2002-01-01
Good Morning Faithful Readers,
If any of you have been reading my writing for awhile, then you know that I have often written about God’s wisdom in making gradual revelations to mankind, as the latter were ready for them. There are a host of citations where God has inspired OT writers to prophesy the restoration of Israel. This could be considered part of the Abrahamic covenant, of course, but I also see it as part of the Covenant of Grace, the new covenant, too. IS 49: 8-10, “The Lord says to His people, ‘When the times comes to save you, I will show you favor and answer your cries for help. I will guard and protect you and through you make a covenant with all people. I will let you settle once again in your land that is now laid waste. I will say, to the prisoners, ‘Go free!’ and to those who are in darkness, ‘Come out to the light!’ They will be like sheep that graze on the hills; they will never be hungry or thirsty. Sun and desert heat will not hurt them, for they will be led by One Who loves them. He will lead them to springs of water.”
When we look at these words, we can see that while this applied to the restoration of Israel’s nationhood in 1948, but it also has an important prophecy of the coming of Christ to establish His Kingdom in our future. Since Isaiah wrote these words between 739-690 BC, this makes these words a pretty significant prophecy indeed. As I was reading this passage, two more occurred to me that support it’s truths. JN 10: 14-15, “I am the God Shepherd. As the Father know Me and I know the Father, in the same way I know My sheep and they know Me. And I am willing to die for them.” The other verse is also in the book of JN, JN 7: 37b-38. “’Whoever is thirsty should come to Me, and drink.’ As the Scriptures [EZK 47: 1; ZECH 14: 8] say, ‘Whoever believes in Me, streams of life-giving water will pour out from his heart.’”
More citations support the idea that God gradually reveals His truths as mankind is ready for them, as well as the notion that everything He does is according to His plan made before the creation out of is profound love for each of us. MAL 3: 1-2, “The Lord Almighty answers, ‘I will send My messenger to prepare the way for Me. Then the Lord you are looking for will suddenly come to His Temple. The messenger you long to see will come and proclaim My covenant.” Careful study of this passage reveals that the messenger referred here is John the Baptist. He is the one who prepares the way for Jesus Christ. Never at any time does John the Baptist profess to be the Messiah even when questioned by some priests and Levites. JN 1:20, “John did not refuse to answer, but spoke out openly and clearly, saying: ‘I am not the Messiah.’” In addition in JN 1: 23 he quotes IS 40: 3, “I am the voice of someone shouting in the desert: Make a straight path for the Lord to travel!” The actual words of IS 40: 3 are, “A voice cries out, ‘Prepare in the wilderness a road for the Lord! Clear the way in the desert for our God!’” John must have learned from Jesus before saying what he did about preparing the way, that it was time to reveal that the Lord had come (the first advent had occurred).
Later in JN 1: 29-30, John the Baptist had more intriguing words to say. “The next day John saw Jesus coming to him, and said, ‘There is the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world! This is the One I was talking about when I said, ‘A man is coming after me, but He is greater than I am, because He existed before I was born.’” John’s words here demonstrate that he understood Christ’s nature as the Son of God Who participated in the creation. Chronologically, John’s physical birth took place six months before Christ’s incarnation began, and he knew that. Note the remarkable humility in John’s words and his courage in saying them. John’s life was cruelly ended when he was imprisoned and beheaded so that Herod’s daughter, Salome, could present his severed head on a platter to her father [MK 6: 27-28]. This early in Christ’s public ministry, there were few who really knew and believed the truth about Him. Thus, it took great courage for John to say what he did. If I may be allowed to offer a personal opinion, I feel a martyr like John the Baptist is highly esteemed and greatly honored in heaven.
Paul was also in on God’s plan and His method of gradual revelation. That is how he was able to say in 1 COR 2:7, “The wisdom I proclaim is God’s secret wisdom, which is hidden from mankind, but which He had already chosen for our glory even before the world was made.” Paul was referring to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the power of God, and the power of the Holy Spirit here. Since I began writing about the restoration of Israel, let me give one more citation which really clarifies this whole picture. RO 11: 25, “There is a secret truth, my brothers, which I want you to know, for it will keep you from thinking how wise you are. It is that the stubbornness of the people of Israel is not permanent, but will last only until the complete number of Gentiles comes to God.” In taking the time to go over the revelations that God has made to us about the covenant of Grace, we are allowing ourselves to see ourselves as a part of it-a participant in it. This magnificent plan could have only been conceived and acted upon out of the deepest love which our Lord and Savior has for each of us. Think about that!
PRAYER: O Lord, how remarkable and extraordinary it is that You have and will give both Jews and Gentiles faith in You! Your love for those who love You knows no bounds. Repeatedly, we see this in the Scriptures and in Your interactions with us in our individual daily lives. Because we live on earth at the time we do, we are privileged to have the benefit of hindsight in studying the things that have gone on in the past. Yet in Your wisdom, You have still left some promises of this new covenant to be consummated in the future. We are not told when, but we are told to prepare ourselves for it to happen at any time [MT 24: 36; 1 THESS 5: 2]. That way, You still call us to have faith and trust in You. You reveal to us exactly what we need to know and not more. We dedicate ourselves today to giving You the trust and obedience that You so richly deserve. We do not want to be caught unprepared as five of the ten virgins in Christ’s parable were for the wedding feast [MT 25: 1-13]. We acknowledge that out of Your love for each of us, You have called us to be participants in the Covenant of Grace. Today and always, we humbly offer You our worship, adoration, loyalty, trust , obedience, glory, honor, praise, and heartfelt thanks for this invitation. We take You up on it in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Tomorrow, the Lord leads me to write about the special covenant that was between David and his friend, Jonathan, and to begin a discussion about the theology of covenants from several reliable sources. A person can begin writing about God knowing in general terms that God loves him. However, each day as I write about God, He teaches me something that I also hope you are getting too. That is how God’s love impacts us each day of our lives in so many ways that they can’t be counted. When God made His covenant with Abraham, He used terms like “as many descendants as grains of sand” and “as many descendants as stars in the sky.” The idea here was to describe a number so large that it can’t be conceived, in a way that Abraham could understand. Mankind struggles to really understand a number like infinity. But that’s the number of ways that God demonstrates his love for each one of us. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn