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 heart and mind in 1 Samuel 2:6,
"The Lord brings death and makes alive; he brings down to the grave and raises up."
I am reminded that it was the Lord who visited judgment on mankind in the garden of Eden. Where God's intention was that mankind live forever in a paradise he created specifically for them, they turned their backs on their Creator and rebelled against him. He had given them both a free will and a fair warning. If they sinned, they would die. Death came to mankind when, following the temptation by Satan, they sinned.
However, as Hannah acknowledges in one of the most beautiful and insightful of prayers in the Scriptures, God indeed brings death but he also makes alive!
God has provided a way for mankind to be restored to him in everlasting life lived within the pleasures found at his right hand, Psalm 16. In that psalm David exclaims his excitement in the truth of Hannah's prayer: God not only brings death but he also makes alive. In Psalm 16:9-11, "Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay. You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand."
Following our physical deaths in this life, God has promised all who embrace him in faith the resurrection to eternal life. "Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God." John 1:12.
God has accomplished this by sending his Son, Jesus Christ, to pay for the sins of all mankind when he died on that cross. That payment gets credited to our account with God when (and if) we place our faith and trust in him. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."
"The Lord brings death and makes alive; he brings down to the grave and raises up."
I am reminded that it was the Lord who visited judgment on mankind in the garden of Eden. Where God's intention was that mankind live forever in a paradise he created specifically for them, they turned their backs on their Creator and rebelled against him. He had given them both a free will and a fair warning. If they sinned, they would die. Death came to mankind when, following the temptation by Satan, they sinned.
However, as Hannah acknowledges in one of the most beautiful and insightful of prayers in the Scriptures, God indeed brings death but he also makes alive!
God has provided a way for mankind to be restored to him in everlasting life lived within the pleasures found at his right hand, Psalm 16. In that psalm David exclaims his excitement in the truth of Hannah's prayer: God not only brings death but he also makes alive. In Psalm 16:9-11, "Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay. You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand."
Following our physical deaths in this life, God has promised all who embrace him in faith the resurrection to eternal life. "Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God." John 1:12.
God has accomplished this by sending his Son, Jesus Christ, to pay for the sins of all mankind when he died on that cross. That payment gets credited to our account with God when (and if) we place our faith and trust in him. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."
I can't think of a better Christmas message, can you?
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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