The Unfailing Plan of a Sovereign God

Sunday the majority of people in our area celebrate Easter.  To some it will simply be a time for family.  For others it will be a time for chocolate bunnies and Reese’s eggs.  Others will reflecte upon a historical event: the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

My hope is that all will recognize that the coming of Jesus Christ to earth to suffer and die to pay for the sins of man was not an afterthought but rather a plan from before the “foundation of the earth.”  (Eph. 1)  God in His omniscience (all-knowing) knew that man would rebel. God in His holiness knew that he could not fellowship with sinful man.  God in His justice required a penalty for sin. God in His love and mercy chose to put a plan in action to provide redemption for all who would believe.

Through time God gradually revealed his plan. This started with his response to Adam and Eve’s sin in the garden when he promised a “Seed that would bruise Satan’s head.”(Gen. 3)  Many, many passages speak of God’s plan throughout the Old Testament, but not many are any clearer than Isa. 53:2b-6 “He has no form or comeliness and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we desire Him.  He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows acquainted with grief, and we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.  Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet, we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.  But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.  All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, everyone, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”

This passage though recognized by most as referring to Jesus Christ was written several hundred years before Christ came to earth.

As Jesus ministered publicly for three years he again and again presented Himself as the Messiah.  This required individuals either to bow the knee in worship or to punish Him as a blasphemer.   Despite the fact that through His miracles and wondrous acts He revealed that He indeed was the promised Messiah, the pious religious leaders were not willing or able to accept Him.  They manipulated a Pilate, the people pleasing Roman ruler of the territory, and incited an emotional crowd to bring about Christ’s death.

To many observers this seemed like the end of Jesus Christ.  Perhaps God’s plan had failed?  What these observers did not realize is that God had used Pilate, the Pious religious leaders, and the crowd to fulfill His plan.  They acted through their own personalities and desires to accomplish what God had promised would happen.  They crucified the Messiah as promised.

In trying to pre-empt any possible fake resurrection they helped to prove the reality of Christ’s resurrection.  The governor’s seal and the soldier’s stance could not stop the Son of God from being victorious over sin and death.

God had indeed kept His promise, His plan was fulfilled.  He had provided a way for man’s redemption from sin.   “But as many as received Him to them gave He the power to become children of God, even to those who believe on His name.”  (John 1:12) 

I hope that as each of you reflect upon Christ’s resurrection that you will turn from your sin and put your faith in Jesus Christ to pay the penalty of your sin.  “For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is a gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”  (Eph. 2:8-9)

The Walking Dead - Spiritual Zombies!

Ephesians 2:1–10 (ESV) ¹And you were dead in the trespasses and sins ²in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— ³among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. ⁴But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— ⁶and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ⁸For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, ⁹not a result of works, so that no one may boast. ¹⁰For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Paul is making clear here the dire position that man is in before salvation.  Though Hollywood may be thrilled with the ideas of Zombies, spiritually the idea of the living dead is not amusing.   Before salvation man is “dead” in his trespasses and sins.   A trespass is a willful breaking of God’s law, and a sin is “missing the mark of God’s holiness.”  The spirit that works in all who continue to walk in disobedience to Christ leads them to follow their own fleshly desires.  These actions are the trespasses and sins that result from following Satan, the prince of the power of the air.  This life of disobedience puts us under the wrath of God.  John 3:36 says, (ESV) “³⁶Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”   Under God’s wrath as children of obedience is the position of every person until God works in their life to make them alive.  

Dead men don’t do anything.  They just lie there.  The same is true spiritually; a dead man cannot place faith in Christ, but when God in His great mercy imparts life, regenerates a person, He places that person in Christ Jesus.  “For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is a gift of God.”  This gift of faith that allows us to believe in the risen Son comes only by the grace of God.  There is nothing in us as a “child of disobedience” that either earns of deserves this gift of salvation. Therefore, we have nothing about which to boast, simply a gracious God to be thankful to in that he “made us alive” giving us the faith that we might believe.

The video version of this is available at www.youtube.com/churchoflittleton    FW # 54

Why Give Thanks???

Psalm 100:5 (NKJV) ⁵For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.

The psalmist here returns to reasons why we should be thankful.  It all has to do with God and who He is!

The LORD is Jehovah the covenant God of Israel, He was known to Moses as “I AM WHO I AM”  (Ex. 3:14)  He is good.  There can be no wrong within Him or from Him.  He cannot sin, and there is no evil present within Him.

“God’s mercy is everlasting” - His mercy is His loyal love, His unfailing devotion based upon a prior covenant relationship.  This mercy is forever or for eternity, it will last an unlimited duration of time as we consider the future.

God’s “truth endures to all generations.”  This “truth” is often translated faithfulness, trustworthiness.  He is dependable both to individuals and His own holiness.

His dependability does not change based upon when I live.  He was faithful to my grandparents, my parents, to myself; and He will be faithful to my children as well.  Because God does not change He could be trusted by Israel when they went through the time of oppression by the Midianites.  He was faithful to believers that lived through the great depression. He will be faithful today to all who trust him and to every future generation.

Because God’s love and faithfulness are never ending we have the opportunity to bring unceasing praise to the LORD! Yet, how often when asked what we are thankful for and given the opportunity to share a testimony of praise do we sit silent?

In the hymn He Giveth More Grace which was written by Annie Johnson Flint we are reminded of God’s unending grace.   “His love has no limit, His grace has no measure, His power has no boundary known unto men.  For out of His infinite riches in Jesus, He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again!”

Similarly, Fredirick M. Lehman  challenged us in The LOVE OF GOD  by writing, “Could we with ink the oceans fill And were the skies of parchment made, Were every stalk on earth a quill and every man a scribe by trade, To write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry, nor could the scroll contain the whole Though stretched from Sky to sky.”

As we get more of a glimpse of God’s goodness, mercy, and faithfulness we should be ever ready to lift up our voices in praise and thanksgiving for whom He is and what He has done and what He will continue to do in our lives.

I hope that after being reminded of God’s character in these areas that you will take the time to join me in thanksgiving and praise.

The video version of this is available at www.youtube.com/churchoflittleton  FW # 42

God's Reforming Grace

Titus 2:11–14 (NKJV) ¹¹For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, ¹²teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, ¹³looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, ¹⁴who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.

In this passage there are a few aspects of God’s grace: His redeeming Grace, His reforming Grace, and His rewarding Grace.

In this edition we will take the time to look at God’s reforming Grace.

God loved us enough to send Jesus Christ to pay the penalty of our sin.  This was God’s redeeming Grace.  Yet he does not just leave us to ourselves after salvation.

Vs. 12 ¹²teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age,

He begins to teach us. Part of this teaching is to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts.

To deny ungodliness means to not let it into our life. When I played basketball in college I often played defense on the other team’s center.  We played denial defense.  We were to get a hand, body, foot or something between the ball and the offensive player to deny that ball from getting to the player.

God shows us how to keep these things out of our lives by showing us how we should live.

To live soberly –means to live with sound judgment, to live by biblical principles.  In the book of proverbs this is referred to as walking the way of wisdom.

Living righteously is living upright.  It is living within God’s direction for life.

To live Godly will attribute to God everything things which rightfully belong to Him, this includes rendering to God the reverence and worship emanating from a holy life.^[1]

“In this present age” –is living day to day as we wait for Christ to return.

Too many people today claim Christ as their savior, yet there is no change in their behavior.  According to this passage, after God redeems us with Christ he reforms us and begins to make us into the image of Christ.  Living a life that is worthy of the name Christian.

Let me challenge you today to look at your life.  Is there evidence of God’s reforming grace?  If not you may need to see if you have really trusted in the blood of Christ for salvation and have experienced God’s redeeming Grace.

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^[1] Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary : New Testament, electronic ed. (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2000).

God's Redeeming Grace Titus 2:11-14

Titus 2:11–14 (NKJV) ¹¹For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, ¹²teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, ¹³looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,

¹⁴who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.

In this passage there are a few aspects of God’s grace: His redeeming Grace, His reforming Grace, and His rewarding Grace.

In this edition, we will simply look at God’s redeeming Grace.

Vs. 11 “Grace of God that brings salvation hath appeared to all men.

The grace of God appeared when Jesus Christ came to earth.

John 1 – Word became flesh and dwelled among us…

Galatians 4:4-5 (NKJV)

⁴But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem them that were under the law..

Jesus Christ came to redeem – He came to pay the penalty of our sin that we might be freed from their eternal consequences.

All sinners – owe the penalty of their sin.   In other words … There is a price to pay for sin.  That price is death.  Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death..”  When an individual goes to work, the work they do earns them a wage, a salary.  When we are born, we are sinners.  This sinfulness earns us an eternity separated from God in the Lake of Fire.

Yet, Jesus came to pay that price.  That is redemption.  When we place our faith in His shed blood for our salvation he pays the penalty of our sin.  It was taken upon him when he died on the cross and as far as God is concerned what before said “guilty = you owe one sinless life” that price has been paid as Christ redeemed us.

VS. 14 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.

His desire was to pay the price of our sin and to conform us to his image.  When we are bought with the price of Christ’s blood he then begins to purify us as his own special people. 

This will be the focus in the next edition as we take a look at God’s reforming Grace.

Yet, I ask you the question today.  Have you placed your faith in the blood of Jesus Christ that you might be redeemed from your sins?  Ponder this and look to Christ.

The video format of this is available at www.youtube.com/churchoflittleton