Thursday, June
8, 2017
For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but
because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his
grace through Christ Jesus. And now he
has made all of this plain to us by the appearing of Christ Jesus, our Savior. He broke the power of death and illuminated
the way to life and immortality through the Good News. 2 Timothy 1:9-10(NLT)
We humans
always want to have a “Plan B” as a backup, just in case “Plan A” doesn’t make
the cut. It makes sense to us; we’ve all
failed before.
That’s so
different from the way God sees things. Paul
expresses it as God didn’t have a plan B; everything God planned, including
creating us was in order to extend grace to us via the cross of His Son, Jesus. That singular plan of God’s took shape from before the beginning of time. That means God knew that if He gave his
prototypes, Adam and Eve, freedom to choose their own pathway it would result
in them choosing badly. It also meant God
would experience death in order to restore eternal life to his created, fallen
beings. And yet He still chose his Plan
A.
I’ve
wondered about what I would have chosen had I been in God’s position. In no way do I want to play God, but it is an
awesome and humbling muse to try to see it from God’s vantage point. What could drive a plan that would involve
choosing your only Son to experience rejection, humiliation, beating and death
by crucifixion? Especially for people
who don’t deserve it, or even want it? Well,
we know the company line answer is John 3:16…for God so loved the world…, it was God’s love that drove Plan
A.
It’s
incredibly hard to imagine loving someone that much, especially when that love
isn’t returned or even acknowledged.
Paul also
thought about this part of God’s plan:
Now, most
people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might
perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. Romans 5:7(NLT)
But God
wasn’t thinking about dying for good people, or even especially good people; his target was to seek and to
save the lost, those who have sinned; He came to offer forgiveness to even
those who have committed the most monstrous evil.
And that’s
the mysterious part of the whole idea of grace; it isn’t earned, or purchased,
or chance, or subject to the rules of payback or law. Grace is God’s favor extended without respect
to what sins a person has committed, big or small. It’s simply the expression of love – the desire
to be close to those who are loved.
This was
God’s first and only plan!
But God
showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were
still sinners. Romans 5:8(NLT)
For You Today
God
chose the cross for Himself before the first blade of grass saw the light of
day…and He did it for us. Grace is not a
thing to take lightly!
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