12/13/2015 Sunday
Ezra 1:1-4; 3:1-4, 10-13 Rebuilding the Wreckage
God chooses
us as part of his plan to fulfill the Kingdom of His righteousness. Gentile or
Jew, bond or free, male or female, adult or child – all have a specific role in
His grand design to bring His saving Grace to full fruition. Isaiah 60:3 tells
us “Gentiles shall come to Thy light and kings to the brightness of thy rising.”
And so in our reading from the prophet Ezra tells us that as unlikely an
instrument as a gentile King of Persia, Cyrus is the instrument of God to free
His people Israel from the bondage in Babylon. God has made Nebuchadnezzar to
bow to him in the grass and his son Belshazzar to lose his kingdom to Cyrus’
army. Cyrus fulfills God’s promise of redemption by freeing his people that
they might return to Jerusalem. The holy city is restored and Ezra and Nehemiah
rebuild the wall. The city foursquare is a symbol of God’s presence with us and
His promise to prepare a dwelling place for us. Isaiah 58:12 tells us “Those
from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins; You will raise up the age-old
foundations; And you will be called the repairer of the breach, The restorer of
the streets in which to dwell.” Jesus later tells us He goes to prepare a place
for us. God’s places are sacred sanctuaries. Paul speaks of our body as a temple
in which to dwell. As we await the arrival of our Redeemer as a little child,
let us shore up the breaches in our hearts and minds that we might be a fitting
dwelling for the Christ Child.
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