The Acceptable Time of the Lord
Living for Christ in the Here and Now.
"For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. Giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed:" (2 Corinthians 6: 2-3)
We have such a loving God that loves us so much that He would give his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us on the cross, even when we were yet rebellious in our ways.
This is critical information to know and to believe, in such a way that it dictates our life and causes us to yearn to be found faithful by the One who has made such a sacrifice on our behalf: Jesus Christ the Righteous Son of God.
Yet so often we see this as knowledge that is important at the end of life rather than to the whole of it. We relegate it as something to be concerned about if we are seriously ill or potentially in danger of losing our life, while it should in fact be the truth by which we live our daily lives, and carry out our part in the human race.
Much like the common saying many profess saying they don’t talk publicly about politics or religion when, in fact, these are the two things that often dominate the reality we live in if we are at all involved in life and community. That certainly seems to be true about the current time.
I say “community” because I believe that Heaven is more about community than it is about location. Most people probably think of Heaven as a place somewhere off in the distant future, or even in another dimension. Yet there is evidence that it is in fact in full force now as many who have died and came back to life testify that they saw people they knew or family members who went before them when they were there. Yet they returned to life on earth and were able to share the experience they had with others upon their return.
Is it possible that we can experience Heaven here on earth while we are yet alive? Is prayer in fact communicating with God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit in this current time, but in a reality we are not awake to? A reality that is around us, or near us so to speak, but not in a way that we can touch it or feel it other than in a spiritual sense when we are having a spiritual experience?
I have had a lot of time to think about the reality of Heaven during the past two months as I have watched my precious wife teeter on the brink of death from the two strokes she suffered in late May. Her recent surgery has given us the hope that the strokes are behind us. But the condition that she is in still remains, and she cannot use her left side to function or move about. Although she can feel everything there, her arm or her leg and foot on that side are still inoperable.
She has told me often during this experience that, because of the extreme pain and suffering she is having, she wishes the Lord would take her home. But I am persuaded that He still has a plan for her to remain alive here with me, and I believe that, and pray fervently for that to be the truth. Yet I think also how Heaven would be so wonderful for her as she has been a Christian since she was six years old.
The crux of what I am getting to is this: Are you ready to meet the Lord? Are you aware that, “Now is the Accepted Time. Now is the Day of Salvation?”
The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ has made it so that you can know you are truly prepared for the moment when you will stand before God and give an account of your life. The Scriptures indicate that when that happens the primary question will be: “What did you do about Jesus?”
Did you truly believe in Him and what He did for you: overcoming the penalty of sin, and paying the price for you to receive eternal life rather than eternal damnation. There is no more important bit of knowledge for you to have than to truly believe in the finished work of Christ on the Cross of Calvary.
According to the Bible, Jesus is seated at the right hand of God the Father in Heaven now, and we are seated with him by having faith in His name and position as Lord of Lords, and King of Kings.
Don’t let this be merely your religion. Instead, give it the place of priority it deserves in your life. It may seem simple enough, but when the the jailer who held Paul and his co workers in jail saw that an angel had released them, he feared for his own life and asked Paul, “What must I do to be saved?“, Paul answered simply:
“Believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.”
This is the Simplicity of the Gospel. This is The Good News for everyone who wishes be saved.
Craig Marlatt