2002-10-29
Good Morning Faithful Ones,
This morning the Holy Spirit leads me to discuss the third aspect of our salvation, glorification. This term refers to the act of God taking us up to Him in heaven and the fulfillment of the promise that He has made all along to those who believe, that they will have eternal life with Him. Yesterday, I cited GN 1: 27, in which we are told that mankind was created in God’s image. If one thinks about it, faithful people would not create something detestable in our own image, and neither would God. Satan took something of God’s in an evil way, with lies and deception. The adversary defiled what is precious to God, His own creations. That began at GN 3: 1-6 with the serpent’s deceiving first Eve and then Adam. Because of the sly way this was accomplished, all of God’s creations that came from Adam and Eve inherited the defilement. In His great wisdom and omniscience, God knew ahead of time that this would happen and, at the time of the pre-Creation council in heaven [COL 1: 19-20; 1 PET 1: 20-21] made a monumental decision that would give mankind a way out from Satan’s evil and certain spiritual death. That was to send His Son, our Savior and Messiah, Jesus Christ, to serve His earthly ministry and then to offer up His life on the cross as a substitute, yet perfect once-for-all sin sacrifice for us. All mankind has to do is to repent of his sins and have faith in Christ to be saved [JN 3: 16; RO 3: 24-25; HE 10: 10].
One might ask, why rehearse this story once again? The answer is placing this greatest of all decisions that God made, the decision to sacrifice His Son, in the context of what our salvation really means to us. Grace is defined as unmerited favor. It was extended to us by God at a time when we surely didn’t deserve it. God’s reason is pure and very beautiful. He loves us and always has. His goodness is so much stronger and more effective than Satan’s evil, that we who believe in God’s word all know that Satan will be destroyed, a loser in the lake of fire and sulfur along with all his followers [REV 19: 19-20; REV 20:10]. That was promised as early as the Protevangelium, GN 3: 15. Where does mankind really fit in this remarkable plan? God’s love was never withdrawn from them. GN 3: 21 reminds us that God clothed Adam and Eve in animal skins before casting them out of the Garden of Eden. Thus, a blood sacrifice, one that symbolizes forgiveness and points forward to the death of Christ on the cross to come in Adam and Eve’s future, was made.
Once a man has come to faith, he is commanded to live a life “in Christ.” COL 3: 3-4, “For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Your real life is Christ and when He appears, then you too will appear with Him and share His glory.” Magnificent promise to be kept? You bet! JN 14: 21 reminds us that a measure of our faith in and love for our Creator is our willingness to obey His commands. In return for doing so, God and His Son will love us. That love includes providing for our needs, protecting us, instructing us, guiding us through challenges to our faith, correcting us, encouraging us, comforting us, and a myriad of other things that God does to bless our lives. At some point, one which will arise “like a thief in the night” [1 THESS 5: 2], we will hear the hauntingly unforgettable and life-giving sound of the last trumpet [shofar, in Hebrew]. No more time will be left for us to prepare. It will call us to a “meeting in the air” with Christ [1 THESS 4 :13-17], and we will be ushered to the wedding feast of the Lamb [REV 19: 5-10]. It is at that time, that the promise of RO 8: 29 will be fulfilled. We will become resurrected beings and will be given our “resurrection bodies” as described in 1 COR 15: 42-50. The will be the beginning of our eternity in God’s Kingdom. We will begin to “walk streets of gold” with our Father in heaven [REV 21: 18].
I have often used 1 COR 2: 14 to explain why people with no faith can’t understand the things of the Spirit. Upon being saved we enjoy the opposite side of that coin. 1 COR 2: 15-16, “Whoever has the Spirit, however, is able to judge the value of everything, but no one is able to judge him. As the Scripture [IS 40:13] says, ‘Who knows the mind of the Lord? Who is able to give Him advice?’ We, however, have the mind of Christ.” That is surely supported by COL 3: 3-4 above and is another example of the supernatural consistency of God’s word. This is not boasting; it is speaking the truth. It is a truth made possible only by God’s grace and His love for each of us. Another answer to the question above about where mankind fits in God’s plan is this: 1 COR 3: 23, “…And you belong to Christ and Christ belongs to God.” Praise God that He has claimed ownership of us!!! I am led to close with HE 13: 5-6, real food for reflection. “Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, ‘I will never leave you; I will never abandon you.’ Let us be bold, then, and say, ‘The Lord is my Helper, I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?’”
PRAYER: O Lord, how very blessed we are that You are a Promise Keeper. What we have seen You do in the past is ample evidence that You will do as you have promised in the future. The Psalmist gives us words to match our heart-attitude in PS 107: 43, “Those who are wise will take all this to heart; they will see in our history the faithful love of the Lord.” We can have hope and learn from Your perspective on our suffering and loss at the hands of the enemy, helping us to endure through them. The guidance that You give us takes us to life-giving paths that we wouldn’t find on our own. Sometimes we grumble and complain, because the commands You give us are difficult for us to obey or come at a time we think is inconvenient. However, Dearest Abba, we recognize that Your wisdom is supreme and superior over anything a man could share. We take PR 3: 5-6 to heart. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Never rely on what you thing you know, Remember the Lord everything you do, and He will show you the right way.” Your mercy and compassion shown toward us is unparalleled. Your grace is sufficient at any time and for any need we have. PS 145: 8-9, “The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and great in mercy. The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works.” The work of the cross and Your teaching, O Lord, renews and refreshes our lives. David expressed this in PS 36: 9, “For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light.” We place our trust in You and pledge our obedience to you. PS 33: 22, “Yes, Lord, let Your constant love surround us, for our hopes are in You alone.” We are told in PS 145: 20 a message of great comfort. “The Lord watches over all who love Him.” Our trust is in that. It will be our great privilege to one day dwell for eternity in Your “city on a hill” from which Your light shines forever. Your have our pledge that we will do what we can to endure in our faith. We come before Your throne to humbly confess our sin and to offer You our utmost adoraton, worship, loyalty, diligence, glory, honor, trust, obedience, thanks, and praise. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.
Tomorrow, I’m led to write about how it sometimes looks like the enemy is winning. We must not be sucked into this awful lie, for Satan is a loser and our God is victorious, sovereign, and supreme. God has the power to turn from sinning mankind and choose not to take on the aggravation we have caused Him. But His heart of full of love and compassion beyond what any human really understands. Instead, He takes on Satan full bore, loaded with righteousness and developing a huge army of believers equipped with His full armor. Initially I thought I would like to change the words of the old hymn, “Onward Christian Soldiers,” because part of that army of believers are Messianic Jews too. But the words of that hymn convey a message that fills us with hope that we are on the winning side in this battle against evil. God’s love is the underlying power that makes each believer, no matter what his background is, a part of the Body of Christ. Nothing Satan can do is more effective than the power God used to raise Christ from death to life, the same power that He will us to raise each of us! Hallelujah! Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn