Millpond Ink Musing – This Place and Time

In his sermon, “A Name in Heaven the Truest Ground of Joy,” the Reverend Matthew Mead (1699) explained God’s election of a saint as “… one (the election) being an immanent act (existing or operating within; inherent) of God in eternity; the other a transient act of God in time.”  Why is this important to us? This means, if it is true and I say that for the naysayers, that before the world was made, He chose to act in accordance with the counsel of His own will. Such was declared when He sent His Son in the fullness of time (time transient) to die on the cross for us, or the day that He drew us to Himself to believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Of greater praise and glory, D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981), in his commentary on the Epistle of Romans, pointed out that embodied in the doctrine of election is blessed assurance that God in His wisdom and goodness placed us (in the fullness of His time), where we are today… in time and location; family and acquaintance; ethnicity, gender and language; talent and ability; situation, and yes, our daily struggle.

Of course, as I said not everyone believes this and some would argue. Nonetheless, I am not here to argue with anyone; let men continue to seek their own. What I wanted to share with you is that the doctrine of election, as explained above, and if illumined by the Spirit, tells us that God in His love and wisdom has placed and saved us where we are today with a specific purpose and call. That call may be realized in the feeding of an infant or a homeless man; meeting with friends in the school cafeteria; or calling a loved one just to say hello, ‘I love you.’ Each and every day is an unfolding of a series of transient acts that were set in eternity, and in eternity there is nothing insignificant or meaningless in anything we do… not if it is done in keeping with God’s Word, Spirit and in honor of Christ. If by faith we accept this, how then shall we spend today? Are we praying; then in faith, looking to know God’s purpose and call? Do you know that you are here in this place and time with a purpose?