Tuesday, July 31, 2012
You are Saved by Grace Alone!
Ephesians 1:4-5a He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself."
GOD'S GRACIOUS DETERMINATION
I just saw an amazing example of human determination. A man without legs, amputated at the hips, climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. He scaled the 19,341 foot peak mostly walking on his hands. We might be amazed at such a feat. It is one thing to make grandiose plans, it is quite another to carry them through to completion. We all make plans that we can't complete because the cost is too high, or the sacrifice too great. For that man to push on with determination even when the pain is great and reach the summit is quite inspiring.
If we are amazed and inspired by such a demonstration of determination, we should be much more inspired and amazed by God who has shown a far greater level of determination. Our text says that God chose us before the foundation of the world and then it says He "predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself." Some might think of predestination as fatalism, that everyone's destiny has been set and can't be changed. The Bible does not teach such a thing. The Greek word for predestined is a compound word from "pro" (beforehand) and "horizo" (to determine).
God has determined beforehand how He would show His grace in your life. He determined that He was going to take you -- His enemy, as wretched as can be inside and out -- and he was going to adopt you as His son by Jesus Christ.
In order to adopt us as His children He had to make us "holy and without blame before Him in love." God describes that even more in the letter to the Romans, "Whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son." God determined to make us rebellious creatures, who are dark with sin and deserving death, to be like His only begotten Son, perfectly holy and righteous. That is what He determined beforehand in eternity and He is determined to carry out that plan.
The task seems utterly impossible. The cost was astronomical. The sacrifice beyond compare. The frustration level and grief of working with us sinful creatures is beyond our comprehension. But God faces the task with the utmost determination to complete His plan. He will not let any cost, any hardship, any discouragement prevent Him from fulfilling His plan for those whom He has chosen.
See God's amazing Grace at work, He will not give up until He has completed His plan. He is the almighty God who cannot fail. His grace will prevail.
