His Hour/Our Hour

 

“Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.” John 13:1.

 

Those who are in Christ will all have an hour that comes in our lives when we will depart from the world to the Father. Until then we have, I think, many appointed hours and seasons of life – some of which may be clearer to us than others; that is, we may be more aware of some seasons and hours than others. Sometimes our sense of purpose and goal may have great certainty to it, and other times we may experience what has been called, “the graciousness of uncertainty.”

 

We ought not to trust in our certainty, nor be unduly dismayed at our uncertainty – for our lives are in the hands of our kind heavenly Father and Lord Jesus Christ and God loves us and cares for us – and our trust ought to ever be in Him.

 

By God’s grace we want to say with Jesus, “I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which you have given Me to do.” (John 17:4). But we can only say this in Christ Jesus for only Christ Jesus is able to accomplish the Father’s work within us and through us – as Jesus says, “…apart from Me you can do nothing” (Jn 15:5b).

 

We know we have a destiny in Jesus Christ, a purpose in Him – and that primary purpose, if it can be called such, is to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:28 – 31). We also read:

 

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them” (Eph. 2:10). What these good works are, and how we discover them and live in them, takes a lifetime to discern – for I think they are always coming to us in myriad ways – through God’s Word, through prayer, through others, through circumstances, through life’s lessons. These good works are discerned and fulfilled in union with His Body, His People – for we are members one of another – and whatever we may have to offer as individuals pales in comparison to what we have to offer as His Body.

 

It is also helpful to remind ourselves that our Father is conforming us to the image of His Son, “so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren” (Rom. 8:29). This is the “good” that we read of in Romans 8:28 – our lives must be always about Jesus. Can we trust our Father to accomplish His work within us?

 

When I look back over my life I see many things that I regret. (I share this in case you have this experience). What can we do with our regrets? Our sins? Our imperfections? Our defects?

 

Our sins are forgiven in Christ and we are justified in Him (Romans 1:1 – 5:11) – miracle of miracles! When God sees us in Christ He sees us as righteous and He remembers our sins no longer. O how I love 2 Corinthians 5:21:

 

“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (No wonder Romans 5:1 – 11 is filled with such excitement).

 

What can we do with our regrets but give them to Jesus and trust Him as our Redeemer…and as the Redeemer of others? In other words, what can we do but trust Him to help those whom we have hurt, or whom we have not helped when we could have – what else can we do? It is not always possible to make amends, and it is often not wise to go back into the past in that it opens wounds that are best left in the hands of God.

 

Of course we can also look for daily opportunities to be a blessing to others, Divine appointments to serve others, to wash the feet of others, to love others – and in this way perhaps, in some sense, we see Christ Jesus redeeming the past.

 

Jesus says, “And who of you by being worried can add a single hour [cubit] to his life?” (Matt. 6:27). While the immediate context of this has to do with bodily necessities, its deeper context is God’s care for us and our devotion to Him – what is the core of life really about? It is about seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matt. 6:33).

 

If our heavenly Father knows that we must eat and drink and wear clothing, (Matt. 6:28 – 32), surely He also knows that we need peace of mind, comfort, spiritual and emotional rest, assurance of forgiveness…and so many other things, all of which we find in our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

As the years go by, I find myself with Paul, looking forward to our heavenly dwelling (2 Cor. 5:1- 8) – knowing that an hour will come when I will depart to be with the Father. I am reminded that God “prepared us for this very purpose” and that He “gave to us the Spirit as a pledge.” That is, a measure of heaven lives in us now as a guarantee of our ultimate destiny in Christ Jesus (see also Eph. 1:13 – 14).

 

I love Fanny Crosby’s lyrics, “Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine, O what a foretaste of glory Divine…”

 

Yes indeed. Amen.