This week I have been largely meditating on a small portion of scripture that I read on the train early Monday morning.
“Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 1:13).
As a Christian, I know that the grace of God has come to me in the revelation of Jesus Christ. I love the first Chapter of Ephesians. If He never did a blessed thing for me ever again, this Chapter reminds me that it is okay. He has already done in it all. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places…In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ”
Christ has been revealed in me. This, in and of itself, is a magnificent thing. For those who seek signs and wonders, and all kinds of outward manifestations as evidence of His presence, I would respectfully ask, is the revelation of Christ not enough for you? Is the forgiveness of your sins too small a matter? Is the sanctification of your soul such a negligible and trivial thing? There simply cannot be a, “Yes, but…” when answering this question! Christ, and him crucified is more than you can even handle!
Yet I am aware of this deep yearning, this inward longing — even restlessness, that will never find satisfaction here. Romans 8:22-23 tells us, “For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.”
We Christians are waiting for a final revelation of Jesus Christ; this hope will never cease until the final consummation of our Saviour’s return.
We remain sober and alert because we know that the Master is coming back one day. The whole world will see it! He will restore everything. He will redeem everything. There will be no sin. There will be no suffering. There will be no bodily decay or corruption. We will have glorified bodies and glorified souls. Somehow, someway, He is going to make it all right.
If we are to endure to the end, that is, if we are to overcome discouragement, opposition, sin and everything on this side of eternity that sets its face against Jesus Christ, we must fight and do what Peter says: ” set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
Let nothing — absolutely nothing, obscure your hope in Christ.
I love this Christina. I was talking to someone about this just yesterday. I see so many people get really excited about what “God” is doing “for” them. It’s not just a perversion of the Gospel, it’s a completely misrepresented Gospel period….Jesus died on the Cross for your sins…that should be more than enough if you have even a basic understanding of the Gospel message, but when countless folks are never told they are depraved sinners they have no concept of this life changing message. I mean life changing because it’s rips you to shreds…nothing like realizing your total depravity and condition to bring you to your knees in understanding of what a massive thing Jesus did on the cross. When I think about the suffering of so many Christians throughout History I realize that the truth of who Jesus Christ is and what he did should transcend any and all circumstances…it’s so much more than enough!!!! Sadly if the only Jesus you know is the carnal version nothing much will ever change inside you, God’s word indeed has no power. The only thing we have IS Hope in Christ. I remember being in a very poor part of Mexico. These kids had worms, everyone had horrible health problems. Outrageous blood pressure, childhood diabetes, all sorts of problems easily treated with the right care but none of that is available on a regular basis. We did all we could and treated hundreds of people but you had this frustrating realization that you could really change so very little. We could leave and months later the worms would be back, living conditions might improve a little but the basic infrastructure changing was out of our hands. The only real hope we gave any of these folks was Jesus Christ. I realized right then and there that it’s really the best Hope I can give anyone, no matter the circumstances. I knew that in my head but I saw the Gospel in action in those days and it totally changed my understanding of human suffering. God uses it in powerful ways, and he overcomes it! Great post!!!!!!!
I love this part!
“For those who seek signs and wonders, and all kinds of outward manifestations as evidence of His presence, I would respectfully ask, is the revelation of Christ not enough for you? Is the forgiveness of your sins too small a matter? Is the sanctification of your soul such a negligible and trivial thing? There simply cannot be a, “Yes, but…” when answering this question! Christ, and him crucified is more than you can even handle!”
Sadly Christ and Him crucified is just not enough for many that profess faith in Him. I would love to ask them, If He never did anything else for you than what he has already done on Calvary would you still profess to love Him?
Oh, Christina, how I have been guilty of “Yes, but….” He has been ever so patient with me, and with you, I praise God for the hope I have in Christ Jesus! God bless you for these wise words, sweet sister. I’ve missed hearing from you this week.
Christina, I LOVE this post today! The hope and promise of our redemption is everything! I keep coming back to this – If I’m not careful, it’s so easy to get sidetracked with spiritual accoutrements. Having sound theology can also has pitfalls – Having an endless supply of wonderful works to feast upon, can be a subtle tool of the flesh and the devil to divert my attention from the foot of the cross. I have to keep working at this daily.
Thank you for this blessed exhortation my dear sister.
Thanks for posting this, Christina. May the Lord fan the flames when I become lukewarm towards Him and all He has done.
Christina, I have been exactly where you have been!
My Evangelical background pushed me away from the cross, and into signs and wonders. Now, I am thinking after reading your post, that I never thought that the forgiveness of my sins was the greatest wonder and miracle of all, because I was so blind and self-centered that I did not see my sin at all!
Now that I have been undone by the Holy One, I know that the forgiveness of my sins is the greatest miracle ever!
And for this I am forever thankful!
Thank you, for this beautiful post,
Te quiero mucho