One day…wrong will be made right. While there are times that a faithful godly life will take on an appearance of needlessness and mundane idleness, it will nevertheless be gloriously vindicated. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10
So, the Christian, then, is to press on. To lean in despite circumstances and situations. To discern the times, and to be ready in season and out of season. They are to face life and all its blunders with a zeal of hope…of assurance…of thoughtful consideration as to the glorious afterward. But, what about when one is apprised of the societal decadence as shown on any news reels of the Summer of 2016? Any thoughtful person is immediately taken hold of with a grapple and wrestle within as the unnecessary tragedies unfold before their eyes. The heart-cry of the Christian at some point reverberates with the Psalmist, “How long, O Lord…”
When will we see the injustice, the hate, and the wicked with impure motives judged with equitable prudence? When will this knot of moral disregard be unwound, and the righteousness of God manifested in and through His created order? When will the maze make way to the exit? When will God’s holy and pure rule be known throughout all lands? When will every knee in heaven and on the earth bow before their Creator and Sustainer? How long, O Lord…How long…?
The answer, though simple, is nonetheless rugged. “But the righteous man shall live by faith.” Romans 1:17b
And so it is with the Christian, a life of faith. A rugged and unshakable faith shining through the furnace of adversity, trials, and travails. Refined as gold and purified as silver. A faith not made with human hands or wrought within the soul of man, but rather benevolently bestowed upon the soul with an inexorable and efficacious call. A faith that transfers trust from within to One without, so that the One without can reside within. A faith the results in rebirth not just renovation. A faith that brings one from death to life, and imputes the righteousness of God to his account. A glorious and rugged faith the Christian has and will always maintain. A faith built upon an immovable foundation–the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is in this gospel promise that the Christian harkens back to the pen of Peter, as inspired by the Holy Spirit…“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you…” 1 Peter 1:3-4
There it is…THE GLORIOUS AFTERWARD…the promise to the Christian in the midst of a lamentable season of the unexplained. The essence of the Christian’s hope is woven tightly together in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the promised inheritance reserved in heaven, and their own resurrection from the dead.
So, we can say in spite of this calamitous chaos of cataclysmic catastrophes that Christ is our hope, His promise for us is secure, and until then we remember with Asaph…
“With Your counsel You will guide me,
And afterward receive me to glory.”
Psalm 73:24
He will guide you through your perilous journey, and afterward…receive you to glory.
Until then, let us each pray, and like Ezra of old, set our heart to study the Word of God, to practice it, and to teach it in all the land. Until He comes or calls us home–to the glorious afterward…we press on…as pilgrims progressing along…we press on!
Practical Implication:
– Give to others that which was so freely given to you–let the hope of Christ be spread abroad to all those in your sphere of influence. That this life does not and was not ever intended to satisfy, but rather Christ alone. There is good news to be shared…let us give it away!
— July 8, 2016