God’s
purpose is always good because He is a good God.
The truth be known, He is also reaching out to the ones
who don’t love Him so that no one can escape the goodness of God.
“Even when we were God’s enemies, he made peace
with us, because his Son died for us. Yet something even greater than
friendship is ours. Now that we are at peace with God, we will be saved by his
Son’s life.”
Romans 5:10 (CEV)
How much better to agree with the purposes of God now
that Jesus has made peace with us, we are no longer God’s enemies; we have
access to the heavenly Father through Jesus. That is the blessed place to be,
recognizing that Jesus loves us enough to die for us to grant us access to
the heavenly Father.
Our heavenly Father always desired close communion with
His creation, it is why we were created at the beginning to be in a close relationship with the Father. God wanted to be able to express Himself
through us that He loved us, and that the knowledge of God would touch others,
and He would eventually fill the earth.
You see, it is God who puts the love for Himself in the
hearts of humanity; we have no way of making that happen of our own accord, for it's true, we would mess it up; God has to do the work in our hearts.
As God gives us a
love for Him, we have the opportunity to receive it or not, that is free will,
that is the rule that God abides by, an ability to choose or not to choose.
The key to
this is if we respond now, we will have a lifetime of building a relationship
with Him and living the in the grace He has provided for us, receiving all that
He desired for us since the world began.
If we choose to reject His offer of love, then we forfeit
all the benefits that He has for us, and there is a long list of benefits in
the book of Galatians:
“God’s Spirit makes us loving, happy, peaceful, patient,
kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled. There is no law against
behaving in any of these ways.”
Galatians 5:22-23 (CEV)
If that weren’t enough to entice you, then there are the
promises of God that far exceed anything we could even imagine.
The promises of God fill the Old Testament, one in
particular that I like is this one:
“But those who trust the Lord will find new strength.
They will be strong like eagles soaring upward on wings; they will walk and run
without getting tired.”
Isaiah 40:31 (CEV)
There are many promises in the New Testament also, too many
for me to share here. There is one that special to me:
“But as many as received him, to them gave he power
to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were
born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but
of God.”
John 1:12-13 (KJV)
One of the things I haven’t even touched on yet is
pre-destination (God’s choice
for us before the world began). We
have all been handpicked to receive the love of God, we are special to the
Lord in ways we couldn’t even fathom.
We were chosen to be His sons and
daughters, just as Jesus is God’s Son, we are co-heirs with Him in the Father’s
Kingdom.
Jesus was the first of many sons (and daughters) to be revealed in God’s kingdom when we
receive Him we are taking our place as a child of God and an heir to the throne.
“The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that
we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow
heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be
glorified with Him.”
Romans 8:16-17 (NASB)
Being a Christ-follower is a beautiful life, knowing
Jesus and being received by the heavenly Father is the greatest blessing we
could ever experience on this earth.
If we choose to reject God’s offer now, we
will have another chance to receive Him when we die, but we will miss all the
benefits that we get now, and that is a tragic loss for anyone.
Every knee will
bow before the glory of the Lord either now or in the future and will (either lovingly or regretfully) confess that He is Lord.
But think of how much time we were given to know Him now, and how that
time may have been squandered that we might join with Him in enjoying the Father’s love for us now.
Christ was humble. He obeyed God and even died on a
cross. Then God gave Christ the highest place and honored his name above all
others. So at the name of Jesus everyone will bow down, those in heaven, on
earth, and under the earth. And to the glory of God the Father everyone will
openly agree, “Jesus Christ is Lord!”
Philippians
2:8-11 (CEV)
My prayer is that you may know Jesus now and step into your
role as God’s Son or daughter with Him, He is your brother, and you are co-heirs in God's kingdom.
Let the Lord reign in you today.
Let the Lord reign in you today.
Be Blessed;
Stephen Barnett
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