The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my mind and heart in Luke 5:36-39,
"No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, 'The old is better.'"
If anything, to me this speaks of a whole new paradigm coming to planet earth. It won't do to cobble together some of the old with some of the new. What is coming is a change in the order of all things. A change "we can all believe in."
Later, in the next chapter, Jesus teaches something about this new order of things. The have-nots will have and those who have in this life very well may find they have not in the new order, "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets. But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets." Luke 6:20-26.
Here the Lord teaches his followers about the impact the kingdom of God will have both in this life and the next. Jesus' followers will be hated in this life, but the Millennial forecast is for great reward, blessings, laughter, satisfaction, rejoicing and leaping for joy!
The current pitiful desires of those who demand a redistribution of wealth in this life, "economic justice" and the like are woefully too small and too myopic to envision all the Lord has for us in the kingdom of heaven that is headed our way!
"Eternal pleasures" at the right hand of the Lord is how David characterizes it in Psalm 16:11. This life, the order of things we see today in the world has a shelf life that is not far from expiring. A new paradigm, a new life, free from the curse this fallen world struggles under, free from the collective sin nature so prevalent in our lives, is all coming to an end. What is headed our way, for those of us who have embraced Jesus Christ in faith, is simply breath-taking to contemplate!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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