terminus

Man in his pomp will not remain;

he is like the beasts that perish.

Psalm 49:12

We pretend we are big deals. We create celebrity and nearly worship it. We dress everything up for appeal and “success”. We give our applause to other people, hand out awards, ceremonialize our leaders, and talk about the pageantry and pride we put on display as if it will last forever.

This could be a televised award ceremony. This could be a Super Bowl. This could be about people chasing a ball. This could be about people chasing dollars. This could be about people chasing applause. This could be about people chasing “likes”. This could be about people chasing votes. We live in a vain world, we are vain people, and we think falsely that human praise enshrines us forever. 

All this pomp does not change the reality that every person faces: we all die like dogs. Mortality is the great leveler. Whether your ashes go in an urn, your body in a graveyard, or they build a pyramid around your corpse… you, like everybody else who has ever lived, will end up dead. They can freeze your body but you are still quite dead. They can write you up in an encyclopedia of books… still dead. “Man in his pomp will not remain.”

This psalm is a call to consider eternity given our inevitable mortality. We must trust God, Who is greater, to find perspective on our terminus. And the powerful truth is that in Christ we sing a better song about our end… a song that carries the soul into eternity: “But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol; for he will receive me.” Psalm 49:15

these dusty days

Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

1 Corinthians 15:49

Right now I live bearing the image of Adam, the man of dust. I am of the earth from which God formed this human race. And to this dust I am destined to return. This earthly form will one day die… decay… and to dust it will be destined. Every person around me shares this destiny and this knowledge that death is the end of our dusty days.

But dusty people though we are, we try so hard to ignore it. We pursue dusty entertainment, play our dusty little games, chase dusty dreams, trust dusty politicians, and build our little dingy empires of dust thinking we can avoid our fate of dusty diminishment. We are just whistling in the dust storm. We need the better way God has made in Christ.

In Christ, I am being remade to bear a heavenly, glorious image. And in the gospel hope of glory, the dust blows away to reveal the enduring glory of Jesus and heavenly splendor guaranteed for all who will place their faith in Him. The man of heaven, Jesus, gives eternal stability, value beyond measure, relief from these dreary dust bowl days, and lasting perspective. Our hope is secure as we are given the image of our heavenly Hero. Reborn to bear a greater glory, we sing as the dust clears! That is the vision that shines through this dust!

Jesus,

One day in a body remade like Your glorious resurrection body, I too will be free from all this dust! Until then, the dust clears by fixing my gaze ahead to Your glory. The gospel hope already places me securely in that eternal reality. Live in me until that day when I finally dwell with You!

Amen

down… looking up

My soul is cast down within me;

therefore I remember you…

Psalm 42:6

I long for God, like a hunted animal.

When will I see God?

Feasting on tears, hearing taunting jeers

I choose to pour out my soul

reflecting on the joy of the Lord.

Why so sad? I will hope again.

I choose to recall the Ruler of all.

Deep waters echo with deep waters

as I am drowned in sorrow.

Yet grace is with me…

love surrounds me…

My song in this night 

is the God of my life.

To You my questions pour.

Can I take any more

of feeling forgotten… 

of mourning… mocked by others… 

bones feeling rotten?

Where are You, God?

Downcast soul, churning with confusion

I tell myself there is coming salvation.

Hope in God! Praise Him!

My Savior was down and You did raise Him!

I will look up to You, Lord!

I will trust in Your Word!

green tree

But I am like a green olive tree

in the house of God.

I trust in the steadfast love of God

forever and ever.

Psalm 52:8

Where is my strength? Where is my vitality? Where is my life shown to be meaningful and productive? The answers to these questions are found in this ancient psalm. As David celebrated that God kept him safe, fought for him, silenced his enemies, and kept him near His presence through David’s worship and trust in God, I too see that in Christ I find these needs met and these questions clearly silenced.

Christ is my strength. When trouble arises, when attacks start, when situations rise up to tempt me to try to resolve things by my own power, I turn to Jesus, Who has already overcome death and hell for me. What else could beat Him if He has already defeated that? He is my Defender. He silences the foe.

Christ is my life. I have been raised to new life in Jesus. He lives with me, for me, and by His Spirit, within me. And so I must decrease so that the life of Christ may increase. My Savior is my life. I will live for Him and in Him forever. His steadfast love remakes me and flows in me. May others be reached by Jesus living in me!

Christ is my purpose and meaning. Like Paul, I pray that my heart would declare: For me to live is Christ and to die is gain. I pray too that this life that I have to offer Him might always display His love and glory to people around me so that His saving work and His kingdom advances in me.

Lord,

You have planted me, in You, like that green olive tree in Your house. Live now in me. Grow in me. Be my strength even as my youthful strength becomes less and I rely on Your care and power even more. May Your grace, love, mercy, and truth blossom and bear fruit!

Amen

Love never ends.

Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.

1 Corinthians 13:8

Love never ends. There is a comfort in that reality. When there is a God-given love, it will always remain. This triumphs over every other experience, even spiritual experience, in life. Paul argued that the charismatic-obsessed Corinthians needed to take that truth to heart. Their precious charismatic gifts would flame out, overtaken by love. Ecstatic tongues-speaking would cease… dimmed by God, in Christ, in the Body of Christ and His extravagant love. Delivering prophetic messages would end, as scripture took precedent and as one day the gospel story ends with the perfect ending: a gathered people of God in Christ hearing literally from God together in His presence. Gaining spiritual knowledge would change from a personal gift to a loving experience for all believers who will see Christ together face to face. Love truly never ends… it just gathers into a deeper, richer, fuller, eternal glory.

And if we have lived in Christ long enough, loved in Him deep enough, we know that even the loss by death of those we love can never end love. We may be temporarily separated. Yet the love never ends because what God gives is so very good, it is carried in our hearts until we are reunited in eternity. And the blessing of love in Christ is that it will ALWAYS endure and last. The relationships of love in Christ… friends, family, spouses, ministry partners… all those only deepen in eternity for those in Christ. Love will never end.

The reason we know this is because when those relationships are built on the love of God, they stand on a permanent, never-ending foundation. The love of Christ for us, in us, and through us that transforms broken sinners into blood-bought saints will never end. God loves with an everlasting love. We are thrilled by His love now. We will be magnificently thrilled by God’s transformative love for all eternity when the dark glass of this world is lifted and we live in the perfect light of perfect love! I. CAN’T. WAIT!

from everlasting to everlasting

Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,

from everlasting to everlasting!

Amen and Amen.

Psalm 41:13

Long before I was conceived

long before my great grandparents

were born

before there was this earth

before a universe

You are God.

In an existence I cannot conceive

You already were in control of

a plan

to create everything

even me because

You are God.

And in an instant You spoke

and light became reality

everything born

a beautifully crafted earth

in a far-flung, orderly universe

You are God.

And You made men, in image of You

created to bring glory to You

we sinned

and You cursed the earth

we marred the universe

You are God.

In the fullness of time

You sent Your Son

our God

and You save the sons of earth

to enjoy a universe because

You are God

One day soon You will come

and in justice finally done 

Mighty God

You will remake heaven and earth

call us with You, dwelling in a new universe

You, our God

mere breath

Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths,

and my lifetime is as nothing before you.

Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! 

Psalm 39:5

Compared to the eternity that awaits me, with a God Who knows eternity past and eternity yet to come simultaneously, my lifespan on earth is just a short, bright spark. The longer that I live it, the more that I know it. In my youth the thought of attending a funeral was intimidating. Now it is common to do so and natural. Coming to grips with mortality is a deeply comforting spiritual reality. And so the urgent poetry of Psalm thirty-nine speaks comfort and not alarm. It calls me to contemplate the everlasting wonders of an eternal God, Who has made me to dwell with Him, both in the brevity of my humanity AND in the splendor of eternity. It is Jesus Who comforts: “I give to them eternal life… and they shall never perish.”

So each moment of “mere breath” that makes up this life of mine tells me at least these two things: 1) A gracious God has given me that moment to point to His glory, live by His care, and proclaim Him to others. 2) Each exhale is one more step in this pilgrimage to eternal dwelling places with Jesus. Will I recognize the direction, enjoy the journey, and by faith trust Him to delight me as I worship Him in the final destination?

Lord God,

The vaporous breath I draw is a gift from You, O Lord. You breathed life into humanity. And You provided redemption and glory to await those who in Christ have been reborn with new breath into Your family. You will see me safely home, just as I have seen You do for so many who are dear to me. I will be with you. I will be with them. With the mere breath of this momentary life I seek to make You known, celebrate and shout the good news of the gospel that saves me in Jesus alone, and live confidently for eternity.

Amen