But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:4-7 The apostle Paul explains to us in Ephesians 2 what that standard is. Simply put, it is Gods love for us. To God, our value and worth is shown in the person of Jesus Christ. God looks at us, even in our sin, baggage, and moral depravity and says, “You are worth my Son to Me”. Wow. That is the standard. Jesus death for us, when we didnt deserve it, made us alive in Christ and welcomes us into His heavenly throne room. I dont know about you, but I have this tendency to value myself according to what I did, or didnt do that week. “I read 10 chapters, went to church, and bought an extra box of girl scout cookies. God must really be proud of me this week.” Or, perhaps, “I messed up, said things I shouldnt have, thought things I shouldnt have. God is going to get me. I know it. Hes just waiting for the perfect time to execute judgment”. God is not fickle, nor is His favor toward us contingent on what we do. The judgment for our sin, past, present, and future, was poured into Jesus on that cross. This is why He said: “It is finished”. The judgment for our sin is finished and there is only amazing grace and unmerited favor for us so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. This not only applies to how we see ourselves, but also how we see others. Whenever humans are together, there will inevitably be conflict, resentment, personality conflicts, and a whole host of other things, which bring division. When we begin to see those people that get under our skin, as Jesus sees them, and say to ourselves, “That person is highly loved of God and worth His Son to Him”, all of that hostility will begin to bleed away. This is step one to showing the grace and Love of God to those around us. For me, my new years resolution is to know this grace more and more so that I am not constantly putting my face, or anyone elses, but, to put my faith in God and God alone. Be blessed for He is God!
Posted on: Tue, 30 Dec 2014 19:14:42 +0000
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