«　WEEK 3　DAY 6　»

　　Lam. 3:22-25 …His compassions do not fail; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. Jehovah is my portion, says my soul; therefore I hope in Him. Jehovah is good to those who wait on Him, to the soul that seeks Him.

　　We may think that because of our failure, we are hopeless. Thus, it is profitable to consider Lamentations 3:22-25….These words were written after the Babylonians had destroyed Jerusalem, burned the temple, and carried away many into captivity….Surely, the people of Israel must have felt that God had given them up and that they were finished. On the one hand, Jeremiah was weeping; on the other hand, he was writing. In his writing he could say that it was of Jehovah’s lovingkindness that they were not consumed. He could say that they were still there and that God had not given them up. The princes, the prophets, and the priests had failed, but God’s compassions do not fail; rather, they are new every morning. Jeremiah could even declare that Jehovah was his portion and that he hoped in Him, for He is good to those who wait on Him. Why is there hope in Him? There is hope in God because with God there is no disappointment. (Life-study of Jeremiah, pp. 29-30)

　　At this point we need to see that Israel’s failure opened the way for Christ to come in to be their righteousness. The situation is the same with us today. Our failure opens the way for Christ to come in.

　　Jeremiah 23:5-6 speaks of Christ’s coming in. “Indeed, days are coming, / Declares Jehovah, / When I will raise up to David a righteous Shoot; / And He will reign as King and act prudently / And will execute justice and righteousness in the land. / …And this is His name by which He will be called, / Jehovah our righteousness.” This righteous Shoot is Christ as the descendant of David. The day is coming when all Israel will receive Christ as their righteousness. They forsook Him, but their forsaking of Him has opened the door for Him to come in to be their righteousness. Then they may say, “Lord, we do not have anything that God can recognize as righteousness, but You have come to be our righteousness.”

　　According to the prophecy of Jeremiah, no matter how evil and wicked Israel may be and no matter how often they have forsaken God to hew out broken cisterns for themselves, Israel will be restored. In the restoration of Israel, Christ will be their righteousness, redemption, and life (31:33-34), and Christ will be exalted to be their centrality and universality. God will come in to dispense Himself into His elect as the divine life to be their life and life law with its capacity to know God and to live God. Eventually, they, like Paul and the believers in Christ today, will be a new creation.

　　If we fail God today, we should not be disappointed. God has a way to deal with us. He has a way to cause us to mature and then to bring us into the New Jerusalem. If we are overcomers, we will enjoy the reward in the millennium. If we are defeated, we will suffer punishment in the millennium, but eventually we will be matured and enter into the New Jerusalem. Some Christians may love the world today, but sooner or later God will come in to take away the “toy” of the world, and they will repent. Then He may say, “Child, you don’t need to repent anymore. Simply take Christ in and rejoice with Me.”

　　There is no need for us to worry about our situation. God is patient, sympathetic, and compassionate, and He will take the time to make us mature. Every believer, whether presently weak or strong, will be in the New Jerusalem, and everyone there will be mature. Whether we seek God diligently or only a little, God has a way to make Christ our righteousness, our redemption, our life, our life law, and our life capacity so that we can be matured. Every real believer in Christ will reach maturity and be in the New Jerusalem. Thus, we should not be dismayed or discouraged. Rather, we should be encouraged. (Life-study of Jeremiah, pp. 30-31)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Jeremiah, msg. 4