Christian CPR – God’s Purpose

Christian CPR
(Download a pdf of this lesson here.)

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the New American Standard Bible®, © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation, Used by= permission (www.Lockman.org) Verses marked NET are taken from The Holy Bible: The NET Bible® (New English Translation®). Copyright © 1998 By Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. WWW.NETBIBLE.COM, All Right Reserved.

HEART STOPPING BAD
Americans are now experiencing more stress and depression than ever before
Matthew Mitchell, AssociatedContent.com, December 30, 2005

Earth is on the verge of running out of oxygen
Scrape TV, article by Anna Phillips, Science Correspondent, July 23, 2010

Mass pollution of earth’s oceans reaches alarming levels
Mike Adams, NaturalNews.com
It will be difficult enough to avoid disaster on planet Earth in the next hundred years
Quote by Stephen Hawking, published in:Environment.change.org by Jess Leber, August 11, 2010

UNICEF estimates that 200,000 children are sold into slavery each year.
Ricco Villanueva Siasoco, Infoplease.com, April 18, 2001

Child Sex Trafficking Growing in the U.S.
Huma Khan, ABC News [abcnews.go.com], May 5, 2010

Every year in America, 6,000 killers get away with murder.
Thomas Hargrove, Newsnet5.com, May 3, 2010

Another natural disaster, another nuclear disaster, another economic collapse, another health warning, another terrorist attack, they just keep coming.
ScVerlin Barton December 21, 2011

Today these words of Ralph Waldo Emerson have become ominously true: “The world is in a state of bankruptcy . . . the world owes the world more than the world can pay.” And how about you? How’s your life going? Are you experiencing all the blessings you expected when you accepted Christ? Do you wake up every morning with peace and satisfaction or in depression and a vague sense of dread? Yes, this life can be heart-stopping bad and every once in a while, we all need some Christian C. P. R. to revive our Christian heart!

OUR VITALS
Before we preform Christian C. P. R. let’s check some vital information.
Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Keep thinking about things above, not things on the earth (Colossians 3:1–2 NET) We are commanded, not suggested or strongly advised but commanded, to have a heavenly (spiritual) focus. Even the saints of old who were promised physical blessings for their obedience had a spiritual focus: But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. (Hebrews 11:16)
We also have a heavenly city waiting for us in the spiritual realm:
For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come. (Hebrews 13:14)
We are spiritual beings:
However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit ofGod dwells in you. (Romans 8:9)
Our struggles are of spiritual origin:
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12)
Our primary blessings are spiritual:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. (Ephesians 1:3)
In the end the spiritual realm will engulf the physical realm:
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. (Revelation 21:1–2)
Our final and greatest rewards are in the spiritual realm:
And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them. (Revelation 21:3)
Christ points us to eternal spiritual rewards:
Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Luke 12:33–34)

CONCLUSION
We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a temporary human experience. (A modified quote from Teilhard de Chardin) We are not physical beings trudging through the trials of this world looking for physical rewards, we are spiritual beings who should be looking for spiritual rewards. This focus is vital to Christian C. P. R.

ARE WE CONSCIOUS
Once we have checked our vital spiritual focus we need to see if we are conscious of God’s big picture plan. A certain cartoon character once stated: “The problem with people is they don’t look at the big picture. Eventually, we are each going to die, our species will go extinct, the sun will explode, and the universe will collapse. Existence is not only temporary, it’s pointless! We’re all doomed and worse nothing matters!” A pretty accurate picture when we look just at the physical big picture but let’s look at the spiritual big picture.

First: God created everything perfect and to operate under His wonderful system of rulership:
He created the angels:
Praise Him, all His angels;
Praise Him, all His hosts . . .
Let them praise the name of the LORD,
For He commanded and they were created.
(Psalms 148:2–5)
He created the earth:
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)
He created humans and placed them as rulers over all His earthly creation:
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “ . . . Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” (Genesis 1:26–28)

Next: The angel Satan rebelled against God’s system of rulership and established his own area and system of rulership:
I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the most High. (Isaiah 14:13–14; See also Ezekiel 28:15)
Satan established an area of rulership in the heavens among the angels:
And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. (Revelation 12:4)
Satan also established an area of rulership on earth over all humans:
The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil . . . she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. (Genesis 3:4–6)

But then: God told Satan He would destroy Satan’s rulership and reconcile (bring back into unity) all creation to His system of rulership:
He will crush your head [rulership] (Genesis 3:15)
For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things . . . whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. (Colossians 1:19–20)
It is important to understand that the word “reconciliation” speaks only to the final state of unity, it does not convey the methods used to obtain that unity. There are two methods of reconciliation in the Bible – friendly and forced.

Presently: God provides a friendly reconciliation for us (humans):
For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves. (Colossians 1:13–14)

But in the future: God will implement a forced reconciliation on Satan and his followers:
And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. (Ephesians 1:9–10)
Then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. (1 Corinthians 15:24)
And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur . . . If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. (Revelation 20:10–21:1)

CONCLUSION
The spiritual big picture is one of God creating everything perfect operating under His rulership, then Satan rebelling against God’s rulership and being allowed to establish an area of rulership among some of the angels, and all the humans. But after that, God sets in motion a plan to destroy Satan’s rulership and reestablish His new eternal system of rulership once again operating under His wonderful and perfect rule.

REVIVING OUR HEARTS
It’s time to perform Christian C. P. R.; to apply some shocking information to revive our hearts.
As Christians we are told that the purpose of our life is to glorify God (Isaiah 43:7). So when we come back to “Christian life” we need to know why and how to glorify God.

THE FIRST SHOCK
When Satan rebelled against God’s rulership and successfully tempted us to rebel against God’s rulership the Lord God intervened and turned the tables on Satan. God revealed His plan to destroy Satan’s rulership using the very humans whom Satan had led away from God’s rulership.
Therefore, all humanity, now has the major question set before us: Which ruler are we going to follow:
If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve. (Joshua 24:15)

When we serve the Lord we voluntarily come under the Lord’s system of rulership and we are obedient to His rules and laws. When we ignore God’s system of rulership, we automatically fall under Satan’ system of rulership (1 John 3:7–8).

THE SECOND SHOCK
God has established a system of rulership called faith, whereby all those who live by that system are His followers and glorify Him. But what does God’s faith look like in action?
There are five activities that constitute godly faith.
1. Receiving God’s Word accurately.
2. Accurately understanding God’s Word.
3. Owning (or personalizing) God’s Word.
4. Accurately applying God’s Word in one’s life.
5. A continual life of faith that results in a growing godly character.

Remove any one of those five and you no longer have godly faith. Let’s take a look at an example of this godly faith from the eleventh chapter of Hebrews.
God told Noah to build a boat and gave him very specific instructions. Noah did not turn a deaf ear to God’s word, he listened to what God had to say (activity 1). Next, he sought to accurately understand God’s instructions (activity 2). After that he did not hire the job to be done by some one else, he personally accepted the responsibility of God’s request of building a boat (activity 3). He then picked up a hammer and started building the boat (activity 4). And he did not quit, he followed through until the job was completed (activity 5) (Genesis 5:29 – 7:5). So, in short, the five activities of godly faith are:

1. Receive It (God’s Word)
2. Understand It
3. Own It
4. Do It
5. Become It (conformed to God’s character).

Today we have a single source for God’s universal truth to all humans. It is called the Bible or the Scriptures:
All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16–17 emphasis added)

Everything we need to know about godly faith is in the Bible. The Bible covers everything we need to know to be successful in God’s plan of reconciliation. For this reason it is God’s universal word—it applies to all Christians everywhere in the world. It is the only source that all Christians can completely trust as being God’s true word to them. Because the Bible is so reliable and accurate, godly faith will now be referred to as “Biblical Faith.” This title will distinguish it from all other types of faith that might be called godly.
We need to know the Bible and live by its standards. This is the only way to come under God’s rulership. All other methods are from Satan and put us under his rulership (Romans 14:23).

THE THIRD SHOCK
The goal and evidence of God’s rulership in our lives is not to be self-actualized, well centered, positive, happy, fun-loving, rich, community minded, religious people, or even to have great ministries. The goal is to have God’s rulership in our lives, through Biblical Faith, resulting in the growth of godly character – that’s true life:

For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. (2 Peter 1:4)
But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18)
THE FOURTH SHOCK
The final “shocker” of Christian C. P. R. is that God has given us an important, and very active, role in the conflict between Him and Satan. Through humans God is now in the process of crushing Satan’s rulership:
All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. (2 Corinthians 5:18)
Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. (James 4:7)
The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. (Romans 16:20)

We, as appointed by God, are now the focal point, sort of the “front line” of the conflict between God and Satan. And, it is our role in this conflict to glorify God not Satan! This is why we are here—to glorify God, not Satan. How we glorify God is by growing in His character through a lifetime of Biblical Faith!
And in the end, after we have developed godly character, God will place us in positions of eternal rulership in His new creation:
And they will reign forever and ever. (Revelation 22:5)

CONCLUSION
Our Christian life is not about going to church and being religious. It’s not about God sending His only Son so we can have a good physical life here on this earth. It’s about obeying God in our daily life through Biblical Faith, developing godly character, and preparing for a position of eternal rulership.

GOD’S MEDICINE
Once Christian C. P. R. has been administered and we come back to Christian life we need to take some of God’s medicine.

THE WRITTEN WORD

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. (1 Peter 1:2–3)
All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16–17 emphasis added)

God has recorded His word in written form—the Bible. Only the Bible reveals to us every good work that God desires (Hebrews 4:12; 2 Timothy 3:16–17; 2 Timothy 2:15; Ephesians 4:13).

THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit is another provision from God. A primary function of the Holy Spirit is to empower us to grow in godly character (John 15:1ff; Romans 8:1ff).

GOD’S SPIRITUAL FAMILY AND GIFTS
God has a spiritual family consisting of all other Christians and He has equipped us with spiritual gifts. He has given these gifts for us to help each other in building godly character (Ephesians 4:11–16; Hebrews 10:25).

TRIALS
Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2–4)

Trials, the testings of our faith, are to make us complete; they are the workouts that result
in strong Christian life and godly character.

CONCLUSION
The medicine of God’s written Word, the Holy Spirit, His spiritual family, and trials will help keep us healthy, exercising, and growing in godly character.

OUR HEALTHY GODLY CHARACTER
For those who have had even the slightest brush with astronomy it is evident that our planet is one of the smallest in the universe—and therefore, speaking within the parameters of the physical universe, we are but tiny unimportant creatures. We are only important because God has given us a place of importance in His plan of reconciliation. God has determined and designed that our godly character will affect all creation for all time and for all eternity.
Our godly character affects the entire earth and all its inhabitants:

Because there is no faithfulness or kindness
Or knowledge of God in the land.
There is swearing, deception, murder, stealing and adultery.
They employ violence, so that bloodshed follows bloodshed.
Therefore the land mourns,
And everyone who lives in it languishes
Along with the beasts of the field and the birds of the sky,
And also the fish of the sea disappear. (Hosea 4:1–3)

Our godly character is designed to have a positive effect on all humans:

Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. (2 Corinthians 5:18–20)
But all this is not the greatest area affected by our godly character! Our godly character is designed to have its greatest effect in the spiritual realm.
In the book of Job–the oldest book in the Bible–we find the first written lesson God handed to us. This lesson is that God used Job to prove a point to Satan, and all the angels. If you remember the story, Job was a godly man and one of the richest men in the East. God and Satan had a disagreement over the issue of faithfulness and reward and God allowed Satan to take all his money, kill all his children, and take his health. But through all this Job remained faithful to God.
Then Job’s friends tried to figure out why all this had happened but they didn’t know and were of no help. There was no human on this earth who understood why all
this was happening to Job!
After the trial and suffering was over God still did not tell Job why He had allowed this great suffering. It was a spiritual issue in the heavenly realm; it was between God and Satan and the witness that Job provided was not understood by humans it was only understood by the angels! God’s glory was only revealed in the spiritual realm. What a testimony, Job glorifying God not to just a few humans on this earth but to the entire heavenly realm! And this type of testimony is still active today. Just like Job you can have a witness to the entire heavenly realm:

The purpose of this enlightenment is that through the church the multifaceted wisdom of God should now be disclosed to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 3:10)
I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. . . . I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. (Luke 15:7–10)

Our present godly character also determines our future eternal rewards. The unbeliever’s judgment is found in Revelation 20:11–15 but the judgment for the believer is found in 1 Corinthians chapter 3:
Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will
suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. (1 Corinthians 3:10–15 emphasis added)

CONCLUSION
Our godly character affects both the physical and spiritual realm. It also effects all time and all eternity. But its greatest effect is in the spiritual realm – they know what is happening and why it is happening. It is only because of these facts that the verses below make sense:
If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied. (1 Corinthians 15:19)
And others were tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection; and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground. (Hebrews 11:35–38)
But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them. (Hebrews 11:16)

Once Christian C. P. R. has been performed it is very important to workout and stay healthy. It is important to everything from angels to dirt and for all time and all eternity!

CONCLUSION
The important issue is not our physical situation it’s our spiritual situation—our growing godly character. The physical world can thrust heart-stopping bad on us which will require Christian C. P. R.. And when we regain consciousness we realize that:
• We are spiritual beings:
• God has given us an important position in the conflict with Satan:
• We have the ability to glorify God and destroy Satan’s rulership over our lives by developing godly character:
• The trials in our life help produce godly character:
• Our godly character is beneficial to all creation for all time and for all eternity:
• Our godly character is a great witness to the heavenly host, even when no human understands:
• Our godly character prepares us for a future position of eternal rulership.

Keep thinking about things above, not things on the earth (Colossians 3:2 NET)

About the Author
Mr. Barton holds a masters degree in Exegetical Theology from Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon. He is dedicated to the reintroduction of this information back into Christianity and presents lectures on this topic.

Contact Information:
Things Above Ministries
P. O. Box 86604
Portland OR 97286
scverlin@things-above.org