December 04, 2024
The final book of the Old Testament is from God to us through the prophet Malachi. In this book, multiple judgments are made against God’s people who have continually left God. In one sense, it is the final summary of all that happened from the beginning of time until the ending of Old Testament period and reminds us of this period from the Garden to the coming Messiah.
God has continually spoken and called people back to Himself. They have continually ignored every voice--all the law and the prophets--and been endlessly rebellious in the face of God’s endless mercy. All of this has served to show them (and us) that we cannot make it without a Messiah. We needed a Savior.
RETURN TO ME
God, who has an ultimate agenda, continues to call them to return. The final book of the Old Testament reminds them of their distractions and His continual call.
“From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from My statutes and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord of hosts.” (Malachi 3:7)
And He makes a glorious promise to those who return …
“But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall. You will tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing,” says the Lord of hosts. (Malachi 4:2-3)
However, before this time, He is going to send a prophet to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord. After Malachi’s last penstroke, there was not another word from a prophet of God for 400 years (the white pages in your Bible) until God raised up John the Baptist, just as He promised. He preached a message of repentance, calling people to see their sins, turn, and get ready for the coming Messiah. And then, one day, while preaching, John the Baptist looked up, and there He was.
The Father is always calling and coming to meet us where we are. And then, in the New Covenant, Christ comes, saves all who believe, and places His Spirit in us, giving us the power to live in His presence in ways that were previously impossible. “The Sun of Righteousness” has come and “risen with healing in His wings!” A new kingdom is now here that ultimately “treads down the wicked!” And those of us who believe are in that kingdom.
The Old Testament days showed us God's gracious intent, our continual sin and need for a Messiah, and how weak we are without Christ, and faithfully promised of the One who would come. Those days are over. We can know Christ now and have Him residing in us by His Spirit as we are rejoined to God as He intended.
Hallelujah to the King!
February 20, 2025
If you have questions about how real, how present, how personal and intimate the Lord is, then just read six words of travelogue in Luke’s journal as he traveled with Paul.
February 18, 2025
I have known many people who have had great joy and power in the midst of great suffering. It is humbling that the slightest inconveniences deter many of us from following God. We have not gotten to the bottom—settled the issue. Most often, we live for our comfort, reputation, or gain. When any of those goals are touched, we are troubled and discontent.
February 17, 2025
The repentant who finds God gains everything. “He who has God and everything else,” said C.S. Lewis, “has no more than he who has God alone.”
