6/29/2023

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING:

“The rest of the dead [those who followed the Beast, the False Prophet and the Serpent of old- Satan and those who accepted his mark on their lives] did not come back to life until the thousand years were complete. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection! The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with Him for a thousand years.” (Revelation 19.9)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

“But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” (2 Peter 3.8) How many mighty ones of God gather their collective breath believing in this scripture “now” more than ever. I do not mean “now” in the sense of the moment we live in. I am not speaking of the present tense as a present sense. I am speaking of the application of the word which Peter gave to his community of faith so they would have the courage to hold on to their faith. The completion of their salvation was just around the corner. But, it may as well have been a work in progress that still was given time by the grace of God. What was, or is, that time for? Is it not for the people of God to be the people of God and do the work for which they had been created? Is it not to subdue the earth, steward and shepherd its resources, seek out that which is lost and restore it to its rightful place within the household of God, to preach the good news of Jesus the Christ and Him crucified so that those who would believe in Him will not perish [eternally] but have everlasting life? Is there not work to be done? Are we taking full opportunity to make the most of the time given to us as “a priesthood of all believers”? Are we invoking the Word and Presence of God or are we provoking the anger and bitterness of those who stand against God? But, I am speaking of even a different “hope” in Peter’s declaration than that. In light of what was revealed to John after the destruction of Babylon the Seductress, do we not want to consider that the 1000 year reign of Christ and His faithful priests is but a day in time? What’s the hurry? Is it not that Satan will be locked up in holding for only a day which seems like a thousand years and then will be put away forever in the Lake of Fire with the Beast and the False Prophet that we hope for? We are in such a rush to “get things over with” far more than we are attempting to “get things done.”

A study of the Gospel of Mark will bring to your awareness a particular word that is favorited by Mark. Mark was the amenuensis, scribal secretary, of Peter. It wasn’t that Peter couldn’t write but that he was extensively and intensively preaching and teaching. Given this task to “preach good news to the nations,” someone sought to record it for posterity and future generations. The word was “immediately” as in “no time to waste.” Peter was motivated by the urgency of his calling. He saw the limited time which Jesus was Christ on earth as the impetus that none of us has time to waste. But, Mark was motivated by the urgency of his calling which was to preserve the word for the days after. Why would that be a need if Jesus was returning soon? Of course, we know the answer to that already from the teaching of Jesus who said “No one [and I mean no one], not even Me knows the hour, day and time of when the Son of Man will come and God will redeem the saved of the earth. He will come as a thief in the night- unexpectedly.” All we have is the promise “I will return and until I do, I AM with you always.” So we, as His disciples, are expected to live in the “already but not yet” reality of Christian faith. Princeton theologian, Gehardus Vos, promoted this terminology which was based in Paul’s teaching concerning our adoption as children of God into the family of God. Some may choose to live as if today was the last day and there is only that one eternal tomorrow in Heaven. Others may choose to live by the faulty reality of “eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we may die…and that will be that.” Still others may live by the calling to live each day to the fullest for as many days as we are given and not worry about tomorrow…”tomorrow has enough to be concerned with on its own.” (Matthew 6.34) So, whether the reign of Christ on earth is as a day or as a thousand years, we must be ready for its coming.

Notice those who are gathered to share in that “day as a thousand years.” They are the ones who preached Christ, those who were prosecuted/persecuted/tried/executed for preaching Christ and those who refused to worship the Beast and accept his mark on their foreheads or hands even to the point of death themselves. Are we those people? Will it not include all those who preached about the coming of Christ even in the midst of the Old Testament prophecies back to the day of Moses himself? Did we not read in Revelation 19.10b “For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy”? So whether we live or die today, tomorrow or the next days after that and do so bearing the name of Christ as the name above all other names, will we not be granted the fullness of our salvation? To John it was revealed that they will not experience “the second death.” They will not experience it because they have chosen to experience instead “the second life.” The second life is the one into which we are born again and made new! It is by the grace of God who saves us that we are made alive though we may die. To die in Christ is gain! The gain is life eternal apart from the forever torment which the enemies of God will experience in a lake of fire. That lake of fire can be, in our mind, like pools of magma- that molten lava which never reaches the air or sea and be cooled to stone. It will never be the basis and foundation of life of any kind. But we, mighty ones of God, by faith stand on a firm foundation which is Christ alone the solid rock. In Him we have life eternal and abundant for a day, a thousand years and forever. Praise be to God for His magnificent plan to save us when we became lost. What is lost can be found. What is found should declare that it will not be lost to God again in spirit and in truth!

A PRAYER FOR TODAY:

You are our God and we shall be Your people in spirit and in truth. Continue to dwell among us. Let the revelation by Your Holy Spirit inspire us to greater service in a more refined identity. We do not live as ourselves for ourselves. Rather, we live in Christ as He lives in us. We declare it with all the elders and angels in Heaven, saying “Holy, holy, holy is He who was and is and is to come.” In Jesus’ name we live, serve and pray. AMEN.