New Morning Mercies #36

God will not rest from his redemptive work until he has once and for all presided over the funeral of sin and death.

If someone asked you, “What is God doing right now?” what would you answer? I am afraid that many of us are confused when it comes to the present benefits and activity of Jesus. We get that we have been forgiven and we understand that we have eternity with him in our future, but we’re not sure what the agenda is in the here and now. Because we don’t understand what God has committed himself to in the present, we are tempted to question his wisdom and doubt his love. Our problem is not that God is inactive or that he has abandoned us, but that we are not on his agenda page. Left with confusion about his plan and carrying with us unrealistic expectations, we get disappointed and a little bit cynical, and we quit running to him for help. It is a bit of a spiritual mess.

The answer to the big question we have proposed is really quite easy and straightforward. What is God up to right here, right now? Redemption! He is actively working on sin’s final defeat and our complete deliverance. He is working out the spoils of the victory that Christ accomplished on the cross of Calvary. Listen to the encouraging words of 1 Corinthians 15:25–26: “For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.”

Now, you and I need to understand two things in these words that answer our question. What is God doing? First, he’s reigning! No, your world is not out of control. No, the bad guys are not going to win. No, sin will not have the final victory. Because your world is not out of control but under God’s careful redemptive control, you can have hope even when it looks to you as if darkness is winning the day.

What is God doing? This passage gives a second answer. He is putting the enemies of his redemptive purpose under his feet. He will crush enemy after enemy until the last enemy, death, is defeated. He will not sit down, he will not rest, he will not relent until sin and death are completely defeated and we are finally and forever delivered. Hope right here, right now doesn’t rest in your understanding or strength, but in the sin- and death-defeating rule of the King of kings and Lord of lords. His reign is your present protection and your future hope.

For further study and encouragement: 1 Corinthians 15:50–58