The Perfect City

He has prepared for them a city. (Hebrews 11:16)

No pollution, no graffiti, no trash, no peeling paint or rotting garages, no dead grass or broken bottles, no harsh street talk, no in-your-face confrontations, no domestic strife or violence, no dangers in the night, no arson or lying or stealing or killing, no vandalism, and no ugliness.

The city of God will be perfect, because God will be in it. He will walk in it and talk in it and manifest himself in every part of it. All that is good and beautiful and holy and peaceful and true and happy will be there, because God will be there.

Perfect justice will be there and recompense a thousandfold for every pain suffered in obedience to Christ in this world. And it will never deteriorate. In fact, it will shine brighter and brighter as eternity stretches out into unending ages of increasing joy.

When you desire this city above everything else on the earth, then you honor God, who, according to Hebrews 11:10, is the designer and builder of the city. And when God is honored, he is pleased and not ashamed to be called your God.

John Piper 

His Timing Is Perfect

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may find grace for a well-timed help. (Hebrews 4:16, my literal translation)

I know this precious verse is usually translated, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” But that is a paraphrase — a true one — to show that God shows up just when we need him. But the literal focus is on how timely the help is.

All ministry is in the future — a moment away, or a month away, or a year, or a decade. We have ample time to fret about our inadequacy. When this happens, we must turn to prayer.

Prayer is the form of faith that connects us today with the grace that will make us adequate for tomorrow’s ministry. Timing really matters.

What if grace comes too early or comes too late? The traditional translation of Hebrews 4:16 does not make clear a very precious promise in this regard. We need a more literal rendering to see it. The promise is not merely that we find grace “to help in time of need,” but that the grace is well-timed by God.

The point is that prayer is the way to find future grace for a well-timed help. This grace of God always arrives from the “throne of grace” on time. The phrase “throne of grace” means that future grace comes from the King of the universe who sets the times by his own authority (Acts 1:7).

His timing is perfect, but it is rarely ours: “For a thousand years in [his] sight are but as yesterday when it is past” (Psalm 90:4). At the global level, he sets the times for nations to rise and fall (Acts 17:26). And at the personal level, “My times are in [his] hand” (Psalm 31:15).

When we wonder about the timing of future grace, we must think on the “throne of grace.” Nothing can hinder God’s plan to send grace when it will be best for us. Future grace is always well-timed.

John Piper 

Jesus is Perfect Completion

PRAY OVER THIS

“And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth.” Revelation 5:6

 

PONDER THIS

Seven is a perfect or complete number. Seven is used to reference the Lord Jesus Christ many times. It is used also to reference the Holy Spirit. The Bible speaks of the seven spirits of God, but that doesn’t mean there are literally seven spirits of God, it means the Holy Spirit is the perfect Spirit of God.

Six stands for perfect imperfection, and that’s what Man is. So, you’ll find six being used in the Bible to symbolize Satan and evil. For example, Goliath of Gath, that great giant that David killed—remember how David killed Goliath? His height was six cubits and a span; his spearhead weighed 600 shekels of iron; Goliath had six pieces of armor. There is Goliath, and he represents 666. Little David represents David's greater Son; he killed Goliath. One man won the battle for all the rest. What a picture and prophecy of the Lord Jesus, who has defeated Satan for all of us.

How did David’s defeat of Goliath point to the promised defeat of sin, death, and Satan by Jesus?

What similarities do you find in this account with the work of Jesus on behalf of sinners? (See 1 Samuel 17.)

PRACTICE THIS

Note the ways David acted in this limited moment that are similar to the way in which Jesus has acted on behalf of all sinners for eternity.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Are You Trying to be Perfect?

PRAY OVER THIS

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.”

(Exodus 20:12)

 

PONDER THIS

Don’t get the idea that you must be a perfect parent. You’re not a perfect parent, and your children are not perfect children.

God gave your children each a will. I don’t have goals for my children; I have desires for my children. Do you know who I have goals for? For myself. Why? Because I can’t control my children; I can control me, by God’s grace. So, my desire is that I will have godly children; my goal is I will be a godly dad. Do you understand the difference? With God helping me, I will be a godly dad.

I want to relieve you from the burden of perfectionism—from thinking if your child fails, it’s because you weren’t perfect. If their success depends upon your perfection, they won’t ever succeed; they will fail because no one is perfect.

Have you ever felt overwhelmed by the desire to be a perfect parent or perfect person?

How does Jesus’s work on our behalf relieve the pressure for us to be perfect?

PRACTICE THIS

Encourage some parents you know in a tangible way, whether by a word of encouragement or a thoughtful gift.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

The Perfect City

He has prepared for them a city. (Hebrews 11:16)

No pollution, no graffiti, no trash, no peeling paint or rotting garages, no dead grass or broken bottles, no harsh street talk, no in-your-face confrontations, no domestic strife or violence, no dangers in the night, no arson or lying or stealing or killing, no vandalism, and no ugliness.

The city of God will be perfect, because God will be in it. He will walk in it and talk in it and manifest himself in every part of it. All that is good and beautiful and holy and peaceful and true and happy will be there, because God will be there.

Perfect justice will be there and recompense a thousandfold for every pain suffered in obedience to Christ in this world. And it will never deteriorate. In fact, it will shine brighter and brighter as eternity stretches out into unending ages of increasing joy.

When you desire this city above everything else on the earth, then you honor God, who, according to Hebrews 11:10, is the designer and builder of the city. And when God is honored, he is pleased and not ashamed to be called your God.

John Piper 

Only Jesus is Perfect

BIBLE MEDITATION

“Nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:39

 

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT

A perfectionist in the church is a miserable person. And not only that, but he makes everybody else miserable, too. The fellowship is never sweet enough. The teacher is never prepared enough. The music is never spiritual enough, and on and on it goes.

Jesus supplies the only perfection that we will ever attain until we get to Heaven. It is not perfection that God is looking for in His children; it is excellence. God is working in you to achieve His purpose for His glory.

ACTION POINT

Memorize this statement, “I am worthy apart from my performance because Christ died for me and gave His life to me. My life is hidden in Him. Jesus loves me.”

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

There's No Perfection Here

There is no perfection here on earth.

Perfection was here.

Christ came in the form of man, though He is God's Son.

Why did Christ come?

He came in obedience to His Father. 

He died willingly.

His life was not taken.

It was out of love but mainly to fulfill Old Testament prophecy.  

Prophecy fulfilled by God's power so the world may know He is sovereign God!

For His glory, for the world to praise His majesty.

1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. 

2 And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.  - Isaiah 11:1-2

Of this man's offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised. - Acts 13:23

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. - Luke 2:11

6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,

7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,

10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. - Philippians 2:6-11

No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father." - John 10:18

5 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, "Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; 

6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. 

7 Then I said, 'Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.'" 

8 When he said above, "You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings" (these are offered according to the law),

9 then he added, "Behold, I have come to do your will." He does away with the first in order to establish the second.

10 And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. - Hebrews 10:5-10