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Devotional
Weekly Bible Devotion By Books
April 3-8, 2023
Enter the Presence of the Lord
Colossians 1:15-20
15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
Confession
God, we confess that we complain too much about your church. Our eyes are often on the fault of the humans and then we simply turn away from your church and you. We forgot that you are in fact the head of the church. You have God’s fullness. You can reconcile all things to yourself. O, Lord, get rid of the pride, self-righteousness, and blindness in our hearts. Guide our hearts to trust your working power among us. We pray, in the name of your son Jesus Christ, amen.
Adoration
Jesus Christ, we enter your presence. We praise your holiness, your love, your truth, your sovereignty, your supremacy, and your working power. We know that all things will be fine. Thank you. Amen.
Scripture Reading
2 Chronicles 7:16-21a; 36:18-20, 23
7:16-21a 16 I (The Lord) have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there. 17 “As for you, if you walk before me faithfully as David your father did, and do all I command, and observe my decrees and laws, 18 I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor to rule over Israel.’19 “But if you turn away and forsake the decrees and commands I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, 20 then I will uproot Israel from my land, which I have given them, and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. I will make it a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. 21 This temple will become a heap of rubble.
36:18-20, 23 God gave them all into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. 18 He carried to Babylon all the articles from the temple of God, both large and small, and the treasures of the Lord’s temple and the treasures of the king and his officials. 19 They set fire to God’s temple and broke down the wall of Jerusalem; they burned all the palaces and destroyed everything of value there.20 He carried into exile to Babylon the remnant, who escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and his successors until the kingdom of Persia came to power….23 This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:“‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go up, and may the Lord their God be with them.’”
Thoughts to share : A Forever Kingdom?
2 Chronicles covers the history of 385 years in 36 chapters. It continues 1 Chronicles’ intention and purpose: to find the vision and motivation for the future by way of reflecting the past. Obviously, the descriptions we see today are very selective with a specific lens. We can read the book through two lines: Kingdom line and Temple line. From Kingdom line, we see the most glorious Solomon reign, Kingdom division, and the Judah kingdom alone. From the Temple line, we see the Temple’s building, pollutions, destructions, and rebuilding. In all descriptions concerning the kings, besides their administrative and military achievements, we see the familiar repetition of a judgmental line: king so so did the right things in the eyes of God, or, king so so did the evil things in the eyes of God.
But, why did the book focus on those two lines? First, the returned exilers were given the edict to re-build their temple, not a kingdom, not a nation. They were still under the ruling of Persian kings. Secondly, the reason which they lost their kingdoms was in that they polluted the Temple. There had been a piece of sad story in their past. But now there was a new hope for them in the future. The Temple was the center and focus of their whole life. It represented the presence of God and the teachings of God. It represented that God did not abandon or forsake them. It represented that God had given their identity and mission. Meantime, they wpuld be accountable to that identity and mission.
So, after almost 400 years’ experiments of the kingdoms, what was God’s promise of a “forever kingdom” to David and Solomon? Where will it be? Is this promise real or not real? Is the kingdom of God on earth or at heaven? Is it built and maintained by human efforts or God Himself? How? How could they not fall into the same faults and sins of their ancestors? How could they escape the same punishments and pains their ancestors had experienced? Up to the end of 2 Chronicles, this promised forever kingdom was a mystery.
In God’s timing, Jesus came to uncover the mystery. He preached that the kingdom of Heaven was at hand. He demonstrated that the Kingdom of God was a reign of God in a person. It has come in the person of Jesus himself. However, he had no intention to bring in a kingdom of God in the form of the kingdoms like those “foreign countries”. It was through his suffering and crucifixion, resurrection that the kingdom has finally come to everyone. Today, churches are the manifestation of the reign of God among us in the world. That Christ is risen is the very evidence that a forever kingdom on the base of Jesus, a full human and a full divine, has come. He had no sin and could not sin. God fully pleased him. At human side, he was the descendent of King David. So, He fulfilled God’s promise to David and his house.
Temple was the center of whole life for the returned exilers. They were expected to live in the world but not of the world. They had special identity and mission. Yet, they continued to struggle to live out their special features in the world where was always full of trends and winds. To Christians today, Jesus is the center of whole life. Yet, seeing through the New Testament and church history, we see that Christians in every generation encountered similar challenges and experienced similar struggles. By the book of 2 Chronicles, we can better see the true role and mission in the world we are in. We need to hold fast our faith in season and out of season. Thanks to the crucified and resurrected Jesus, we are better equipped to do so. The church, the new Temple, is what we are to testify and where we are upheld and strengthened.
Prayer suggestions
Looking around our world scenes, we may feel rather discouraged and puzzled. We may ask where our hope for the future is. What can we Christian do about it at present time? Again and again, we need wisdom. God is the fountain of our wisdom. 2 Chronicles give the wisdom we need in our times.
Lord of all kingdoms and nations, you have higher version of the kingdom for us. Help us to live out that particular identity and mission we are called to be and to do in this very world. Help us to be the light, the salt of the earth no matter wherever we are placed. Give us the wisdom to navigate all trends and winds passing around us and stand firm in you. We trust that you will bring that work to the full completion which you have begun and entrusted us. Thank that you are the high king over all things on this earth. We will never be disappointed. In your son’s name, Amen.
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