Robert Ulrich- August 19, 2007
the promised land is...
Though there be giants in the land I will not be afraid, he brought us out to take us unto the
promised land. He did not bring us out this far to take us back again. He brought us out to
take us into the promised land.
If God's whole desire is for us to just go to heaven, then why doesn't he take us away after
we're saved? What is the promised land really?
It isn't just some piece of land in the Middle East, that took 40 years to journey to even
though the distance should have only been a couple weeks. This isn't all God has promised us.
The promised land is something we can walk in now. We need to know where God has
brought us from and where we are going in Christ. We need to live in an experience of INTO
not just being brought out of.
Four Aspects of the Promised Land
1) Beyond the Borders. It is NOT automatic and it is NOT just deliverance from slavery to
sin! We must in faith Go IN!
There is a tendency to think that once we come to repentance and we turn to God and are
delivered from our sin and come through the sea and through the cloud, we have entered
"The Promised Land." There needs to be a taking of the land not just standing on the edge
looking in.
Numbers 13:17-14:11 (Click on blue text to open the passage) Moses sent a couple spies
into the land and they came back with a cluster of grapes that two men could hardly carry.
They gave Moses an account that the land flows with milk and honey (28) but the people who
live there are powerful, and they were stronger than the Israelites. (32) And they spread
among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They asked why God
would have taken them out of Egypt if they were just meant to die. (14:11) How long will
these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of
the miraculous signs I have performed among them?
We need to spread a good report, not just say the inadequacies. We become afraid and forget
it's not about our limitations, it's about what God can do. (Num. 13:33) we were like
grasshoppers in OUR own eyes.
(1 Corinthians 10:1-12, Deuteronomy 34:1-5)
2) Beyond Ourselves. The Promised Land is NOT just about us! The Promised Land is
characterized by BEING A BLESSING!
We sometimes think that the promised land is where we get ours. It's our promise.
However, It's beyond us, it's not about us, it's a place where the character of Christ is realized.
A place of less of me and more of Him. He who would be greatest among you would be
servant of all. It's where the love of Christ prevails. We become small, not as
grasshoppers but as children of His.
The most important thing is to humble ourselves , to strip away our desires and allow
more of God in us. God is the one who can make our lives precious and beautiful.
He who would lose his life for MY sake will save it.
(Joshua 1:1-18, Genesis 12:1-3, Galatians 5:1, 14-16, 22-26)
3) Beyond The Status Quo The Promised Land has ever-expanding borders! Going in
means TAKING LAND FOR GOD & HIS PURPOSE!
Again, the temptation, as Christians, is to think that once we are "saved" and "in the
church that the whole goal and purpose is just to stay there...
God is not content to leave us in a sense of wilderness. He wants us to beat down the
gates of hell. God's anger burned at those who gave a negative report about the
promised land.
Even from the very beginning, God's purpose was for His children to inherit good and
make more and more of what He had provided.
We can do more than we think we can. Don't be on the outside looking in. Come to an
understanding of what it means to overtake the land. Though there be giants in the land...
accept whatever the obstacles are and know our God is greater and it's our promised
land. He promised it to us, it's our inheritance. God has something for us that's beyond
what you can ask, think or imagine. Offer yourself as a living sacrifice, to be transformed.
(Genesis 1:28, Isaiah 9:6-7, Matthew 28:18-20, Romans 12:1-6)
4) Beyond This World Though the temptation is to think the promised land is eternal life
and that is all, it certainly does include LIFE FOREVER WITH CHRIST!
John 6:51, 58 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this
bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world
58This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but
he who feeds on this bread will live forever.
(1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, 1 Corinthians 15:48-58)
promised land. He did not bring us out this far to take us back again. He brought us out to
take us into the promised land.
If God's whole desire is for us to just go to heaven, then why doesn't he take us away after
we're saved? What is the promised land really?
It isn't just some piece of land in the Middle East, that took 40 years to journey to even
though the distance should have only been a couple weeks. This isn't all God has promised us.
The promised land is something we can walk in now. We need to know where God has
brought us from and where we are going in Christ. We need to live in an experience of INTO
not just being brought out of.
Four Aspects of the Promised Land
1) Beyond the Borders. It is NOT automatic and it is NOT just deliverance from slavery to
sin! We must in faith Go IN!
There is a tendency to think that once we come to repentance and we turn to God and are
delivered from our sin and come through the sea and through the cloud, we have entered
"The Promised Land." There needs to be a taking of the land not just standing on the edge
looking in.
Numbers 13:17-14:11 (Click on blue text to open the passage) Moses sent a couple spies
into the land and they came back with a cluster of grapes that two men could hardly carry.
They gave Moses an account that the land flows with milk and honey (28) but the people who
live there are powerful, and they were stronger than the Israelites. (32) And they spread
among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They asked why God
would have taken them out of Egypt if they were just meant to die. (14:11) How long will
these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of
the miraculous signs I have performed among them?
We need to spread a good report, not just say the inadequacies. We become afraid and forget
it's not about our limitations, it's about what God can do. (Num. 13:33) we were like
grasshoppers in OUR own eyes.
(1 Corinthians 10:1-12, Deuteronomy 34:1-5)
2) Beyond Ourselves. The Promised Land is NOT just about us! The Promised Land is
characterized by BEING A BLESSING!
We sometimes think that the promised land is where we get ours. It's our promise.
However, It's beyond us, it's not about us, it's a place where the character of Christ is realized.
A place of less of me and more of Him. He who would be greatest among you would be
servant of all. It's where the love of Christ prevails. We become small, not as
grasshoppers but as children of His.
The most important thing is to humble ourselves , to strip away our desires and allow
more of God in us. God is the one who can make our lives precious and beautiful.
He who would lose his life for MY sake will save it.
(Joshua 1:1-18, Genesis 12:1-3, Galatians 5:1, 14-16, 22-26)
3) Beyond The Status Quo The Promised Land has ever-expanding borders! Going in
means TAKING LAND FOR GOD & HIS PURPOSE!
Again, the temptation, as Christians, is to think that once we are "saved" and "in the
church that the whole goal and purpose is just to stay there...
God is not content to leave us in a sense of wilderness. He wants us to beat down the
gates of hell. God's anger burned at those who gave a negative report about the
promised land.
Even from the very beginning, God's purpose was for His children to inherit good and
make more and more of what He had provided.
We can do more than we think we can. Don't be on the outside looking in. Come to an
understanding of what it means to overtake the land. Though there be giants in the land...
accept whatever the obstacles are and know our God is greater and it's our promised
land. He promised it to us, it's our inheritance. God has something for us that's beyond
what you can ask, think or imagine. Offer yourself as a living sacrifice, to be transformed.
(Genesis 1:28, Isaiah 9:6-7, Matthew 28:18-20, Romans 12:1-6)
4) Beyond This World Though the temptation is to think the promised land is eternal life
and that is all, it certainly does include LIFE FOREVER WITH CHRIST!
John 6:51, 58 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this
bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world
58This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but
he who feeds on this bread will live forever.
(1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, 1 Corinthians 15:48-58)
"For in him we live and move and
have our being.' As some of your
own poets have said, 'We are his
offspring.'" Acts 17:28 (NIV)
"For you died, and your life is
now hidden with Christ in God."
Colossians 3:3 (NIV)
"for everyone born of God
overcomes the world. This is the
victory that has overcome the
world, even our faith."
1 John 5:4 (NIV)
"1 Therefore, I urge you
brothers, in view of God's mercy,
to offer your bodies as living
sacrifices, holy and pleasing to
God - this is your act of spiritual
worship. 2 Do not conform any
longer to the pattern of this
world, but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind. Then you
will be able to test and approve
what God's will is - his good,
pleasing and perfect will.
Romans 12:1,2 (NIV)
have our being.' As some of your
own poets have said, 'We are his
offspring.'" Acts 17:28 (NIV)
"For you died, and your life is
now hidden with Christ in God."
Colossians 3:3 (NIV)
"for everyone born of God
overcomes the world. This is the
victory that has overcome the
world, even our faith."
1 John 5:4 (NIV)
"1 Therefore, I urge you
brothers, in view of God's mercy,
to offer your bodies as living
sacrifices, holy and pleasing to
God - this is your act of spiritual
worship. 2 Do not conform any
longer to the pattern of this
world, but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind. Then you
will be able to test and approve
what God's will is - his good,
pleasing and perfect will.
Romans 12:1,2 (NIV)
The Promised Land or The Kingdom of God is a place
where the Character of Christ is lived out! It is a
place where the inhabitants are thinking about and
caring about and willing to work for others, even go
to battle for others! We know that the character of
Christ is such that He would die for ungodly (while we
were yet sinners...!) in order to fulfill the purpose and
promise of God. We are to be like Him and put others
ahead of ourselves!
We are to be filled with the Holy Spirit, so we can
walk in the Fruit of the Spirit, which brings grace and
blessing to others!
What is YOUR INHERITANCE (your piece of land) IN
JESUS CHRIST? (It is a good land flowing with milk
and honey, with fruit that it takes two to carry...)
where the Character of Christ is lived out! It is a
place where the inhabitants are thinking about and
caring about and willing to work for others, even go
to battle for others! We know that the character of
Christ is such that He would die for ungodly (while we
were yet sinners...!) in order to fulfill the purpose and
promise of God. We are to be like Him and put others
ahead of ourselves!
We are to be filled with the Holy Spirit, so we can
walk in the Fruit of the Spirit, which brings grace and
blessing to others!
What is YOUR INHERITANCE (your piece of land) IN
JESUS CHRIST? (It is a good land flowing with milk
and honey, with fruit that it takes two to carry...)
New Life Fellowship | 90 West Thornton Street | Akron, OH 44311 | 330-379-9073 | e-mail