Ordained by God Part 4

I will turn back once again to
the book of Romans. Romans chapter eight is where
we find ourselves. We are in the midst of this incredible
section on God’s assistance to sinners, divine assistance and
not just help. We’ve characterized that word
throughout this study. It’s not just that God rendered
us some aid, some help. God gave to us the kind of help
that We were completely in desperate need of. We were completely devoid
of the ability to help ourselves and God stepped in. We saw that
the Lord Jesus Christ rendered us aid. We are established in
the Lord Jesus in the first 11 verses. Paul addresses that we
are sustained by the Spirit of God in verses 12 through 27. And we are doing we are ordained. Our entire life is ordained by
the Heavenly Father, as we saw in verses 28 through 30. Would
you go with me now to the passage at hand and we’ll begin to set
our sights on this text. Romans 8 verse 28 beginning. Where Paul writes, and we know
that God causes all things to work together for good. To those
who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose.
For whom he foreknew he also predestined to become conformed
to become conformed to the image of his son that he might be the
first born among many brethren and whom he predestined these
he also called and whom he called these he also justified and whom
he justified these he also glorified. We found out that this is not
just homespun wisdom. It goes well beyond homespun
wisdom that all things work together that all things work out. We
discovered that God is in that passage and it’s God that’s working
all things together for good. God is the one that works all
things together but not for everyone. And there are two caveats there
in that passage. God is working all things together
for good to those who love God. And we saw that and we saw certainly
the standard is there. We saw that throughout Scripture,
the admonition to love God is there. We saw that it goes well
beyond emotion, that this is a very well defined love, this
love of God. We saw that many times throughout
the scriptures that love is expressed to God. We saw that many times
in the scriptures. Not only is it commanded and
articulated what this love is to be, not only is it expressed. But that love we saw is expected. It is expected of the child of
God. We began to consider that love
when it dawned on us that the problem with that command is
that we don’t do a very good job at it. In fact right honest
we don’t we don’t do a good job at all. You could honestly say that in
our flesh outside of Christ we have never loved God for a single
moment. Perfectly even those who begins
to name the name of Christ don’t do a very good job of loving
God. But the command is there. The expectation is there. And
so we wondered when Paul says that we know that God causes
all things to work together for good to those who love God. Something
has happened. Something has happened. And that
something is the call of God that God got a hold of some sinners. God changed their lives. God
moved in their hearts and lives. God placed what we discovered
was the effectual call in their life. And it wasn’t just an invitation. It was a divine summons and it
changed their lives. Changed their lives. And now
they can be said to be those people that love God and love
him supremely. But the interesting thing is.
As you begin to talk about God’s work of salvation, the call,
the effectual call, at least in the list provided before us,
isn’t even the start of the work of God. In fact, it falls right
smack in the middle of Paul’s list here in verses 29 through
30. It isn’t the initial work of
God. Paul here begins to lay out what may be called in theological,
technical terms, the stages, if you will. Of the Christian
life, the stages of God making a Christian or developing. A
sinner into a Christian. This chain, a chain of salvation,
if you will. Reaches all the way back to eternity
past and reaches all the way into eternity future. And it is a completely unbroken
chain in fact unbreakable chain. Because if God calls someone
that means he’s done something prior to that call. And if God
calls someone it means he will complete that work. In justification
and glorification. Theologians have debated for
centuries the exact order of salvation what takes place when.
Does faith precede regeneration or does regeneration precede
faith? What takes place when? And they
refer to that concept by its Latin title, the ordo salutis,
two words, the order of salvation. That’s what they’re referring
to. And the passage most closely linked with that particular discussion
is this passage, Romans 8, 29 and 30. But the bottom line it doesn’t
take even a moment’s glance to look down and see that this is
not an exhaustive list that this is in a sense a framework and
I believe a timely framework. I think the order is there for
a reason but it isn’t that Paul lists everything that God does
by virtue of his Holy Spirit in the process of salvation.
If you look at the first for knowledge which will begin to
consider this morning. for knowledge is the first in
the step. I can’t for the life of me conceive
anything that would fall between foreknowledge and predestination.
I’ll explain that in a moment. Once God is predestined a sinner
the next in the order of events is the calling. Now if you’re
familiar with what we talked about last week this is the effectual
call where it’s beyond just an invitation which is open to any
sinner. This is something that God does
that God in sending his Holy Spirit effectually calls them.
It works. It brings them to repentance
and faith. And so in that you would have to you just would
have to step back and see that here embedded in this calling
is regeneration. Where God takes a dead and sinner
and brings him to life. There is conviction. that no
sooner is that soul brought to life, no sooner is that sinner
brought to life, he is convicted of his sin. He knows for the
first time what it is to have sinned against the holy God.
And the most chief elements in that particular event, not only
regeneration and convicting, but faith There is the element
of faith there in calling that we respond to the Lord Jesus
Christ in faith. We respond once we have been
enlivened. For knowledge, predestination,
calling, which includes regeneration and conviction and faith, and
then comes justification. As soon as we place our faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ, he sees us. In the righteousness
of Christ, all of our sin is placed onto Christ, remember,
and all of Christ’s righteousness is placed onto us. Well, we know
that from that moment we’re not perfect, right? Many of us have
placed our faith in Christ. Many of us would identify ourselves
as Christians and know that we are justified before God. And
we know even better that we’re not complete. We know that God
Didn’t get such a great thing in his deal in saving us that
we still struggle. We still battle against the flesh.
We still battle in our thoughts. We still battle with the tongue. And so there is need of sanctification. And I would put sanctification
in between here, justification and glorification, but I would
even embed it within that whole idea of glorification, as we
will see in the weeks to come. Does that mean only that we will
be perfected in the final moment? Only that when Christ returns
and brings us to heaven, is that what glorification consists of? Glorification is the goal. Sanctification
is the process. And the most purified saint,
the best saint on earth, the most godly person you’ve ever
met, has a great, maybe even infinite amount of cleaning up
to do, for God to do in his heart and life by his entrance into
heaven. There is this process of glorification. There is this desire for us to
grow in godliness. Glorification is the direction. What Paul seeks to do, if you
remember the purpose of this whole passage, He’s telling us
what God has done for us. God has laid the foundation in
the Lord Jesus Christ. God is sustaining us by the power
of his Holy Spirit. And God himself has ordained
it all. He has laid it all out. As one of my favorite pastors
said, the absolute certainty of the carrying out of the purpose
Paul’s argument is that if you are in the purpose of God, all
is well with you. Everything must work together
for good for you. And note this, this almost astounding
when I read it, the word glorified at the end of verse 30 is enough
to establish this point. This has already happened. God has already purposed your
glorification and in a very real sense, he puts it in the past
tense, it’s already happened. These are links in an unbreakable
chain. If you have been justified, you
have been glorified. Well, we know that that’s not
true in its absolute sense. But with regards to the purposes
of God, if he said his love upon us, as we’ll see in a moment. And he’s begun that process in
our lives by calling us to Christ and to himself through Christ. Then God will complete that work.
In a very real sense, it’s already underway. If you’ve been justified,
you’ve been glorified, your final glorification has already happened
in the purpose of God, he says, in certain ways, the most glaring
pardon me, the most daring statement in the whole of Scripture is
this statement that we are already glorified. But it’s not my statement
and it’s not even Paul’s statement. This is God’s declaration to
sinners of what he has ordained on their behalf. If you are in
Christ. God is not only has not only
been at work, God is at work and active unto completion, even
still. We come to some weighty things. Some even difficult things. These
ideas that mirror really an echo of the whole doctrine of divine
election. No doctrine is more misunderstood
and more bandied about by those that know it little. John Bradford
Puritan said it this way. Bear with me. He said, If you
feel not faith, then know that predestination is too high a
matter for you to be disputers of it until you have been better
scholars in the schoolhouse of repentance and justification. Most often, those young in the
faith or even outside of the faith have heard this idea of
predestination, have scoffed at it and mocked it and tried
to dismantle it. He says, until you’ve spent some
time in the schoolhouse of repentance and justification. It’s not a wise undertaking.
He says he refers to that as the grammar school, wherein we
must be conversant and learned before we go to the University
of God’s most holy predestination and providence. He says, don’t
put the cart before the horse. Don’t try to. Understand and
debate the deep things of God until you’ve understood the basics.
His point is that most don’t understand the significance of
the doctrine of election. Most aren’t equipped to even
begin to understand it. Let’s put it in perspective.
A thorough understanding of the doctrine of election is not necessary
for salvation. It’s not. And that’s why I for
years I attributed that quote of John Bradford to George Whitfield,
who had a much simpler and much more digestible version. George
Whitfield said it this way. Let a man go to the primary school
of repentance and faith before he attends the University of
Election and Predestination. We’re going to walk through there
today. We’re going to walk through the school. There are going to
be halls dedicated only to faith. There are going to be halls dedicated
to justification. There are going to be halls dedicated
to election and predestination. It’s all one school. It’s all
God’s school. If we pause not at one hall this
morning. Bear with us. As we take a peek. down one of the most difficult
halls of scripture in the doctrine of election and predestination.
Go back if you would to the passage of hand. Paul says we know that
God causes all things to work together for good to those who
love God to those who are called according to his purpose for
whom he foreknew. He also predestined. Some have said that that passage
points only to those last few words. Those who are called according
to his purpose. I would take it better that it
refers to the entire verse 28. Paul has made this incredible
statement that God causes all things to work together for good
to those who love God called according to his purpose. And what he wants to do is lay
out how this happened. How did this calling take place?
How did I come to love God? And why on earth is God taking
care of me? Why does God care for me? Why
is God working everything out? Because He called you. And calling
is right smack in the middle of what He’s begun in your life.
He’s been at work before you even knew it. Let’s look at the
passage. For whom He foreknew. The word for those of you with
Greek is prognosis. We get our word prognosis from
it only here and only used a couple of times in scripture. We’ll
look at them. It just refers to a previous designation. To a particular position or function
where someone has been previously set apart. Many of us have enjoyed
the painful process of Having a boss foisted upon us who was
previously selected and appointed to be our particular boss and
we had to outlive them right. Well that’s essentially the idea
that it was arranged beforehand. You didn’t get the vote on it.
You didn’t get to say so that it was literally arranged and
designated beforehand. Now one of the most common interpretations
of this passage and others like it. is to suggest that what Paul
is saying here that God being omniscient. Remember God looked
down in the annals of history and he saw all of those who would
respond in faith. There’s one there’s one there’s
another. And because they responded in faith he predestined. I’m
not kidding. That is one of the most common
interpretations of this passage. I went. I went to an ordination
and it’d be one thing if it was just a Bible study or something
like that. This is an ordination. And during the course of the
ordination where there was a great deal of nepotism, this was the
pastor’s son after all. The pastor stood up or the young
man stood up and during the course of his ordination answered the
question about election. And he said God uses words like
the election and predestination to try to explain why we choose
him. It’s just ridiculous. Well I
just assumed that the ordination was over and we were out of there
and we could go have lunch early. No it proceeded and he was ordained. that God merely looked down and
had foresight of faith, he saw ahead of time who was going to
believe that’s common. But it’s also impossible. It’s
an impossible interpretation of the passage, because what
this whole thing refers to is God’s active delight in a people. God’s active delight in specific,
particular individuals. according to his own sovereign
pleasure. It’s God’s decision. God set
his love on certain individuals and he acknowledged them as being
his very own. The passage before us doesn’t
say that God simply knew ahead of time what certain people would
do. It speaks entirely From verse 29 to all the way through 30,
it’s entirely what God did. Not what God saw we did. There’s no doubt that God sees
the end from the beginning. God sees everything and God no
doubt sees those who comes to faith. But is that what this
word means? Is that what it means that God
foreknew us? Let’s take it apart a little
bit. The word is a compound word, as many of you would already
acknowledge. The preposition at the at the front of it points
to the fact that God’s knowledge is part of his eternal counsel,
that praw beforehand. It points to something that happened
in eternity past. And not that God adjusted on
the fly and boy, I’ve got to have some friends for my son,
the Lord Jesus. So I better make some adjustments
here to the plan. As one said, the thought expressed
by the first part of the compound praw is not just that God’s gracious
gracious choice of those referred to preceded their knowledge of
him, it wasn’t just that that it occurred before but that it
took place before the world was created. Certainly testimony
is echoed throughout the scriptures on this Ephesians 1 4. He chose
us before him chose us rather in him before the foundation
of the world. When God foreknew you that’s
something that took place in eternity past. We can’t pin a
time on it because that’s God’s time zone. There are no hands
on that clock. Second Timothy 1 9. He has saved
us and called us with a holy calling not according to our
own works but according to his own purpose. Remember we looked
at this last week according to his own purpose and grace which
was granted to us in Christ from all eternity. How long has this
been going on. We can’t even put our finger
on it. We just know that in eternity past, in God’s time zone, God
knew us. He set his love upon us. Now,
let’s look at the knowing portion of that word. I told you it was
a compound word, not only pra, but gnosko, to know. This compound, you have to look
at the way this word was used in the Septuagint and the word
that it replaced in the Hebrew. Let me back up. For those of
you don’t know what the Septuagint is, the Septuagint was the Greek
translation of the Hebrew Old Testament. So they had to use
certain words when they went to replace the Hebrew words.
And the word that they replaced with Gnosko, the Greek word,
was the Hebrew word Yadah, to know. And that particular word
spoke of A special taking knowledge of someone. The words there have
the have the particular connotation of electing grace, there’s no
doubt about it. But they were frequently used
in the Old Testament to replace that word to know that when God
takes knowledge of a people and not just in any way, not just
in a familiar way, he’s acquainted with them. But in a special way,
as if he set his love upon them, God knew them. As one said, it cannot mean only
the knowledge, which is inevitably a part of omniscience, because
in a very real sense, God knows every person that’s ever been
made right. God knows them. God knows who they are. God knows
what they’re like. God knows their heart. God knows
their thought process. God knows how many hairs are
on their heads or not. Doesn’t simply mean that God
knows ahead of time what these people would one day do, because
he knows that about every single person that’s ever been born. In the Old Testament. Knowing
had this indication of the act of an intimate relationship.
Remember that? I’m not going to get too graphic
here. In Numbers 31.18, all the girls who have not known man
intimately, it was that intimate knowledge that’s being spoken
of. Virgins. Judges 2112, they found among
the inhabitants of J.B.S. Gilead 400 young virgins who
had not known man. How? By lying with them. It was
intimate knowledge. It wasn’t just information that
God had about people. It’s not just that he knew them
casually. It’s that he knew them intimately with all purity in
mind. That were to know As the Bible
uses it in the Old Testament was used to describe God’s relationship
to human beings, and it always had that special indication,
that special meaning. So that when we read in the scripture
that God knows someone. It means that God has set a special
love upon them. It is essentially synonymous
with the word love. It literally means to set regard
upon to know them with a particular interest. There’s a few of those
such places where it occurs. Genesis 18 verse 19. I have chosen him. That’s how
they translated it so that he may command his children in his
household. Exodus 225, God saw the sons
of Israel and God took notice of them. He set his love upon
them. Exodus 33 17, the Lord said to
Moses, I will also do this thing of which you have spoken for
you have found favor in my sight and I have known you by name. Jeremiah 1 5, which verses? One of my daughter’s favorites.
Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. It’s not just that
he knew who he was. Not just that he knew him as
a soul that he had created. He knew him intimately. Amos
3 2. You only have I chosen among
all the families of the earth. Speaking to Israel. Jumping into
the New Testament. One of the most solemn passages
in all of the Bible, right? speaking about the Day of Judgment,
and then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Are we to think
that God says, you know what? I just never. I know I created
you. I know that you lived on the
earth your 70 or 80 years, and yet, gosh, I don’t know. I just
never saw you. Never knew who you were. Is that
what we’re to think that means? No. I never intimately knew you. I never set my love upon you. He didn’t set his regard upon
them. And that’s what makes it such
a special pleasure when God says in 1 Corinthians 8 3, which first
we looked at two weeks ago, if anyone loves God, we talked about
that. How do we love God? Because we’ve
been called. If you have a love for God, be thankful, because
it says if anyone loves God, he is known by him. God knows
you. God set his love upon you and
he’s drawing you to himself. You’re in the process and it
started in eternity past and it won’t stop until eternity
future. Wow. For knowledge of persons, this
foreknowledge is not based on anything in them, not based on
anything in us. It’s not like God. Let’s put
it in perspective. It’s not like God looked on you
or me. And said, man, I got a really good deal here. I got to save
that one. It’s not because of anything
in us, not because of anything we did either before salvation
or after salvation, not because of anything in us. And the passages
salient to this particular discussion are so clear. It’s according
to his mercy. It’s according to his grace.
It’s according to his purpose. It had nothing to do with us,
really. Listen to this. Talk about a
people that there was ever a cause to be proud of was Israel, right?
Man, we’re the chosen people of God. God must have seen some
real potential in us, right? That’s how we think. I’ve heard
people talk about un-Christians or non-Christians and talk about,
boy, I wish God could save them. He’s got a lot of potential.
How do you know? How do you know that when God
saves him, he’s going to strip away all those human talents
and give him a new one, all God’s own. We don’t know what somebody
is going to be like when they’re saved. No cause to be proud,
and God told the children of Israel that Deuteronomy chapter
seven, the Lord did not set his love on you or choose you because
you were more in number. than any of the other peoples,
for you are the fewest of all peoples. But because the Lord
loved you, that’s it. Well, why did the Lord love?
Because he loved you. But because the Lord loved you
and kept the oath which he swore to your forefathers, the Lord
brought you out by the mighty hand and redeemed you from the
house of slavery, from the house of Pharaoh, the Egypt, all because
of his love for them. It isn’t just an Old Testament
concept that’s carried directly through to the new. Turn, if you would, to the Gospel
of John, keep your finger here in Romans, the Gospel of John,
if you would. These are hard things, these
are difficult concepts to begin to get our arms around, and if
you can’t read the writing on the chalkboard in the hall that
we’ve ducked our head into, just rest and be at peace. that you’ve
placed your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and it’s secure
there. That’s all you have to worry about. There’s no test
at the end of this one, John, chapter six. Begin in verse thirty
seven. Listen to this, all that the
father gives me, he will come to me and the one who comes to
me, I will certainly not cast out for I have come down from
heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent
me. This is the will of him who sent me that of all that he has
given to me, I lose nothing, but I raise it up on the last
day for this is the will of my father, that everyone who beholds
the son and believes in him will have eternal life. And I myself
will raise him up on the last day. Therefore, the Jews were
grumbling about him because he said, I am the bread that came
down out of heaven. They were saying, is this not
Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How
does he say I’ve come down out of heaven? Jesus answered and
said to them, do not grumble among yourselves. No one can
come to me unless the father who sent me draws him and I will
raise him up on the last day. Skip down to verse 64 of that
same chapter. Where Jesus says, but there are
some of you who do not believe for Jesus knew from the beginning
who they were, who did not believe and who it was that would betray
him. And he was saying, for this reason, I have said to you that
no one can come to me unless it has been granted him from
the father. They didn’t like that. They didn’t like the fact
that they weren’t sovereign over their own ideas and choices.
As a result of this, many of his disciples withdrew and were
not walking with him anymore. One saintly pastor put it this
way. The use of the Greek rendered
foreknowledge proves that it cannot mean simply knowledge
of future events. Rather, it refers to God’s eternal,
predetermined, loving and saving intention. God’s eternal, predetermined,
loving and saving intention. Let’s look at how the word is
used. Just pause and look at how the word is used. And to
do this, let’s take our sweep of the scriptures. Jot this one
down. We’re not going to go here. Acts
26, 5. Simply says that they have known about me for a long
time, if they are willing to testify that I lived as a Pharisee,
according to the strictest sense of our religion, talking about
Paul, Paul just articulating the fact that people have known
about him. They had prior knowledge of Paul. We say, well, that doesn’t
prove anything. You’re absolutely right. And
if that’s all we had to go on, we’re in trouble. But it’s not. Turn a couple of chapters over,
if your finger is still in Romans, to Romans chapter 11. We’ll talk about controversy
and the whole issue of Is there a literal Israel and is the church
Israel. We’ll get to there. We’ll get
to Romans 9 chapters 9 through 11 probably sometime in 2013
and we’ll we’ll pick it up then. But in Romans chapter 11 look
at verse 2. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew.
God said we just read Deuteronomy right. God said his love upon
them. And he hasn’t rejected the people that he set his love
upon, has he? Lloyd-Jones said it this way.
God has not cast away his people whom he has chosen, whom he has
ordained. It is not merely that God knew
certain things about them and what they would do. Paul’s argument
is that it is inconceivable that God, having chosen a people,
should cast them away. It just cannot happen. I think
that’s a forecast of where I’m headed with that. 1 Peter 1.20. First Peter 120,
you can turn if you want. We’ll be in a couple of Peter’s
epistles here for a moment. This one, speaking of the Lord
Jesus. Says that he was foreknown before
the foundation of the world. But has appeared in these last
times for the sake of you. Now, are we to understand, let’s
put this in context, right, because we’re going to be fair. If we’re
going to say that God just looked down the annals of history, saw
who was going to choose him, and then he predestined them
to salvation, is that the way we’re going to play this game?
Look at the passage. Are we to understand that he
was foreknown before the foundation of the world means that God just
happened to discover who Jesus? Oh, that’s the Savior. I’ll pick
him. It cannot possibly be the case. That just because God knows everything
before the foundation of the world, that that’s why Jesus
became the Lamb of God, because the fact is God appointed him
as the Lamb of God. And that plan was foreknown before
the foundation of the world. You say, what time was it? I
have no idea. No idea. Second, Peter, flip over to there
for one moment. And then we’ll come back to 1
Peter. In 2 Peter 3, verse 17. He uses it again in a generic
fashion, you therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, he’s
given them a heads up, he’s given them a warning about what the
last days will be like and what the difficulties there will be.
But he uses it in the sense that you have this information ahead
of time. You’ll see it when you see it,
you’ll know it. Turn back, if you would, to first
Peter. In first Peter, look at chapter
one and verse one. Peter, remember that one got
me in a little bit of hot water, spent three weeks just on that
one word. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who reside
as aliens scattered throughout Pontius, Galatia, Cappadocia,
Asia, Bithynia, who are chosen. How? According to the foreknowledge
of God, the father, by the sanctifying work of the spirit, that you
may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with his blood. As we said, there’s this popular
idea that God looks down the annals of history, sees who’s
going to believe in him. OK, I’ll choose him. The bottom line is God saw God’s
foreknowledge included God predetermining. And setting his love upon some
individuals based on that plan of his. That was his first move
in our direction that was the first in the plan of salvation
that affected us. One last observation. And just
jot this one down, because it’s literally one phrase, Acts, chapter
two, verse twenty three, you know, the passage. Well, Jesus
Christ has not only just been crucified, he has just ascended
into heaven. The apostles now have received
the Holy Spirit. They begin to go about their
ministry. The first group that they lock horns with is the Jews.
And Peter, detailing what had taken place with the Lord Jesus
Christ, said this man, the Lord Jesus Christ, Delivered over
by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God. You didn’t
catch God off guard. This wasn’t a murder in the classic
sense. This was no surprise attack. The Lord Jesus submitted himself
to this. The Lord Jesus came for this
very purpose. It was according to the predetermined
plan and foreknowledge of God. It wasn’t an accident. It wasn’t
a lynching. God knew. As one pastor said, believers are
called in accordance with a settled plan. It doesn’t just happen
and we don’t just choose. A settled plan and a purpose
of God, whom he calls and had previously predestined as all
part of the several steps or stages of our salvation that
are all included in this plan of an unchanging God. If we are
predestined and called, we will be justified and glorified. All things work together for
good to those who love God. For the plan of God cannot fail.
It cannot fail. But I said. That that was the
initial stage. Of salvation, that was the initial
act of God on our behalf. The God began to move, and when
he began to move, he set his love upon us. He foreknew us. But as I said, that was only
the first of five that Paul articulates here in Romans, and I said that
there’s others that are embedded within it. We’ll take up the second next
Lord’s Day. That not only did God foreknow
us, not only did he set his love upon us, He also predestined
us. And that’s something altogether
different. We’ll take it up next Lord’s Day. In the meantime.
Don’t leave anyone in school. Grab them by the hand and exit
the halls of the deep things of God. Let’s go before God in
gratitude. For his word. Merciful King,
we humble ourselves before you. These indeed are the very deep
things of God, and yet this is the passage in your good providence
across which you’ve led us this Lord’s Day. And we thank you
for these words. We thank you for the reminder
that you set your love upon a people, Israel, and that you didn’t just
love them with a sentimental kind of love, but this was an
active love. A love that did something and
changed things. Likewise. In our lives. Father, we know because the testimony
of Scripture that we didn’t begin by loving you. It all began by
you loving us. So says 1 John. And Father, we
thank you that here. In the annals of eternity past,
You uncovered these truths to us. You revealed to us what took
place when there was no man. When there was only God. And
when there was only God, it says that you set your knowledge upon
some. Father God, we are humbled to
the core of our being. If we are among that number.
And we could wrestle and wrangle for The rest of our lives on
exactly how that took place. But to know that it’s true. Is
humbling. It’s heart rending. That you
loved us. Father God grant us the grace.
To love you in return. It’s in Jesus name that we pray.
Amen.