It is check up time! We have a New Year ahead and it’s time to make an assessment of things. First off, that which is in the past is already behind us. Secondly, what is in the future is yet to come. But what we do now is what really counts. Our current situation is what we have now. And that is where we can begin.
The Scripture’s says, Beloved, now [my emphasis] are we the sons of God…” (I John 3:2). We can look back at the past and say, “I should have done this, or I shouldn’t have done that.” But what we are now, is what counts today. If, we recognize who we are now, then we can deal with the happenings of the past and move ahead with vision for the future. The future is as bright, as the promises of God that are true today.
“Now” is such a little word, that many times it is read right over with not much thought. God does not use words haphazardly in His Word. There is a purpose for what God says, how He says it, to whom He says it, and when He says it.
God can emphasize a point when He uses the word “now.” Really, the following Scriptures that you will read in this article could be stated without the word “now” and still be understood. Try it and see. But, because God uses the word “now” at certain times, we should recognize the emphatic intent of its use.
Note: There are a number of Greek words rendered “now” in the adverb form. Two of these particular words are emphatic in the Greek expressing, “the actually present time; the now; at this instant.” The verses we will be looking at contain either one of these two emphatic expressions. See Bullinger’s A Critical Lexicon and Concordance to the English and Greek New Testament.
The following Scriptures should help put into perspective our life now in regard to the past, as well as, with our relationship with God.
Ephesians 2:13:
But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.Colossians 1:21 and 22:
And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight.Ephesians 5:8:
For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:
The world may put you down and cause you to think how inadequate you are, but God’s Word declares that now instead of being alienated and enemies in your own mind, you are in fact, now holy and unblameable before God Almighty. No matter how dark it is for us, God says, now we are lights for God and have the ability to walk in light for God.
God’s Word continues to encourage the believer to walk and move out with the Heavenly Father now.
Romans 13:11:
And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.I Thessalonians 3:8:
For now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord.
What is so wonderful about standing fast on God’s Word today is that it takes care of the past with God’s forgiveness and gives us a reason to be excited for today and have hope for the future! Living the Word of God today is living in godliness that will bless us today as well as in the future.
I Timothy 4:8b:
…but godliness is profitable unto all things having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.
As we move into this New Year, don’t worry about the past and don’t be so concerned about the future. Remember, “Now are we the sons of God.” Let’s live in the deliverance we have now. Sure we are aware of the past and learn from it; sure we plan for the future and have high visions of our life. But, why do we do this? Because we are now sons of God, the lights of the world, having the hope of Christ return. Let’s stand fast on God’s Word. Now is the time to move forward as sons of God with power.
- Bob Lindfelt
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