SERIES
Sojourn: Toward an Enduring City
2016-10-09T11:00:00-05:00
3:1 Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, 2 when they see your respectful and pure conduct. 3 Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear—4 but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious. 5 For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, 6 as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening.
7 Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright (c)2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. http://www.esv.org
A few years ago, the Wall Street Journal published an article that describes the insecurity of inheritance. Whether it is massive or minute, one's inheritance can be notoriously hard to keep. It may be taxed, lost, stolen, broken, squandered, or at best, simply outlived. The Bible's ancient poems and parables warn us of these pitfalls (Ecclesiastes 5:10-13; Luke 15:11-32), and despite skilled attorneys and advisors they plague us still today. Undoubtedly, many of us could share heartbreaking inheritance stories, often resurfacing deep hurt and confusion.
In contrast, the Apostle Peter describes our salvation as, “an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading (1 Peter 1:4).” By God’s grace, the security of our inheritance is not dependent on us, but on Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:3). And the experience of our inheritance is not imperishable because it is somehow immaterial or ethereal. Rather, it is imperishable because it will in fact be enjoyed in the glorious physicality of a redeemed body in an earth made new (Revelation 21:1-2).
For exiles, nothing seems certain or secure. But for elect exiles, “the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us (Romans 8:18).”
What rush of alleluias fills all the earth and sky!
What ringing of a thousand harps bespeaks the triumph nigh!
O day, for which creation and all its tribes were made;
O joy, for all its former woes a thousandfold repaid!from “Ten Thousand Time Ten Thousand,” by Henry Alford