The apostle Paul was blessed with a glimpse into the glories of heaven. He saw and heard things that cannot be uttered. I would think that such an unobscured view of the glory of God in heaven would have the most positive, sanctifying, God exalting, eternity desiring effects on Paul. Indeed, I’m sure it did. Yet, even so, Paul was also in grave danger as a direct result of these revelations. Embedded in his corrupt flesh was the prideful tendency toward self exaltation. In our perfected state – after death – the glories of heaven will only produce perfect God centered joy. But because of our current corruption these same glories carry with them the potential effects of prideful self exaltation. God knew that Paul’s revelations would inevitably lead him to boasting. So for this very reason God assigned him a messenger of Satan. Some form of constant pain, severe enough that Paul entreated God three times for its removal, was given to him. But it was not removed because God knew that should this man, having received such great heights of revelation, would surely fall into the snares of pride and end up boasting.

It seems a spiritual necessity that great revelations be accompanied with some form of counter balancing affliction in order to keep human flesh from boasting. God knows I cannot bear too much revelation while in this sinful body.

The pattern is frequent in scripture. Was not Peter’s great revelation in stating that Jesus was the Christ the son of the living God followed quickly by his being sternly rebuked for standing in the way of Jesus and the cross? Are not some of the most blessed new covenant promises of adoption, sharing in the Spirit, and eternal inheritance conditioned upon sharing in the fellowship of His sufferings? Are not fiery trials appointed for the refining of faith more precious than gold?

There is a spectrum of experience for the Christian, and I must live along this spectrum moving between one extreme and the other day by day. On the one end is circumstantial and physical ease, usually accompanied by simpler, more modest revelations. And on the other end are the greater revelations of the glory of God in the face of Christ accompanied with burdens borne to counter balance pride. Truly the second state is to be preferred over the first, but who can bear it? No one can bear it, and certainly no one can prefer it except by grace. And joy! His grace is sufficient for bearing all such burdens.

To receive the gift of revelation and grace to bear burdens I must learn – like Paul – to say “therefore I am well content with weakness, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Lord grant me the grace to most gladly prefer pain and weakness if such might afford me a better revelation of Christ. You O God are my soul’s satisfaction. Let me not guard so diligently against all pain and discomfort but rather be ready to receive trouble – if with it also the grace to endure – that the result might be more of you. For Jesus sake, amen.

I live, now, on Crawford Dairy Road. The place lives up to its name. There are fields on either side of my house and tall dear corn growing across the road. Crawford Dairy rolls and gently bends past a farm house and then slips behind the tall North Carolina pines that frame our skyline. In the evening the lightning bugs launch themselves by the hundreds to dance the night away. I am captivated. Yet, as I sit on my porch soaking in this a pastoral place, I consider that the same idyllic scene has been played out for hundreds, even thousands of years. The snapshot is indeed beautiful. Yet as I think about the corn, I remember that it grows there by the sweat of a farmer’s brow. He tills, he sews, he waits, he harvests. Next year he’ll do it again, and the next year, and the next, until he comes to the end of his days. Then his sons will serve of the land as he did and his father did and his father’s father before him. The dance of the lightning bugs flickering above the corn is also futile. For they launch, dance, mate, and die, only for their offspring to do it again.

The book of Ecclesiastes is all about futility. The cycles of life under the sun, when viewed from its generational perspective are called futile, a “striving after the wind.” And so it has been ordained by God that we are all to be subjected to the futility of inevitable corruption and endless toil. This is our allotted portion and so we groan in chorus with all creation. But we are not left without hope.

The wisdom of Ecclesiastes is limited in its range. It does not extend its field of view beyond that which is observable on the earth. It does not consider anything beyond what will happen beyond the grave, except in a faint acknowledgment that something awaits – but we know not what. In this limited context our greatest good in the midst of toil is to enjoy pleasures and partake gladly in what prosperity may result from our work. Ecclesiastes is good medicine. It is an elixir against having too much ambition. But in the end it is merely a suppressant, keeping us from insanity. Toil and reward kindly distract us as we live out the length of our appointed days. Hope for enjoyments is good, but there is a much greater hope.

If our lives only contend with what each toilsome day brings, we groan and eventually, we die. To live for appetites that are never satisfied is a grievous evil, and O, how many of us in groan under our oppressive appetites. For the creation was subjected to futility and so it groans, waiting to be freed from its slavery to corruption.

But above the earth, and beyond Solomon’s wisdom, is heaven. While the site of heaven is obscured to us as we dwell beneath the clouds, there is one who has been sent from there to redeem a people. And though He has returned again to heaven, leaving His adopted people on a subjugated earth, yet He left us with a great gift – the Spirit of adoption. For the creation will be freed from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

The Spirit of adoption bridges the gulf between our earthly days of toil and our eternal inheritance. When eternity breaks into history all common wisdom is displaced. No longer are our lives measured by a number of days under the sun. No longer is joy attached only to earthly blessings. No longer does the oppression of the unrighteous trouble the just. No longer is work merely distraction. The measuring rod of life is no longer a segment with a definite starting point at birth and a definite end point at the grave. Rather it becomes a ray. It has a firm starting point but an infinite length. Along the ray is a point marking death, but that point is no futile end, but rather a glorious transition from sweat to sweet.

And yet, while we sojourn, we groan. Our earthly bodies are still subjected to corruption and we indeed waste away. We toil for our food and yet our stomachs are never satisfied. But even in our groaning we hope. We hope because we have received this blessed Spirit of adoption, and through Him we wait eagerly for our redemption. We have this Spirit of adoption as present and precious possession in the midst of our earthly toil. It is fully ours and we experience its wonderful effects. As our bodies waste away, inwardly we are renewed day by day. While our skin and bones submit to the laws of decay, our spirits are very much alive in righteousness.

And one day, one blessed day, our spiritual adoption will consummate in full adoption as sons. We will inherit our glorified bodies which will never again be ruled by futility. Such is the glory of this inheritance that all creation eagerly waits for its revelation. What a day!

O Lord, grant me perseverance to wait eagerly – in weakness groaning for your revelation in glory. Amen.

Zechariah 8:19

John’s disciples asked Jesus one day why His disciples did not fast. In essence Jesus’ answer was that while He was with them the feast was at hand – it’s ludicrous to fast when a feast is at hand. But Jesus knew that He was going to His father and that this temporary season of feasting would end for his disciples and that yes – then, they would fast.

We fast, at least in part in order to poignantly remind ourselves that the feast we long for is not here yet. Remember all the many verses in the Bible that speak of a longing, waiting, and looking expectantly for “the day?” Here are a few …

Matthew 24:14 “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.“

Luke 2:38 “At that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.”

John 14:3 “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”

1 Corinthians 1:7 “so that you are not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ,”

2 Timothy 4:18 “The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”

Titus 2:13 “looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus,”

Hebrews 9:28 “so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.”

Hebrews 13:14 “For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.”

1 Peter 4:13 “but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.”

2 Peter 3:12 “looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God…“

Jude 21 “keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.”

Revelations 22:20 “He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.”

There is a day-a day called “The day of the Lord” that will once and for all put an end to fasting. Instead, that day will bring about an unending, undiminishing, ever increasing, exceedingly abundant joy, gladness and cheerful feasts in the presence of Lord surrounded by the light of his glory.

Thank you father for the fore tastes of the full banquet of glory you have in store for me. Thank you for the joy and gladness I have now as I anticipate the day of the Lord; and Jesus, please come – come quickly and bring us into your banquet hall for the cheerful feast of joy and gladness in the light of your presence.
Hallelujah. Maranatha. Come Lord Jesus. Amen.

]]> http://consideringchrist.org/blog/what-are-you-waiting-for/feed/ 0 http://consideringchrist.org/blog/keep-looking-to-the-lord-for-grace/ http://consideringchrist.org/blog/keep-looking-to-the-lord-for-grace/#comments Tue, 20 Jul 2004 19:34:24 +0000 Eric Holter http://ccdev.ericholter.com/?p=142 Meditation on Psalms 123:2- God will never stop being an overflowing fountain of grace to meet our every need.]]> “…So our eyes look to the Lord our God,
Until He shall be gracious to us.”

Psalms 123:2

I’m so glad that John Piper took the time to write an entire book called “Future Grace” to underscore the future orientation of our faith that looks to God for grace in meeting all our current and future needs. For myself, as an American evangelical Christian, my theological backdrop has strongly emphasized the all sufficiency of Christ’s work on the cross, my total justification by his blood, and my security in being saved. These are all precious facts rooted and established in the past work of Christ. I ought always to remember and be strengthened by such rock solid foundations.

But God’s people are not called to live out faith only as a memorialized appreciation of something that has already been fully accomplished. Rather, based on what has been accomplished, we are freed to look to God for all our current and future needs. God’s utter dependability to meet these future needs is promised to us. The delivery mechanism used to fulfill such promises is called grace.

Past grace strengthens our confidence, builds our assurance, and enlarges our faith; not ultimately so that we will have appropriate gratitude, but also – more importantly – that we would look to God again and again. God will never stop being an overflowing fountain of grace to meet our every need – turning every need into an opportunity for our eyes to be opened to the glory of the Lord enthroned in heaven.

I have so much greater joy in Christ knowing that God does not expect me to only rejoice in what has done for me, but also to look expectantly, as a servant looks to the hand of his master, for future provisions of His grace, goodness and blessings. Such grace is perfectly designed to satisfy my soul in all that God is as the pinnacle and source of all joy, beauty and love.

O my soul, remember what God has done, and let His established grace utterly prove His unwavering commitment to supply all your future needs, and all your ultimate desires with soul satisfying grace; grace that causes you to delight in the Lord of heaven; grace that satisfies your soul in God. Amen.

]]> http://consideringchrist.org/blog/keep-looking-to-the-lord-for-grace/feed/ 0 http://consideringchrist.org/blog/clothed-in-festal-robes/ http://consideringchrist.org/blog/clothed-in-festal-robes/#comments Thu, 15 Jul 2004 19:31:32 +0000 Eric Holter http://ccdev.ericholter.com/?p=140 Meditation on Zechariah 3:4 - Jesus intends to present us to Himself in gloriously beautiful clothes.]]> “… See, I have taken your iniquity away from you and will clothe you with festal robes.”

Zechariah 3:4

Jesus is not satisfied only to remove our filthy garments. Scouring out our deeply set stains of sin was indeed costly; it required a cross to purify, and wash us clean. Yet the removal of sin is not the final end, rather it is but the beginning of Jesus’ work. He washed us from our sins so that He could clothe us with festal robes! Jesus intends to present us to Himself in gloriously beautiful clothes. These new clothes are not simply clean versions of the same kind as our old clothes. They’re not simply clean clothes, but special festal robes. Only language used to describe the ultimate in human celebration is fit to describe the garments that Jesus will clothe us with. They are wedding clothes. Bride’s clothes – close so singular in their beauty that to wear them in a menial context would be laughable. Jesus died to purchase, purify and present us to Himself in glorious clothes – designed to display glory and honor and delight Him as bridegroom.

In heaven we will be presented without spot or wrinkled or any such thing but holy. O how the Christian soul longs to be clothed, clothed – as it were – in a house not made by hands, eternal in heavens, swallowed up by life. Jesus however is not biding his time until that day. No, He is at work as a tailor or seamstress measuring, cutting, and stitching new clothes for us even now.

How often we are exhorted to clothe ourselves in the word. We are told to clothe ourselves in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are to put on righteousness. We are to put on new life. The process of getting dressed in these clothes has already begun. The process of being clothed in festal robes starts from the moment of our cleansing. Jesus did not cleanse us just so that we would put our old filthy clothes back on. We are to put off the old self, and put on the new.

When someone goes on a job interview, or on a date, they give careful consideration to what they wear. That in which they clothed themselves will give an impression to the one they go to see. They want to make a good impression. Should not the “clothes” that Christian’s wear be worn with the same intentionality, to make a good impression? Not our physical clothes (though they might matter in some small degree) but the clothes of Colossians 3:12-14… “And so, as those who have been chosen of God, Holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; Just as the Lord forgave you. And beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. ”

O my soul, wear such clothes as these; wear them first because the lover of your soul has cleansed you and given them to you because He wants to present you to Himself in glorious raiment. Wear them also to show forth His glory – making a good impression – to the world, reflecting the greatness and majesty of the Lord.

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