Echoes of the Divine
It’s really a 21st century thing to name the generations. And it is getting harder to keep up with the names and characteristics of recent generations. Just to review, we have the Greatest Generation, the Silent Generation, the Baby Boomers, Gen X, the Millennials, Gen Z, Gen Alpha, and there will be more before you know it.
Every generation has a unique contribution and will leave a legacy. The biblical writers repeatedly gave instructions concerning what they were to pass down to the next generation. The most important thing we are told to pass down is the story and the goodness of God. Psalm 145:4 says, “One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.” What we pass along is not the story of the wonderful things we have done. We pass along the story of God’s greatness. Our role is to be examples of faithfulness for the future generations to follow.
In the opening chapters of both 2 Peter and 1 John, we read something truly remarkable that we sometimes forget. We know the apostles had been with Jesus and saw him in the flesh, had physical contact with God’s Son, and had heard his teaching firsthand. The thing we sometimes miss is that these men also heard God the Father audibly confirm that he was pleased with his Son!
“’This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,’ we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain.”
Try and get your mind wrapped around that! What would it be like to have heard God’s voice from heaven confirming that Jesus is the divine Son of God. What would that do to you? For one thing, it would make you bold in your testimony about Jesus and his mission. And it would have had to impact Peter and John’s willingness to suffer for Jesus. They received this testimony and faithfully passed it on to us through their written testimony and through their faithful ministry to their generation.
The message of the apostles was not made up. Their testimony is God-breathed and not manufactured in any way. As Peter stated in verse 21: “For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” John explained that he shared this testimony of what he had seen and heard so that we would be filled with joy, and as he shared it, his life was also filled with joy.
So what are we to do today? Our part! As the psalmist declared, we must commend the works of God to those who follow behind us. There is no better time to do that than today!
Father, thank you for entrusting us with the gospel. Thank you for forgiving our sins and transforming our lives. Today we choose to give testimony of your greatness through our words and deeds so that the next generation may know who you are and what you have done and are doing for the world even today. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Your Time with God’s Word
Psalm 145:4-7; 2 Peter 1:16-21; 1 John 1:1-4 ESV
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