Forward Edge of Life 10/87

Forward Edge of Life 10/87

by Jim Durkin

For many people life has no meaning. There is nothing of any real value; nothing good, nothing worth doing, nothing worth having, nothing worth becoming.

In fact, too many people in this world never really live at all. They're born in sin and conceived in iniquity. They grow up in death, live their whole lives in death, and they die in death-never having experienced life at all. They know existence. But existence and life are two different things.

Abundant Life

Now those of us who have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and repented of our sins have been given eternal life. We can never die. Jesus said that "the man who believes on Me will never perish." That's the quality of life I am speaking about. Jesus said, "I am come to give you life."

But there's a whole world full of people today who don't see much difference between what they already have and what Jesus came to give. "What do you mean you've come to give us life?" they ask. "We're alive!"

"No, you're not," Jesus says. "You're not alive. You abide in death. But I have come to give you life, and life more abundantly." Not just "temporal" life, not just existence for a time. But life that is abundant; life that will have no end.

Survival Living

There is a state, though-a state in between death and abundant life-where all too many Christians live, and that middle state is what I call "survival living." It's a place where Satan has so filled us with fear that we're never on the forward edge of living but always somewhere safely back in the middle. Our prayers for salvation are: "Lord, I pray that you forgive me because I certainly don't want to go to Hell. So please forgive me and take me to Heaven. But don't ask me to do anything on this earth because I don't want to die too soon, because I'm not really sure about Heaven and..."

But I want to talk to you about people who lived. They lived on the forward edge of life itself! They lived. Perhaps all of them didn't do great, earth-sweeping things, like Moses who crossed the Red Sea with the waters rolling back. Some of them did no miracles at all. But every one of them changed the course of history. And they did so because they lived on the forward edge of life

Abraham

One of the earliest examples we find in Scripture is of a man who changed the course of history and lived on the forward edge. That man was Abraham. From what we can see in the Scripture, Abraham's life was far from extraordinary. As a matter of fact, the only thing one can say for a certainty about Abraham's activities is that he walked around! The Bible speaks of him journeying from this place to that-no great earth-shaking events, no tremendous miracles. The largest army he ever commanded was the three hundred servants born in his house.

But Abraham lived. That man lived. He lived to see the birth of a nation. He lived to see the forebear of the Savior of the world. He lived to see the promises of God that we're depending on to this day.

Now the Scripture tells us that at one time Abraham was living in a place called Ur of Chaldea. One day, the word of the Lord came to him: "Up Abraham. Get you out of this city away from your kindred and your people into a land that I will show you."

Imagine that! A shrewd or clever man may have said, "Ha! Wait a minute, Lord. A land that You will show me? Where is this land, Lord? What direction is it in? What are the people like? What are the educational opportunities? How about the business? What's the economy? I have to know all these things before I can make a move like that. I'm not just going to take my wife and my whole household and move anywhere. What kind of terrain is it? Can I feed my cattle? Can I really..."

But no. Abraham did not respond with shrewdness or calculation. "Amen, Lord," he said. "Let's go. Wherever You go, I go."

You see, Abraham lived on the forward edge of life. He lived on the risk edge of life-because that's where life is lived. If Abraham had not obeyed God, there would have been no marvelous statements about him: "That man of faith," or "Abraham-the friend of God." He might have been just another man who heard the voice of God and didn't obey. Just another wife informing her husband, "Well, I'm not going, I'll tell you that right now. If you want to go you go by yourself, but I'm staying right here."

An Unknown Land

But because Abraham lived at that risk edge of life, he took his wife, Sarah, and Lot, his son-in-law, and went down to this unknown land where God directed him.

And immediately there were problems. It was a bleak and arid region and the grass soon began to run out. There were oases here and there, and some feeding ground, but not much.

Eventually, the herdsmen of Lot and the herdsmen of Abraham began to strive among themselves. "We're taking this green place," asserted the herdsmen of Abraham. "No you're not! We're taking this green place," said Lot's. "Well Abraham is the senior." "I don't care who's the senior. We've got orders from Lot and we're going to feed our cattle!"

And then Abraham arrived on the scene. "What's this I hear? Brethren, stop! There will be no war. Lot, we are brothers. We've given testimony for God in this place. Are we going to war in front of these heathen? We must not fight!"

Now notice the following decision made by Abraham: "Lot, you take anything you want. It's yours. I'll take what's left."
Talk about living at the forward edge of life, living on the edge of risk! Think about the herdsmen standing there saying,

"What's this? I know that guy Lot. He's self-centered. He's going to grab everything he can!"

And he did. "You dummy, Abraham," Lot might have smiled to himself. "You foolish old man. You're giving me first choice?"

"Yes, take it," Abraham agreed.

"Well, I want the well-watered plains of Sodom, I want Sodom and Gomorrah and the five cities for the market place. I want..."

What did Abraham get? Almost nothing. Bleak, open country, with Lot moving off proudly toward the lush plains of Sodom.

"Man, that guy's crazy!" Lot probably thought.

So then Abraham stood there and spoke to God. "I did what you told me to, Father. Now what do you want me to do?" And God replied, "Abraham, lift up your eyes and look. Look as far as you can. Now turn and look this way. How far can you see, Abraham?"

"Miles and miles and miles, Lord. Hundreds of miles."

"I give this to you, Abraham, and to your seed forever. My covenant is with you."

Now that's living! Did God take care of Abraham? Of course He took care of him! His cattle grew, his riches grew. And Lot? What happened to him? He went down to Sodom and Gomorrah-shrewd, crafty, clever, able to maneuver around. Oh, he had a righteous soul; he still had a connection with God. But he wasn't living out there where he should have been, and he ended up losing everything, committing fornication up in a cave with his own daughters after Sodom and Gomorrah were overthrown.

You see, there's a price to pay for saying: "Not me. I'm not dumb. I..." Those who step out onto the forward edge of life and say, "Amen, Lord. If that's Your Word, I'll do it"-they run terrible risks. But the end of the matter is always what counts. Abraham was a friend to God. Abraham met God. Abraham knew God. Abraham lived.

As you search the Scriptures you will read of numerous men and women who displayed the same kind of simple courage as Abraham. They lived at the forward edge of life.

The Spirit of Christ

What all these people were led by, of course, was the Spirit of Christ. This consideration, of course, takes us to Jesus.
Talk about someone having it made, Jesus had it made. The Father's beloved Son, Lord of Lords, all the angels worshipping Him, the Creator of all things, upholding all things by the word of His power. Jesus had it made.

But His Father said to Him: "Son, I want you to go down there and empty yourself. I want you to take on the form of a man. I want you to walk through the earth for a period of time. I want you to become a creature of time. I want you to go to the cross. I want you to die and shed your blood. I want you to redeem the world."

That's risk. The Scripture says Jesus cried out, "Father, if it be possible let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but Thine be done."

How marvelous! That is the spirit of living. "Your will, God, shall be done."

And so Jesus went to the cross. His disciples forsook Him and fled. He was betrayed by one of His closest companions. Another disciple cursed and swore and denied that he ever knew Him. That's what Jesus saw all around Him as He stood on the forward edge of life.

But God said, "Look beyond it, Son." And the Bible says, "He saw His seed and He was satisfied." He saw us. He saw all the millions that have come to Him throughout the centuries; He saw the millions that are yet to come!

What About You?

Do you want to live-live in the abundant way that Christ spoke of? Do you want to have a part in carrying the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ into all the world? Then you must live on the edge of risk-on the forward edge of life.

esus said the gospel is to be preached to all men everywhere. He said the church was to be one, even as He and the Father are one. And the Scripture says that we are to be like Jesus Himself, walking as He walked, conformed to His image.

Everywhere today people responding to the Spirit of God and rising up to live on the forward edge of life. You, too, need to get on the forward edge! That means giving up the security of life's back-burners. It means risk-the risk of saying, "Not my will, Lord, but Yours be done." It means stepping out in faith to obey His Word. It means placing His will and His plan for your life first. It means living for the glory of God. It means preaching His gospel.

Life at the forward edge involves risk. It involves challenge. But it also means living. Because until you live at the very edge-that edge of doing His purposes and carrying out His work-you have never lived at all.

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