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The Endgame of Endgames


During some of the recent political spats in Washington D.C., one political party was taking a particularly strong stand on an issue.  But the pundits totally dismissed the stand claiming that the political party had no endgame in sight.

So what does “endgame” refer to?  I think it’s a way of saying things like goal or outcome or desired result.

In that light, endgames are not just a recent human invention, God has had them and continues to have them:

“The Lord works out everything for His own ends – even the wicked for a day of disaster” (Prov. 16:4 - NIV).

“There shall be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore.  The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this” (Isa 9:7 - NASB).
“There shall be no end…” it seems that some of God’s endgames actually have no end!  While that might be incomprehensible to us, for the one who is “the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end” (Rev 21:6), He has the ability and the authority to do that. 
So endgames are not only His thing, but He owns them too!


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