Tomorrow is the Lord’s Day. Actually, tomorrow is Friday as I am writing this on Thursday, but when you read this, tomorrow will be the Lord’s Day. The act of writing this little devotional—that few will read and even fewer will remember—is forward-looking. It is not prophecy such as we find in Scripture, but there is a prophetic aspect to it. You should not print these words out and paste them into the back of your Bible. They are neither inspired nor infallible. But prophecy was not only an act of foretelling the future but also forthtelling the word of God to those in the future. In the case of Isaiah, Malachi, and Paul, they were telling God’s word for all future generations. In my case, I am writing about God’s word to people that will read it about fifty hours from now.
There is always a forward-looking orientation to any presentation of the word of God, even when what is said is a reflection backward to something God said at an earlier time. We are moving forward in history, but we do so by orienting ourselves to what God said earlier in history. We hear today the word that God spoke yesterday in anticipation of when we will stand before God tomorrow. We live today in view of that day when we stand before the Lord on the last day, and one day, today will be that day. Scripture draws us backward in time, connecting us to God’s mighty acts in the past and to his promises to his people, and it drives us forward in time, carrying the gospel of salvation to the world which is destined to be filled with the knowledge of his glory and to turn in faith to his King, the resurrected Son.
The Lord’s Day is the primary, though not exclusive, time and way in which we enter into this past, present, and future reality of union and communion with God. As the Church on earth gathers, she is caught up into the heavenly places to join the chorus of praise and thanksgiving that goes on continually there. Our prayers ascend like incense into the throne room of God. We worship with the saints, sing with them, pray with them, and adore our Lord together. We join Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Elijah (wait a second, why isn’t he disembodied like the rest of the saints?!), Peter, James, John, and Paul. We are with Athanasius, Augustine, Anselm, Aquinas (the Lord really will let anyone in here), and our fathers in the era of the Reformation and since. The Church in history right now is worshiping with the Church of history of prior generations, and together we are praising God in hope of the final gathering of all the elect, the full harvest of the earth’s redemption, and the resurrection of the last day.
Our worship on the Lord’s Day has a past, present, and future aspect. (Have you noticed how everything in creation has a threefold aspect? It’s probably just a coincidence.) We look back, we look within and around, and we look ahead. The historical work of redemption orients our present experience of sanctification and calls us into the future hope of glory. We sing the psalms that saints have been singing for thousands of years. When we pray Psalm 90, we are praying words that Moses taught the Church to say 3,500 years ago. It’s not ancient history. It is our present reality. It is our future destiny. God is redeeming his people in time and through time for all time.
Not everyone recognizes this aspect of the Lord’s Day, but once you see it you can never unsee it or think about it the way you did before. Stepping into the Lord’s Day is like stepping out of the stream of time and into eternity. It is a day of rest and rejoicing. Not just the two hours of morning worship with the Church, but the entire day is devoted to God and given by God to his people. The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. God does not need a weekly sabbath. He dwells in continuous sabbath glory. We need the Sabbath to remember who we are, where we are from, to whom we belong, and where we are bound. Every other day on our calendar may be time-blocked and driven by appointments and deadlines. But the Lord’s Day transcends time. It reminds us that though we are temporal creatures, and will always experience time, even in eternity, we belong to the reality that is timeless. Elect from the foundation of the world, redeemed long ago by the blood of God’s Son, called to life by God’s Spirit, led through wilderness and conquest to victory in holiness, and destined for resurrection and to live forever in glory. The Lord’s Day testifies that Jesus is Lord of the clock and calendar just as surely as he is Lord of the Church and of all creation. So come, join with God’s saints in heaven and on earth, and let us delight ourselves in him. --JME
