Monday, December 22, 2008

They Will See His Face, And His Name Is Upon Their Foreheads. And there will be no more night. They have no more need for the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, because the Lord God will shine over them and they will reign for ever and ever. [The angel] said to me, "these words are faithful and ture. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, Has Sent His Angel To Show To His Servants What Must Soon Take Place." Rev. 22:4-6.

A Christian apologist once spoke to a group of atheists. After finishing his speech, one of the atheists complained to him, "Christians have their special holidays, such as Christmas and Easter; the Jews celebrate their national holidays, such as Passover and Yom Kippur. But we atheists," he said, "have no recognized national holidays. It's unfair."

As a humorous response the apologist replied, "Why not celebrate April 1?"

Those familiar with North American customs know that April 1 often goes by the name of April Fool's Day. Some beliee that the holiday had its origins in France. It may be related to the vernal equinox of March 21 (the first day of spring). The vernal equinox was the beginning of the new year, according to the Julian calendar. Because of small inaccuratcies in its calculations, the Julian calendar was 11 days off by the sixteenth century. So the vernal equinox was on April 1 until Charles IX implemented the Gregorian calendar in 1582. Then the vernal equinox reverted to March 21.

Before the calendar change people gave gifts to each other on April 1 in honor of the new year. After the date changed pranksters sent mock gifts to people they had selected, thus making them "April fools." The custom made its way around the world to many other nations.

Regarding atheists, Psalm 14:1 reports, "The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God'"(NIV). The fool is someone who is proud of his or her earthly knowledge and ignores the evidence of a higher power. In the words of media mogul Ted Turner, a fool believes that "Christianity is a religion for losers."

Our text promises that in the new earth we will see the face of God. When looking at a person's face, you can often learn a lot about them, because they express character through their expressions. After years of experience I can often tell at a galnce that a person has been heavily traumatized in the past. Our characters and life experiences have an impact on the features. So when the redeemed get to see God's face, it means that they will come to know His character and will be in intimate relationship with Him. Heaven wil have no atheists.

Lord, today I am awed by Your willingness to enter into ntimate relationship with me. With You in my life I will be preserved from foolish thoughts and actions.

Christ desires us to make His service appear attractive, as it really is. Let the self-denials and the secret heart trials be revealed to the compassionate Saviour. Let the burdens be left at the foot of the cross, and go on your way rejoicing in His love who first loved you. Men may never know of the work going on secretly between the soul and God, but the result of the Spirit's work upon the heart will be manifest to all, for He "which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly."(TFMB 88).