God’s love, which is stronger than death, is causing me to continue walking the path of the mission the Lord has given me (John 6:1–15). “At that very time some Pharisees came and said to Him, ‘Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill You.’ He replied, ‘Go tell that fox, “I will keep driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach My goal.” In any case, I must press on today and tomorrow and the next day—for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem! Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see Me again until you say, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord” (Luke 13:31–35). ...
Clean fine linen
Having been justified by
God,
we will participate in
the wedding feast of the Lamb in the new heaven and new earth.
Revelation 19:7-8 says:
"Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory!
For the wedding of the
Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.
Fine linen, bright and
clean, was given her to wear"
(Fine linen stands for
the righteous acts of the saints).
At this wedding feast,
the groom is Jesus Christ, and the bride is us,
who believe in Jesus and
have been justified.
The "fine
linen" we will wear symbolizes justification,
which God has clothed us
with
(Note: the verb in verse
8 is passive,
indicating that God has
clothed us with the fine linen).
As the bride, which is
the church, and those who have been justified by God,
we must prepare
ourselves (Note: the verb in verse 7 is active,
indicating that we, the bride, must prepare
ourselves).
This preparation
involves the righteous acts of the saints.
In other words, as those
justified by God,
we must prepare
ourselves with “righteous acts” or “righteous deeds” (v. 8).
From the perspective of
1 John, "righteous deeds"
refer to actions
performed by a righteous person like Jesus (1 John 3:7),
doing righteousness as
"Jesus Christ the Righteous One" (2:1) does (v. 6).
Specifically, these
righteous deeds are encapsulated in Jesus' twofold commandment:
"Love the Lord your
God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind"
and "Love your
neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:37, 39).
댓글
댓글 쓰기