Future Glory

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end,” (Eccl. 3:11). If we are to serve God, we must play by His rules, and not our own scholarly understanding. The journey into the real supernatural power of the message of God begins with this single step of understanding: God is not subject to man’s concept of time. God is the God of our yesterday, today and tomorrow. If we are true followers of Christ, we must follow Him not only with our yesterday and today, but with our tomorrow. “‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty,’” (Rev. 1:8). God exists in the past, present and future – all at the same time. His omnipresence applies to our concept of time. To fully serve God, we must submit to Him our past (forgiveness), present (salvation) and our future (discipleship). Just as Joshua challenged the Israelites, we are to choose in the present whom we shall serve in the future (Josh. 24:15). We are invited to submit our future dreams and desires to His Lordship in the present day – in the here and now. What is Time to God? God is the God of our yesterdays. He erased our sin nature and gave us a heart of flesh. Before we were fashioned in our mother’s womb, He understood and knew us. He spoke blessing and birthright on us. He chose to weave a destiny for us. Even if you haven’t been following that destiny, He has been faithful to your purpose. God is faithful, even when we are not (2 Tim. 2:13). There may have been moments – perhaps people and opportunities that God has put in your path – where you have already been able to live out that destiny. That is future glory. Look back at your own life for times when God was faithful to the stirrings of your heart, even if you discounted, or sadly may have even missed, the experience. Today, you may not be following that destiny due to unawareness, unwillingness, or by leaning on your own understanding of what that destiny might be. But God had a plan and purpose for you, set in place long before you were born. “[God] saved us and called us to a holy life – not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,” (2 Tim. 1:9-10). God knew you before you were in your mother’s womb, and He existed long before the time of our ancestors. For, “before Abraham was born, I Am,” declares Jesus (John 8:58). “In the beginning was the Word,” (John 1:1). Before the Word was made flesh, Jesus was part of the overall plan of God. Jesus’ purpose was determined long before his mother was visited by an angel. And Jesus’ destiny, to absolve our sin and make atonement for us, happened long before our current family tree really began to take shape. Yet His sacrifice still applies to our family today and to those yet to come. His ministry is everlasting. Jesus, of the line of Melchizedek and not Aaron, represents an eternal ministry. “Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God he remains a priest forever,” (Heb. 7:3).