SEPTEMBER "prayer-starters" DAY 29

Paul had an unusual understanding about the Day of the Lord. We have noted that he called it the Day of Christ, but he also saw it as the Day of wrath. But see here in this verse from Ephesians another way in which he told of it that carries with it an unusual excitement.

Ephesians 4:30—And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the Day of Redemption.

(MSG) Don't grieve God. Don't break his heart. His Holy Spirit, moving and breathing in you, is the most intimate part of your life, making you fit for himself. Don't take such a gift for granted.

It’s apparent this is in reference to a time yet to come. As we consider it in its context, we may conclude the Day of Redemption is the same as the Day of the Lord.

There is further insight into the matter of our redemption, revealed in this amazing statement from Paul in Romans.

Romans 8:22,23—For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

(MSG) 22-25 All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it's not only around us; it's within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We're also feeling the birth pangs. These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don't see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy.

These are birth pangs, creation itself in labor for its new Day. And in that Day we shall receive the fullness of the redemption for which we were saved from sin, and for which our spirits have longed. This is the Day in which we will be blameless, the Day when all creation shall be restored and every nation shall be under the dominion of God’s only begotten Son.

OUR GRACIOUS LORD, our spirits have longed for this Day. We praise You for Your powerful keeping grace. We praise You for the hope You have placed in our hearts. We praise You for the expectation that we know is real. Our spirits already are rejoicing in that which laid up in heaven for us.

In his great mercy God has given us a new birth and a hope that is alive.—I Peter 1:3-7