The Glorious Salvation

Our Sunday morning sermon this week was from the book of Judges. Judges is a painful read. It hurts to see such evil recorded so plainly. It makes me wonder what on earth it’s all for. Why did God let people become sinners? Why did He not just wipe out sin right there in the Garden of Eden and start over fresh?

I think this is exactly the question God want’s us to ask. Of course the answer is long, eons long. God’s plan is older than time and too great for our pea-brains to comprehend. But He gave us His Word and planted eternity in our hearts so that we can spend our forevers knowing Him better. The Apostle Paul put it this way:

To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Eph. 3:8-11)

Part of God’s plan for this creation in general, and for the church in particular, is to display His glory, not only to us but to the heavenly host – angels, demons, principalities, powers . . . They had seen Him as holy, as omnipotent, as eternal, but they had never witnessed the depths of His love.

Who could have predicted that God would create a world in which he would be hated and tortured? That He would create people in His own image who would kill Him? Who could imagine His long-suffering in the face of evil? Who would have guessed that God would be willing to die not only to justify these dreadful beings, but to make them His own children, the beautiful reflections of His perfect and beloved Son:

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. (Rom. 8:29-30)

So we see that only in Christ is mankind's purpose fulfilled. Only in the Cross of Christ could God's perfect love and perfect justice be exhibited for all creation to witness. And we, by grace, are drawn into His glory as flesh and blood displays of His manifold wisdom in the heavenly places.