The Joy of Glory

Malachi 3:1-5 (click here)
Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts. (Malachi 3:1)

Reflection
The Old Testament closes with a promise… a promise that God himself will come to his people.

A messenger will appear, preparing the way for the Lord. Then, suddenly, surprisingly the Lord who has been sought will come seeking his own.

These promises were fulfilled in the coming of John the Baptist, who prepared the way for the Lord himself… Jesus Christ… God in the flesh.

Suddenly…there was Jesus.

Surprisingly…there was Jesus.

He came to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10). He came seeking those who would worship the Lord in spirit and in truth (John 4:23). He came seeking you. He came seeking me. He sought and he found.

If you love Jesus, it is not because you found him, but because he found you. It is not because you sought him, but he sought you. It is not because you first loved him, but because he first loved you (1 John 4:19).

You have been loved, sought, and found by God himself…by Jesus Christ!

What glorious, loving, wondrous grace is this?

*All previous devotionals may be found at www.thejoyofglory.com

*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

Zechariah 8:20-23 (click here)
Many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the LORD. (Zechariah 8:22)

Reflection
As God’s people live in exile, a day of salvation is promised…a day of return.

Yet, these promises extend beyond the Jews to all the nations of the world. When God gathers together his people there will now be some from every nation, tribe and tongue.

At the conclusion of the Old Testament, the Jewish nation would experience a small return from exile, but nothing about it would match the great restoration foretold by the prophets. Even the rebuilt temple would fall utterly short of Ezekiel’s grand vision of the temple restored (Ezekiel 40-43)!

Would God actually keep his promises? Could their fulfillment actually look a little different than what people were expecting?

All too often that is exactly the case…God’s fulfillment looks incredibly different than our expectations.

Jesus Christ looked so different from every Messianic expectation…and he would lead a return from exile different from everything that had been anticipated. The temple of his body would be destroyed, rebuilt in three days (John 2:19-22) to become the cornerstone upon which the church would be built (Acts 4:11).

The people of the church would be built together as a temple unto the Lord (Ephesians 2:20-22), and these people would come from every tribe, every nation, and praise Jesus in every tongue!

God always keeps his promises…his word never fails…all too often it simply doesn’t look like anything we would have expected. We can count on God, but that doesn’t mean we can count on him to do things the way we anticipate.

He is the expected-unexpected God.

*All previous devotionals may be found at www.thejoyofglory.com

*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

Zephaniah 2:1-3 (click here)
Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, who do his just commands; seek righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the LORD. (Zephaniah 2:3)

Reflection
The day of the LORD.

This is a common theme in the prophets, and it can be somewhat confusing. Sometimes the day of the LORD is spoken of as a day of judgment to be feared…while at other times it is a day of salvation to be hoped for…

So which is it?

It’s both!

The day of the LORD is that day in which God will bring all things to a conclusion. For those who have rejected God, this is not good news…but for those who have taken refuge in God…the is the best news, it’s the culmination of their salvation.

The current, present good news of the Gospel is that even those who have rejected God (which is the way all of us are born into this world… Ephesians 2:1-3) may humble ourselves, repent, and find refuge in God… perhaps.

We don’t normally put “perhaps” on the end of a sentence like that, but it is right there in the text of Zephaniah 2:3… “perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the LORD.” Why “perhaps?”

“Perhaps” highlights grace!

None of us can demand forgiveness and salvation from the Lord. None of us deserve it. All we can do is throw ourselves on the mercy of God. He may forgive if he so chooses…and the good news of the Gospel is that in Jesus Christ he DOES so choose!

He freely, graciously, and lavishly forgives…making “the day of the LORD” good news for all who trust in him!

*All previous devotionals may be found at www.thejoyofglory.com

*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.