The story is told of an elderly man, virtually unable to read, who would spend hours looking at the pages of Scripture. On each page he would search for the only 4 words he could read – “it came to pass.”
As his search brought discovery, he would rejoice, saying, “Praise God, one thing I know; it didn’t come to stay, IT CAME TO PASS!”
Those of us who have had the experience of a kidney stone are sure to identify with this brother. Thank God it came to pass!
”It came to pass” speaks of change. The Bible is a book of change. There are, in Strong’s Concordance, 7 columns of entries with the word “pass.” In the 2nd column alone, the phrase “it came to pass” is found 76 times. God, Who is the same yesterday, today and forever, is, at the same time a God of change. He ordains that things come to pass, and even as far as Revelation 1.1 God is still declaring that things must come to pass.
Change will, change must come. It is predictable. What is un-predictable is what the changes will mean or accomplish. Of course, we are assured of and confident in the fact that God is taking all of His creation toward the divine conclusion which Scripture reveals. That is predictable.
I cannot predict exactly what unfold in a week’s time, much less a year or more. I have no assurance of the next hour.
I can say that in my lifetime alone immense change has occurred in our world. We look back at “simple” things like party-line telephones, 8 track tapes, and in-car record players . You can name a million things that have changed. Many things, like a toilet seat in my house, I am most grateful for.
Then there is the change in culture. I suppose every generation could speak to the upheaval and change that they experienced. An examination of history books shows us clearly the truth of that. But since I was born in 1952, my experience in the sixties and seventies was of tumultuous change. When I started school, we still had daily prayer. The 10 commandments were proudly displayed in our classrooms. Gideons distributed Bibles freely on campus.
Then came the sexual revolution. Atheists found the boldness to challenge Christianity in the public arena. Roe v. Wade made abortion legal. The traditional family unit began to fracture. Unusual and irregular lifestyles began to emerge. Change affected our language. Take the word “gay” for instance. We used to sing without hesitation “don we now our gay apparel” and now that innocent phrase from a beloved Christmas tune has a different overtone. I know one family whose last name for 200 years was Gay and they legally changed it so their kids would not have to endure bullying at school.
In the decades since the 1970s, this “revolution” has only intensified as our country and our culture has become more secular. And, sadly, the “church” has gone the way of culture. It has proven not to be immune.
Changes can come suddenly or gradually. They can be obvious or barely perceptible, like a slow leak in a pipe. They can be for better or worse. The challenge for us, the Christ-followers, is this: we must find the UNCHANGING CHRIST in the midst of change. If we fail, we will find ourselves isolated, alienated from life, from people, from the church, and even perhaps from the Lord, Himself.
I offer this definition of change from “God’s dictionary.” Change is that process which moves us both naturally and spiritually from where we are to where HE wants us to be. For our God is inexorably, methodically moving us toward a point in history (HIS STORY) which He has ordained. He is moving His Church, His faithful ones, His Bride daily toward our divine appointment, the day of union with our Groom. We’ve been called, we’ve been chosen, we’ve been redeemed. And as we are CHANGED into His likeness, He prepares us for that time. For He will have a Bride, a spotless, unblemished Bride.
An unwillingness to change, a reluctance to “ride the potter’s wheel”, and we find ourselves being left behind, snared by the evil one who seeks to do us harm. May it not be said of us, in this, our hour of carrying the baton, that we were found unfaithful. There is too much to gain, to lose. Do not grow weary in well doing. Do not despair.
God, Who began this good work in you, will be faithful to complete it. IT WILL COME TO PASS!