Yet He Saved Us
Psalm 106:8 “Yet he saved them for his name’s sake, to make his mighty power known.”
Look around. Our world is coming apart at the seams, isn’t it? People are gasping for life and grasping for anything to catch them from falling further into despair. Anger is strong and is expressed freely and often against others. So many people are struggling with a lack of purpose and meaning. They chase after things to fill the emptiness and yet they look around and exclaim, “there has to be more than this!” Sin is a destroyer. It decays us from our outward self with sickness and age all the way down to our innermost soul, trapped in darkness desperately searching for life and light.
When man sinned in the garden, God could have wiped it all away and started fresh. But He didn’t. No, He loved us too much for that. We were His image-bearers, the ones who walked with Him in the garden in the cool of the day, with whom He enjoyed sweet fellowship. So, instead of starting over, He made a way for His image-bearers to be redeemed and restored to fellowship with Him. And that way? Oh, it wasn’t the grand production you might imagine, no, it involved God stepping out of eternity and into time as a baby, the Christ-child, born to die for our sins.
Our purpose in life is bigger than our own agenda or accomplishments. It goes beyond ‘living our best life now’ and discovering ‘who we are meant to be’. God’s eternal plan was set in place long before the world was even created and each of us has a role, custom-written for us by the Father. Psalm 139:16 says “all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
He saved us not because of anything we have done or could do, but for His glory and might alone! We, on our own, are so unworthy. 2 Timothy 1:9 says “He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,” Oh dear ones, do we realize how precious we are to our Father?
Parents, have we instilled enough Biblical, Godly wisdom and knowledge into our sons and daughters that they truly understand this? -That their worth is in God alone to bring Him glory? Or, have we pressured them on the performance level, reinforcing an undercurrent of ‘I love you more if…’
You please me as a parent and do what I expect
You perform on the scoreboard
Your GPA is strong
Your career is successful
You have a family-husband, wife, grandkids… that I am proud of…
Oh, that may seem harsh, but friends, far too often young people strive to gain the approval of us, their parents, because we’ve created a narrative that tells them that is where their worth is found… or we withhold encouragement and love if they have not done these, and thereby reinforce those messages again. In our warped, human frailty, we struggle to make ourselves worthy and we fall into the trap of thinking we actually can.
Friends, if God loved us that way, we’d all be goners. There is NOTHING we can do that would make us acceptable to God or make us fit to gain His approval. And that, friends, is why Jesus came. He provided a way of salvation for us when there was no way. And why? “Yet he saved them for his name’s sake, to make his mighty power known.”
Today, let’s pray that our sons and daughters would know, without a doubt, that their worth, purpose and meaning are found in Jesus Christ, their Lord and Savior, and their relationship with Him. Let’s pray they are not ‘performance driven’ but soul-stirred by the Holy Spirit to run after God with all they have and all they are. Let’s pray they are sold-out for Jesus…and let’s encourage them in that!!
Christmas Season Challenge: Whenever you see a manger scene, pray that others who see it would have their eyes opened to the gift of Jesus- the eternal stepping into the temporal to save our weary souls. Pray for salvation for all who need the Lord.
“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9
Come quickly, Lord Jesus.
Pray without ceasing.