The day before, the day after. Movie and song titles, which suggest life-changing moments of wonder.
In 1982, Abba released the song, “Before you came”. Though relatively unsuccessful in the US, with only one chart-topper, Abba became a world-wide phenomenon through the seventies and eighties.
“Before you came”, traces the recollections of a woman to the day before a lover entered her life. It reminds me of the day John F Kennedy died. I was a kid then, but I remember lying on the lounge floor reading about his assassination and marveling about it all. I also remember hearing the first news of 911 on my car radio. Initially the reports indicated a light plane had crashed into the World Trade Centre, but by the time I got home it was apparent that the US was under attack – so I grabbed my family and we rushed to the television to watch the unthinkable – before it had yet become an oft-replayed recording, we watched live feed of the towers collapsing into Manhattan dust. In both cases I know of many tales from many people that recount “the day before …”.
Well the singer in “Before you came” also recalled a hum-drum, predictable life of “bed by a quarter after ten (she likes to be in bed by then) with a book by Marilyn French” and a whole lot of other things that she could recall because of the predictability of her life. Then “he” came along and her life was never the same again.
She could have been singing about Jesus, for, although I cannot recount how my life was, “before He came”, I can say that my life changed forever after I met Him. It was a watershed moment that gripped my imagination, harnessed my passions and captivated my senses for the rest of my life. He is so real, so relevant, so faithfully accessible, that I could never live without Him. That was as true during the darkest years of my life when He was the last man standing: He never left me in my shame, but faithfully accompanied me through the vale of sorrow, to a new day.
In the game of cricket, the line or crease that defines the limits of a bowler’s run-up, can result in a penalty for the bowler: called a no-ball. He is not allowed to step over it, but he can even be penalized for standing on the line. The penalty call is reserved by the umpire. In cricket terms: “the line belongs to the umpire”.
In recent articles, I have referred to the law of precedence, that line crossed by Adam and many others, which brought misery on their descendants. I compared that line with the line that Jesus crossed to restore life and hope. Well that line also belongs to the umpire, the Father, the sole arbiter of His laws and the blessings or curses that derive from them.
The day before Jesus came, sin ruled and remained unchecked. The whole of humanity was in the relentless grip of Satan’s oppression, due to the precedence of Adam’s transgression. At Calvary, a new precedent was set and that line defined a past, present and future. Satan could only rely on the past, for the future was out of his hands: notwithstanding his ongoing influence over this world. The key to what I am saying relates to rights: Satan may still cause trouble, but he has no precedence, no legal standing. At best, Satan is only a liar, for the substance of his claims against us was revoked by Christ and the line belongs to the judge of all hearts.
In the next article I will show how Calvary implies a general victory and the foundation for all breakthroughs in our lives. But I will also show that the principle also applies to specific breakthroughs, where trouble in our lives will meet its Waterloo and become a thing of the past so that we can go on into an unhindered, liberated future.
(>(c) Peter Eleazar at www.bethelstone.com<>
In 1982, Abba released the song, “Before you came”. Though relatively unsuccessful in the US, with only one chart-topper, Abba became a world-wide phenomenon through the seventies and eighties.
“Before you came”, traces the recollections of a woman to the day before a lover entered her life. It reminds me of the day John F Kennedy died. I was a kid then, but I remember lying on the lounge floor reading about his assassination and marveling about it all. I also remember hearing the first news of 911 on my car radio. Initially the reports indicated a light plane had crashed into the World Trade Centre, but by the time I got home it was apparent that the US was under attack – so I grabbed my family and we rushed to the television to watch the unthinkable – before it had yet become an oft-replayed recording, we watched live feed of the towers collapsing into Manhattan dust. In both cases I know of many tales from many people that recount “the day before …”.
Well the singer in “Before you came” also recalled a hum-drum, predictable life of “bed by a quarter after ten (she likes to be in bed by then) with a book by Marilyn French” and a whole lot of other things that she could recall because of the predictability of her life. Then “he” came along and her life was never the same again.
She could have been singing about Jesus, for, although I cannot recount how my life was, “before He came”, I can say that my life changed forever after I met Him. It was a watershed moment that gripped my imagination, harnessed my passions and captivated my senses for the rest of my life. He is so real, so relevant, so faithfully accessible, that I could never live without Him. That was as true during the darkest years of my life when He was the last man standing: He never left me in my shame, but faithfully accompanied me through the vale of sorrow, to a new day.
In the game of cricket, the line or crease that defines the limits of a bowler’s run-up, can result in a penalty for the bowler: called a no-ball. He is not allowed to step over it, but he can even be penalized for standing on the line. The penalty call is reserved by the umpire. In cricket terms: “the line belongs to the umpire”.
In recent articles, I have referred to the law of precedence, that line crossed by Adam and many others, which brought misery on their descendants. I compared that line with the line that Jesus crossed to restore life and hope. Well that line also belongs to the umpire, the Father, the sole arbiter of His laws and the blessings or curses that derive from them.
The day before Jesus came, sin ruled and remained unchecked. The whole of humanity was in the relentless grip of Satan’s oppression, due to the precedence of Adam’s transgression. At Calvary, a new precedent was set and that line defined a past, present and future. Satan could only rely on the past, for the future was out of his hands: notwithstanding his ongoing influence over this world. The key to what I am saying relates to rights: Satan may still cause trouble, but he has no precedence, no legal standing. At best, Satan is only a liar, for the substance of his claims against us was revoked by Christ and the line belongs to the judge of all hearts.
In the next article I will show how Calvary implies a general victory and the foundation for all breakthroughs in our lives. But I will also show that the principle also applies to specific breakthroughs, where trouble in our lives will meet its Waterloo and become a thing of the past so that we can go on into an unhindered, liberated future.
(>(c) Peter Eleazar at www.bethelstone.com<>
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