As is always the case with MwM, today’s scripture passage takes precedence over my meditation on it, and failure to interface with the former will impoverish interaction with the latter.
Have you ever wondered how the Book of Life will read when it’s opened at the end of time? And, have you ever wondered why God placed those long genealogies in scripture? Perhaps He’ll have us all sit down in heaven in our first class, Eternity Orientation 101, and begin reading: “Since you found the genealogies in the Bible so boring and skipped over them, we will have to catch you up. Children, here is your genealogy. First of all, you are all here by faith.” And He might proceed: “By faith Noah (followed by an account of faith’s outcome in his life) then… By faith Abraham (his account)… By faith Sarah… By faith Abraham… By faith Isaac… By faith Jacob… By faith Joseph…By faith Moses, etc. Finally (a thousand years later) he will record the last saint’s faith in the Old Testament, and then conclude: “All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, they confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.”
What is the relevance of these ancient’s lives to our own? Much I believe, but answering this question honestly may require much faith for us moderns. As most of us understand it, the modern world we are living in is a material world. It is composed of elements that we’ve identified. We have measured their properties and labeled them. We have harnessed and arranged them in such ways as to serve us. Our technological prowess deceives us into thinking we are this earth’s masters. Consequently, we have forgotten God and, sadly, are systematically working to evict Him from His own world. Why? Because in scripture, He makes a counter claim.
The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains, the world, and those who dwell in it. (Psalm 24:1)
The scriptures claim this earth belongs to God and that God will ultimately reveal himself as its owner: the landlord will return to his vineyard. He will deal with the poor stewards and put the accounts in order. The scriptures also claim that beyond this created world, the Creator has another superior and unending realm, which should cause the inhabitants of this one to bend their knees in humility. While living in this world (which, by faith, we acknowledge belongs to God) we steward our talents, knowing that we are even now inhabitants of the realm that knows no end. It requires faith to lay hold of the reality that, as His children, we are already citizens of the never-ending kingdom of God.
The world sees our position as insanity. The brokers of power in this earth (ultimately, Satan’s minions) see our position as insurrection because we claim that our God reigns with authority higher than theirs. We live in a world that is moving closer and closer to a showdown between them and God. By faith, we lay hold of these things, and, having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, we confess that we are strangers and exiles on the earth.
So in a very real sense we too have been called to go out to this place where we are to receive our inheritance even though we don’t know exactly where we’re going. When the book is opened and we hear our name finally read, we want to hear:
Insert your name lived as an alien in the earth, as if it were a foreign land, dwelling as a sojourner, a fellow heirs of the promise; for insert your name was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. Insert your name embraced this realm, unseen at the time, as the firmer reality. By faith…
What will follow depends on our cooperation with the wind that blows in directions we can neither predict nor control. It will depend on our cooperation with the Holy Spirit who lives within us.
Father, having been warned about things not yet seen, may we embrace Jesus, the ark of our salvation. May the fullness of His life within us convict the world as they observe that we have become the heirs of righteousness by faith. May our lives make it clear that we were strangers and exiles on the earth, seeking that country which is our own. May we forgo every opportunity to return to this world. May our embrace of this city which You have prepared for us make it possible for you to not be ashamed to be called our God. As the battle intensifies may our hearts be content with the reproach of Christ as a greater treasure than anything this world had to offer. For You alone, Lord, are our reward.