Monday, February 29, 2016

Foreknown Children Of Grace

God knew that Adam and Eve would have children before they did and said...

"I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." - Genesis 3:15 ESV

This is the first prophecy we have in the scripture about Messiah.

In the next passage we see another inner working of God's foreknowledge.

"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified." - Romans 8:28-30 ESV

We make choices but God knows our choices before we make them because He knows everything. The past, present and future are already laid out before Him. This doesn't negate our ability to choose or the consequences of our choices.

If we respond to the Gospel (and God knows whether we will or won't) then we are justified and eventually glorified. Just as children grow up to be little versions of their parents. Similarly each believer grows up to be like Christ. We are not exactly like Him because we are all unique but we bear his name like a child would bear the family name.

"I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel." - Philippians 1:3-7 ESV

Believe it or not some people hate grace. They hate the idea that God must give them spirituality for free. They hate the idea that their right standing would be based on some one else's work and not theirs. They hate that God has authority over them because they want to rule themselves at any cost. There is no evidence that these people are partakers of grace.

Are they called? Or in other words have they responded to the calling that God has initiated to them?

Moses saw a burning bush and turned aside to look at this rarely seen wonder and when people hear they Gospel they get a spiritual glimpse of God waving them over from the across the room. Only an individual can make that decision to respond. Some people get many chances and others may only get one. We don't know how that works. Just one chance is more than we deserve. Salvation is a gift after all.

But if anyone has responded then we know that God is going to complete the work He started. Every person who believes is justified and every one of them will eventually be glorified.

Jesus is the first man to be glorified but we are next in line. Wow. That is exciting to think about. It gives me hope.

Are you a partaker of grace? If you are then you are on a good path. Even if other things don't seem to be going well don't worry. God is going to bring you through.

We can spend our days loving the free gift and spreading it in other peoples lives like seed. The seed of the Gospel has transformation potential. If it takes root and is established then God is going to complete the work He started in that life. That is a promise He has made and I trust that He knows what He Is doing.

--

No comments:

Post a Comment