Wednesday, March 8, 2017

A FINAL DAY OF NEW BEGINNINGS?



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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“The great day of the Lord is near—near and coming quickly. Listen! The cry on the day of the Lord will be bitter; the shouting of the warrior there. That day will be a day of wrath—a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness—a day of trumpet and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the corner towers.”

“I will bring such distress on all people that they will grope about like those who are blind, because they have sinned against the Lord. Their blood will be poured out like dust and their entrails like dung. Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them on the day of the Lord’s wrath.”

“In the fire of His jealousy the whole earth will be consumed, for he will make a sudden end of all who live on the earth. Gather together, gather yourselves together, you shameful nation, before the decree takes effect and that day passes like windblown chaff, before the Lord’s fierce anger comes upon you, before the day of the Lord’s wrath comes upon you.”

“Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, you who do what He commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the Lord’s anger.”

Zephaniah 1:14-18, 2:1-3

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

A lot of people wonder about the future, about what the days hold in store for their generation and the generations to follow. Today, we are reminded that there is a finality to this world we live in, an end game when it comes to everything we know and everything on it. Look again at the closing verses of Zephaniah, chapter 1 along with the first verses of chapter 2:

“The great day of the Lord is near—near and coming quickly. Listen! The cry on the day of the Lord will be bitter; the shouting of the warrior there. That day will be a day of wrath—a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness—a day of trumpet and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the corner towers.”

“I will bring such distress on all people that they will grope about like those who are blind, because they have sinned against the Lord. Their blood will be poured out like dust and their entrails like dung. Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them on the day of the Lord’s wrath.”

“In the fire of His jealousy the whole earth will be consumed, for he will make a sudden end of all who live on the earth. Gather together, gather yourselves together, you shameful nation, before the decree takes effect and that day passes like windblown chaff, before the Lord’s fierce anger comes upon you, before the day of the Lord’s wrath comes upon you.”

“Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, you who do what He commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the Lord’s anger.”  Zephaniah 1:14-18, 2:1-3

In Zephaniah and in other places in the Bible, we are told that a day is coming when all we know will be no more, a day of the Lord that will bring ultimate judgment on the world. We don’t know when that day will come but what we do know is that it will be introduced by Jesus returning again, this time to serve as the Judge of all mankind. It will be a day that will usher in the end of the earth and the heavens which will pass away (Revelation 21:1), a day of wrath for some who will suffer distress and anguish, darkness and gloom, clouds and blackness for the way they sinned against the Lord.

Notice that I said it would be the worst day ever just for some.

This is because there will be some people who will not suffer utter destruction that day when the “whole earth” is “consumed”, the day when “the Lord’s fierce anger” brings a “sudden end” to those who “live on the earth”. Nothing of the world will be able to save people, not wealth, not prestige, not position. This is because there is only one way to escape annihilation on the day of the Lord:

You have to accept Jesus as Savior.

Indeed, those who believes in Jesus will be saved (Acts 16:31, John 3:16). They won’t perish but rather inherit and inhabit the new earth which will carry with it a new heaven where they will live with their Savior Jesus and God, His Father and ours, forever. For those in Christ, it will truly be a final day of new beginnings.

Have you received Jesus in your life yet, sealing your future and ensuring your life story has an everlasting happy ending?

If not, today is the day to make that happen, the day to “seek the Lord Jesus, to humble yourself before Him, and seek His righteousness and salvation with humility so you will be “sheltered on the day of the Lord’s anger”. I pray you won’t delay in joining myself and other Christians who will be rescued and saved on the day of Christ’s return, on the “great day of the Lord”.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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