GOOD NEWS BROADCAST

July 5, 2022

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE REFERENCE:

“In that day you will say: Give praise to the Lord, Yahweh Elohim, and proclaim His name; make known among the nations what He has done and proclaim that His name is exalted.” (Isaiah 12.4)

TODAY’S REFLECTION:

In the chapters leading up to this declaration of God through His prophet Isaiah, the phrase “in that day” is a repetitive affirmation of what God has said He will do and what He does. It is different in nature and character to the New Testament use of a similar phrase “on that day.” “On that day” refers to the Day of the Lord when He returns from Heaven as the holy Bridegroom to take His worthy Bride, the sanctified Church, to be in their new home in New Jerusalem on the new earth in the new Heaven. “On that day” is an eschatological and apocalyptic phrasing for final judgment on the old Earth in the old Heaven. They will pass away as the new will come “on that day.” It will be a terrible day. The truth of every person will be revealed. All facades will be torn down. The smoke and mirrors will disappear. The lies will fall silent. The cacophony of rhetoric will be muted. “On that day” every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord of lords, King of kings, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace upon whose shoulders rests all the governance of the world on earth as it is in Heaven! “On that day” those who hold fast to the truth will find justice to be a welcome comfort. “On that day” those who exchanged the truth for a lie will find justice fearful, exacting and final. And only one person will make that final determination which we will reveal ourselves by the wealth or poverty of our heart, mind, soul and spirit…on that day.

“In that day” speaks to the continuance of living by the promises of God until “on that day.” “In that day” shows how the true people of God will be made known in God’s favor and promise. “In that day,” God’s people will know that true justice comes from God alone. “In that day,” God’s people will praise His name among themselves wherever they are. “In that day,” God’s people will declare to all nations His righteousness endures forever and His favor is without bound. “In that day,” the people of God will not fear the world but fear God alone. He is the Judge and Determiner of what is right and what is good. His faithfulness endures forever without beginning or end. “In that day” is the season of living on earth as it would be in Heaven. But, “in that day” is not eternity. “In that day” is when God’s people repent, forsake their penchant for wickedness, seek to fulfill all the commands of God’s love, forsake all else to be true to God, seek to do good and reveal the mighty Word of God and worship/serve Him alone as the best purpose of their lives. It will be the “Age” which Jesus declared to His disciples before He ascended “in which He would be with them always until its close.” When will the “close of that Age” be? “On that day.”

Mighty ones of God, followers of Jesus the Christ, today is intended to be “in that day.” Jesus taught His disciples two things about “on that day.” First, no one but the Father in Heaven knows when “on that day” will come. It will come akin to “a thief in the night” meaning “when we least expect it.” I prefer the reference to the bridegroom who comes in the middle of the night (actually in the hours just before the dawn when it is darkest) as in the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins. But, He will come. He is anticipated and expected. Second, Jesus said “no sign will be given except for the sign of Jonah.” For all that can be read into that phrase as it pertains to the ministry of Jonah, the miracle of Jonah, the failure of Jonah or any allusion to Peter’s ministry as that of Simon bar Jonah with his profession of faith that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God- Yahweh Elohim, it is a directive to the affirmation of the work which is given to the Age of the Church: redemption and discipleship. The Church living “in that day” is expected and commissioned to be faithful to the calling by which it has been called up, called out and poured into by the Holy Spirit.

Mighty ones of God, we are living “in that day.” I pray all faithfulness to the call will be heeded before it is “on that day” which is coming. Don’t be left out, left behind, left wondering or wandering. Stay focused on the task at hand and bring glory to God by word and deed which points to Jesus as the Christ.

OUR CALL TO PRAYER:

Father, thank You for abiding in us but also calling us into accountability by Your Word of faith. May our eyes, ears, hearts, mind, spirit and soul be wide open to the leading of Your Spirit in these troubled time. May Your freedom ring in and through us so that the good news can be broadcast into all the world for their salvation. We ask this through Jesus our Christ in whose name we live, serve and pray. AMEN.