DAILY DEVOTIONAL – July 21, 2020
“Hurry Up & Wait”
Prayer: Lord Jesus, as we patiently await that wonderful day when You return in final judgement on this world, strengthen us in the Truth and in the sure hope of salvation that is for all who believe and confess You as Lord and Savior. We entrust ourselves to You alone. Amen.
Scripture: John 5:25-29
25 “And I assure you that the time is coming, indeed it’s here now, when the dead will hear my voice—the voice of the Son of God. And those who listen will live. 26 The Father has life in himself, and he has granted that same life-giving power to his Son. 27 And he has given him authority to judge everyone because he is the Son of Man. 28 Don’t be so surprised! Indeed, the time is coming when all the dead in their graves will hear the voice of God’s Son, 29 and they will rise again.
Devotion – “Now, But Not Yet”
One of the most frustrating games we are all forced to play at many times in our life is the game “Hurry Up and Wait.” You get up early, leave early, drive faster than you probably should, just to get to the doctor’s office or the DMV or bank on time, only to be left sitting and waiting for what seems to be ages. Yet, if you would have shown up only 10 minutes late to the doctor’s office or the DMV, they probably would have told you that you were too late and now have to reschedule, rinse, and repeat all over again. This is why big concerts and sporting events raise my blood pressure also. You get there extra early just to find a parking spot within the same zip code and avoid waiting in huge lines. Now with you’re convenient parking spot and quick entry, your left to wait forever for the concert or game to start because you got there so early.
Sometimes we can experience these same frustrations as Christians in our walk with the Lord.
Although all of heaven is ours in Christ now, right now, we do not yet fully realize the salvation that is in fact ours. The Kingdom of God, the full salvation that Christ has purchased for us, is both now, and not yet. Jesus said in our text from the Gospel of John today, “25 “And I assure you that the time is coming, indeed it’s here now, when the dead will hear my voice—the voice of the Son of God. And those who listen will live.” You see, for all those who hear the voice of Jesus that calls to each and every person all day every day, we have already been raised from the dead. All humanity is dead in their sins. All have earned eternal death. But God has already raised all who believe and put their trust in Christ from the dead, with Christ. We are alive now, and yet still eagerly await the full realization of our life that is hidden in Christ; the life we will fully inherit on that final day when He returns.
We read this time and again throughout Scripture. It is a paradox for sure, but Scripture is clear:
Hebrews 2:8-9, “At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death”
1 John 3:2, “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”
Ephesians 2:5-7, “even when we were dead in our trespasses, [God] made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and [God] raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”
2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”
Knowing this truth, however, doesn’t always make life easier…does it? So often we can feel like we have been running the race of faith, even getting up early and working extra hard as disciples seeking God’s will and following after His Son Jesus, only to then feel like we are at the same time just waiting, and waiting to see the Lord’s hand at work in our life at the time we think He should, how we think He should, and why we think He should. But that’s exactly why the waiting is made difficult; what we think and want.
Jesus calls us to trust that He has already blessed us with what our hearts and minds desire the most, which is the assurance of our eternal life and salvation by God’s grace through faith in what Jesus has already done for us in His death and resurrection. Our salvation is eternally secure in Christ my friends. For now we live in the paradox of that salvation that is both now and not yet. But we can be sure that not yet, will one day be now because Christ Himself as the Son of God, fully man and fully God, became a paradox for us.
Jesus began His ministry by being hungry, yet Christ said He is the Bread of Life.
Jesus ended His earthly ministry by being thirsty, yet He is the Living Water.
Jesus was weary, yet He is our eternal rest.
Jesus was accused of having a demon, yet He cast out demons.
Jesus wept, yet as the risen Savior He wipes away our tears.
Jesus was sold for thirty pieces of silver, yet He redeemed the world.
Jesus was brought as a lamb to the slaughter, yet He is the Good Shepherd.
Jesus died, yet by His death He destroyed the power of death.
And as it says in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.”
Rest securely, even as you hurry up and wait, in the joy of Christ’s salvation that is both now and not yet, and remember friends, that God has forgiven yesterday, is with you today and has already taken care of tomorrow. Amen.
