THIS IS THE DAY

Tuesday 1 October

This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24 (NKJV)

Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad John 8:56 (NKJV)

To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour. Luke 4:19b (NIV)

I remember singing the song ‘this is the day’ in my younger years and thought it was just about being glad every day of the week but especially on Sunday because it was ‘the Lord’s day’. It turns out it was a much bigger deal than I once realised.

David according to Acts 2:30 was a prophet which means that he was speaking about something more than 7 consecutive 24 hour periods of time. As with much prophecy of scripture, there is more than one layer of truth to be revealed. So what was David seeing in the future when he wrote this psalm? We will soon find out.

Jesus in His discourse with the religious leaders made what was in their eyes an extremely blasphemous statement. He told them ‘Abraham rejoiced to see my day’. Abraham was also a prophet of God and He must have foreseen the same thing David saw when the gospel was preached to Him on Mount Moriah.

It’s important to recognise when Jesus made this statement, He had not yet died on the cross, been buried, resurrected or ascended. We know therefore that Jesus was also speaking prophetically of what would take place in the future.

On another occasion, Luke chapter 4 records that He stood up to read from the book of Isaiah and started with ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me’ and concluded in verse 19 with ‘to proclaim the acceptable time of the Lord’s favour’. Again, this was before Jesus death, burial and resurrection so this ‘time’ had not yet arrived.

‘The day that the Lord has made’ and ‘the day that Abraham rejoiced to see’ was the acceptable time or Jubilee of ‘The Lord’s favour’. Favour is the overflowing or abundance of grace. When Christianity began after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the day of the church commenced. The day of grace.

This day of grace is what both David and Abraham saw and the Lord Jesus prophesied of and today we are living in it! This benevolent grace is the ‘day that the Lord has made’. Grace is the gift of salvation in Christ and that salvation has been made available to all mankind by Jesus perfect sacrifice.

Grace is in essence getting what we didn’t deserve and it shows the heart of the Father that He is not willing that any should perish but come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9b)

In the 50th or Jubilee year, the year of the Lord’s favour we see a clear picture of His grace. Every debt was cancelled, every prisoner released, all property was returned and every slave was made free.

Right now we are coming to the end of ‘the day the Lord has made’ but until then, it is still the day of grace. No one should leave this world without receiving Christ. Now is the ‘acceptable time of the Lord’s favour’ to receive overflowing grace which is the gift of righteousness; His salvation.

APPLICATION

Study the word ‘charis’ to have a greater understanding of all the aspects of God’s grace that have been granted you in Christ or that can be yours if you choose accept Him.