“That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in [his] kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.” (Eph 2:7 AV)
Praise the LORD! What a blessing, to say the least. What struck me is the eternal grace bestowed upon those who trust in Him. In the ages to come suggests the riches of His grace is a continual and eternal divine act. In other words, the riches of His grace do not end with our eternal home. Jesus did not save us so that we can receive eternal life and a place in heaven alone. The riches of His grace do not end at our home going. The blessings we receive in this life are not the extent of His grace. For all of eternity, the LORD will exercise toward His creation the blessings of His grace. If we think we have seen much by way of the grace of God, we haven’t seen anything, yet.
There comes a time when the benevolence of our parents runs out. Rolls are reversed. Or, at least we hope they will be. From birth until mature adulthood, our parents pour on us much blessing. They take care of our needs. They support us and mentor us. They relate to us and socially mature us. They offer the wisdom of their years. As we age, parental oversight seems to diminish. Less and less comes the financial assistance. As we grow more and more independent, help from our parents becomes less and less. It must be that way. We must stand on our own and raise a family of our own. As we age, we do the same for our children. We become accustomed to the reality that the blessings received under the roof or the influence of our parents will come to a complete end. This is the way of life. At some point, rather than being the receiver of blessings, we become the bestower of such. It is the way of life that blessings from those who have at one time been our protectors will cease altogether. Independence is the goal. So, when we think of eternity as being a state in which God continues to bestow the riches of His grace, it is hard to understand.
Theologically, this truth is hard to grasp. When we are glorified, we will be perfect. Unable to sin, forgiveness and mercy will no longer be needed. There is coming a time in eternity when the grace to be forgiven will no longer be needed. We tend to limit the experiences of God’s grace only to the spiritual. But all things are of God. And they are all from grace. So, when we think of heaven, our existence in eternity will be bestowed by God’s grace. The sweet fellowship we will have with countless redeemed saints is a grace we do not deserve. The presence of God unhindered by temporal existence is the best grace of all. In short, the mind cannot comprehend what God has prepared for them that love Him. I, for one, can attest that this saint deserves none of it. I deserve the hottest place in hell. Yet, for some unfathomable reason, God loved me enough to send Jesus to save my wretched soul. If that isn’t enough, God has decided to bestow His active grace toward this wretched soul for all of eternity. WOW! How blessed we are! We cannot even begin to understand the unlimited depths of God’s grace.
No comments:
Post a Comment