Blog In Audio:
Greetings,
Today is my last day in California with my grandson Kaden and granddaughter Zaria. We have had a great week. My wife Bonnie went home last week, and dad and mom have now returned here. It will be a sad goodbye, but we look forward to our next adventures together.
Last week I addressed the subject of the Day of the Lord and the end times. End times is only necessary for the things that need to end. Things that offend and things that are lawless are removed by the administration of God’s grace in our lives. The Day of the Lord is a continued reality for all that is eternal and knows no end. The Day of the Lord is not just a coming day. It is the continued coming light of Christ in our lives. In Christ, we are children of the day and not the night. No aspect of the coming of the Day of the Lord comes as a thief for us. It is a constant, maturing, and culminating reality in our lives. We are increasingly becoming the light of Christ. We must not be distracted by those who choose to walk in darkness, but rather be the light of life that shines in the world for their sake. We are putting on the clothing of Christ.
Galatians 3:25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. 26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.
Romans 13:11 Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. 12 The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.
These words written by Paul were words to the first century church of Christ. They apply to us today, but Paul was not talking to us. He was talking to the first fruit church of Christ in his day. We are a further-fruit church, but we are not the first fruit. Whatever happened in the first fruit set a precedence for all the aspects of fruit and harvest that would follow. These words are applicable to us, but they are words to the foundation of the church. The Day of the Lord is a day that has no end. It is a day that is as a thousand years.
God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, meaning He owns all cattle (Ps. 50:10). God keeps His love and mercy for a thousand generations, meaning He keeps His love and mercy forever (Deut. 7:9). He remembers His covenant and word for a thousand generations, meaning He remembers them forever (Ps. 105:8; 1 Chr. 16:15). God is God for a thousand generations, meaning He is God forever (Ps. 105:8). With the Lord a day is as a thousand years, meaning it is a day that never ends. We need not be moved to fear by the end of days around us. We live in the eternal day of the Lord!
2 Peter 3:8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day
There was an aspect of the Day of the Lord in Peter’s day. There was a testimony of grace and truth in the first fruit church that guaranteed that same testimony in the fruit of the church in the generations to come. Last days can only come when that which is temporary comes face-to-face with something of the realm of eternity. We are people of eternal life, and we can expect God’s grace and truth to be good news for who we are in this world and all that is to come.
Hebrews 1:1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
The writer of Hebrews was clearly communicating a last days that was at hand for his letter’s recipients. He was putting this last days era in the context of the already given Son of God, Jesus Christ. It was not a last days thousands of years in the future, but a last days for a nation at the time. God speaking to our hearts is an internal power of the kingdom of God that transforms our lives to be eternal testimonies of all that is in heaven. The last days only come because of the eternal day of life given to us all in Christ.
Blessings,
Ted J. Hanson
Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:
Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:
House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225
To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.
Our Ministry Information Is:
House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728
