Dave spoke this evening from Luke 18:31-33 where Jesus spoke to His disciples about His immediate future and the fulfilment of prophecy about the Son of Man. We all want to know what the future holds for us and want to know our destiny; many of us have many questions about the future (including questions about relationships, jobs, health and so on) and make lots of plans to be in control of our futures. This is not wrong; to make plans is common sense and wise. However, for some people, a fascination with the future leads to investigating this through unhealthy means (horoscopes, ouija boards, tarot cards, crystal balls etc.), all of which are prohibited by God.
Jesus talked about His future to His disciples, being fully aware of what lay ahead for Him in Jerusalem. He knew that a time of suffering lay ahead, when He would be initially acclaimed and then mocked, scorned, betrayed, denied and ultimately crucified. His was not the kind of future we long for, but He did not shy away from this (even though Luke 22:39-46 makes it plain He longed for another way to be possible.) Jesus suffered not simply because of Roman imperialism or to be a great moral example for us; He suffered ultimately to be the sin-bearer, the One who would pay the penalty for sin, death itself.
In the Garden of Eden, an animal was slaughtered to cover Adam and Eve’s nakedness; the Old Testament sacrificial system showed that the penalty for sin was death. Jesus offered Himself as a sacrifice for our sins, suffering physical pain and emotional, mental and spiritual pain too. His future, therefore, was to go to Jerusalem and suffer and die, but His destiny was glory. Now He is seated at the right hand of the Father, having been raised to life; He lives to intercede for us and is the Lamb who is worthy to open the seals and to whom all glory, honour and praise are due.
Our futures may well be uncertain, but our destiny does not have to be. 1 John 5:13 reminds us that we can know we have eternal life. Our destiny is ultimately determiend by our relationship with Jesus. It has been said that choices are the hinges of destiny, and our decisions in this life ultimately determine our destiny. The questions we must ask ourselves are:
- What is our response to Jesus? (see 1 John 5:12)
- What will we do to follow Jesus?
- What will we do to overcome the obstacles that get in the way of following Jesus?
Our futures may be uncertain; there is no guarantee that in our country, we will continue to experience freedom of religion, and there may well be suffering ahead for us, just as there was for Jesus. However, just as suffering preceded glory and Jesus’s destiny was ultimately glorious, so too we can know the certain destiny of eternal life if we choose to follow our suffering Saviour.
