“LIGHTS! CAMERA!ACTION!”

LIGHTS ! CAMERA!  ACTION!

“LIGHTS! CAMERA!ACTION!”, these are the words that have become part of modern language synonomous with the making of a motion picture film.

When you think about the big picture of life then these words also have some meaning.

In Genesis we read that God said.”let there be light!”

There is a little shift in the order of the words momentarily. Ie.Light,action and camera.

As next God set about creating the world and all that’s in it.

This was action of the highest order.

Thus  the Divine Drama had begun and we have in the words of the Old and new Testament the equivalent of the action as it has been enacted over centuries being captured in writing not with a camera.

We actually have a chapter entitled the Acts of the Apostles, the extraordinary story of the birth of the Christian Church and the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

In modern times the Drama has been retold and illustrated using pen,camera and all the technologies available to man down the ages.

In earlier times the great painters and artists did there best to illustrate this “Greatest Story Ever Told.”

Much commentary has been made and the story been analysed and scrutinised like no other.

Modern films of course are edited down to a finished product that may be good,awful,uplifting, funny or downright dangerous and evil.

The Divine Drama has a more than Academy Award winning team.

The Heavenly Father is  the Producer along with Assistant  Producer Jesus Christ. Jesus also is the principle in His own production.

In fact the Bible teaches that all three God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are one.

The Holy Spirit is the Director and special effects maestro and motivator and encourager and teacher and counsellor to the actors.

The actors have been a cast of thousands,millions , ever since the earth began.

This story has an unchanging focus.

The Birth, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The thing that does change is the cast in that the all human actors in this drama are mortal.So are the the other members of the drama.

Animals,Birds, Plants and Sea creatures. They too take part in their own way.

Every now and then a famous film star or performer dies and his or her life is dissected by writers and critics and the public.

They are actors in the drama of life ,as are we the common people, but it is a real life Drama.

We are all in the same production rich or poor, famous or a nobody.

When we die people may also comment about our performance but it does not matter a hoot really what people think of our performance but what is our standing with God.

For the Christian we will receive our Judgement at the Judgement seat of Christ.

For the non Christian it will be judgement at the great White Throne.

After appearing before  the Judgement seat of Christ the Christian is ushered into the  Heavenly reward.

It may be a sobering experience awaiting the Christian,

The following poem sums it up in a way.

     WHEN I STAND AT THE JUDGEMENT SEAT

When I stand at the judgement seat of Christ

And he shows me His plan for me;

The plan of my life as it might have been

Had He had His way and I see

How I blocked Him here and I checked Him there

And I would not yield my will,

Shall I see grief in my Savior’s eyes;

Grief though He loves me still’

Oh, He’d have me rich, and I stand there poor,

Stripped of all but His grace,

While my memory runs like a hunted thing

Down the paths I can’t retrace,

Then my desolate heart will well-nigh break

With tears that I cannot shed.

I’ll cover my face with my empty hands

And bow my uncrowned head.

No, Lord of the years that are left to me

I yield them to Thy hand.

Take me, make me , mold me

To the pattern Thou hast planned.

Oswald Chambers (author of My utmost for His Highest) sheds some light on it as follows.

“Paul says that we must all, preachers and other people alike, "appear before the judgment seat of Christ." But if you will learn here and now to live under the scrutiny of Christ’s pure light, your final judgment will bring you only delight in seeing the work God has done in you. Live constantly reminding yourself of the judgment seat of Christ, and walk in the knowledge of the holiness He has given you. Tolerating a wrong attitude toward another person causes you to follow the spirit of the devil, no matter how saintly you are. One carnal judgment of another person only serves the purposes of hell in you. Bring it immediately into the light and confess, "Oh, Lord, I have been guilty there." If you don’t, your heart will become hardened through and through. One of the penalties of sin is our acceptance of it. It is not only God who punishes for sin, but sin establishes itself in the sinner and takes its toll. No struggling or praying will enable you to stop doing certain things, and the penalty of sin is that you gradually get used to it, until you finally come to the place where you no longer even realize that it is sin. No power, except the power that comes from being filled with the Holy Spirit, can change or prevent the inherent consequences of sin.

"If we walk in the light as He is in the light. . ." ( 1 John 1:7 ). For many of us, walking in the light means walking according to the standard we have set up for another person. The deadliest attitude of the Pharisees that we exhibit today is not hypocrisy but that which comes from unconsciously living a lie.”

I ,Geoff, continue:

For the person who refuses to accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour they will appear before the Great White Throne for judgement.

They will find this means eternal separation from God and no prospect of reprieve. It is not something that anyone would choose if they really became acquainted with the facts.It is actually hell.

Throughout our lives God is striving with us to show us His Great Love through the sacrifice of His Son on the cross.

We need to respond.

You and I are actors in the divine dama of life.

It is a play and performance  we cannot deliver in our own strength but only as we let the Divine Director control our lives and the Joint Producers provide and equip us with everything we need to know for  peace,healing, forgiveness and eternal life.

Oh! I almost forgot most dramas and some comedies have an evil person or villain. There is no cheer awaiting the devil.

The devil comes to sticky end in this Drama. Don’t get seduced by him. Your production team have also provided some weapons to deal with his attacks.(see Ephesians 6.)

Make a choice today if you haven’t already,choose the part God has waiting for you to play.