Already, Not Yet

Thoughts from my reading in Whiter Than Snow: Meditations on Sin and Mercy by Paul David Tripp. Devotional is indented.

Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.
Psalm 51:9

Psalm 51 lives right in the middle of the "already" and the "not yet." Why is that worth observing? Because that's exactly where you and I live as well. We live right in the middle of God's great redemptive story; that's what the already and the not yet is about. If you're going to live right and well, you need to understand where you're living.

Here's where you and I are in the great story of redemption. Already the "mercy," "steadfast love" (v. 1), and "great compassion" (v. 1 niv) that David cried out for have been provided for us in Christ. The ultimate sacrifice of forgiveness that David's prayer looked forward to has been provided by the blood of Jesus that was spilt for us on the cross.

It’s great to live in this time where I have forgiveness. The forgiveness bought through the historical reality of Jesus dying on the cross; no blood of bulls and goats for me.

Already the Holy Spirit, for whom David prayed, has been given to you and to me. It's almost beyond the limits of our rationality to consider that that Holy Spirit actually lives inside of us teaching, correcting, convicting, and empowering us every day.

That’s something amazing and a little scary – the Holy Spirit lives within me. He’s right there when I sin; He sees it and hears it.

Already, God's great book of wisdom, grace, and warning, the Bible, has been given.

The best selling and most read book of all time. Sad that many times it sits on the table collecting dust and acting as an expensive coaster.

So, as we celebrate the already, we need to be very aware of the not yet. This world is still a terribly broken place, not yet restored to what it was created to be. There's never a day when we are not touched with its brokenness in some way.

Yearning unfulfilled. This is the hard place to live, longing for the day when we are beyond the sinful time we now live in. I crave the day when I will be sinless, pure and perfect.

The devil, who is the enemy of all that is good, right, and true, hasn't yet been finally destroyed. He still lurks about with deceit in his eyes, destruction in his hands, and trickery in his heart.

That’s right, there will come a time when he will be done away with. That’s one party I don’t want to miss.

So, we live with celebration and anticipation. We celebrate the amazing gifts of grace that we've already been given, while we anticipate the end of the struggles that will face us until the final chapter of the great story of redemption comes.

A question from the meditation:

You and I do live in the middle of the great redemptive story. Where specifically are you finding life in the middle to be hard?

It’s the battle between intention and action. All the good things I want to do yet rarely get to. The things I wish I hadn’t done but which are now part of my sordid history. The words I should say and the ones I shouldn’t.

Philip


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