Mark 8:27-35
Jesus and his disciples set out for the villages of Caesarea Philippi. Along the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” They said in reply, “John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others one of the prophets.” And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter said to him in reply, “You are the Christ.” Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him. He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days. He spoke this openly. Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. At this he turned around and, looking at his disciples, rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” He summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it.”
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For many, it wouldn’t be very much fun to know the outcomes of all of the upcoming World Series, World Cup, and/or Super Bowl games. While it might be financially-lucrative to those that gamble to know the outcomes, the games themselves would become something different than what they are to many of us today. We might not worry as much about a missed throw or a bad call by the officials. We might not care as much about all of the details, scores, etc., because we might be much more focused on the outcomes. The Bible is all about foreshadowing from the Garden of Eden in the Book of Genesis to the Apocalypse in the Book of Revelation. From rainbow Promises to Covenants with Israel to the Messianic Prophesies to the cross and Jesus’ resurrection. Everything has been foreshadowed by God Himself. We all know who we are in Christ, no matter how well or poorly we perform in this world. His view on us – His creation – is Eternally-permanent. We all know that Christ came once to save all of us and defeat death once and for all. And, we all know that Christ will come again. So, if we all know who we are and what’s ultimately going to happen, why do we all worry as much as we do? It’s because we live in the flesh and war daily with the lies of the devil. Nothing that the devil says is true – remember, “he was a murderer from the beginning, refusing to uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, because he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44) Let’s be quick to focus on the Outcome that God has promised to all of those who love Him. None of the devil’s lies (his “smack-talk”) can change the Outcome. Just like a marathon race, we don’t have to be run our races “pretty”; we just need to be Faithful and rest in the shadow of our Creator through His everlasting Grace and Mercy. So, let’s keep running – and, remember that He’s running right beside of all of us each and every moment of each and every day (even if we can’t always see Him).
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