The Lord promises that when the nations come against
Jerusalem He will save them and will get glory.
There is a siege against the city on all sides and yet in that day, the
Lord will act on behalf of His people and their enemies will be destroyed
completely while the city and the people of Judah will prosper greatly. At that time, they will turn to him whom they
have pierced (Jesus) and will have a spirit of grace. They will weep for Him, as for a firstborn
child. In other words, they will
recognize Him for who He is and they will weep for their failure to recognize
Him and for the crucifixion. Nehemiah is
a man who understood something about corporate guilt, he hadn't been in
Jerusalem and yet he connected with the people at the level of responsibility
for the sins of his fathers. Those who
see this salvation are not the same ones who rejected Jesus but there is a
strong sense of identification with that sin.
The church should consider that same idea and repent of what Christians
have done down the ages that cause people today to question it, not excuse
those sins as in the past.
We all know the story of Zacchaeus but do we take time to
consider the setting? Jesus is on His
way to be crucified and He knows it and yet He notices this "wee little
man" up in the sycamore tree and reaches out to Him and he and his family
receive salvation. Always Jesus was on
the job, looking to find and save the lost sheep, even in His own hour of need.
He was never so fixed on Himself that He wasn't reaching out to others. His attitude of selflessness and constant
awareness of others is something we should learn to cultivate in
ourselves. Let's give ourselves a break
from self-obsession during Advent and open our eyes to the needs of others.
We have every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. We were chosen before the foundation of the
world, we were predestined for adoption as God's children in Jesus. We have been redeemed and forgiven. He has made known to us the mystery of His
will. We have received the inheritance
of children, eternal life. We have been
sealed with the Holy Spirit of God as the guarantee of that inheritance. With all this in hand, can't we let go of our
fears and self-obsession and extend the grace to others?
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