Scripture:
“Truly no man can ransom another or give to God the price of his life; for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice that he should live on forever and never see the pit.
This is the path of those who have foolish confidence…” Ps 49:7-9 and v12a.
Observation:
The unsurpassed sufficiency of Scripture: Every so often, no matter how much is read of Scripture, something pops up and blows me away. The above is a key point of Salvation, clearly stated, and yet so foolishly ignored.
Application:
One of the biggest struggles that man has is any idea that he can atone for himself; that somehow there is a value he can bring to the table to trade with God for good favor.
“God: I promise You my life, only take care of me in my ways; let me in heaven. I will do good, worship You, etc. etc, all my days…” “Wow, what an offer”, He says tongue in cheek. “Let me review: I created you, I think I already have sovereignty over your life? What can you really offer Me that I don’t have? I don’t NEED your worship for I am sufficient in myself.”
This is the basis of this kind of foolish confidence: that I have something God wants; that I have something to trade with Him. It can be distilled to a kind of word equation: “If I, then You…”
Easter is in a couple of days. The celebration is that God loved the World; Jesus is the Lamb slain for the salvation of the World (Cosmos). Period. Stop. There are other facts that cascade from this but the core from where we stand is that Salvation is a one-way covenant; it is all of the Trinitarian initiative from before time began.
Man’s responsibility? One way or another man will recognize this, either now in recognizing redemption or at the End of Days recognizing judgment, condemnation, and His Holy Wrath towards sin.
So what am I supposed to do? Is this a confused message? Don’t I get a choice? How do I respond and maybe a better question is “why should I respond?”
From my perspective it is as it was for me as a youngster presented with the facts of the matter: God is God and Creator; I am created. I can serve Him as I was designed to…or not. If I am going to serve Him, recognize He is my Creator then go all in; serve and bow before Him with all my heart and all that I am and…just all—nothing half way
Sounds pretty good, right? Disclaimer: Once I started down his Path nothing turned out like what I wrote above. Why? Because I started with an idea in mind…which turned out to be not hardly close to what He wanted to make me.
The way of a disciple is a marathon, not a race. My vision is not the next road but what lies over the horizon. The way of a disciple is not “what have you done for Me lately” but “Father: Help me finish the race!”
Prayer:
Lord God, as it was under that awning way back when, this moment I freshly surrender. In fact I put no confidence in that day but only and every day rejoice in Your atonement for my sin. Your grace, your mercy is astounding and inconceivable. Why You would give yourself, why you would be the payment for my debt is unimaginable. Thank you is never enough but it is all you look for. Keep me from the sin of thinking I have to “add” to the Cross so to multiply the effectiveness of your Love. Keep me from stinking thinking. AMEN