Look inside this book.Where the Bush is Burning: A Daily Devotional by [Thomas Tice]

Tag: Revelation 3
Named and Claimed

Named and Claimed

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Named and Claimed

He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.

Revelation 3:12

We have been considering the practical implications of adoption. Our text for today touches upon that in a delightful way. Christ is speaking to the church in Philadelphia. As He concludes His remarks, He states our text for today, ‘He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.’ Certainly, this is one of the benefits of God’s adopting us into His family. When we adopt children into our own family, we, in essence, ‘name them and claim them,’ to use a common phrase in a completely different way. It is not uncommon for a newly adopted child to receive, a new given name, as well as, of course, the family name, which is ‘new’ to them. By doing so, the adopting parents are ‘naming and claiming’ this child as their own. So God does to us. All that God intended when He ‘predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself,’ He has, and will, infallibly perform.  Because He has, ‘chosen us in (Christ) before the foundation of the world,’. He will bring us all the way to make us ‘a pillar in the temple of my God…and…will write upon him the name of my God.’ This is a great encouragement to those of us who often feel as if we are without the ‘family support’ that others seem to have. It is a great encouragement to know that the God of Heaven, and the Christ of God both name us and claim us as their Own. With this in mind, we can face the day.

Our most Gracious and Loving Heavenly Father,
we rejoice today, that You both name us and claim us as Your Own.
Fill our vision today, full of Christ, our Elder Brother,
that we might grow to be more like Him.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning
‘The Amen’

‘The Amen’

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‘The Amen’

“And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, ‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God….”

Revelation 3:14

One very succinct title by which Christ reveals Himself is, ‘The Amen.’ We find Him referring to Himself by this title in His address to the church of Laodicea, ‘“And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, ‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God….”‘ What does ‘Amen’ mean? In simplest terms, it means ‘So be it.’ The use of it as an affirmation stretches back to ancient days, and it appears in several languages. How is Christ, ‘The Amen?’ Allow us, please, to offer several suggestions. Christ is, ‘The Amen’ of God His Father. When God said, ‘Let there by light,’ Christ was the Divine ‘So be it.’ When God would fulfill His Own Law in order that wretched sinners might receive imputed righteousness, Christ was His, ‘So be it.’ When there must be complete propitiation of Divine Wrath, and the utter satisfaction of the Law of God by bloody sacrifice, Christ was God’s, ‘So be it.’ When God will judge the world and declare who will dwell eternally in either Heaven or Hell, Christ will be God’s, ‘So be it.’ Christ is also ‘The Amen’ of His people. We look to Christ for His imputed Righteousness and we say, ‘So be it.’ We look to Christ for our acceptance ‘in the Beloved’ and we say, ‘So be it.’ We look to Christ as the end of our sanctification and we say, ‘So be it.’ ‘For all the promises of God in him are yes, and in Him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.’ Christ is for God the Father, and for all the people of God, the Last Word, the Final Affirmation, the Grand Conclusion, ‘The Amen.’

Our Gracious Living Christ,
we rejoice in You today.
You are the Author and the Finisher of our faith,
and in You all our hopes and expectations are complete.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

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