I agree with Selwyn when he says “The Almighty, who calls Himself the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Exodus 3:6), chose Israel out of many nations to be His covenant people, and came to us in the Person of His Son at a recorded moment in history. The history the Bible recounts is ‘salvation history’, and the salvation it proclaims was achieved by historical events.”
That last sentence is so important – it tells us that nothing in history, is a random event without meaning – all that happens the big and the small is being recorded, has already been written, and all His people will enjoy the ending of His amazing story. We have an Almighty God who is timeless, and created time for our benefit, like a train stop in space, where we wait for a few moments for Him to save us from becoming nothing – so He can give to us: security, value and significance – all we need to do, is to believe the reason why He wrote the timetable. We need to keep watch – and our lamps burning - because the time of His second arrival is not known by us.
Listen to the words of Luke as recorded in Acts 3:17-23 (NLT) [some of the verses set for reading and meditation]:“Friends, I realize that what you and your leaders did to Jesus was done in ignorance. But God was fulfilling what all the prophets had foretold about the Messiah—that he must suffer these things. Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away. Then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord, and he will again send you Jesus, your appointed Messiah. For he must remain in heaven until the time for the final restoration of all things, as God promised long ago through his holy prophets. Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among your own people. Listen carefully to everything he tells you.’ Then Moses said, ‘Anyone who will not listen to that Prophet will be completely cut off from God’s people.’
Notice, what I highlighted – that God will remain in heaven until the time for the FINAL restoration of all things; and the second critical point, is this – those who do not listen to Jesus will be cut off from God’s people – there is no second chance!
Salvation history
I agree with Selwyn when he says “The Almighty, who calls Himself the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Exodus 3:6), chose Israel out of many nations to be His covenant people, and came to us in the Person of His Son at a recorded moment in history. The history the Bible recounts is ‘salvation history’, and the salvation it proclaims was achieved by historical events.”
That last sentence is so important – it tells us that nothing in history, is a random event without meaning – all that happens the big and the small is being recorded, has already been written, and all His people will enjoy the ending of His amazing story. We have an Almighty God who is timeless, and created time for our benefit, like a train stop in space, where we wait for a few moments for Him to save us from becoming nothing – so He can give to us: security, value and significance – all we need to do, is to believe the reason why He wrote the timetable. We need to keep watch – and our lamps burning - because the time of His second arrival is not known by us.
Listen to the words of Luke as recorded in Acts 3:17-23 (NLT) [some of the verses set for reading and meditation]:“Friends, I realize that what you and your leaders did to Jesus was done in ignorance. But God was fulfilling what all the prophets had foretold about the Messiah—that he must suffer these things. Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away. Then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord, and he will again send you Jesus, your appointed Messiah. For he must remain in heaven until the time for the final restoration of all things, as God promised long ago through his holy prophets. Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among your own people. Listen carefully to everything he tells you.’ Then Moses said, ‘Anyone who will not listen to that Prophet will be completely cut off from God’s people.’
Notice, what I highlighted – that God will remain in heaven until the time for the FINAL restoration of all things; and the second critical point, is this – those who do not listen to Jesus will be cut off from God’s people – there is no second chance!