Galatians 1:3-4 NKJV
Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.”
Every good story has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Every life, though, has a beginning, a middle, an end, and an ever after, an eternity. Paul here talks about the end of the Christ’s life and the ever after of ours as believers.
Just after the Lord Jesus’ birth, the angels announced His birth to the some shepherds in the neighboring fields: Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:10b-11 NKJV). The Lord Jesus suffered and died and that is the good tidings of great joy. He became the Savior that we needed and, in order to become that Savior, He had to give Himself completely which meant He had to die. More than dying even, He had to become sin, to have our sins laid upon Him (2 Corinthians 5:21). He not only died. He took our punishment so that He might deliver us.
I wonder how many of us actually want to be delivered? How many of us are looking for the “ever after?”
Phoebe Cary (1852) wrote:
One sweetly solemn thought
Comes to me o’er and o’er;
Near’r to my home today am I
Than e’er I’ve been before.
I wonder if being one day nearer to heaven is actually a sweet thought for me? The Lord Jesus suffered and died to deliver me from this present evil age. And even if I don’t go Home today, He has also delivered me from feeling tied to this world. In the words of the old hymn, “This world is not my home. I’m just a-passin’ through.”
I think I need to be more focused on passing, and less focused on homesteading.