A DOSE OF BIBLICAL REALISM
On May 19th 2018, I – along with millions of others – watched the wedding of Prince Harry and Miss Meghan Markle, in St George’s chapel, Windsor. The couple are now known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. The wedding was a wonderful occasion. Smiling faces and good wishes were everywhere, and the weather – unusual for our island – was hot and sunny, without a cloud in the sky.
The happy day, though, was not without its sadness. Due to ill health, the bride’s father was unable to be there and give his daughter away, as is traditional. The reports said – understandably – that the bride was more than a little sad at this. It made me recall the following ditty:
There is never a day so sunny, but a little cloud appears
And there is never a life so happy, but has its time of tears.
According to the Bible, the Christian cannot expect unalloyed joy in this life. Why? Because we live in a fallen world. Sin has brought disruption. Sin has brought and still brings sadness and misery in its wake. Sin has spoiled the one time perfect creation of God. The Shorter Catechism states
The fall brought mankind into an estate of sin and misery …
All mankind by their fall lost communion with God, are under His wrath and curse and so made liable to all miseries in this life, to death itself and to the pains of hell for ever.
The Christian has been redeemed from sin through the atoning death of Christ. The Christian is thus – by the grace of God in Christ – heading for unalloyed joy in the nearer presence of God. ‘In Thy presence there is fullness of joy, in Thy right hand are pleasures for evermore’ (Psalm 16:11). Yet whilst unalloyed joy is guaranteed in the life to come in the blessed presence of God Himself, unalloyed joy is not and cannot be guaranteed in this fallen world. Sin has marred everything. The ground produces thorns and thistles. We are all subject to illness, pain and ultimately death. We cannot avoid stress and tension day by day, in the family, at work and even in the church. The church is the community of redeemed sinners, but still sinners nevertheless. No Christian can claim to have arrived at a state of perfect sanctification. Rare – if not extinct – is a church without its squabbles.
So the Bible does not encourage us to bury our heads in the sand and think that all in the world is wonderful. Of course, this world has many joys. Thank God for His common grace – food to eat, fresh air and sunshine, family, friends, laughter etc. But be a biblical realist. This world is a fallen world. Its joys are fragile, uncertain and temporary. Sin will leave its mark on even the happiest of days here on earth. The Christian therefore looks longingly for the better, more glorious days to come, promised by God in His Word. Revelation 21:4 tells us that in the age to come ‘God Himself will be with them; He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away.’
Adelaide Anne Proctor (1825-64) captured the biblical realism of which we have been thinking very well in the following hymn:
My God, I thank Thee who has made
The earth so bright
So full of splendour and of joy
Beauty and light
So many glorious things are here
Noble and right
I thank Thee too that Thou hast made
Joy to abound
So many gentle thoughts and deeds
Circling us round
That in the darkest spot of earth
Some love is found
I thank Thee more that all my joy
Is touched by pain
That shadows fall on brightest hours
That thorns remain
So that earth’s bliss may be my guide
And not my chain
For Thou who knowest Lord how soon
Our weak heart clings
Hast given us joys, tender and true
Yet all with wings
So that we see gleaming on high
Diviner things
I thank Thee Lord that Thou hast kept
The best in store
I have enough, yet not too much
To long for more
A yearning for a deeper peace
Not known before
I thank Thee Lord that here our souls
Though amply blest
Can never find, although they seek
A perfect rest
Nor ever shall, until they lean
On Jesus’ breast.
Timothy Cross
