Good Wednesday morning! Frosty outside today with the promise of some sun. On a morning like this you don't see a lot of those Just-as-you-are parties going on. Folks have to be at work today, the kids must get ready for school, and it's pretty dern cold too. Running around in a pair of pajamas might provide just a bit too much of a thrill on a morning like this. We don't want to be just as we are, thank you very much, we want to get dressed in some warm clothing and have a cup of hot coffee, maybe more than one. When the time comes and God snatches us up to be with Jesus, it will happen just as we are in the moment. No time for getting dressed in our finest winter clothing, no chance to grab that nice parka and knitted cap with the ball on top (You do have a stocking cap with a ball on top, don't you?), just the command, and like John we will be 'up there'. Of course, not one of us will be worried about looking back at that time or even what he is wearing. On the other hand, we worry about such things a lot down here.
A long time ago to us, Jesus died on the cross for our sins. He didn't wait until we had our best appearance going; not one of us living now even had grandparents alive at that time. When Jesus died for us just as we are, He did it for us even though we only existed in the mind of God. That existence, though we cannot perceive it, is more concrete than what we know and see today. When Jesus rose again, the elect were saved to eternal life already, even though not one of us had given our lives to Jesus yet. How did we do this? We didn't! Jesus did it all.
Talking in the past about the present brings to mind several books and movies that leave us brain-frozen and bemused. That all started in the Bible of course. We find it hard to accept that Jesus knew His lambs even before the lambs had been born. We look at that day we were born again and say, "I did it!" Well, yes you did, but God already had your name down and His Son had accomplished all the work for your salvation long before you were born. Jesus didn't die for us as we want to become in this life. He died for us just as we were in that life of sin. "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13) The disciples in that moment were all over the map in terms of how much each one believed in Jesus, but Jesus laid down his life anyway. You and I had not seen the first breath of life, but Jesus died for our sins. We did not know all the awful sins we would commit, or that we would one day surrender to Jesus, but the great price was paid for our lives. How wonderful is our God that He would purchase our redemption with His own flesh and blood just as we are, just as we were, and for all eternity!
Praise God for the day,Bucky
No comments:
Post a Comment