BOOK SUMMARY: REDEEMING MEMORY - CHAPTER 10 - GOD'S REDEMPTION OF FUTURE REMEMBRANCE

The self-oriented desire to be remembered in the future needs to be directed towards the glory of God.  Others will be imperfect in their memory of you and they will eventually die.  

IMMUTABILITY AND ETERNALITY

God is omniscient and consults no one (Isaiah 40:13-14).  His immutability means He cannot change in any of His attributes.  He is the same eternally (Hebrews 13:8).  Creation changes, but God does not. Man fades and withers away (Psalm 90:6) yet God's eternality precedes our life and continues on after. God's eternal remembrance carries great significance. Eternal remembrance is bound up in the mind of God.

JUSTICE

God's immutable and eternal memory works in conjunction with His other attributes.  God's justice is also eternal.  God doesn't forget our sin. Nothing is hidden from His sight (Hebrews 4:13). This should strike terror in the heart of the one who does not know God's salvation. God's justice also comforts the one who is treated unjustly (Psalm 37:28).  Future judgment awaits. 

LOVINGKINDNESS

God's lovingkindness is part of His eternal covenant with us. Covenant keeping requires that God's perfect memory never fails. God would be unjust to break covenant.  

REDEMPTIOM OF FUTURE REMEMBRANCE

Lovingkindness and justice intersect at the cross of Christ. Both are part of God's future remembrance. God will not forget our future salvation nor the judgment to come.  Christ's sacrificial death pardoned not just our past sins but our future sins.  His conquering death guarantees our future resurrection (1 Thessalonians 4:14).  

PROMISES OF FUTURE REMEMBRANCE

God does not forget His promises which secures our future remembrance (Psalm 105:8; Isaiah 54:10-11).  Do we trust in God's eternal remembrance of us?

PERSONALIZATION OF FUTURE REMEMBRANCE

This future remembrance is not general, but personal (Luke 12:6-7).  He were bought with the blood of Christ (1 Peter 1:18-19).  He paid the highest price to secure our salvation for His glory. He will not forget us. He knows His sheep (John 10:3).  Our names are in a book of remembrance and we are His possession (Malachi 3:16-17).  The wicked are not remembered in this way. God does not "remember" the wicked; their names are blotted out (Psalm 9:5-7).  He says to them, "I never knew you."  

THE EFFECTS OF REDEMPTIVE REMEMBERANCE

1.    Peace - true rest is only found in an unchanging Savior. He is all we need.

a.    No Fear Of Death - Psalm 23:4 reminds us that even in deathly experiences we have nothing to fear because God is with us.

b.    No Fear In Death - Psalm 112:6-7 reminds us that the righteous will be remembered forever. .Even after we die, we have nothing to fear. His grace flourishes IN death.  Philippians 1:21 says, "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain."  You are not alone in this life and you are not alone in death.  

c.    No Fear Of Frailty - We cannot ignore how frail we are.  See Psalm 39:4-5.  Our days are numbered. We are transient. Life is but a vapor. Knowing that our days are numbered by the Lord we can be certain that we'll never die too soon nor too late. 

d.    No Fear Of Insignificance - The woman who poured out perfume of Jesus was viewed as insignificant in the eyes of the disciples. But in the eyes of Christ it was precious (Matthew 26:7). It is better to be forgotten on earth but remembered in heaven (by our Lord). Jesus' memory will lead Him to say, "Well done good and faithful servant (Matthew 25:21).  

e.    Fear God - Peace is the presence of the righteous fear of God as well as the absence of fear of death. The fear of the Lord is a treasure (Isaiah 33:6). 

2.    Perseverance - Perseverance looks forward to God's everlasting blessings.

a.    Weakness Of The Flesh - Recognizing your weakness in the present strengthens you for the future. God's strength is exhibited through our weaknesses. Perseverance is born out of reliance on Christ.  We come to Him and He gives us rest (Matthew 11:28-30). Weakness invites God's strength (Psalm 147:3).  

b.    Waiting On The Lord - Perseverance establishes itself in weakness and expresses itself in waiting. Our minds tend to move fast while surrounding circumstances squeeze us.  God never tires nor forgets. He gives strength to the weary (Isaiah 40:29-31). Waiting relies on a right alignment of future remembrance. We must remember God's promises to help us persevere. We must be careful not to expect what He did not promise. God doesn't promise no trials, but to be with us in them. He guards our soul's not our stuff. We must accurately apply God's future promise to present suffering. Let's fortify our memories with future promises (1 John 2:25). 

c.    Weightiness Of Glory - Let us not lose heart. The outer man is dying. The inner man is being renewed daily (2 Corinthians 4:16-17).  We endure momentary afflictions as they produce an incomparable eternal weight of glory.  Our hope is not just that suffering ends, but that glory awaits us. 

3.    Purpose - We look at the unseen things to restore our vision. This author seems to have a heavenly view only instead of a heavenly/earthly view of eternity with God. 

a.    Heaven: The Prize - Blessed are the persecuted for their reward in heaven is great (Matthew 5:11-12.  The Rewarder must remember the reward. He will remember (Hebrews 6:10). 

b.    Heaven: The Place - See 2 Corinthians 5:1.  Something better exists. 

c.    Heaven: The Person - God is the goal of eternity. He is the architect of our future (Hebrews 11:10; John 14:2-3). Christ's path is our path. In other words, His place is our place. 

d.    Heaven: The Purpose - The purpose of present memory and future remembrance is to bring glory to God.