom God is ashamed of!  Is God honored to be called your God?

Perhaps the greatest covenant statement in scripture is one that is found throughout the bible, from Genesis to Revelation: “I will be your God and you will be my people”.  God first brings this up with our Father Abraham in Genesis 17:7, “I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.”  This is not a personal covenant with just the Patriarchs.  It is an everlasting covenant with Abraham’s children, that is, the children of faith who belong to Christ (Gal. 3:29).  We are to find ourselves fully immersed in this covenant when we read in 2 Corinthians 6:16, “…For we are the temple of the living God.  As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God and they will be my people.”

So let me ask again, is God honored to be called your God?  Does your life bring honor to your God?  And further more does God consider you to be one of His people?  I will leave you to examine your own lives in regards to these questions.

The second part of this quote I introduced above has to do with the reward that God has prepared for His faithful ones: “For He has prepared a city for them.”  This is an interesting statement because we don’t often consider that we have a “city” being prepared for us.  In song and statement down through the ages we have “a mansion just over the hilltop”.  We have a mansion of “purest gold”.  We have “a mansion He prepareth, that where He is there I may be.”  In the gospel of John (from the King James translation) in chapter 14 verse 2 we read, “In my Father’s house are many mansions … I go to prepare a place for you.”  The word “mansion” here needs a little explanation, but for now we are looking at a city.

So, what are Abraham’s children awaiting?  “I saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them.  They will be His people and God Himself will be with them and be their God.  He will wipe every tear from their eyes.  There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21:2-4)  Wow!  Now that is something to think on!!  Good news indeed.