12.10: “Come Let Us Adore Him”

 

Tuesday, December 10

“But who shall abide the day of his coming? And who shall stand when he appeareth? For He is like a refiner’s fire.”    Malachi 3:2*

 

I had often heard the phrase, “The tables are turned,” but I didn’t really understand the meaning.  I thought the phrase meant the table was upended and the game was over. But the table is just rotated. For example, let’s say in a game of chess, you are down to a king and one pawn. Your opponent has a king, queen, two rooks, a knight and five pawns. Not good.  But then the table is rotated. Now you have all those pieces and your opponent only has two.

At Christmas time we celebrate Jesus coming in a position of humility and powerlessness. He is just a little baby, meek and mild, needing care and feeding. It makes for a lovely creche scene! At Passover, Jesus is seen as the Suffering Servant and then the Sacrificial Lamb, laying His life down for his own. To all appearances, he seems powerless.

But then the tables turned. These verses in Malachi proclaim the position of power and full authority Jesus holds now. He comes as a blazing fire and strong, bleaching, lye soap. He will come to purify, refine, and scour the nations.

Who can stand? Who can endure? Only those who believe and follow Jesus as their Savior in all His majesty and glory. This Savior of ours is both the Lamb of God and the King of the world. He is the tender Good Shepherd and the Refiner’s Fire.

 

Prayer:

All glory to Him who alone is God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power, and authority are His before all time, and in the present, and beyond all time!  Amen  (Jude 25)

Gerda Van Stralen