One thing we all have in common is that we purchase insurance: home, car, health, travel, etc. Other than the premiums we need to keep current, these all represent slightly annoying outlays of cash; that is, until there’s a flood in the house, a car accident, a sudden sickness, a flight cancellation, etc. It’s in ‘those’ moments we see the fulfillment of these purchases. It’s in those moments we appreciate the foresight of those now-less-aggravating purchases.
Jesus came fulfilling Old Testament prophecies, those dust-laden, centuries-old, words about transformation, eternal life, release from captivity, healing of the whole person. His person and ministry miserably failed to meet cultural expectations while far surpassing all hopes and dreams related to the afore-mentioned prophecies. He left untouched the material world but opened access to the transformation of stony hearts into fleshy hearts. He chose to downplay the tyranny of foreign oppressors while focusing on invading and destroying the domination of the realm of darkness over human hearts. He sent his Spirit to live permanently in those trembling, newly-released, newly-softened, hearts guaranteeing a fully completed work according to God’s unchanged, and unchanging, Plan ‘A.’
The beauty, in our 21st Century, is that those now-ancient scrolls containing God’s Prophetic Word continue to ‘do the stuff’ just as God had planned; bringing hope for the poor, freedom for the brokenhearted, new eyes for the blind, a message of freedom to prisoners , the message of Jubilee. We, the Church, are the beneficiaries of those words. We, the Church, are God’s poetry, His workmanship, His beloved, His bride, His ambassadors. And we are beautiful in His eyes. See y’all tomorrow, 10 AM, 3 PM UK. We’ve missed you. PD
