Forever

DEVOTION

 THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

FOREVER

Luke 16:16-17

16 "The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it. 17 It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law.

NIV

Jesus is making the point that he is the one which the Law and the Prophets were all about and that man needs to press toward the kingdom now, listen to the good news which started with John preaching about making way for the Lord and then for these past few years the very preaching and teaching of Jesus himself. The time has come for man to see what all the Law and the Prophets were about. Jesus also makes the point that both the seen heaven and earth that man knows now are only temporary, they are going to pass away, but the word of God is eternal. This statement is on the heels of him telling the Pharisees that cannot serve both God and money. He is giving them insight into the fact all this pursuit and passion for the things of the world are only a passion for that which is temporary and they should be forcing their way in to kingdom, they should be rushing toward it, into it instead, for the kingdom is the only thing which is going to last forever and ever. The kingdom is the only thing which is worth value and it alone should be their goal. As far as the Law itself, Jesus fulfilled every aspect of it completely, thus both satisfying God and sanctifying us. Yes, we still have a copy of the Law within the Old Testament and there is still a moral code which we should abide by, but the Law the code, the do’s and don’ts cannot save us, for the fact is we cannot abide by them perfectly, but Jesus did. Therefore being in Christ is the only way in which we can satisfy the Law.  This is the point Jesus was making and that our time here is limited and we should be forcing our way, advancing toward the kingdom, not after that which is going to be destroyed.  Why do we chase after the temporary things of this world if it is just that, temporary? We have heard the good news of the kingdom of God and we should be advancing toward it. True, we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, but have we mixed our passions for him with passions for the things of the world? We cannot serve two masters, we have to focus on the eternal rather than temporal, the realm of the unseen rather than the realm of the seen.  Yet we might be so concerned about the stuff in this world we get entangled by it, as the Pharisees were in the love of money, while trying to appear religious. We need to stay focused on the good news of the kingdom, the grace and love of God toward us, the eternal aspect of our lives. Sure we still have stuff, but that is the stuff God has provided because we seek him first, above all else because he is the only thing which actually matters, he is eternal and his kingdom will last forever.