There is a biblical principle that we must “go down to come up,” that we must be planted in the earth to grow into the light, that night comes before day, that resurrection only comes after death. The devil can try to destroy us, but God means to bless not only us, but others, in our trials. Through our trials, pain, and deepest despair comes a path of salvation for us, for our family, and, as we shall see, for God’s nation.
No one can enter eternity and sit at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, the feast for union with Him slain before the foundation of the world, harboring offense at another sinner in their heart. Such bitterness will damn you to eternity apart from the just Judge of the ages. So Jesus’ words to Peter were those of a sage and sober wisdom: Forgive every day, until the last day. You forgive and keep forgiving till the end of the age; the welfare of your very soul is at stake. You love till the end.
What we call the “Great Commission” tasked us with the holy dignity of bearing incarnate witness to the Incarnate God. Indeed, “let this mind be in [us] also.” As we meditate on the Incarnation this week—and we should—may we look towards the rest of the story, and may we give ourselves to hasten the Day it’ll happen.
Just over two months ago, the world reeled from the news of a young man’s death on the shores of an isolated island in the Bay of Bengal. But it isn’t the first time a young zealot’s passion for the Gospel in the nations arrested the attention of everyone around him. Hear the story of John Urquhart.
