10.4 God’s Eternity And Men’s Frailty

(Psalm 90:1-12)

O Lord, you have always been our home.
Before you created the hills or brought the world
into being,
you were eternally God,
and will be God forever.

You tell man to return to what he was;
you change him back to dust.
A thousand years to you are like one day;
they are like yesterday, already gone,
like a short hour in the night.
You carry us away like a flood;
we last no longer a dream.
We are like weeds that sprout in the morning,
that grow and burst into bloom,
then dry up and die in the evening.

We are destroyed by you anger;
we are terrified by your fury.
You place our sins before you,
our secret sins where you can see them.

Our life is cut short by your anger;
it fades away like a whisper.
Seventy years is all we have –
eighty years, if we are strong;
Yet all they bring us is trouble and sorrow;
life is soon over, and we are gone.

Who has felt the full power of your anger?
Who knows what fear your fury can bring?
Teach us how short our life is,
so that we may become wise.

10.3 The End Victory Is God’s

(1 Corinthians 15:52-58)

When the last trumpet sounds, we shall all be changed in an instant, as quickly as the blinking of an eye. For when the trumpet sounds, the dead will be raised, never to die again, and we shall all be changed. For what is mortal must be changed into what is immortal; what will die must be changed into what cannot die. So when this takes place, and the mortal has been changed into the immortal, then the scripture will come true: “Death is destroyed; victory is complete!”

“Where, Death, is your victory?
Where, Death, is your power to hurt?”

Death gets its power to hurt from sin, and sin gets it power from the Law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

So then, my dear brothers, stand firm and steady. Keep busy always in your work for the Lord, since you know that nothing you do in the Lord’s service is ever useless.

10.2 Now An Earthy Tent, Later An Eternal Home

(2 Corinthians 5:1-10)

For we know that when this tent we live in- our body here on earth- is torn down, God will have a house in heaven for us to live, a home he himself has made, which will last forever. And now we sigh, so great is our desire that our home which comes from heaven should be put on over us; by being clothed with it we shall not be without a body. While we live in this earthly tent, we groan with a felling oppression; it is not that we want to get rid of our earthly body, but that we want to have the heavenly one put on over us, so that what is mortal will be transformed by life. God is the one who has prepared us for this change, and he gave us his Spirit as the guarantee of all that he has in store for us.

So we are always full of courage. We know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord’s home. For our life is a matter of faith, not of sight. We are full of courage and would much prefer to leave our home in the body and be at home with the Lord. More than anything else, however, we want to please him, whether in our home here or there. For all of us must appear before Christ, to be judged by him. Each one will receive what he deserves, according to everything he has done, good or bad, in his bodily life.

10.1 Be Prepared For The Return Of The Master

(Luke 12:35-40)

“Be ready for whatever comes, dressed for action and with your lamps lit, like servants who are waiting for their master to come back from a wedding feast. When he comes and knocks, they will open the door for him at once. How happy are those servants whose master finds them awake and ready when he returns! I tell you, he will take off his coat, have them sit down, and will wait on them. How happy they are if he finds them ready, even if he should come at midnight or even later! And you can be sure that if the owner of a house knew the time when the thief would come, he would not let the thief break into his house. And you, too, must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you are not expecting him.”

9.4 Passion of the Messiah

(Psalm 22:1-11, 14-19, 22-25)

My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
I have cried desperately for help,
but still it does not come.
During the day I call to you, my God,
but you do not answer;
I call at night, but get no rest.
But you are enthroned as the Holy One,
the one whom Israel praises.
Our ancestors put their trust in you;
they trusted you, and you saved them.
They called to you and escaped from danger;
they trusted you and were not disappointed.

But I am no longer man; I am worm,
despised and scorned by everyone!
All who see me make fun of me;
they stick out their tongues
and shake their heads.
“You relied on the LORD”, they say.
“Why doesn’t he save you?
If the LORD likes you,
why doesn’t he help you?”

It was you who brought me safely through birth,
and when I was a baby, you kept me safe.
I have relied on you since the day I was born,
and you have always been my God.
Do not stay away from me!
Trouble is near, and there is no one to help.

My strength is gone,
gone like water spilled on the ground.
All my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like melted wax.
My throat is as dry as dust,
and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.
You have left me for dead in the dust.

A gang of evil men is around me;
like a pack of dogs they close in on me;
they tear at my hands and feet.
All my bones can be seen.
My enemies look at me and stare.
They gamble for my clothes and
divide them among themselves.

O Lord, don’t stay away from me!
Come quickly to my rescue!

I will tell my people what you have done;
I will praise you in their assembly:
“Praise him, you servant of the LORD!
Honor him, you descendants of Jacob!
Worship him, you people of Israel!
He does not neglect the poor or ignore their suffering;
he does not turn away from them,
but answers when they call for help.”

In the full assembly I will praise you
for what you have done;
in the presence of those who worship you
I will offer the sacrifices I promised.