Timeless Grace

When Jesus was crucified upon the Cross He took upon the sins of humanity past, present and future. 2 Corinthians 5 states, "He died for all. . .". If we are to believe this to be true we must also conclude that God was completely gracious to every human being ever. "All" surprisingly in the original Greek means "all."

So I come then to a conundrum: what about the Amalekites, the Midianites, the Philistines, and every people that God destroyed? How do we stomach that? Was God complete grace to them too? I understand that these people were destroyed to make way for Israel and due to their own wrong-doing, but total destruction doesn't seem the right course. I think about the lives of the men, woman, and children that made up these people and I cannot come to the logical conclusion that they were all somehow pure evil. No, I believe that they were human as much as I am and thus a subject of God's grace. But where is this grace?

I submit to you that God was gracious to them just as much as He is to us today after Christ's death and resurrection.

1 Peter 3:18-20
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which He went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.

This illustrates a story of grace. It depicts the Son, after His crucifixion, going to the countless lost souls or "spirits in prison" and telling them of what He had just done: died for their sins. For if He indeed died for all of humanity, past, present and future, this must be true.

When I look at the lives of these people caught in genocide I see a different story now. I see one of God giving them chances to change, to bow to Israel's expansion, to turn to God, yet refusing. I see their deaths but then I see a victorious Savior coming and explaining that they have yet another chance to accept Grace.

Today I see a Son who defeated Death in every moment in history. God did not just save those who came after Christ, He defied death to be Grace.

Romans 8:38-39
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

A Liturgy for Purpose

  Purpose defines one’s perspective of existence. John 15:13’s “Greater love has no one than this, that someone would lay down his life for a friend” is even perceived as basic in the light of Eternal Glory (i.e. Agape Love). Giving everything is reasonable, if not minimum, when faced with the realization of what He has given.

Purpose aligns us with the vision of seeing His Kingdom come, His Will be done. It’s equally exciting as it is epic. To think that we live and breathe to see that mission realized. All and everything we do should be to “Prepare the Way” for Him to come.

     We are the Voice crying out in the Wilderness. Just as the Prophet Isaiah spoke of John the Baptist being that voice (Isaiah 40:3), so too he spoke of us, the Church. And you think that your pain and hurt are without reason? Matthew 3:4 says: “Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.” In the same way, the anguish and hardship you bear in equally as important to His coming as your passion and zeal is.  It is an amplifier for our given purpose towards the Coming Glory.

And please understand me, when I speak of “His coming” and “making a way”, I speak not just of the Rapture and His descent from Heaven as spoken of in Revelation; I also refer to making a way for Christ to come to hearts now. I point towards the lives you currently live and the ministry you are walking in today.

  You were born to be lighthouses to the raging sea of humanity. And we live in hope that we might pass on to be among the sea of glass (Revelation 15:2) before the Lamb who sits on the Throne. To reflect His Light forevermore as we finally gaze into His Face.

You were created as ambassadors of the Almighty, speaking with the tongues of One far greater. You are servants. You are children.

You have a divine purpose to live out. Matthew 22:14 (ESV) says, “Many are called, but few are chosen.” Stepping into your purpose qualifies you to be chosen and continuously choosing His plan for your life sanctioned you for intimacy with your Creator. We live in this purpose through the simple, yet profound declaration made by John the Baptist in John 3:4 (ESV):

“He must increase, but I must decrease.”