Strength for Today- "The Wonderment of God’s Grace." - 2 Corinthians 8:1-9.
Grace is the “inclusiveness of God’s unconditional love,” expressed “sacrificially,” through His Son. And with that “inclusiveness,” He knowingly allowed His Son’s “inexpressible suffering” to be poured out on a sinner’s cross, so that His “grace could abound,” and shine through the “dark blight of sin,” that held mankind in hostage. This “awed esteem” was God expression of His “sovereign control,” over anything that could ever occur in this universe.
Biblically speaking, He "inhabits eternity" (Isaiah 57:15), and His counsel shall stand, and He do all things to His pleasure. Isaiah 46”10. Therefore, “the “wonderment of God,” exceeds any knowledge the human mind could ever understand.
Even before “time begun, God knew that the first man He created, (Adam,) would fall “disobediently” into the “slime -pit of sin” offered by Satan. And for that cause, the whole human race was “veiled in unrighteousness” (Romans 3:10), which is “tainted, and unseeable” to God, because He’s “transcendently” above His creation, and is devoted to His own honor.
Therefore, the “righteous pattern” for “unrighteousness,” could only be resolved in one way. And that way was through God’s eternal plan, (Genesis 3:15), which could only be received through the “eyes of faith. But for God to fulfill this “wonderment,” it would require two extremes:
- The Manger, and
- The Cross.
Both of these are “sovereignly connected” by “God’s tapestry of redemption,” which was “weaved in the “fabric of righteousness by “the life” and through the “blood of “Jesus Christ.” God isn’t a respecter of persons. So, because of the “wonderment of His grace,” and by faith in Jesus’ finished work on the cross, “the veil" of deception” is removed which has kept mankind blinded from God's “spiritual blessings,” and the truth which can make one free – John 8:32.
So, the “wonderment of God’s grace” is inclusive, in that it “sovereignly,” involved the whole of the “Trinity,”
- The Father,
- The Son, and
- The Holy Spirit,
That before the “cosmic time clock was wound up” and “started ticking away,” God had a plan. So, “God's gift of eternal life,” and the “wonderment of His grace,” and the “hidden brilliance” and the “wisdom of His plan for the salvation” of mankind was established prior to creation for all of us “to one day choose and enjoy.”
So, today, if you haven’t chosen to accept God’s plan, why don’t you do so today? In this life, there’s nothing more important than to accept God’s saving plan, and experience the “wonderment of grace, and experience the “newness” of "spiritual workmanship,” created in Christ Jesus – Ephesians 2:10.
Author: Plez Lovelady, Jr., PhD