A FOURTH DIMENSION

GENESIS 47:1

A. "PHARAOH SAID UNTO JACOB, HOW OLD ART THOU?"
  1. The question about our age is at times very embarrassing, at least to some:
    1. Some think it unethical to ask a woman her age
    2. Others do not care to have others know their age for various reasons
  2. But Pharaoh's question to Jacob brings out Jacob's outlook upon his life:
    1. It shows that Jacob considered his life "a pilgrimage"
    2. "Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life" - Gen. 47:9 B. THIS WRITER CAN THINK OF FOUR DIMENSIONS IN THE DAYS OF OUR PILGRIMAGE IN THIS PRESENT WORLD
  3. The length of life:
    1. Jacob spoke of "an hundred and thirty years" - Gen. 47:9
    2. Moses writes about "three-score years and ten" - Ps. 90:10
    3. Many of us may never reach three-score and ten
    4. This writer believes that life does not consist of hours, days, weeks, months, and years, but by what one achieves in life; Examples: Tenneyson was eighty-three when he wrote - Crossing the Bar; Goethe wrote Faust when he was past eighty; Gladstone became Prime Minister three times after he was sixty; tome the length of a person's life is secondary
  4. The breadth of life:
    1. With this dimension we think of how broad has been his influence during the days of his pilgrimage? Examples: Abraham's life is so broad that it affects all people in all ages Gen. 12:3
    2. Paul's life affects all generations during the gospel age. Think of the influence of his 14 epistles; Abraham Lincoln did not live many years, yet his life's influence affects every nation on earth
  5. The depth of life:
    1. Our Lord emphasized the contrast of the depth of life in the Parable of the sower - some seed fell by the wayside where the ground was hard; some fell among the thorns; some fell where there was no depth at all - Mark 4:5-6
    2. How deep are the roots of our faith in God's word? How deep is our expedience in our walk with Christ? Does our relationship to God cause us to exclaim with Paul, "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God" - Rom. 11:33
  6. The height of life:
    1. The height of man's life is indicated by the upward - Godward trend of his aspirations; Examples: Paul in his relationship to Christ - Phil. 3:13-17; the Psalmist - Ps. 73:25
    2. Do we dwell upon high and holy principles which have their source in heaven - Phil. 4:8; is it our heartfelt motive when we sing, "I am pressing on that upward way, new heights I'm gaining every day
    3. How tall are we? Zacchaeus was small in bodily stature - Luke 19:3 but loomed high in making things right with God and men - v. 8-9
    4. It is the aim of the plan of redemption for God's children to attain "unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" - Eph. 4:13
    5. Can it be said of us, as it was of the Lord Jesus, "And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man" - Luke 2:52 C. WHAT ARE THE DIMENSIONS OF OUR LIFE?
  7. Consider the length of life:
    1. Think of the many Bible characters who have died long ago, yet they are very much alive today; their ideals and their influence live on and on; Examples: Ruth the Moabitess, Jochabed the mother of Moses and many, many others who still live in the memory of mankind
  8. Consider the breadth of life - how wide spread is our influence - Acts 28:22
  9. Finally, how high and how deep is our life?
  10. Only as we can say of our relationship with Christ, "In him we live, and move and have our being" can the dimensions of our life meet the plan of God


Design © John Bryant 2011