Meditation

Meditation for 09/26/2019

“By the same word the present heavens and earth reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.” (^2nd Peter 3:7)

A necessary prelude to the new heavens and new earth will be the divine judgment upon the present heavens and earth. A bond exists between humanity and the created order.

From creation it was so. Human sin reverberated in the creation, so the day of judgment for the ungodly will involve a fiery judgment that will reach to the very elements of the universe. (2^nd Peter 3:10 – “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.). The destruction of the present order prepares for the emergence of he new one.

PRAYER FOR THE DAY:

Precious Abba, the “Day of the Lord,” points to the time when You send Jesus to return to this world and hold an accounting of all humanity. There will be those who never believed and refused to believe then, and they will be cast into the fiery eternity. There will those who believed from the very beginning and will be allowed entry into the kingdom of heaven. Then, there will be those who believed but don’t consider themselves worthy to enter the kingdom. Beloved, none of us are worthy, and we will all be judged on the “Day of the Lord,” but those who believe in God through Christ Jesus, though they be held accountable, will be allowed into the kingdom, to live eternally, praising God forever. Our belief is the first step, and then it is our action on that belief by serving Him in this world. The next step is accounting for our lives and the final step is in gaining entry into the kingdom. This we pray in Jesus’ precious name. Amen

THOUGHT OF THE DAY:

“Don’t sacrifice the eternal on the altar of the immediate!”

KNOWING GOD:

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.” (Revelation 21:1)

The final vision of the age to come is told in terms of a new heaven and a new earth. Newness is he ultimate expression of he full accomplishment of redemption. As applied to heaven and earth, the newness means total liberation from the bondage to sin and decay. Whether this is correctly interpreted as being a cosmological change, a spiritual change, or both, the new heaven and earth express an eschatological (end times) newness that will be accomplished only by the victory of Christ. The new creation is God’s environmental provision for the final redemption of humans

I AM:

Last Things, Creations Redemption: (Romans 8:18-23)

God’s eschatological (end times) salvation will include the whole created order. Just as the created order was affected by the advent of human sin, so it will be by future human redemption. A cosmic liberation from decay awaits the final, full redemption of he children of God. The redemption of nature is not to be associated with that of believers’ bodies. Three statements underlie the eager expectation of creation underlie the eager expectation of creation: because of human sin. God subjected the created order to frustration; the created order is presently in bondage to decay; and it has been a yet continues to groan with birth pains. The analogy of travail suggests the coming to be of something new. Creation is not what it should be duet to human sin. It cannot serve its true function of glorifying God. It decays and thus goes nowhere. It is temporary rather than eternal. It suffers pain rather than being the arena of peace. It can look forward to a new glory when God creates a new earth.

Second Thought of the Day:

Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” (Matthew 19:28)

Personal redemption is a present foretaste in miniature of future cosmic renewal. The time at which Christ sits enthroned is called “the renewal of all things” (Greek – palingenesia). The broad sweep of the term suggests a new beginning for all creation.

Titus 3:5 is the only other New Testament occurrence of the Greek word. The eschatological renewal of all things matches the spiritual renewal that properly followed the rebirth of believers through the Spirit. The meaning of the apostles sitting on thrones and judging the twelve tribes has been variously interpreted.