The Promise Changes Everything
I was pleased to hear the doorbell from the outside. There was no wondering if a second ring was needed.
She appeared, unlocked the door, and swung it wide to welcome me in. Crazy how this growing up thing works--one day you're in high school with someone, and the next, she's been married for nearly six months and you're going for tea in her home. Her home, complete with a tiny pet turtle. Time flies us right into small glimpses of heaven such as this.
She gave me the tour, told me the stories contained in each room. There was the couch set found on the internet, a wonderful purchase; the desk found on the side of the road, re-knobbed, repainted, and piled high with nursing textbooks; the china, a gift "because we knew you would use it"; the guestroom that would, someday in the distant future, be the nursery. She paused in the middle of the tour to wave to the mailman, who she knew by name. Her life was unfolding in this home, and I got to watch. It was like a fairy tale.
The kettle whistled. We sipped tea from the china teacups, chatted over tiramisu. Her husband, the electrician, came in to fix something. Glimpsing heaven.
We moved to the couch set, the wonderful purchase, and talked about marriage. "It's crazy," she observed, "that an hour-long ceremony, some words exchanged, changes so much, but it does. It's crazy that we planned for seven and a half months for this one day, and I wonder if people see how much goes into it! But it's perfect. It's perfect that it's a vow that changes everything, a promise."
A vow that changes everything. A promise.
Marriage is a far-off dream for me now. Someday it will come, but not now. No, today, her words struck me for a different reason.
I have been reading a devotional about the gospel, and the first day was titled "The Gospel Changes Everything." (Amanda Bible Williams, shereadstruth.com) This gospel that changes everything is God's promise to save!
"I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." Genesis 3:15 ESV
"And he [God] brought him outside and said, 'Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.' Then he said to him, 'So shall your offspring be.' And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness." Genesis 15:5-6 ESV
"Say therefore to the people of Israel, 'I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgement. I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the LORD.'" Exodus 6:6-8 ESV
"Once for all I have sworn by my holiness; I will not lie to David. His offspring shall endure forever, his throne as long as the sun before me. Like the moon it shall be established forever, a faithful witness in the skies." Psalm 89:35-37 ESV
"She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." Matthew 1:21 ESV
"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23 ESV
"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God." Ephesians 2:8 ESV
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16 ESV
The Bible is littered with vows that change everything. Adam, Eve, Abraham, Moses, David, the early Christians, and so many more experienced the promises of God and "believed the Lord, and he counted it to [them] as righteousness." (Gen. 15:6) When we believe that God never fails we are clothed with Christ's righteousness and made into His bride. Christ's atoning death is our ceremony, His promises are our "few words exchanged." And they truly do change everything.
Where we were broken, we are being restored. Where empty, being filled. Where sinful, being sanctified. Where separated from God, being drawn near. These are the effects of faith in the gospel, and they promise even greater rewards for the future: "Whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16) Today, I glimpse heaven in whistling kettles and young love; how much more will I see it when Jesus fulfills all of His promises? And even now, as He draws me closer, His grace is changing everything.
She appeared, unlocked the door, and swung it wide to welcome me in. Crazy how this growing up thing works--one day you're in high school with someone, and the next, she's been married for nearly six months and you're going for tea in her home. Her home, complete with a tiny pet turtle. Time flies us right into small glimpses of heaven such as this.
She gave me the tour, told me the stories contained in each room. There was the couch set found on the internet, a wonderful purchase; the desk found on the side of the road, re-knobbed, repainted, and piled high with nursing textbooks; the china, a gift "because we knew you would use it"; the guestroom that would, someday in the distant future, be the nursery. She paused in the middle of the tour to wave to the mailman, who she knew by name. Her life was unfolding in this home, and I got to watch. It was like a fairy tale.
The kettle whistled. We sipped tea from the china teacups, chatted over tiramisu. Her husband, the electrician, came in to fix something. Glimpsing heaven.
We moved to the couch set, the wonderful purchase, and talked about marriage. "It's crazy," she observed, "that an hour-long ceremony, some words exchanged, changes so much, but it does. It's crazy that we planned for seven and a half months for this one day, and I wonder if people see how much goes into it! But it's perfect. It's perfect that it's a vow that changes everything, a promise."
A vow that changes everything. A promise.
Marriage is a far-off dream for me now. Someday it will come, but not now. No, today, her words struck me for a different reason.
I have been reading a devotional about the gospel, and the first day was titled "The Gospel Changes Everything." (Amanda Bible Williams, shereadstruth.com) This gospel that changes everything is God's promise to save!
"I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." Genesis 3:15 ESV
"And he [God] brought him outside and said, 'Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.' Then he said to him, 'So shall your offspring be.' And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness." Genesis 15:5-6 ESV
"Say therefore to the people of Israel, 'I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgement. I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the LORD.'" Exodus 6:6-8 ESV
"Once for all I have sworn by my holiness; I will not lie to David. His offspring shall endure forever, his throne as long as the sun before me. Like the moon it shall be established forever, a faithful witness in the skies." Psalm 89:35-37 ESV
"She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." Matthew 1:21 ESV
"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23 ESV
"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God." Ephesians 2:8 ESV
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16 ESV
The Bible is littered with vows that change everything. Adam, Eve, Abraham, Moses, David, the early Christians, and so many more experienced the promises of God and "believed the Lord, and he counted it to [them] as righteousness." (Gen. 15:6) When we believe that God never fails we are clothed with Christ's righteousness and made into His bride. Christ's atoning death is our ceremony, His promises are our "few words exchanged." And they truly do change everything.
Where we were broken, we are being restored. Where empty, being filled. Where sinful, being sanctified. Where separated from God, being drawn near. These are the effects of faith in the gospel, and they promise even greater rewards for the future: "Whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16) Today, I glimpse heaven in whistling kettles and young love; how much more will I see it when Jesus fulfills all of His promises? And even now, as He draws me closer, His grace is changing everything.
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