1 Peter 4.2 commands we no longer live in the flesh but for
the will of God. The health and wealth preaching from so much of the church
must cease. The preaching of the gospel for the current material benefit of the
audience must stop. The doctrine that God loves us and has a wonderful plan for
our lives so that we can eat, drink and be merry all of our days must end. The purpose
of man is to know, love and serve God. We were created by Him, for Him and made
to serve Him as caretakers of His world. Life is not to be lived for ourselves
and our benefit but for the glory of God and the expansion of His will on earth
as it is in heaven. As the Lord Jesus did not come to do His will but to do the
will of Him Who sent Him so we are saved not so that God can make us happy but
so that we can serve God for His glory. The Lord Jesus promised eternal life to
those who lose their lives now for His sake and for that of the gospel. The self-centered,
self-directed, self-beneficiating gospel preached these past fifty years has
resulted in a selfish and self-centered church immature in its behavior and ineffective
in its transformation of the culture. While certainly not true of the entire
church, the culture these past fifty years has not become more God centered but
less, the result of the church yielding less fruit and not more. The church is
the salt and light in the world, the culture merely reflects the effectiveness
of its efforts. We must hear once again the clear call of Jesus that those who
wish to follow Him must deny themselves and take-up their cross, in this way our
work and lives will focus on God and His glory and not ourselves and our happiness.
