Street Meeting Nineteenth

We have stepped, as it were, into a sanctuary of deeper reverence, beholding at last the Savior’s divine Lordship over our own souls and over all of His creation. If our previous study of the divine covenants had already stirred us to earnestness—revealing the meticulous hand of God in all of redemptive history—how much more so now? Truly, none of this would have been possible had the Lord not graciously uprooted us from our former church, leading us away from the shallows of mere form and the vanity of dead routine, and out into these glorious, deeper waters.

We now see as through a glass, with a vision growing more clear—though the full glory remains yet veiled. Yet we see enough to grasp the profound mystery: why He is truly our God, and why we are numbered among His people. We perceive at last that our lives have not been the wandering turns of human choices, but a river carved and directed by the unseen hand of His providence, carrying us by His sovereign design to this very shore.

Though there is still much to do, it is a mercy beyond measure to possess so clear an understanding of our calling. This blessed assurance of His absolute control, His authority to claim our obedience, and His abiding covenantal Presence, serves to anchor our souls firm and immovable upon the twin pillars of His faithfulness and immutability. In the ancient days, Yahweh didst confirm His Word through terrible wonders. In the fulness of time, the Savior likewise established His divine claim through signs and miracles, revealing Himself as God manifest in the flesh. It is this Christ we proclaim—the Sovereign Lord of Heaven and Earth, who sits even now upon the throne of all authority. Before Him, every creature, visible and invisible, owes the tribute of worship.

We proclaim the Lord Jesus Christ, who laid down His life as a ransom for the sheep, and who rose again in glory to be the unshakable hope of His people. All of creation is bound under the covenant; and through every age, the unfolding of history has been the story of a God who is eternally mindful of His oath—and is unswervingly committed to its fulfillment.

And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.
Genesis 17:7

In the book of Isaiah, the Lord declared that a virgin should conceive and bear a son, whose name—Immanuel—carries a weight far beyond mere companionship. It is a sacred pledge of covenant; a declaration that God has bound Himself to be the God of His people forever. Nowhere is this splendor more brightly revealed than in the person of Jesus Christ: in His finished work upon the tree, and His present occupation at the right hand of power. At the close of redemptive history, we shall see this divine purpose brought to its perfect and final fruition.

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
Revelation 21:3

To preach Christ as Lord is to be brought in line with divine purpose; and to be so aligned is to possess the certain assurance that our labors are not in vain, but are crowned with the victory that our King has already obtained.