SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/16/2024 8:17 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-4 “Remember Your Calling”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: 2 Timothy 1:8b-10
Message of the verses: “according to the power
of God, 9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to
our works, but according
to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from
all eternity, 10 but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ
Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through
the gospel,”
Let
us begin this SD by looking at a familiar verse just
as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy
and blameless before Him (Eph. 1:4a). We
see here that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. “1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To
those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia,
Asia, and Bithynia, who
are chosen 2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the
sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His
blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure” (1 Peter
1:1-2). This is how Peter begins his
first epistle, which has similar things in it as Paul does in Ephesians 1:4a.
These
verses show us that we should live according to His own purpose and grace which
was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity. MacArthur writes “Our destiny was determined
and sealed before the world began.
Because we no belong to Christ, we can praise and thank our heavenly
Father that He has loved us, just as He has loved His only Son, ‘before the
foundation of the world’ (John 17:24).
He has chosen us and loved us ‘in accordance with the eternal purpose
which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord’ (Eph. 3:11).
I understand that this doctrine is
difficult for some to accept, but it is what the Word of God teaches us and so
we must believe it. I will say this that
God never chose anyone for hell, people do that on their own by not believing
in the salvation provided for them when Jesus died on the cross.
MacArthur
goes on “But this divine plan from all eternity only now has been revealed by
the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death, and brought life
and immortality to light through the gospel.
Most often in the New Testament (see, e.g., 1 Tim. 6:14; 2 Tim. 4:1, 8;
Titus 2:13), epiphaneia (appearing)
refers to Christ’s second coming. But here
it obviously refers to His first coming, when He abolished death.”
The word abolished in the Greek is katargeo literally means to render
inoperative. It is not death no longer exists
or that believers are promised escape from it, unless they are raptured. But for believers, death is no longer a
threat, it is no longer an enemy, and no longer the end. Paul first quotes from Isaiah 25:8 and then
from Hosea 13:14 he exulted, ‘When this perishable will have put on
imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come
about the saying that is written, ‘Death is swallowed up in victory. O death,
where is your victory? O death where is your sting?’” (1 Cor. 15:54055). Next we look at Hebrews 2:14b “He Himself
likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless
him who had the power of death, that is, the devil.”
John MacArthur concludes this section by writing “More
than simply abolishing death, at His first appearing Christ brought life and
immortality to light through the gospel.
It was not until the Son of God became incarnate in Jesus Christ that
God chose to reveal the full truth about eternal life and immortality. Bringing them to light means making them
known. That is our area of
expertise. We know the immeasurable
reality of eternal, immortal existence. That also is our joy and hope in Christ.”
It
was yesterday in our Sunday school class, a class I teach, that in our lesson
from the book of Colossians that part of the lesson included my testimony,
testimony of how the Lord brought me to Himself in salvation. I don’t intend to go over all the story as it
takes a bit to do that, but as I look back at the circumstances of it I can say
that there was little or no human part in it.
It happened on a vacation to Florida, as I was recently married to the
woman who has been my wife for 51 years +.
I went by myself to visit a high school friend and to be honest had some
bad motives, but it was on that vacation that I found the Lord, or better He
found me as He gave me the effectual call of salvation. It was there that I listened to a series of
tapes from Hal Lindsey entitled “Two Years After The Late Great Planet Earth,”
that the Spirit of God opened my heart to receive His Son. I have to say that this was the last thing on
my mind, but looking back it was the best thing that happened to me. This is why I have no problem believing that
for God’s own purpose that He chose me in eternity past as He did all true
believers.
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: God is in control and I never knew that more
than when He saved me on the 24th of January, 1974.
My
Steps of Faith for Today: Remember His calling to me and live for the
cause of Christ. Remember that salvation
is a miracle, a miracle from the Lord.
12/16/2024 8:57 AM
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