Week 23
Revelation 22:3-5 “There will no longer be any curse, and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them, and they will reign forever and ever.”
The future is glorious! Our God’s settled and certain promise and the assurance given to all Christians in the gospel is that evil cannot win, for Christ wins the victory over death, sin, and hell. A distant view (or not so distant) results in a joyful smile, seeing the promise fulfilled in Christ’s victory on earth in human history ushering in eternal glory and joy.
Today’s sorrow and pain cannot hold the day; these are temporary imposters. The hardships and the rugged difficulties of life’s trials must soon lose their grip on our hearts, for God is working His powerful and redemptive majesty to bring about our eternal bliss and delight in Christ.
Though today we may grieve, and today we may suffer, tomorrow’s dawn of ecstasy will show the light of our Savior and Sovereign God. Hell’s gates are burst asunder, and evil droops with the acknowledgment of the triumph of the crucified and risen Savior. We are free from our fears; we are free from our sin. We are the people of the conquering Christ, and our felicity is complete in Him. We live in the certainty that all is well in God’s saving and restoring plan, and we march forth into the future with hope and confidence assured that each day brings us closer to that bright rising of the powerful and sanctifying Son in His eschatological return.
Dear Christian friend, do not give in to the dark forebodings of today’s evil and tragedy; these are but a mist that will melt before the warmth of Christ’s coming sunshine of love. Let us look to that coming day when night itself will be banished from our life experience, and when the light of love, joy, peace, and hope will shine all around and through us. What a glorious day that will be! We live in security of the divine promise in Christ that cannot fail. We are safe in the certainty of the coming euphoria in our Savior’s finished victory. Rejoice.
Prayer: Dear Lord, I look to You this day for the strength and the grace to help me believe Your promise and rest my fears upon Your faithfulness. Take away my worry, and grant to me that in faith I will believe You and Your promise to me in Christ. I trust my deepest needs to Your trustworthy care and keeping. Amen.