With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. (2 Peter 3:8)
The length of our days is seventy years - or eighty, if we have the strength ... (Psalm 90:10)
In only two verses, we see just how little God is bound by the laws of time, but how restricted we are with the handful of years God gives us. Time is a limited commodity, something like our money and our gifts. A believer needs to feel a burden for using the time he has to God’s glory.
Time is also an element of God’s creation. Eternity past and present are not extensions of time. They are of an altogether different nature. God does not measure time as we do. He is not bound by the linear unfolding of days, weeks, months and years as we are. We cannot determine the things pertaining to the end of time, things that only God understands, by applying our linear grasp of how and when things must occur as we observe “the signs of the times.”
I’ve thought about this a lot through the years – eternity operating independently of time - but were I to elaborate too much, my musings might start to read more like science fiction ramblings than the devotional thoughts I intend. There is a surely a much more practical approach to our consideration of “time” as we embark upon another New Year. I have attempted to select a few texts to help us to embrace a uniquely Christian perspective of the passage of time – past, present and future.
1) The Christian and the Past
a) Learning from the Past Is Desirable
I remember the days of long ago, I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done. (Psalm 143:5)
We trust God in our present struggles, because He has always delivered us in our past struggles. Perhaps, discipline was involved. Maybe there were times when we questioned His presence in some circumstance. As it turned out, He was not only there, but He was actively working all things together to make us more like Christ. We benefit greatly when we reflect upon God's faithfulness in the past - not only through the great events of the Bible but in our own experiences as well.
b) Living in the Past Is Undesirable
Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?” For it is not wise to ask such questions. (Ecclesiastes 7:10)
All living in the past accomplishes is misery in the present. We grow to despise the present, which is rather ironic considering that people who dwell in the past almost always exaggerate the “goodness” of the “good ol’ days.”
2) The Christian and the Future
a) Living Towards the Future Is Wise
That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day. (2 Timothy 1:2)
Paul was in prison facing almost certain death. His hope was so secure that he could face the end of his life in a posture of remarkable peace. We trust that God is good to His word regarding matters events in the future. We make choices that help us to prepare for the inevitability of the future, though it is inappropriate to obsess over it.
b) Lining Out the Future Is Futile
Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that.” As it is you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins. (James 4:13-16)
Planning for the future is responsible and godly. Presuming that we can control the future is the height of human folly. To write the script for our lives beyond this present moment is beyond our human capacity. It is too easy to set ourselves up to for disappointment. Strangely enough, some people even blame God for their own failed dreams rather than open their hearts and minds to learn what He is trying to teach them
3) The Christian and the Present
a) As a Christian, You Are Not a Citizen of this Present Moment
And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. (1 John 5:11, 12)
The “eternal” character of the life we enjoy in Christ is more about our union with God than it is mere duration. Without Christ, a life that never ended would eventually become an unspeakably awful thing. Eternal life became ours at the point we became His. There is no more pathetic witness for Christ than that of a so-called believer living in misery as he awaits some far off reward. A current perspective of joy is rooted in the reality of the present fellowship we know with Christ. Saint of God, you already belong to eternity. Let your countenance reflect it.
b) Still, Christian, God Does Not Leave Us in this Present Situation without Cause
But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. (1 Peter 3:15)
This is the time and place where you have been called to serve God. Now is your opportunity to credit a living Savior for the hope that people see in you. You cannot change the past. You cannot manipulate the future. Any attempt to do either robs God of the best you have to offer to Him right now.
At our house, we squeeze all the mileage out of the Christmas season that we can. Many in the culture lament how the evidences of Christmas seem to appear earlier every year. For some, this is not a lament, just an observation. I like Christmas, most all of it, anytime. I like Christmas trees, Santa Claus and giving gifts. I love all the traditions that warm our hearts and bring smiles to the faces of children. In the midst of all this, I have never had the least bit of difficulty keeping central that precious theological truth at the heart of Christmas, the Incarnation of God in the Person of Jesus Christ. I enjoy the evidences of Christmastime no matter how early they appear.
Did you know that in a sense, Christmas existed in the mind of God as early as the Garden of Eden? The first prophecy pertaining to the coming of Jesus did not emerge from a warm and pleasant circumstance. God was in the process of pronouncing His curse upon the human race and upon His creation because sin had entered into the world. But then again, it was our sin that made Christmas necessary, so the backdrop for the glory of Christmas is anything but beautiful.
And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." - Genesis 3:15
Classic theology refers to this single verse as the proto-evangelium; “the First Gospel.” Charles Spurgeon called this verse, “the first gospel sermon that was ever delivered upon the surface of this earth.” In other words, this was the earliest hint of Christmas coming to the world. Satan had won a major battle. He had destroyed, or so he thought, a part of God’s handiwork. He had convinced Eve that God could not be trusted and he tempted her to disobey her Creator. Adam followed suit. Have no doubt that God was angry with Adam and Eve. Interestingly, however, before He pronounced His curse upon them for what they had done, He hinted that a hope of restoration lay ahead.
In spite of their sin, God’s first words were not directed at Adam and Eve, but to the serpent, the tempter, the devil himself. God took it very personally that Satan had introduced sin into His perfect world. The devil had set himself against God, and God told him at the outset of the conflict, “This will not stand! I will repair what you have done.” This was not a veiled prophecy foretelling the coming of Jesus. This was God’s up-front, in-Satan’s-face declaration: “I will win this!”
In a world where sin had taken over, God kept His promise alive. When God called Abraham, He promised to build a great nation from his descendants. But, He also promised to bless the whole world through that same nation. That nation produced Jesus, Who destroyed the work of sin. God entered the world as the seed of a woman, a human being. And, though the cross was a brutal and vile striking at the heel of that seed of woman, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ was the final triumph over the work of Satan. The head of the snake was crushed. The power of sin and the sting of death were destroyed – and it all began with the birth of a baby.
My kids get more frustrated with me every year, because I never “give them any ideas” for what they can get me for Christmas. I’ll take whatever expression of affection they choose to offer, because a long time ago, I learned that all I really needed for Christmas is a crushed snake, and Jesus has already provided that.
They say you can find anything on the Internet. One year, I was running a little late with my shopping, so I googled the phrase, “the perfect gift,” which yielded 5,850,000 results. That seemed a bit unwieldy, so I refined my search: “the perfect gift for your wife.” That trimmed the results down to a tidy 3,440,000. I didn’t have to look any farther than the Salsa lessons to realize that I was barking up the wrong tree.
A few years ago, I heard a preacher introduce his Christmas message with this question: “Show of hands: how many of you Dads are ‘guilty’ of buying your kids things they want for Christmas rather than things they need?” Apparently, his kids were small, and he tended to gravitate toward those toys and gadgets that would earn him the big “‘Atta boy, Dad!” But, for some reason, his inclination to thrill his kids with something impractical, made him feel guilty.
I did not raise my hand, but it was NOT because I only buy practical gifts. I did not raise my hand because I have never once felt “guilty” over buying impractical ones. I would feel much guiltier if all I could think of to give a child were socks and underwear, no matter how badly they were needed, if I knew something else might light up his or her eyes.
That is not to say that impractical gifts are better gifts than socks and underwear, but neither will I concede that they are lesser gifts. There simply is no such thing as a perfect gift, so we are each compelled to apply our best judgment to selecting various imperfect ones. A perfect gift would have to cover every conceivable criterion behind gift-giving. It would need to be practical AND thrilling. It would need to be extravagant AND precisely what is needed. We give our children the best gifts we can, because we know that there is no such thing as a perfect gift.
I stand corrected. There has been at least one “perfect” gift given in history, and that Gift is the reason we have Christmas.
A Perfect Gift Is Needed AND Wanted. Jesus, the Gift of God, fills a profound human need. Sin estranges a man from his holy Creator. Paul described people in their sinful state as “powerless,” as “enemies of God,” as “darkness” and as “objects of wrath.” Jesus appears within the pages of the Bible as the only remedy for sin. He bluntly declared as much about Himself. His disciples boldly proclaimed it as well. (see John 14:6; Acts 4:12)
Our need for Jesus is profound. Of course, just because a gift is needed, that is not to say it will be wanted. Still, after enough blisters and enough cold, wet days, a thick, warm pair of socks might become the most welcomed gift under any tree, especially if a man lacks the means to secure socks for himself. Likewise, a man needs to be awakened to His need for a Savior before he will yearn for one. There is nothing man can do to rescue himself from the throes of sin, but if he wallows in sin’s mire long enough and if he comes to the end of his own strength, then, the hunger awakened by God for the Gift will become acute. Jesus is every sinner’s greatest need, but He comes to those for whom He is also their greatest desire.
A Perfect Gift Thrills Recipient AND Giver. One cable network annually runs 24 straight hours of A Christmas Story. Ralphie Parker yearns for “an official Red Ryder carbine action two-hundred shot range model air rifle with a compass in the stock and this thing that tells time.” But, is that really a perfect gift? Ralphie’s mother, his school teacher and even the department store Santa Claus warn him, “You’ll shoot your eye out.” On the other hand, Ralphie is mortified when his mother compels him to model the pink rabbit outfit that quirky Aunt Clara has joyously hand-crafted. The air rifle awakens Ralphie's joy, but everyone else's concern. The bunny outfit has brought joy to the giver, but humiliation to the receiver. Neither the Red Ryder air rifle nor the pink bunny outfit quite hit the mark of perfection.
It seems to me that if any gift is to meet the criteria of “perfection”, then, there ought to be some sort of a mutual exhilaration shared by both giver and receiver. God's Gift hits that mark. We stand forgiven because of the Gift, and God was happy to give it.
A Perfect Gift Is Costly AND Free. It would sound crass to imply that a gift cannot be worthwhile unless it is expensive, but I have not been describing the realm of “worthwhile.” A perfect gift cannot be cheap and devoid of an element of sacrifice on the part of the giver. The free Gift of Jesus was the most precious thing the Father had to give. Jesus, in His essence, God, laid aside all the perks of deity so as to clothe Himself in human flesh. Ultimately, God Incarnate yielded to crucifixion, a kind of death penalty that only depraved minds could have conceived.
… For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. – 1 Peter 1:18, 19
A Perfect Gift Is Unique AND Universally Available. There are many items that make nice gifts even though they are mass-produced. Take one from the shelf, and twenty just like it are lined up behind it. But again, I am not exploring the realm of merely “nice.” A truly perfect gift must be one-of-a-kind. Jesus is “the only begotten” of the Father. No one else ever knew the mind of the Father or ever made the Father known to us, for He was of the same essence as the Father. Jesus is the only Way to salvation, because He is the only One Who CAN save us. And, yet, His love is indiscriminate. This precious, unique gift is for all who hunger and thirst for it.
A Perfect Gift Is Complete as Is AND Is Constantly Increasing. “The gift that keeps on giving” is a phrase that has been applied to everything from jewelry to financial endowments to anything that remains useful over time or that even increases in value over time. The Gift of God is such a gift. There is nothing lacking in what Jesus provided to redeem us back to our Father, and yet, the longer we serve Him, the more the benefits flow back to us: “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all - how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).
A Perfect Gift Is Indescribable. Paul was urging Christians in Corinth to respond generously to a need in Jerusalem where many Jewish believers had become impoverished. He appealed to the affluent Corinthians on a number of bases. He pointed to the generosity of the Macedonians, a people not nearly so well off as themselves. He taught of spiritual blessings that accompany generosity. But, the Apostle’s final appeal on the matter directed them to God’s generosity. Speaking of the grace that appeared in Jesus, the Gift of God, he wrote:
… Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! - 2 Corinthians 9:15
I cannot exhaust a discussion of the perfection and sufficiency of Jesus. I can only make my own meager case for it. In addition to all that I have said already, the gift is beautiful, glorious and majestic. But, when all of our linguistic superlatives inevitably fail to capture the beauty of Christ, let us settle on - and rest in the reality that the Gift of Jesus simply defies description.
