So much to be Thankful For
I have not been personally negatively impacted by Coronavirus and I am thankful to the Lord for that. Some friends and aquaintances have been touched by it.
The full spectrum is out there. Some have told me that lockdown's been like an extended holiday. For others folks it's been business as usual. New levels of stress have been added to many daily lives, through loneliness, looking after children in the confines of a home or/and working from home.
For others, periods of illness and even the death of a friend or family member have made this season sorrowful.
But if we compare this disease with any of the historical plagues, we see how fortunate we have been. Here are two comparisons with the plague of 1655, both taken from Daniel Defoe's detailed diary of the plague that hit London.
Without any understanding of how the disease spread, the action of many people served to spread the disease faster than would have ordinarily have happened. People deserted London for the countryside, taking the disease with them. Merchant ships became major carriers of the plague from port to port.
Astrologers, quacks and deceivers made a fortune out of the misery. Some sold false remedies, with enticing advertising blurbs such as "Infallible preventive pills against the plague", "Neverfailing presevatives against the infection," and "The only true plague water."
The combined factors of fear and ignorance, led to a city in deep shock. With death everywhere, "London might well be said to be all in tears."
We are so priviliged to live in a world blessed by science's ability to understand Coronavirus and so to both develop a cure and advise us how to prevent it from spreading.
After the plague had ravaged Europe, one historian could identify good coming out of it. John Kelly wrote this in 2005, "Horrific as a century of unremitting death had been, Europe emerged from the charnel house (death house) of pestilence and epidemic cleansed and renewed - like the sun after rain." (The Great Mortality, page 294).
Why? How come? Because the Europe before the plague was overpopulated for the amount of food produced and so little by little living conditions had been deteriorating. The plague "reset" Europe.
Invited to Compare
The apostle John in his book of visions, encourages us to make comparisons, and to draw hope from them. Seven times in the book of Revelation John uses the word "new" to describe the glorious world to come.
Heaven is filled with new things!
New names, new songs, a new Jerusalem, a new heaven and new earth, and then this:
He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” (Revelation 21:5).
Absolutely everything in heaven is new!
We are therefore invited to compare this world to that one. This one is old, and that one is new. And contemplation is meant to lead us to yearning.
Old does not mean "as God first made it" but "as the Fall of mankind blighted it." This present world is groaning under a curse - just as we are. In that bright new world there will be no curse.
Here are three new aspects of that new world.
A new body
First we will possess a new body, just like the resurrected body of the Lord Jesus Christ. A body, which according to 1 Corinthians 15 will be imperishable, glorious, powerful and in some sense spiritual. Each of those four new qualities bear meditating on.
As we grow older, we become more and more aware of the frailties of our present bodies. Shakespeare wrote bleakly of the winter of life and described it as a second childhood:
Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.
But one day we will receive a new and glorified body - better than Adam's.
A New Heaven and a New Earth
If heaven is where God dwells and earth is where we dwell, both come together in the new place we will one inhabit. I do not know what you imagine heaven to be like, but I imagine a place like this world - or better still, like the Garden of Eden - but much much better.
The very fabric of time and space has been marred by the fall. As beautiful as this present world is, that world will be so much more glorious.
New Relationships
Thirdly, that new world will be filled with new relationships. No more misunderstandings, hurts or offences between Christian brothers and sisters. And no veil between us and the Lord for we shall see him face to face.
It's a Promise
All of this "newness" is a promise!
He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” (Revelation 21:5).
If the One seated on the throne says he is making everything new, everything will be made new.
Summing it all Up
Truth in Scripture is meant to comfort and help. Visions of glory are mean to develop within us hope and longing.
This world is not my home I'm just a passing through
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue
The angels beckon me from heaven's open door
And I can't feel at home in this world anymore
Every time we come across an earthly disappointment or sorrow, we're meant to long for the day when its opposite will be our experience, when everything will be made new.
Death here, life there. Sin here, holiness there. Misunderstanding here, perfect love there. Sorrow here, joy there. Disappointment here, complete satisfaction there. Hunger here, feasting there.
A SONG FOR THE DAY
Our song for the day expresses the fruit of meditating on God's future promises; that fruit is hope.
There is a hope that burns within my heart,
That gives me strength for every passing day;
A glimpse of glory now revealed in meagre part,
Yet drives all doubt away:
I stand in Christ, with sins forgiven;
And Christ in me, the hope of heaven!
My highest calling and my deepest joy,
To make His will my home.
There is a hope that lifts my weary head,
A consolation strong against despair,
That when the world has plunged me in its deepest pit,
I find the Saviour there!
Through present sufferings, future’s fear,
He whispers ‘courage’ in my ear.
For I am safe in everlasting arms,
And they will lead me home.
There is a hope that stands the test of time,
That lifts my eyes beyond the beckoning grave,
To see the matchless beauty of a day divine
When I behold His face!
When sufferings cease and sorrows die,
And every longing satisfied.
Then joy unspeakable will flood my soul,
For I am truly home.
Mark Edwards and Stuart Townend
You can listen HERE.
A PRAYER FOR THE DAY
Our loving Father God,
We come to you in the Name of Jesus Christ, through whom this beautiful world was made.
We thank you that through his blood he has reconciled us to You. We thank you for your plan to bring everything in heaven and on earth together under the authority of Christ.
We thank you for your promise to make everything new one day. And we thank you that in Christ we will then gain more than Adam lost.
Teach us to look forward to that new world, and thereby speed the return of Christ.
And help us, whatever our circumstances, to be thankful, knowing that this is your will for us in Christ Jesus.
We Ask these things in Jesus' Name
Amen
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