Sweet Victory of Salvation
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Romans 5:6-11
6. While we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7. Why, one will hardly die for a righteous man -- though perhaps for a good man one will dare even to die. 8. But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. 9. Since, therefore, we are now justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11. Not only so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received our reconciliation.
God didn’t wait until we achieved perfection! He didn’t make us wait and struggle and labor and strive day after day for a goal we could never reach on our own! That’s love! Well, actually, that’s grace!
While we were still weak—my NIV translation says, “While we were still powerless. . .” At the right time=God’s divinely chosen moment in history. We are that important to God—that he planned a moment in history that would redeem us for all time! And He planned it at the beginning of the world, before he ever formed man out of dust or placed the sun in the morning sky! That kind of love and care is inconceivable, incomprehensible, and most certainly undeserved and unmerited!
We didn’t even need to do anything! God just decided that it was time. He wanted us with him. He longed for us to seek him out. So he sent himself/his son to earth. And through the act of Christ’s perfect obedience and unimaginable/incomprehensible sacrifice we are all saved! I know, I’ve said it several times, in several ways, already! But as we approach Thanksgiving, I am reminded of what we, as Christians, are the most thankful for: God’s grace.
We are now reconciled to God. We are washed clean of our sin and our shame through His precious blood. God sent his son to earth to die for us. And he rose for us, too! We are thankful not only for the resurrection—but also for the obedience, the willingness to become a sacrifice for us—to allow us to be justified and washed clean.
So how do we show our gratitude for this gift—available to all and unearned and undeserved by all? I know I could never do what one knows should be done, because perfection is not possible for us. But through Jesus, we are perfected. So we strive for that perfection. We live the best life we can. We work hard to make the world a better place. We show our love to our family and our friends, to our neighbors and even to strangers on the street. We draw near to God and invite Him into our hearts.
We go to God for everything. We rely upon Him and His grace to sustain us through the difficult times. And through them we rejoice, because we already know how much God loves us. And when we enjoy plenty and times of celebration and joy, it is so much sweeter, because of that same love!
I hope today you reflect with gratitude upon the gift of Jesus and all the implications of his life and death in this fallen, sin-soaked world. And that you share the sweet victory of salvation through God’s grace with everyone you meet.
Mary
