What Will Last and What Will Pass?
Good Morning Friends,
Speaking of God’s presence and power can be such an act of love, especially when it brings strength and determination to those struggling in life and wondering about the future. There is great encouragement in the love of Jesus as we witness His hope that we will, like words of scripture, be remembered and will never be forgotten. In that spirit we rejoice in the experience of the love of Christ, for it truly is at the heart of the human dilemma regarding the future…our life and death and yes resurrection. So today we begin with the end in mind as we contemplate a question that is always before us. What Will Last and What Will Pass?
Scripture: What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:31-39 (NRSV)
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
Matthew 24:35 (NRSV)
And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is God not of the dead, but of the living.”
Matthew 22:31-32 (NRSV)
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
John 3:16 (NRSV)
The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side.
Luke 16:22-23 (NRSV)
He replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
Luke 23:43 (NRSV)
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.” And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life. Those who conquer will inherit these things, and I will be their God and they will be my children.
Revelation 21:1-7 (NRSV)
Message: Three things last forever: the word of God, the souls of men and love. Matthew reveals that the Word of God and our souls will last. To see this clearly will help us to focus our lives with the proper end in mind. To connect them with Paul’s comments on love brings us an even better understanding. So we begin with the end in mind. And
if scripture is any indication of what happens after our death, it would seem we will still be able to see and recognize people and feel anguish and still will be able to speak and sing and hear and reason and ask and remember. The end then is eternity with God or eternity apart from God. We learn this from Luke.
But it is a question from
Paul, in today’s scripture from Romans that touches on the core issue of love lasting. He asks if anything can ever separate us from Christ’s love. And the answer Paul gives should rock our reality for he makes it clear that nothing can separate us. Love lasts. Our souls last. And the Word made flesh lasts. And the amazing thing is that the three are connected. John makes this point as well. We are to see beyond the gift of love to who is giving that gift and how it transforms our souls in the experience of God in our lives through a better understanding of scriptures. Here we are to experience the encouraging the truth that God’s power is able to bring good out of whatever we encounter in life so we might have life in abundance now and forever. Here we are to discover a love that is a gift of regeneration in Jesus Christ the Word made flesh. Friends, God has chosen us and filled us with the Holy Spirit because He loves us. He is our hope and salvation now and forever. In the truth of Christ we can learn to love and to live into a reality that lasts. In Christ we can experience the power of the Word made flesh in us. In Christ we can experience a love that can never be taken from us. So today we contemplate our own insecurities and the experience of rejection in our lives and come to realize that God will not reject anyone who passionately seeks the love of the Lord. You need not be separated. For if God has chosen us, all we need do is to choose Jesus. Then we have something that lasts even though heaven and earth be made new.
Pray we realize that the end always shapes the beginning. Pray that Christ knows and calls out our names not just now but throughout all time. Pray Jesus calls out the names of those who need comfort. Pray that we realize that God loves us as we are now and loves us enough to love us into something better tomorrow. Pray we realize that God’s love is unconditional and eternal. Pray that God loves us too much to leave us. Pray that God gives us a reason and purpose to live a life of love. Pray we accept God’s free gift of love in Jesus. Pray we live a life of confidence in the love of our Lord. Pray the love we have received spills over into the lives of others around us. Pray we have a love that lasts. Pray we realize that death is not the end. Pray we make the connections to those things eternal. Pray our souls in the Spirit, God’s Word and God’s love be united.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 