Subscription Lists

We know what He [God] will do because we know what He did! That is the crux of Paul's argument as he affirms that “...all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8.28). What did He do? He proved His love beyond all human expectations or potential! The proof that He yet works incessantly on our behalf lies in a knowledge of how He worked in the past!

I am convinced that God will labor just as hard for one soul as He will for a million. His love is without dimensions when it comes to His creation. Paul spells it out for all to read and attempt to understand; I say attempt to understand because no man can! We can learn the facts, but we will never this side of eternity understand. He foreknew! He knew in advance that we would turn our backs on Him and bite the hand that made us. But He loved us anyway.

He predestined us! From eternity past He prepared a means by which our destiny would be more than circumstances could allow; He overrode the forces that incessantly pull us away and counteracted them with a force that all of hell could not overpower! He predestined us by establishing a means by which our fate would be far more than the feeble efforts in our lives could ever achieve.

He called us! There are hundreds, thousands, millions, billions, yea multiplied billions upon billions of voices in this world, but He called us. Somehow He knew the voice that could be heard, distinguished and obeyed above the din that assaults our ears. Much like a mother can pick out the slightest sound that belongs to her child, He prepared us to be able to hear His voice above all others. He called us!

However, talk about marvels above all marvels, He justified us! The idea that the guilt and penalty of sin could be forever removed from our backs is without precedence in all of human history. The purest Being ever to have existed met the lowest of creatures, met him in his most disgusting and self-abasing hour, rose above the stench and proudly said, “Not Guilty!” “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.” (Romans 5.8-9). With blood on our hands and the stamp of sin on our heart, He said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” (Luke 23.34). He justified us!

Beyond the realm of the seen worlds, a great company of saints who passed from this earth hundreds and thousands of years before calvary, waited for their release. Their hope was not diminished by time, for it was their unquenchable trust in God that allowed them to persevere to begin with. So to wait a few more years was not unthinkable for them. Yet what a grand day that must have been when the spoiler was spoiled and the reward of the righteous was realized. “When He [Jesus] ascended on high, He led captivity captive.” (Ephesians 4.8). And rightfully so for “For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.” (Hebrews 2.10)! He did not enter into His glory alone; He entered with others whom He glorified!

I may feel the love of Jesus in my heart, but that is not how I know He loves me: I know He loves me (present and ongoing) because He loved me in the past and demonstrated that love in ways that no human could ever have done! We know that all things work together for good!

Questions:

1. When did God realize that man would fall into sin, rebelling at His word?

2. When did God determine to prepare a means for man to avoid the penalty for sin?

3. What does it mean to lead “captivity captive?” When did Jesus do this?

4. When did Jesus bring many sons to glory? Will He eventually take others there? If yes, when and who?

"Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life" from Tom Kelley

Choking can be Hazardous to Your Eternal Health