[Image: A Sure Hope, 2008, JA Van Devender]
Proverbs 23:17–18 (NKJV)
17 Do not let your heart envy sinners, But be zealous for the fear of the Lord all the day; 18 For surely there is a hereafter, And your hope will not be cut off.
Life for a caterpillar is a very restricted thing. Presuming that the local birds don't bring a sudden termination to its journeys, it basically moves very slowly over a narrow range. I suppose it cannot see very far since its very protection are the leaves which shield it from sharp eyed birds. If it had any degree of intelligence it might wonder what else there is to life except the stalk that it is on, the limited range of nourishment available to it there and the real dangers that confronts its every movement. The idea that one day it might flutter through the air, see sights that are beautiful beyond compare and draw sweet nourishment from an amazing variety of flowers, might seem a wild fantasy... a mind game... a silly dream that is only used to distract it from the rather dull and mundane life that it has. One might think that it would say, "Life is hard and then you die."
But such is not the actual fact... the true circumstance... for the caterpillar. Granted God's preserving hand upon it shielding it from its enemies, the creature is destined, pre-destined if you will, to glory. Yes it will have to "die" in its present form. Yes it will find itself in a tomb of sorts but that is not the end. There is a sure, certain hope that is available to the caterpillar if it could just grasp it. One day this stalk it is on will be left behind. One day wings will be unfurled and new energy will flow through its body and it will "slip the surly bonds of earth and dance the skies on laughter-silvered wings"... it will reach out and "touch the face of God." [poem: " High Flight", a favorite of pilots everywhere]
Note that this "hope" is not the same as "wishing." It's not something that "might happen or might not." Presuming the preserving hand of God it is a definite future, an inevitable consequence of the caterpillar condition. That would make all the difference in the world, I would think, to the lowly caterpillar. It certainly should make all the difference to us.
Two things are sure and certain: (1) To those whom God has revealed His Son and awakened their conscience to His finished work on their behalf, God will through His Holy Spirit, preserve them from their enemies throughout their life. They will not be lost. & (2) They will be transformed after God's timing for them is complete and their glorified body will be as amazingly beautiful and as incredibly gifted as the Lord's body after His resurrection. As He shone in flashing lights on the mount of transfiguration, so will they. The vistas they see and the delights to which they will be introduced is as far removed from their understanding now as the caterpillar's is of the butterfly.
And this is not wishful thinking. It's a fact, Jack.
As with the writer of the Proverb above, we must rest in this sure, certain hope. What do we have to do, as we "inch along" our alloted stalk? Is it not just to guard our hearts against envy... to be content with what our Lord provides... and to demonstrate that reverent awe that lies at the heart of a sanctified "fear of God"? Will He not do as He promised? Is there really any cause to doubt that there is a "here-after" and that our "hope" in that day will most certainly not be "cut off?"
That is our Lord's promise. "All that the Father gives to Me, WILL come to Me, and the one who comes to ME, I WILL BY NO MEANS CAST OUT. But.... (I shall) RAISE (HIM) UP ON THE LAST DAY!" (John 6:37ff, applied). That's hope... that's a sure, certain hope. And it is ours by right of position... by right of inheritance... by right of calling... because it is our very DNA now that we have been born again.
Praise God for His wonderful grace to the sons of men.
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