Sweet Redemption
…lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
—Luke 21:28b (KJV)
–––
…even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
—Romans 8:23b (KJV)
–––
And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.
—Revelation 14:3
–––
The cross is evidence that in the hands of the Redeemer, moments of apparent defeat become wonderful moments of grace and victory.
–––
Consider the cross of Jesus Christ. Could it be possible for something to happen that was more terrible than this? Could any injustice be greater? Could any loss be more painful? Could any suffering be worse? The only man who ever lived a life that was perfect in every way possible, who gave his life for the sake of many, and who willingly suffered from birth to death in loyalty to his calling was cruelly and publicly murdered in the most vicious of ways.
…
This moment of sadness welcomed us to eternal joy of heart and life.
…
The same God who planned that the worst thing would be the best thing is your Father. He rules over every moment in your life, and in powerful grace, He is able to do for you just what He did in redemptive history. He takes the disasters in your life and makes them tools of redemption. He takes your failure and employs it as a tool of grace. He uses the “death” of the fallen world to motivate you to reach out for life. The hardest things in your life become the sweetest tools of grace in His and loving hands.
So be careful how you make sense of your life. What looks like a disaster may in fact be grace. What looks like the end may be the beginning. What looks hopeless may be God’s instrument to give you real and lasting hope.
— March 31st - New Morning Mercies (Paul Tripp)
Beloved? (gentle)
When we’re tempted to despair, lose hope…when we consider all near and dear to us to be lost: let us, Together, remember Him—His way.
We are God’s children now, beloved. And, although what we will be, has not yet appeared, we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is.
I’ve been pondering this quite a bit lately. I’ve been mulling over, chewing on each and every Word, as if each morsel was my very last to be had.
“What we will be has not yet appeared.” — what great comfort this is! For, what we see with these eyes and feel with this heart, here and now, is…lacking, yes? Aye. We truly live in the “already, not yet” do we not, beloved? We already hold, by faith, everything we could ever wish for, everything we could imagine. Furthermore, we have in abundance what we cannot even imagine. Even the hidden desires of our hearts are satisfied in Jesus. For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things, yes? And yet, they are not fully realized, not yet.
But, we live as those with hope, beloved! Not only because we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is, but Him going before us…His sacrifice, His atoning Love, His compassion, and mercy, and grace…is the testimony, the proof that He can and will, and has redeemed all things! Yes? (gentle) Even though we may be surrounded by darkness, perceived hopelessness, sadness, sorrow, grief—heartache. He isn’t finished yet. Not quite yet. We’ll see. We’ll see Him as He is, one Day. And then…THEN we’ll be like Him. Aye. We’re not like Him now, beloved. (sigh)
But we know He can and will redeem all things. What is impossible with man is possible with God. What we thought was lost, can, and will be found one Day. Put your trust in God, O, my soul. Wherefore else can you go? Wither to will thou goest?
Stop. (gentle) Hush. Be at peace, beloved. Rest in Him.
All is well—truly.