It May Be Smaller — But It’s Better

-


Scripture:

 Haggai 2:9 The latter splendor of this house shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts; and in this place I will give prosperity, says the LORD of hosts.

Observation:

The foundations were being laid for the new temple. Those who had seen the previous temple were saddened for this one would be smaller than the one built by Solomon. Sadly the original temple had been destroyed and now that they were returning home from exile it was time to build a place of worship. The promise that God brought them at the moment of their despair was that the splendor of this new, and smaller house, would be greater than the one built by Solomon. That was hard for the people to believe because they knew that they didn’t personally have the resources to make this a gorgeous temple.

This new temple would be far greater than the old because the Messiah would eventually visit this very place. The long awaited one would sit along the colonnades and teach those who would be willing to listen. The prosperity to be received would be in the form of eternal life and transformation in the here and now for the Christ-followers. The new temple may have been smaller, but it would be better, for Jesus would be found there.

Application:

I can only imagine the disappointment of those who had experienced Solomon’s temple. It had been impressive. Now, it was gone and they wanted things to be the same as they had been in the past.

Times are changing and when we cling to the things of the past we may not be able to see the advent of a new future. When we cling to the things of the past and are disappointed because of the changes of the current moment or of the future, we may just miss out on what God has for us. While the earthly treasures of Solomon’s temple were certainly beautiful, they were nothing compared to the presence of the Messiah! He would become the living temple, the one that would be torn down and rebuilt within three days. You and I would then be invited to become living stones in the temple of our God, empowered and strengthened by the presence of the Holy Spirit.

If we are looking at earthly systems or structures that just aren’t what they used to be, it’s not time for us to be discouraged. It may, however, be time for us to open our eyes to God who is at work in our world and may be leading us into a new future that we cannot even imagine. The people staring at a new and smaller foundation could not have imagined what would happen when Jesus would arrive. Jesus is coming again and all of earth is groaning in anticipation and in the meantime God is still to be trusted. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts and his ways higher than ours. It’s not time to doubt God, it is time to trust him even more. It may be smaller — things may be much different — but could it be that they will be better? Our shortsightedness could mean that we overlook the Messiah.

Don’t be discouraged because the landscape is changing but be excited, for the coming splendor will be greater than the former.

Come, Thou long expected Jesus

Born to set Thy people free

From our fears and sins release us

Let us find our rest in Thee

Israel’s strength and consolation

Hope of all the earth Thou art

Dear desire of every nation

Joy of every longing heart
    Charles Wesley, 1744

Prayer:

Lord, may I anticipate the new with great joy. Amen.


If you would like to read more "Reflecting the Image"  click on the image to take you to the NPH bookstore.The book is also available in Kindle format on Amazon.com.


http://www.nph.com/nphweb/html/nph/itempage.jsp?itemId=9780834135277

Comments

  1. FreeborngDecember 16, 2015 at 4:14 PM

    Hello Carla, your Charles Wesley quote drew me to your blog post. Once here, I read that you are a woman called to preach. Awesome! If you interest, I have just completed a book titled, Black Country. It is an opening novel in a trilogy about the 18th-century British preacher, Francis Asbury. Asbury spent 45 years ministering in America, what is largely unknown are his early years in England. I have attempted to piece these early years together. In Black Country, I have a special feature of including several of the women preachers Asbury met in his travels. These women eventually become the first women preachers allowed by John Wesley. The website for the book series, The Asbury Triptych Series, is www.francisasburytriptych.com if you interest. In addition, there are numerous articles on the website which feature many of the interesting stories and characters of this movement. Have fun. Thank you again for the post. Al d.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Carla SunbergDecember 17, 2015 at 6:04 PM

    Thank you so much for this information. I'd love to read your book. Will it come out on Kindle?

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Take Off Your Ornaments

-
Scripture: Ex. 33:4 ¶ When the people heard these harsh words, they mourned, and no one put on ornaments. Ex. 33:5 For the LORD had said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you. So now take off your ornaments, and I will decide what to do to you.’” Ex. 33:6 Therefore the Israelites stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward. Observation: The people had sinned before God by making and worshiping the golden calf!  They had taken their golden jewelry — the earrings and other items they had gotten from the Egyptians and used them to create an idol.  Now, in an act of humility and repentance they were to take off all of their jewelry and ornaments.  It was a time of mourning over their sin and it included intentional action on the part of the Israelites.  Application: We don’t do all that well with humility and repentance!  It seems that we live in a time when we try to carry
Read more

Does God Value Boys More than Girls?

-
Scripture: Lev. 12:1 ¶ The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: Lev. 12:2 Speak to the people of Israel, saying: ¶ If a woman conceives and bears a male child, she shall be ceremonially unclean seven days; as at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean. Lev. 12:3 On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. Lev. 12:4 Her time of blood purification shall be thirty-three days; she shall not touch any holy thing, or come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purification are completed. Lev. 12:5 If she bears a female child, she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her menstruation; her time of blood purification shall be sixty-six days. Lev. 12:6 ¶ When the days of her purification are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting a lamb in its first year for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering. Lev. 12:7 He shall offer it before the LORD, and make atonement on her
Read more

The Advantage of Sanctification

-
Scripture: Rom. 6:22 But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life. Rom. 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Observation: Two sides of life are presented here in great contrast.  One is a life of sin and enslavement to evil.  The other side of life is freedom which provides the advantage of sanctification (or holiness as some translate the word) that leads to eternal life.  The options here are a life of sin, slavery and death; or freedom, holiness and eternal life.  The advantage of holiness or sanctification is the benefit of the life of freedom.  Jesus died so that we might be made holy like him and this is something that is offered as a “fruit” or “advantage” right now.  The end is eternal life — but the living of life is that it can be lived out in holiness.  The next verse is really just an affirmation of the verse 22.  Sin will lead
Read more