Our relationship with God is very unique. I was thinking about it recently, and it struck me as unusual that, on one hand, we are called "sons and daughters of God" (John 1:12-13), and on the other hand, we are the future "Bride of Christ" (Rev. 19:7-8). That means that He has not only adopted us as sons and daughters, but He also has given us as His Son's Bride.
The reason why that is so important is that means that we are not merely "in-lawed" to God the Father, but we are legally adopted as His very own, AND legally united with Christ as His very own. That is huge!
I love this picture, because it gives us a clearer understanding of what Jesus really did for us. As the perfect Groom, Jesus rescued and cleansed us by making the ultimate sacrifice and taking upon Himself our sin and wretchedness, absorbing the righteous wrath of God that was piled up against us (propitiation - Eph. 2:13-14).
Not only that, but He went even further by then purifying His Bride by imputing to us His righteousness (expiation - Eph. 2:4-6). In other words, He loved us so much that He not only gave Himself for us in death (first gift), thereby taking on our sin, which means that He emptied Himself of His righteousness (Phil. 2:5-8), but He then gave us a second gift of grace by filling us with His righteousness (Rom. 3:21-26). We are a part of the greatest love story in history!
Random thought: Where does the Holy Spirit fit into this picture? Could it be that the Holy Spirit acts as our "pre-marital counselor?" Think about it, as the betrothed to Christ, we have been justified (sanctified) by Him, but as we wait, the bible says we are being sanctified by the Holy Spirit and His word so that we look more and more like Christ (Rom. 15:15-16; Eph. 5:25-27; Heb. 10:13-18).
I love how these relationships (especially the triune relationship - Father, Son, & Holy Spirit) work together for the good of the Church and the glory of God. It puts a new light on our relationship with God, His love and passionate pursuit of us, and the very nature of our salvation. We are the beneficiaries of God's elaborate plan to glorify Himself. In the end, our salvation is the blood-bought gift of seeing and savoring the glory of Christ. The saving love of God is the gift of Himself.
Showing posts with label gift. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gift. Show all posts
Friday
Tuesday
The Gift of Grace
John 14:6
"I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but by Me.”
Jesus isn’t being intolerant, arrogant, or closed minded when He says, “No one comes to the Father but by Me.” He’s offering the greatest gift He can give, Himself. He’s offering grace and forgiveness. And He’s giving us the answer to the question that (on some level) every person who ever lived has asked, “What must I do to be saved?”
There are a lot of well-meaning people out there who sincerely struggle with the simplicity of the grace of God. They say, “Surely it can’t be that easy. There has to be more to it,” or “How could God exclude everyone who has lived a good, moral life like Muslims, Jews, etc. just because they don’t believe that Jesus is the only way to God?”
For every religion on earth, their only hope for salvation rests on their ability to follow certain rules and traditions, and in the end, they are banking it all in hopes that it will be enough to save them.
Where religion says, “I’ll do it.” The gospel says, “God did it.” You see, there is nothing in us that gives us the ability to save ourselves. But the Good News is that Christ did what we could not. Christ took our sin and in return gave us His righteousness (Romans 3:21-26).
As well-meaning as it may sound, to trust in our own ability to save ourselves is by default rejecting the gift of salvation that Christ sacrificed so much to purchase for us. When we try to fix ourselves, it's as if we hear Jesus saying on the cross, "It is finished," and we answer back, "Not quite." In Hebrews 10, the bible compares that to “trampling the Son of God underfoot, counting the blood of the covenant by which we were sanctified a common thing, and insulting the Spirit of grace.”
How amazing is it that God offers us a gift as great as salvation?! And He is pleading with you to receive it.
"I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but by Me.”
Jesus isn’t being intolerant, arrogant, or closed minded when He says, “No one comes to the Father but by Me.” He’s offering the greatest gift He can give, Himself. He’s offering grace and forgiveness. And He’s giving us the answer to the question that (on some level) every person who ever lived has asked, “What must I do to be saved?”
There are a lot of well-meaning people out there who sincerely struggle with the simplicity of the grace of God. They say, “Surely it can’t be that easy. There has to be more to it,” or “How could God exclude everyone who has lived a good, moral life like Muslims, Jews, etc. just because they don’t believe that Jesus is the only way to God?”
For every religion on earth, their only hope for salvation rests on their ability to follow certain rules and traditions, and in the end, they are banking it all in hopes that it will be enough to save them.
Where religion says, “I’ll do it.” The gospel says, “God did it.” You see, there is nothing in us that gives us the ability to save ourselves. But the Good News is that Christ did what we could not. Christ took our sin and in return gave us His righteousness (Romans 3:21-26).
As well-meaning as it may sound, to trust in our own ability to save ourselves is by default rejecting the gift of salvation that Christ sacrificed so much to purchase for us. When we try to fix ourselves, it's as if we hear Jesus saying on the cross, "It is finished," and we answer back, "Not quite." In Hebrews 10, the bible compares that to “trampling the Son of God underfoot, counting the blood of the covenant by which we were sanctified a common thing, and insulting the Spirit of grace.”
How amazing is it that God offers us a gift as great as salvation?! And He is pleading with you to receive it.
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