Wednesday, August 26, 2009, 8:36 a.m. – I woke to this song:
I Will Rise / Chris Tomlin
There's a peace I've come to know
Though my heart and flesh may fail
There's an anchor for my soul
I can say "It is well"
There's a day that's drawing near
When this darkness breaks to light
And the shadows disappear
And my faith shall be my eyes
And I hear the voice of many angels sing,
"Worthy is the Lamb"
And I hear the cry of every longing heart,
"Worthy is the Lamb"
Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead
And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles' wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise
I will rise
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Ezekiel 1:
My Understanding: This is a difficult passage to understand, so I relied heavily upon Zondervan’s NIV Bible Commentary to assist me in understanding its contents. What I learned is that God gave Ezekiel this vision of God’s majesty, wonder and holiness to serve as a constant encouragement to Ezekiel during his difficult ministry of announcing God’s judgments on his own contemporaries. I can certainly attest to the difficulty of such a ministry and of God’s continual reminders of his love, compassion, forgiveness, his sovereignty and of his continuous presence with me. We who are called to be Jesus’ witnesses must completely rely upon the presence and the power of Almighty God in our witnessing. We can not do this in the flesh.
Commentary:
When we truly come to know who God is, we understand that he is not only a God of love, mercy, compassion and forgiveness, but he is also a God of justice. That is why Jesus had to die on the cross for our sins, because there had to be a sacrifice. Someone had to pay for the sins of the world. Jesus was our perfect sacrifice who never committed any sin. He was truly man and he was truly God incarnate. Jesus, through his blood shed on the cross for our sins, overcame death, sin and hell. He came to set us free not only from the penalty of sin, but also from bondage to and the control of sin over our lives. Sin no longer has to be our master. Jesus already won the battle for us! Victory is ours through Jesus Christ, our Lord. And, one day when Jesus returns for us, we will rise, and we will no longer be in these fleshly bodies. Sin, pain, sorrow – all of these will be gone! Amen!!
Yet, while we are still on the earth, and while we are still in these fleshly bodies, we will still sin, yet we need not be controlled or mastered by sin. Jesus should be our only Lord!
So, does God still judge his people now that we are under God’s grace through Jesus Christ our Lord? Well, we do know that in the end of time God will judge all things. The scriptures state that judgment begins with the “house of the Lord.” And, we know that the book of Revelation begins with the letters to the seven churches where God calls upon his children to repent of their sins, and where he warns them that if they do not repent that he will bring judgments against them.
Also, in the teachings concerning communion, we learn that if we judged ourselves that we would not come under God’s judgment, and that we must examine our hearts before partaking of the bread and the cup. I believe this carries over into not just the ritual of taking physical communion, but it relates to our daily communion with our Lord Jesus Christ. The passage (I Co.) continues by stating that God will discipline us as his judgment upon us when we don’t repent. Also, we learn in the NT that God disciplines those he loves.
So, we can expect, if we are true believers in Jesus Christ, that we will face the discipline of Almighty God in our lives. And, we can expect, if we are living out of fellowship with the Lord and we are refusing to repent of sins in our lives, that God will bring upon us his judgment (his loving discipline) in order to rebuke, correct, instruct and train us in righteousness. His goal in discipline is just like the goal of a loving parent in disciplining his or her child. We don’t want to have children who are spoiled rotten, who are rebellious, who are wild and who do whatever they please. We want to have obedient children, because it is for their good that they live obedient and disciplined lives. So, if we are legitimate children, we can expect God’s discipline.
At the end of all things, when God begins to bring his judgments upon the earth, I do believe he will begin with “the house of the Lord.” The church of today is in disarray. Many are living in rebellion. Many are going their own way. Many barely acknowledge Jesus in their daily lives. Many are living sinful lives and lifestyles and are ignoring the convicting power of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Jesus wants to bring them back to a right relationship with him, so he will bring judgment upon them in order to bring them back in a right relationship with God. Via this divine discipline, I believe we are going to see revival in the church and the salvation of many lives.
When the church returns to the Lord Jesus Christ as their LORD AND MASTER, then the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit will return to the church.
