Today's readings are Malachi 2.1-3.5 and Matthew 4.1-11.
When all is said and done we have done badly. what hope is there of making it all right? Look at the start of Malachi 3 again. Our Lord will send his messenger, foreshadowing his own coming. Then, expected but surprisingly the Lord himself will come to make all things right. This is no Jesus as our co-pilot or fishing buddy. He is not just another one of us. He comes in might, the king of all, the redeemer, the judge, the purifier. He will set all aright. Who can stand before his presence?
Our Lord has granted that those who believe on him will stand before his presence in his coming. We will be cleansed, not destroyed. We will be purified, not washed away. We will see that we are partakers of the Lord's offering of himself for our sins. And we will be humbled at last. We will see that it is not because of our righteousness that we are saved, but because of his righteousness. It is not that we can stand before him. It is that he has stood before us. All we do is believe that he is who he says he is and that he does what he says he does. We receive no glory at all. It is all glory given to the Lord our righteousness.
When all is said and done we have done badly. what hope is there of making it all right? Look at the start of Malachi 3 again. Our Lord will send his messenger, foreshadowing his own coming. Then, expected but surprisingly the Lord himself will come to make all things right. This is no Jesus as our co-pilot or fishing buddy. He is not just another one of us. He comes in might, the king of all, the redeemer, the judge, the purifier. He will set all aright. Who can stand before his presence?
Our Lord has granted that those who believe on him will stand before his presence in his coming. We will be cleansed, not destroyed. We will be purified, not washed away. We will see that we are partakers of the Lord's offering of himself for our sins. And we will be humbled at last. We will see that it is not because of our righteousness that we are saved, but because of his righteousness. It is not that we can stand before him. It is that he has stood before us. All we do is believe that he is who he says he is and that he does what he says he does. We receive no glory at all. It is all glory given to the Lord our righteousness.
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Dave Spotts
blogging at http://capnsaltyslongvoyage.blogspot.com
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