TUESDAY June 21, 2022
Our Christian Hope
“For thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the LORD of hosts.”
Haggai 2:6-7
Rebuilding the Temple would take a lot of work. In reassuring His people, God also gave the Jews a glimpse of the future. During the Tribulation Period, God’s wrath would come upon the earth; but after His judgment in the Kingdom Age, the Temple would be filled with His Shekinah glory–– His presence. The Temple would be incredible, better than the one Solomon built (Ezekiel 40-48). The Desire of All Nations is a reference to Jesus––the Messiah. Christ will reign and rule in peace for a thousand years in the Millennium Period. God gave His people hope for the future.
At this very moment in time, God is doing a work among us. His glory is working in and through our lives. The LORD of Hosts has empowered us by His Spirit, the same Spirit working though Zerubbabel: “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the LORD of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6). Be filled with the Holy Spirit to do the work of God. He has also reassured us by giving us a glimpse of our eternal hope for future in His Word:
...to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. ...receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls (1 Peter 1:4-5; 9).
Look to the future. Jesus is coming again, and life is going to get better.
Christian hope is a certainty, guaranteed by God himself . . . Christian hope expresses knowledge that every day of his life, and every moment beyond it, the believer can say with truth, on the basis of God’s own commitment, that the best is yet to come.
~J.I Packer~
For more from Raul Ries, please visit SomebodyLovesYou.com!
