Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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 Messiah: Fulfillment of the promise.

Malachi 3:1-6

V 1 The Lord almighty answers, “ I will send my messenger to prepare the way for me. Then the Lord you are looking for will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger you long to see will come and proclaim my covenant.”
 

 We are sinners in need of God's intervention to keep us from receiving the just wages of our depravity. Prophet Malachi in this text explains Christ's expected incarnation. Lord God is clearly telling the people of  Israel of the impending arrival of a messenger of the covenant.V.1 talks about two messengers. The first one to go before and to prepare the way – is John the Baptist. The second one is the messenger of the covenant – the Lord Jesus Christ. Malachi's sarcasm toward the hypocrisy of the Israelites is evident when he says, “the Lord whom ye seek”. The fulfillment of the promise is well described by Malachi in these few verses when he tells: the suddenness of His entry to their midst, Ownership of the messenger, Well pronounced nature of the messenger, and it coincides with the comment in Luke chapter 2 – the fulfillment of the Lord's presence in the temple of God by His parents. God's eternal covenant of salvation is proclaimed by Jesus Christ through His incarnation and the subsequent atonement on the cross. The blood he shed on the cross was God's intervention for the just wages of humanity's transgression of the divine law.
         Let us keep the doors of our hearts open to the coming King, who would like to enter your hearts without trumpet or heralding. Unlike Malachi's day, we are under the grace of God which will cleanse our sins, to make us righteous in the sight of the Lord. It will help us to live our lives with the power of Christ, which enables us to present ourselves without shame or guilt at His second coming. Prophet Malachi asked,” who may abide in the day of His coming”. The messenger Lord Jesus would come and purify the Jewish nation, priests, and people alike and bring swift justice to the sinners who arrogantly disobeyed His law. He would purify the way a jeweler purifies the precious metal in a furnace.
           In the light of God's everlasting righteousness and our sinful darkness, the only hope is His compassionate mercy through His atonement on the cross.

Prayer

 Lord our great messenger, you are our hope for eternity and salvation, cleanse us, purify us in the furnace, and make us your sons and daughters out of your mercy and compassion. Amen.

Thought of the Day

 Christ is the answer to our need for forgiveness and salvation.

Dr.JohnK.Thomas  Tabor MTC

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