Yesterday evening I was reading the Bible with someone very close to me. We've been working through the book of Ephesians together, and yesterday we read from the second half of chapter 2 through to the end of the first half of chapter 3.
I was struck by a great many things, including the overwhelming idea that seems to run throughout the book, that we are saved by grace and not by what we do. But one thing struck me in particular.
Ephesians 3:12, "In him [Christ] and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence."
In many respects it's a simple truth of Christianity, but how often do we, people, forget it or, worse, contradict it, in the way we pray, act and think?
Think about it, through faith in Christ and what Christ has done with us, we may approach God with freedom and confidence.
Approach God with freedom and confidence.
APPROACH GOD with FREEDOM and CONFIDENCE.
Has this blown your mind?
This is the same God who:
Genesis 1 - Created the entire universe with His voice
Genesis 3 - Is so holy He cannot possibly be with sin
Exodus 15 - Parts a sea and destroys a nation's finest soldiers with no effort
Exodus 19 - Rocks up and covers and entire mountain with fire, smoke and thunder
Job 38 - Rocks up in another storm, and proceeds to give one of the most epic speeches ever, about how He set the foundations of the world and governs all things and more
Isaiah 6 - Is so epicly glorious that angels cover their faces and feet and don't dare touch the ground He stands on
Daniel 7 - Has tens of thousands stand before Him, thousands attending Him, sits on a throne all ablaze with fire, has a river of fire coming out from His Throne, utterly ruins evil
And I could go on, I could seriously go on and on. He is glorious.
And yet, in Christ and through faith in Christ we may approach God with freedom and confidence. Let's go back to Exodus 19 for a second...
Exodus 19:16-22, "16 On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. 17 Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. 18 Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently. 19 As the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.
20 The Lord descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. So Moses went up 21 and the Lord said to him, “Go down and warn the people so they do not force their way through to see the Lord and many of them perish. 22 Even the priests, who approach the Lord, must consecrate themselves, or the Lord will break out against them.”"
Do you see how awesomely scary God is here? There's this mysterious trumpet blast, and smoke and thunder and lightning and the entire mountain trembles at His presence. It's intense. It's terrifying. The people were scared out of their minds. Why? Because they didn't have faith in Christ.
With faith in Christ, we can approach God with freedom and confidence. That is, no boundaries, no terror. We approach Him confident in His amazing love for us, and the fact that He's saved us and washed our sin completely away.
Ephesians 3:12, "In him [Christ] and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence."
No comments:
Post a Comment