Dirty Shirt
Originally scheduled for November 1
Psalms 102:25-27 NASB
"Of old You founded the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your
hands. (26)
"Even they will perish, but You endure; And all of them will
wear out like a garment; Like clothing You will change them and they
will be changed. (27)
"But You are the same, And Your years will not come to an
end.
The psalmist
here reminds us of the eternal nature of God. The matter is
relatively simple, taken from a philosophical sense. The universe
exists; it had a starting point. Therefore it needed a starter — or
as we would put it, a creator. Genesis 1:1 tells us that God is
exactly that creator. That tells us that God is not part of the
universe, for the part did not create the whole. It is interesting
to observe that in the history of mankind the only person to put
himself forward as this creator is the God of Abraham. There are no
other candidates for the job. The fact that he is the creator
implies also that he has an eternal nature, one which is not bounded
by time or space. This nature — a glory only hinted at in creation —
is later to be revealed to us. We are told that we shall see him
“face to face.”
If you follow
what the physics department tells you, we shall see a continuing
increase in what is called entropy — a measure of the disorder of
the universe. Eventually, the universe should wind down into a very
cold, very homogenous muddle. The time to accomplish this is much
greater than the known age of the universe today. But God tells us a
different story. He tells us that he will change this universe, as
one commentator put it, “like a dirty shirt.” One of the seven last
things is the new heaven and new earth, and he has promised us this.
But let us be clear: God’s character does not change, just the
surety where is known as the universe. As the old hymn put it, “thou
changest not, thy compassions they fail not.” Even if the heavens
and the earth change completely, God’s character will remain the
same.
Someone is
all the supposed to happen? Virtually every theory concerning the
prophecies says that this will happen at or after the return of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Which brings us to the point of communion: we do
this in anticipation of his return. Each and every time you take
communion, you are telling the world you believe that he will
return. When he does, communion will cease, for we will have
fellowship with the risen Lord. In the meanwhile, be of good cheer —
for as Christ has told us:
John 14:19 NASB “…
because I live, you will live also.”
We are handling high and holy things. For this reason, if
for no other, you should examine yourself carefully before taking
communion. Is there something in you which displeases Him? If so,
give him your promise that you will allow him to deal with it,
however that might be. Then partake, with your eyes on the future,
knowing that heaven and earth will pass away but God will not
change. He has promised you a home in that new heaven and new earth
— and his eternal character shows that he will keep that promise.
