Hebrews 11:39,40 And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they should not be made perfect.
A few verses prior to this, it speaks of the heroic deeds of the Old Testament saints, “conquered kingdoms, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war,…” and on and on. These were the elite. However, today’s “passage says that they did not receive what was promised, because God had something better for us.” We are living in the day of good news. Anyone who accepts Christ has far more. When the prophets of old spoke of the era of good news, it was like a movie trailor. They had bits and pieces, but yearned to see the whole movie, I Peter 1:10-13. As the Old Testament progressed, later prophets would add more detail, the picture began to come together. All pointing to the era that Christ would bring. What’s so special about our day? To understand our era of good news, we need to grasp the bad. Adam’s fall brought a guilt that couldn’t be cleansed by man. This guilt seperated us from God. What this did was seperate us from all that is good. We still feel some benefits, but the final seperation is coming. Much like a fruit tree that has been chopped down. The fruit on it is still good. However, because of the severing, no more fruit will come. God allows us many joys: good food, music, friendship, adventures, expectations, love,…These are His creation, which are eminations from Him. These are like eating the fruit from the fallen tree. They are temporary. He is the prize. The other things are benefits. The greatest is the “coming to life” our spirit receives when we accept Him. “In His presence is fullness of joy.” Ps. 16:11. The saints of old only heard of it. We are living in a day when we walk by faith with the almighty. We are in Eden again. It’s all by faith. We do it one step at a time. The longer we walk, the more connected we become. At the end of our upward journey, it’s so real that it’s one step from this world to the next. Instead of “Wow! What a ride!” We will comment on what a walk. It’s not the adventure, it’s Who we’re with. Thank You, Lord.