God creates out of nothing—wonderful, you say; yes, to be sure, but he does what is still more wonderful. He makes saints out of sinners.
~Søren Aabye Kierkegaard (1813-1855)
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.
~ Jude 1: 24-25
Oh beloved, it is true. Every knee shall bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is LORD, to the glory of G_d the father. However, for a blessed number of believers, that moment has already happened. Somewhere, by His grace, we have come fully to the end of ourselves and cast the authority for our own lives off ourselves and fully onto Him (where it fully belongs).
And for those who have already yielded to His Loving lordship and grace have something absolutely amazing before them. We, you… will stand in the Presence of G_d. There will not be a moment of abject fear or paralyzing dread. We will surely be nervous, but i believe it will be the excitement of a bride deeply in love with her groom. We are no longer some criminal awaiting doom. We are welcome members of the court of our King.
For, it will be the One in whose Presence we stand who has already made the moment possible.
For, it is He who became the sin by which we were burdened, and cast that sin as far away as the East is from the West.
For, in becoming that sin, He then made us the very righteousness of G_d.
For, in making and declaring us now-righteous, He paved the way for us to fulfill the calling of our creation in His image.
We are to be His friends, and lovers forever.
Can we see it? Everything in life now, has everything to do with everything in Life then. We are going to stand in the Presence of G_d as His friend. And it will be in this context, that He then tears away the curtain to show the tangible gifts of grace He has prepared for His bride, based on our readiness to meet Him. Like a good husband, He will have built us a home, but surely this is only the beginning. Being that He is the wellspring of wisdom herself, He will most surely have thought of everything. Surely it is beyond our imagination.
Said simply: G_d is going to more greatly reward those most willing to let themselves be Loved by Him – now. And all will be faultless, freed by the showers of His mercy and grace. Many though, will be adorned even more beautifully in eternity. And none of our beauty will be based on our performance. This beauty will be based on our acceptance and appropriation of the grace He poured out on us in this life.
We are the saints of G_d.
We are His holy ones.
We are His bride.
We are His friends.
Forever.
This is very good news for the wretched old man i was before He took care of the problem. Just avoiding the horrible payment for my sins seems beyond wonderful. But then to know beyond any shadow of a doubt that we shall dwell – WELCOME – in His near Presence, forever, simply makes a wordsmith’s fingers like mine…
