So Shall Your God Rejoice Over You

Some thoughts from James Smith. I thought this was great.

"As the bridegroom rejoices over his bride--so shall your God rejoice over you!" Isaiah 62:5

That God should save a sinner at all--is a surprising display of unmerited grace! But that He should bring that sinner into the closest possible relation to Himself, and rejoice over him--is indeed most astonishing! And yet it is most true! For our Maker becomes our Husband! And as the bridegroom rejoices over his bride--so our God rejoices over us!

He set His heart upon us!

He encircled us with His infinite love!

He determined to raise us to His glorious throne!

He purposed to make us one with Himself!

He sent His only begotten Son to redeem us!

He sent His Holy Spirit to regenerate us!

He intends to raise us from the dead, perfect in holiness, and robed with immortality!

He will present us before His glorious presence with exceeding joy!

"He will rejoice over us with singing!" What exquisite joy will this impart! Jehovah singing with joy over His ransomed and restored creatures, as though their salvation could increase or perfect His happiness!

Let us meditate on this glorious fact, and prepare for the stupendous event!

"Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!" Revelation 19:9

"Come, I will show you the bride--the wife of the Lamb!" Revelation 21:9

Remember Grace

Morality?

I was reading in john pipers "future grace" today and came across something really good that i haven't thought about in a while. It was talking about true faith and then a works based faith or religious or morality based faith. This is such a huge problem in the world today especially in our churches. It is interesting that some people really do try to be "religious" and they think that is what true faith in Jesus is, while others have the "I don't believe I organized religion" or their just downright opposed to the gospel kind of attitude, yet they still try to be moral and live by some kind of self made standard. In both cases you have a person that is trying to earn their salvation apart from he gospel, which we all know or should know is not in any way possible.

the piper quote goes like this, "In its religious form, works accepts the challenge of morality, conquers its obstacles through great exertion, and offers the victory to God as a payment for his approval and recompense. Faith, too, accepts the challenge of morality, but only as an occasion to become the instrument of God's power. And when the victory comes, faith rejoices that all the glory and thanks belong to God." (future grace, 279)

the bible says it like this in Titus 3:4-7, "But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his won mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life."

Their is no way we can earn our salvation apart from Christ, our works are filthy to him and any kind of morality that we have will always be way off compared to Gods standard. We need Christ so desperately because He did what we could never do. So we need to stop trying to be moral and be Christs!

grace and peace
sarah B.