The Lamb’s Book of Life

Posted on December 21, 2021 by Pete

Chewing on Revelation 21 this morning and the first thought that strikes me is, “This is Eden regained.”

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

(Revelation 21:3-4 ESV)

The former things have passed away . . . and the first things have been restored. God dwelling with man. God Himself with them and they with God.

But the garden is no longer a garden. Eden has been upgraded to a city. A huge city. A holy city. A city “coming down out of heaven from God.” A city “having the glory of God” (21:11) which, as I was reminded in yesterday’s sermon, is God Himself.

A city whose atmosphere is God Himself. A city without a temple, as He will be in their midst in all places at all times — His glory enveloping the city. A city without need of a sun or moon as its forever source of light will be the ever-present glory of God (21:22-23).

And the essence of the city will be manifest as a result of those who inhabit the city — this city is “the Bride, the wife of the Lamb” (21:9).

The Bride of the Lamb. That’s the other thing that captures my attention this morning. I am always in awe at the reminder that Jesus is the Lamb forever.

That in the eternal state we will know Him as the Son of God and the Son of Man makes sense. That we would behold Him in all His majestic power as the King of kings and Lord of Lords is expected. But that we will also forever recognize Jesus as the Lamb, the One slain on Calvary’s cross? My first reaction is that it seems somehow out of place in a celestial city where tears, death, mourning, crying, and pain have passed away. Evidently the memory of such things, at least when it comes to the Lamb, will endure forever.

I’m struck also of the other reminder in that city that will forever mark the Second Person of the Trinity as the Lamb who shed His blood and gave His life. That reminder? Well, it’s us.

They will bring into [the city] the glory and the honor of the nations. But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

(Revelation 21:26-27 ESV)

The fact that we are there will forever remind us that the Son of God, came to earth as Jesus, the promised Christ, in order to be the Lamb of God to take away the sins of men. For everyone in that forever place will be there not because of who they were on earth or on the merit of what they had done. But solely because their names are found in a long list of those redeemed through Christ’s once for all atoning sacrifice.

Because the promised Servant suffered in their stead, they are citizens of the new city. Because the Son paid the price for their sin, they have been forever adopted and owned as God’s children. Their names written in a book. Written, as one song writer has penned, in red.

Written in a book of life. Written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Written by grace alone. Written for His glory alone.

Hallelujah! What a Savior.

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A Faultfinder? Nope!

Posted on December 16, 2021 by Pete

Most often when a Scripture “speaks to me”, if it’s not of God’s greatness or goodness, it’s a word to me of caution or correction. But this morning, as I continue to hover over God’s One-on-one with Job, I’m encouraged. Seems to me that, though there has been much to question, lament, and perhaps even complain about over these past couple of years, for me (and for those in my circle) there hasn’t been evidence of finding fault with the Divine. To God be the glory!

And the LORD said to Job: “Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer it.”

(Job 40:1-2 ESV)

Whoever came up with “sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me” never had the God of creation call Him a “faultfinder.” Ouch!

Job’s been diatribing (not really a verb) before the Almighty for 30+ chapters, refusing to stand down until he gets an audience with the Creator so the Creator can explain Himself and let Job in on what’s goin’ on. Though Job began his “season” of suffering well — blessing the LORD who gives and takes away (1:21), and ready to receive evil from God as well as good (2:10) — as time goes on, as the suffering continues, as the why’s of the situation don’t become any clearer, Job crosses a line. So much so that God adds “faultfinder” to the list of attributes He ascribes to Job:

“Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil . . . but has also become a faultfinder contending with the Almighty?”

Like I said, Ouch!

Not judging Job. No way. I get it. There but for the grace of God go I.

But also not judging me. Through this extended season of pandemic+ (pandemic plus all the hard stuff that doing life can bring), though at times I may have been overwhelmed by circumstances, whined about “why me?” (repent), and have too often been short with others (repent), I honestly don’t think I’ve been tempted to find fault with God. Neither have the folks who are near to me. If anything, we’ve leaned into His “ways above our ways”, and “His thoughts above our thoughts” more than ever before (Isa. 55:8-9).

Never have we forgotten that God is sovereign. Never have we doubted that God is good. Never have we not believed (though not sure how) that God determines / permits all things, even the pandemic+ things, for our good and His glory. By God’s grace, while there have been many things to repent of during this season, faultfinding isn’t one of them. Thank you, Lord.

Lessons learned from reading in Job in the past seem to have born some fruit in the present. Availing ourselves, when times are good, of what God has revealed of Himself, not only promotes right belief but prepares for right behavior.

It’ll never be said of this guy that he is blameless and upright (except in Christ), or that he always feared God as he should and never was tripped up with evil. But a faultfinder? Nope!

Only by God’s grace. Only for God’s glory.

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A Dying Devotion

Posted on December 14, 2021 by Pete

She didn’t have to call Him that. Didn’t have to refer to Him with that title. In fact, if she had decided to refer to Him in some other way — like just Jesus, or the carpenter’s son, or the delusional one, or the scam artist from Nazareth — it would have been understandable.

Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.”

(John 20:1-2 ESV)

There’s no way, when she first decided to follow Jesus, that Mary envisioned the promised Christ being crucified. No way she thought that Messiah would be manhandled, mauled, and mocked before her eyes. No way she equated the Son of Man with the Lamb of God. And yet, on that first resurrection morning, when Mary reported what she had found (or hadn’t found) at the tomb to the other disciples, she referred to Jesus as Lord. Even though her dreams had been shattered, she related to Him as her master. She was still His servant, even as she came to anoint His body.

She called Him Lord. And this morning, that strikes me as the deepest of devotion. A dying devotion.

It’s not like following Jesus had ever been easy, but believing He was God come down to earth was fueled by the signs and wonders. Owning Him as Master was fostered by the authority with which He taught. Her willingness to respond to the call to die to self, take up her cross, and follow was fed by the hope of a kingdom to come. Calling Him Lord through all that is understandable. Being devoted to Jesus while we was “undying” kind of makes sense. But such devotion after Jesus died? Like I said, that’s dying devotion.

Things had changed — drastically! But on this Sunday morning after the dark Friday before, Mary was found still seeking after her Master. She didn’t know how she would minister to His lifeless body, yet the one who bore her own cross, followed Him to the tomb. For, when all was said and done — even when all that was done made no sense — He was still her Lord.

That, it seems to me, is the unfailing fortitude of faith. The fruit of the work of the Spirit of God when a sinner is saved by their Savior.

Though their world’s been turned upside down, though nothing has played out as they thought or hoped it would, though the desires of their heart seem buried in disappointment, for those given by the Father to be redeemed by the Son He is always Lord.

Master in the mayhem. King in the chaos. Lord even in loss. That is the devotion of faith, it seems to me. Even a dying devotion.

Only through God’s great work of grace in our lives.

Only for God’s great glory to be proclaimed forever.

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From Cloths to Cloths

Posted on December 13, 2021 by Pete

Hovering over the last few verses of John 19 this morning, and one word jumps off the page. A word that is commonly heard at this time of year in the re-telling of the birth of a Child. But this morning the word is not associated with a birth, but with a death. Not with a cooing baby, but with a cold body. Not with a promised Savior, but with a pulverized sacrifice. Meditating this morning on Jesus, from cloths to cloths.

So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews.

(John 19:40 ESV)

Cloths. That’s the word that struck a chord. Brought to mind the other use of cloths found in the New Testament.

And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths and laid Him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

(Luke 2:7 ESV)

From swaddled in cloths to bound in cloths. The Word who was in the beginning, through Whom all things were made, “and without Him was not any thing made that was made” (Jn. 1:3) began life on earth wrapped up and contained and, He finished life on earth wrapped up and contained.

The swaddling cloths were to be a sign that in the city of David a Savior, Christ the Lord, was born (Lk. 1:11-12). But the linen cloths were to act as a sure sign that the Savior had died. The first cloths kept His infant body warm. The final cloths confirmed His body was cold. His side had been pierced, His death certificate had been verified, His body had been bound within 75 pounds of burial spices. The Author of Life was dead.

Born of a virgin who swaddled Him in cloths. Buried by a Pharisee who swaddled Him in cloths.

All men are from dust to dust (Eccl. 3:20), as God has determined their days. But the Son of Man was from cloths to cloths as the Father had purposed from before the foundation of the world.

You can’t really do Christmas in its fullness without remembering also the cross.

Can’t remember the Light of the world without worshiping the Lamb of God.

Can’t truly believe that “the hopes and fears of all the years” were met in the One wrapped in swaddling cloths, without also knowing that such enduring hope is found only through empty linen cloths. For it is a hope grounded in a death and resurrection.

Because I live, you also will live. (John 14:19b ESV)

From cloths to cloths. Hallelujah, what a Savior!

Only because of God’s grace. Only for God’s glory.

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Jealous, Avenging, Wrathful, or Good? Yes!

Posted on December 10, 2021 by Pete

They’re not side-by-side, but pretty close. Not much distance between Nahum 1:2 and Nahum 1:7 (maybe 3 inches). But, at first glance, they seem worlds apart.

The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD is avenging and wrathful . . .

The LORD is good . . .

Okay. Which is it? Jealous, avenging, and wrathful? Or good? Short answer: Yes.

Okay. Which should I expect on any given day? Uh, wrong question. God is unchanging. He’s the same yesterday, today, and forever. So, it’s not about what kind of “mood” God is in that determines jealousy, avenging wrath, or goodness. He is always jealous, in essence righteously predisposed to justice, and is the source of all that is good. The difference lies not in God arbitrarily taking up a posture concerning us, but in the posture we determine to adopt towards Him.

The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD is avenging and wrathful; the LORD takes vengeance on His adversaries and keeps wrath for His enemies.

(Nahum 1:2 ESV)

The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; He knows those who take refuge in Him.

(Nahum 1:7 ESV)

Adversary and enemy vs. those who take refuge. How one chooses to position themselves before God ultimately determines how God, “with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (James 1:7 NKJV), will respond to them.

Cross your arms, think to stare Him in the eyes, mock His ways, defy His commands, and persecute His people? And you’re gonna find out He is jealous for His glory, jealous for His people, and unwaveringly faithful to His purposes and promises. Choose the way of rebellion? Know the consequences of retribution.

Acknowledge Him as Creator, confess your need of a Savior, by faith flee to Him as Redeemer? Then know a stronghold for the day of trouble. Know refuge founded on a solid rock. Know that God is good.

But there’s a third statement of God’s unchanging, eternal nature in these opening verses of Nahum:

The LORD is slow to anger . . .

(Nahum 1:3a ESV)

God is good, even to His enemies, in that He is slow to anger. He is patient, “not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2Pet. 3:9). To loosely quote Dane Ortlund, He is abounding in love, but has to be provoked to anger. (I highly recommend Ortlunds, “Gentle and Lowly”).

Having provided a way for all sin to be atoned for, He will demand an accounting for its payment. If the payment for one’s sins are not appropriated through the finished work of the cross, then the sinner will pay the price themselves — a debt they are unable to pay.

God is jealous. God will avenge. God is good.

Good to me as a refuge-seeker in Him. Good to His enemies even as He patiently calls them to also become refuge-seekers through His Son.

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by His life.

(Romans 5:10 ESV)

The LORD is good.

Known daily by His grace. To be declared eternally for His glory.

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No King but Jesus

Posted on December 9, 2021 by Pete

When all was said and done, it came down to who was king.

There was a lot about Jesus that Pilate didn’t get. A king over a kingdom not of this world? Huh? Fulfilling a destiny to bear witness to the truth? What is truth?

Nope, he didn’t get Jesus. But what he did get was that he could “find no guilt in Him” — that’s repeated three times in John’s account (Jn. 18:38, 19:4, 6).

And then, when he finds out that the real reason the Jews want to put Jesus to death is because “He has made Himself the Son of God”, well, that just freaks Pilate out and “he was even more afraid” (19:7-8). So, Pilate goes from not getting Jesus to not wanting anything to do with Jesus.

And yet, in the end, he orders Jesus to be executed. What gives?

Like I said, when all was said and done, it came down to who was king.

From then on Pilate sought to release Him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this Man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.” So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic Gabbatha. Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” They cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” So he delivered Him over to them to be crucified.

(John 19:12-16 ESV)

We have no king but Caesar. If Caesar is king, then Jesus is expendable.

For the Jews, they’d say whatever they had to in order to see Jesus sentenced to death. Though I cringe at their words, pretty sure they had no love for Caesar or Rome. But they were in love with the position they held under their Roman rulers. So, they’d kiss Caesar’s feet if it meant the continuance of Caesar’s favor.

But Pilate? They backed him into a corner.

If you release this Man, you are not Caesar’s friend.

Gotta choose. Friend of Caesar, or follower of Christ? Power and position in the governments of this world, or allegiance and faithfulness to the God of this world? Give yourself to the kingdom of men, or die to self for the kingdom of heaven? Do what you need to secure your earthly position, or go against the flow for the sake of the heavenly promise?

For Pilate, they called it. It came down to who was king.

Any different for us? Thinking not.

We have no king but Jesus.

Only by His grace. To Him be the glory.

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The Future is Now

Posted on December 8, 2021 by Pete

I know it’s an apocalyptic vision for the future, but I’m thinking there’s a sense in which it is also an appropriate view for the present.

Hovering over Revelation 12 and mesmerized a bit by “a great red dragon.” A dragon who seeks to devour a child to be born “to rule all nations with a rod of iron.” But the dragon fails as the child is “caught up to God and to His throne.”

Once a force to be reckoned with in heaven, in his rebellion the dragon is defeated and thrown down to earth.

And then the great dragon is identified. He is the “ancient serpent.” The one called the devil. The one referred to as Satan. The deceiver of the whole world and the accuser of the people of God. He’s been exiled to earth, and he is ticked!

“Woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”

(Revelation 12:12b ESV)

But even as he’s thrown down to do what the devil’s gonna do, John hears a loud voice in heaven, saying:

“Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them!”

(Revelation 12:10-12a ESV)

The kingdom is coming in power. The authority of God’s Christ to be established on earth. Like I said, it’s gonna happen.

How it plays out in those last days, I don’t exactly know. But I do know that, at some level, it’s playing out even as we awake to our day. The future is now.

Satan is alive and well today on planet earth. The ruler of this age wreaking havoc even as he knows his time is short. Prowling around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (1Pet. 5:8).

But the power and the kingdom of our God, under the authority of His Christ has also come. While not visibly established in earthly, governmental structures, nevertheless the kingdom of heaven is alive and well on planet earth through those who have overcome and conquered the devil “by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.”

While earth will one day be the physical battlefield where the final war is waged to end the age, today it is a spiritual battlefield. An angry, defeated dragon seeking to destroy God’s created world even as he fights a futile battle against a redeemed people.

Stand fast, saints of the living God. The power and the kingdom and the authority of the Christ has come. Our enemy IS defeated. And the skirmishes of the day WILL give way to the fullness of His kingdom, in visible majesty and glory, coming soon to a planet near you.

According to God’s grace. Ultimately for God’s glory.

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Tell Me About Your Disciples

Posted on December 7, 2021 by Pete

You sneaky high priest!

They’ve pulled the trigger. Operation “Destroy Jesus” has begun. Phase I, arrest in the garden, complete. Now, for the trial. But, what were the charges again? What’s He done wrong? Oh, don’t worry about that, we’ll figure out something. Bring in the prisoner!

Rather than read the charges justifying His arrest, the spokesmen for the Sanhedrin, Caiaphas, starts to ask some questions. It’s been the M.O. of the religious leaders since Jesus began His ministry — get Him talking, test Him with His teaching, try and trip Him up with His own words, and hope that He’ll say something that will condemn Himself. If at first (or second or third or fourth) you don’t succeed, try and try and try again.

The high priest then questioned Jesus about His disciples and His teaching.

(John 18:19 ESV)

Don’t know that I’ve ever really paused to noodle much on the fact that, in addition to His teaching, Caiaphas asked Jesus about His disciples.

Who were they? People of influence? How many were they? Enough to run out of town an oppressive foreign government? Where were they now? Planning a coup? What was their purpose? To oppose Rome? If He could get Jesus to say anything that would hint at any of that, it would be a slam-dunk when he sent Him to Pilate requesting His execution. How come, Pilate could ask? For sedition and insurrection, Caiaphas could claim.

So, that sneaky high priest says to Jesus, “Tell me about Your disciples.”

But Jesus doesn’t take the bait (v.20). Though, in a way, I wish He had.

My disciples? They’re a bunch of fisherman, tax collectors, prostitutes, and thieves and such. Not an “influential” soul among them — at least not in the world’s eyes.

They’re poor in spirit, meek in nature, and hunger and thirst for righteousness. They’re pure in heart and peacemakers at their core. And they consider themselves blessed for being on the wrong side of popular opinion and for being persecuted for righteousness sake, because “their’s is the kingdom of heaven” (Mt. 5:3-10).

Yeah, the kingdom of heaven. Not all that interested in the kingdoms of men. Let Rome be Rome, they seek first the kingdom of God (Mt. 6:33).

Insurrectionists? Nope. Not really a fighting people. In fact, when Peter pulled His sword in the garden, I told him to put it way (Jn. 18:10-11). My disciples are more likely to turn the other cheek — at least 77 times, maybe as often as 490 times depending on how you translate My words (Mt. 18:22). Don’t get Me wrong, their ready, willing, and equipped for battle, but they know their fight isn’t “against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12). If you ask around, they been known to cast out demons a time or two.

But when it comes to you — you brood of insincere, hypocritical vipers — or to the Roman government and all their self-seeking glory, My disciples are more likely to love you, pray for you, and do good to you rather than take up arms against you (Mt. 5:44, Lk, 6:35).

Tell You about My disciples? They’re the salt of the earth and the light of the world (Mt. 5:13-14). And after you’re done with this sham trial, and your conscious-less execution (which, by the way, I will overturn by rising from the dead), they will become a holy temple, a dwelling place for the living God through the Spirit I send to them (Eph. 2:21-22).

No, Jesus didn’t respond to Caiaphas’s question about His disciples. But if He had . . .

He could have spoken of a people transformed by grace. A people who would purpose to live, as much as lies in them, for the glory of God.

Amen?

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Being Kept, Being Sanctified

Posted on December 3, 2021 by Pete

Soon they would be soloing. Their three-year apprenticeship would give way to their life’s calling. But the world had changed a lot over the three years since they first met Jesus.

Actually, it wasn’t the world that had changed, it was them. Before meeting Jesus His disciples were of the world, but not anymore. Just as their Master had been in the world but not of the world, so they too now marched to the beat of a different drummer. But their Master was about to leave this world. They however, were not. And just as the world had hated Jesus, it would develop a distaste for His followers as well.

And so, before leaving — before the cross, His burial, His resurrection and ascension — Jesus prays for His disciples. His prayer closet? An upper room in which He has washed their feet, instituted a feast, promised them a Helper, and now, on the eve of His betrayal, intercedes for them. And what does the Son ask of the Father concerning those who are not of this world but will be left in this world? Keep them. Sanctify them.

“I do not ask that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.”

(John 17:15-17 ESV)

Keep them. Sanctify them. Don’t let them out of Your sight. Set them apart as holy. Attend to them carefully. Replicate My character in them completely. Protect them wholly. Make them holy. That’s the ask.

That was Jesus’ prayer for His disciples. But He prayed that night not only for those in the upper room. He prayed as well for those who would come to believe in Jesus, and choose to follow Jesus, through their word (Jn. 17:20). And . . . that would be me.

As a follower of Jesus I too am in the world, not of the world. Shouldn’t be surprised if I end up on the wrong side of popular opinion. Shouldn’t be discouraged if I find myself going against the flow. Also shouldn’t forget that I’ve been prayed for: “Father, keep them, sanctify them.”

Kept through the Helper sent at Pentecost. Sealed by the promised Spirit as a deposit guaranteeing what is to come (Eph. 1:13-14).

Sanctified by the truth. A work in progress, being made holy as He is holy through His holy word.

I can be so caught up in “being in the world but not of the world” that I can sometimes think I’m going it alone in the world. Nope. Not the case.

I believe the Father is faithfully answering the Son’s prayer. Keeping me. Sanctifying me. Even as He has said He would never leave me, nor forsake me (Heb. 13:5).

A good reminder this morning. Worth chewing on. Worth resting in.

Being kept. Being sanctified.

By His grace. For His glory.

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Forever Our Shepherd

Posted on December 2, 2021 by Pete

Learned a new theological term this Fall in our study of the attributes of God – simplicity. God’s simplicity, or to use a more modern term His unity, asserts that God is not a composition of His attributes but that He is His attributes. That there are not many parts to God but that God is One (Deut. 6:4), and all that God is He is fully and wholly. He is not part holy, part love, and part justice. But God is fully and wholly holy while being fully and wholly love while being fully and wholly just. There isn’t a God of the Old Testament and a God of the New. And simplicity is essential to affirming that in His triune being He is not three gods but one God, fully and wholly Father, Son, and Spirit. Simple. Right?

This came to mind this morning as I hovered over Revelation 7. For here I am reminded that not only is God not many parts, but He also doesn’t temporarily play parts. Especially when it comes to God the Son.

For example, Jesus didn’t step into the role of sacrificial Lamb, do what needed to be done, and then step out. Even in glory John sees Him as “a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain” (Rev. 5:6).

Nor, as I read this morning, is our Great Shepherd but a temporary shepherd. But He is our shepherd forever.

“For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and He will guide them to springs of living water . . . ”

(Revelation 7:17a ESV)

The LORD is my shepherd, wrote David (Ps. 23:1). I am the good shepherd, said Jesus (Jn. 10:11,14). And, says the one invited to enter “a door standing open in heaven” (Rev. 4:1), the Lamb in the midst of the throne will, even in heaven, be their shepherd.

Jesus wasn’t just playing a part on earth as the shepherd. Not some temporary role while Immanuel. But Jesus is — yesterday, today, and forever — our shepherd. And He will guide us even through the glories of heaven. He will for eternity provide for us living water. He will always make us to lie down in green pastures.

Forever we will behold the Shepherd. Forever we will be led by the Shepherd.

Fully God, fully man. Fully Lord, fully Lamb.

Our God is one God. Eternal. Without beginning, without end. Both in His essence and in His presence.

Forever our Shepherd.

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

To God simply be the glory.

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