Belonging to the Coming Age

“Keep me safe, my God, for in you I take refuge. 2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.”  3 I say of the holy people who are in the land, “They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.” 4 Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more. I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods or take up their names on my lips. 5 Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure.6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.  7 I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. 8 I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.  9 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, 10 because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay. 11 You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand”. - Ps. 16:1-11


I will respond to the text used for today’s QT (Pss. 16:1-11). Verse 10 reminds me of the time that takes place between Christ’s first and second coming. When we think about the coming of Christ in the incarnation and the day where he will come in glory, the time in between is something worth thinking about. We know that the kingdom of God has been inaugurated by the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Although the kingdom is here, there is a distinct overlap between the passing age and the age that is to come. According to the Word of God, our citizenship rightly lies in the coming age and in the new heavens and new earth. And although we belong to the new age, we still exist in the passing aeon. And so, until Christ comes again, there will be a struggle that categorizes this age. The struggle comes because all of creation simply does not function correctly on account of sin. As Christians who have been redeemed by Christ’s once for all sacrifice on the cross, we come face to face with this suffering every day. Personally, when I struggle with sin and feel weak, I sometimes forget that the blood of Christ has already bought my life and that there is nothing that categorizes this age that can have a hold on my life. As I read through and meditate on this Psalm, I pray that God will continue to remind me to look to where my citizenship lies, and find encouragement in knowing that he has not “abandon[ed] me to the realm of the dead”.