Tuesday, 7/2/19 – Pressing on…

Blessed Beneficiaries!

Everything God creates testifies to His glory. That is not an egotistical thing on God’s part. It is simply a fact.
God is only good, so when He acts, He does good. When He creates, He creates only good.

Evil results when the devil perverts that which is good. Love becomes lust, rest becomes sloth, self-respect becomes pride, nourishment becomes gluttony, and on and on… But everything God does is good. Of Jesus the people said “He has done all things well.”(Mark 7:37).

The same principal is at work in us. As Jesus put it, “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart…” (Luke 6:43-45)

The principle is the same, but our results are often quite different. “…the words you speak come from the heart—that’s what defiles you. For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander. These are what defile you,” explained Jesus. (Matt. 15:18-20)

When God speaks creatively He creates only what is good. “And God said…. And God saw that it was good…. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” (Gen 1:3,6,9,14,20,24, 25, 31). When God creates, the thing created reflects His Glory, but when we create something it may reflect our glory, or our shame. The principle is: What’s inside is what comes out. Since there is no sin in God, nothing He creates can reflect shame, only glory.

Paul writes, “For in Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him.” (Col. 1:16). Even the shuddering demons by their fear testify to the holiness and power of God. “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.” (James 2:19)

And so we, as redeemed, grateful souls do testify to the grace and glory of God. We testify to the depth of God’s grace by the fact that God displayed His grace by redeeming us. We who were His enemies have been made His sons and daughters. To us has been given the privilege of being objects upon which God can display His qualities of grace (giving us blessings we do not deserve) and mercy (not giving us the punishment of eternal suffering that we do deserve.)

When Jesus entered Jerusalem the surrounding peoples were given the privilege of heralding His entry with praises. They shouted “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” The Pharisees wanted to silence them, but Jesus said “If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” (see Luke 19:37-40). Similarly God would still be a God of grace and mercy apart from our being the grateful recipients of these, but thanks be to Him that we are indeed beneficiaries of His grace and mercy!

Give Him praise and serve Him with joy this day and every day!

More tomorrow…

To hear Pastor John’s complete message, go to the Lincoln Baptist Church website and look under ‘Media’ for the June 30 message.