Saving is what He does, Lord is Who He is.
I am a descendent of fallen Adam and therefore I am a sinner from my birth. Throughout my life I have done many wrong things. Justice demands judgment. Many good works will not outweigh my bad deeds because they cannot change what I am - - a sinner and my sin is against God. I must not be deluded into thinking that good works will make me acceptable to God and perfectly fit for heaven. What I have done or do is not the issue. The main problem is what I am. Sounds quite hopeless, doesn’t it? But why is there a heaven if I can never get there? Just listen and I’ll let you in on the open secret which I’ve discovered.
While I was helpless (Romans 5:8) and without God or hope in the world, something happened! How could it be fair that sinless, holy, righteous Jesus bore the full furious wrath of God and died to pay the total agonizing price which terrifying Judgment demanded for my sin? When Almighty God clothed Himself in the sinless human body of Jesus, (Psalms 85:10) mercy and loving kindness met together in the Person of the God-Man. What does that mean for me? The truth about me is that judgment is deserved and certain. BUT - - righteousness and peace have kissed each other, have formed an indescribable relationship. The truth about Jesus, the righteous One, is that by His willingness to temporarily step out of His position as Judge, then to pay my debt which the Judge had imposed and to become my Substitute and my Saviour, by His grace and mercy, He transformed Judgment (Romans 3:21) into Justice. Then Jesus the Prince of Peace gave me the gift of eternal peace and eternal life. Only through Jesus (John 14:6) could Holy God be just and justify me.
But before all this, why would God even want to justify me? In the beginning God created a perfect world and (Genesis 1:31) everything in it was perfect. Sin entered God’s world and defaced it and everything in it. But our Sovereign God would not allow His original plan and purpose for His world to suffer damage forever. The world was marred temporarily. Through the shed Blood and atoning death of Jesus, God ordained Redemption and Justification through His Resurrection.
His Resurrection proves that His Death was abundantly sufficient to complete and fulfill every holy requirement. So we who are (2 Corinthians 5:17) new creations have a new life and confidently look forward to (Revelation 21:1) a new heaven and a new earth.
As born-again Christians, we now share (Colossians 3:4) the very Life of Christ. Good works could never save us but we are saved to do good works (Ephesians 2:10) which God has already prepared in advance for us to do. One thing we must never do is retaliate, pay back in kind to those who hurt us. God said (Deuteronomy 32:35, Romans 12:19, Hebrews 10:36) Vengeance is Mine, My business. Don’t butt into God’s business by avenging yourself. Obey the commands (Romans 12:14, Matthew 5:11, <Matthew 5:39, Matthew 5:44-45) do not repay evil for evil, but do good to those who ill treat you, do not curse them. But pray for those who persecute you. Love is a powerful weapon.
In the past when everything seemed to be going wrong and all at the same time, that was the time when the real me came out. When God allows great difficulties in our lives, it could be His way of showing us what we are in ourselves and how much we need Him. These are teaching times so that we will learn to continually abide in Jesus.
Not if, but when (James 1:2, 1 Peter 1:6, 1 Peter 4:12). We will all have trials of varying degrees throughout our lifetime on earth. God’s purpose in these trials is (Dr.Swindoll) “to grow us up into maturity, to grow in the nature of Christ, to test and strengthen our faith and to deepen our intimacy with Jesus”. It is in the fiery furnace (Daniel 3:19-20, Daniel 3:25) that we see the Lord Jesus more clearly. We remember that if He had not suffered such incomprehensible anguish, we could never have received eternal Life and a home in heaven. How very restful it is to truly know God’s Sovereign control. We can always have complete confidence in His holy will, His planned and righteous way and His perfect timing. God is never late or too early even by a few seconds. Because the Lord alone knows everything, He always knows the exact time to work everything together for His preplanned will and purpose. We can be and remain calm when there is panic all around us. Why are we often so slow, actually too stupid to trust Him? Worry is a foreigner, an alien intruder, an infidel enemy who attempts to disturb our peace and destroy our trust in God. Never welcome this renegade (Philippians 4:6) but kick him to the curb and defeat him by thanksgiving and praise to the Lord.
Do you know why you are where you are? Wherever you are as a pastor, missionary or caring for a sick relative and/or etc., is to be where God has placed you. To stay by the “stuff” (I Samuel 30:24) for Christians is (Dr. Stanley) “to do God’s work in God’s way in the place (2 Corinthians 12:18) where God has placed them”. That particular place for you and me is a place of obedient, loyal service for which God has fitted and equipped us. We would never experience (1 Timothy 6:6) the great gain of godliness with wonderment in doing anything else in any other place. The unchanging law of Christian success is always obedience - - doing God’s work in God’s way at the right time in the right place. Obedience must be immediate - - no questions, no debate, no delay.
Don’t be surprised when you see unsaved people acting like unsaved people and (John 14:1) don’t be troubled by it. God has not relinquished one iota of His total Sovereignty.
The difference between a servant and a slave is that (Charles Price) “a servant has a master and a slave has (1 Corinthians 6:19) an owner. Jesus is called Saviour 14 times in the Bible – N.T. and he is called LORD more than 600 times. Saving is what He does, Lord is Who He is”.
I don’t know of anyone who could fully describe or explain - - the incredible Love that sought us, the precious priceless Blood that bought us and the amazing Grace that brought us to the Fold (John 10:14) of the Good Shepherd. No silver tongued orator has adequate words, no brilliant Rhodes scholar has adequate comprehension.
From an old hymn – Now I feebly prove that God alone in Christ can be unutterable love.
Think = ponder, meditate and (Joshua 1:8) prosper.