“On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare
a feast of rich food for all peoples...
“The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears
from all faces.”
~Isaiah 25:6a, 8a (NIV).
From the vista of a memorial service these words above from Isaiah provide some real hope to grieving family and friends of the deceased; will they ever reconcile with their loved one, that day in heaven? The answer from the Lord is ultimate healing and reconciliation are available through Jesus Christ alone. This is what we know.
God is the One who makes all things new (Revelation 21:5). He heals, guides, and provides for, us. He saves us; and more.
This redemption power is not only so far beyond our own understanding it’s alluring and revitalising—“newness” becomes us as we come to know personally what God’s talking about.
Why can we be assured of the coming of the Lord? He has said so, that’s why. But a message that points to an event potentially so far off it hardly bears a thought is not much of a hope to some.
And God has so much more for us in any event—it’s not just about the ‘Day of the Lord’ of the future. It’s just as much about the Lord’s Day, today!
We can safely believe that God, through Jesus his Son, has made a way for Isaiah’s word to be a reality to us to-day. It was made a reality 1,980 years ago as the Temple veil tore clean in two from top to bottom the moment Jesus breathed his last (Mark 15:38).
This New Covenant Spiritual transaction, guaranteed by Jesus’ death and resurrection, and made symbolic by the tearing away of the coveted veil revealing the Holy of Holies i.e. the once-sacrosanct Presence of the Lord, was brought with effect immediately—the Holy Spirit to follow at Pentecost (Acts 2). This was the New Covenant made real in humanity’s presence. So, even these words of Isaiah’s have much truth today—as they did way back then.
And this is true, as can be commended by millions of Christians around the world. Anyone filled with the Spirit can see this, be it at a Mighty Men’s Conference, an evangelistic crusade, or in the living room of one so anointed—and tens-of-thousands of situations between!
In all these, the Spirit pervades—ushering in new life; a pungently new reality.
We live in a time when all things are possible, now. That time has existed for centuries. It is nothing totally new. But, it might be new for you! And besides, today it can be “new” afresh.
This prophesied day far off is a present reality if we choose to believe in the One who was, is, and is to come—the “I AM” (Exodus 3:14 c.f. John 8:58) is Jesus; the intercessor of the Spirit—the heavenly linkage between Father and Holy Spirit. He is our Living Glue, to God.
In Jesus is the present Day of the Lord. Is that your reality? Have you allowed him, today, to make all things new in and through you?
He stands at the doorway and knocks at the door of your heart (Matthew 7:7-12; Revelation 3:20). What is your answer, today? I don’t care what your answer was five years ago—what is it today [i.e. insert today’s date]?
This present moment: what reality do you experience?
© 2010 S. J. Wickham.
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