Ages To Come
I’m still in Ephesians this morning, and I had another aha moment. They always surprise me because of the number of times I’ve read the same material. I know many of you reading this know the “salvation” verses from Ephesians 2:8,9. You know, saved by grace, etc. But how many know the preceding verse seven with the phrase, “in the ages to come”?
Most of my life is in the rearview mirror, so “the ages to come” are right around the corner for me. I guess that’s why I get so excited when I see something like today’s revelation. Here it is, “so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”
As I observe our present-day society,
it seems that simple kindness has slipped into the abyss of self-centeredness. Just recently, a TV nighttime host and supposed comedian shot a barb at President Trump through his wife Melania. Not funny. Not kind. Just inappropriate. And that’s only one of many examples I could quote. It saddens me to think that so many find this acceptable.
I’d rather talk about the good stuff that awaits us who are on our way to heaven because of our God’s kindness to us who have embraced His son Jesus as our Savior and friend. Sometimes a word is just a word when it sits by itself, like kindness. We can imagine all different levels depending on who we think of relative to the word. But when it has superlative adjectives ahead of it, wow. Think about God’s kindness preceded by “surpassing riches of His grace in.”
Just the two words
by themselves—surpassing and riches—conjure up something amazing. Stir in kindness and we’ve got icing on the cake of what to look forward to in our new eternal home. But back on planet earth, what does this knowledge do for us while we await the upward call? If you remember, one of the fruits of the Spirit is kindness. We can experience it now with the Holy Spirit living in us. What’s more important, because of that, we’re empowered to show kindness to others as a testimony of our relationship with Jesus.
Wouldn’t that be a great seed-planting opportunity for spreading the gospel if every believer in Jesus Christ focused on this one fruit of the Spirit? People everywhere would notice the difference and be drawn to ask why we are. Brush up on your presentation skills; “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.” (2 Tim. 4:2). Thank you kindly for reading.