7/25/17
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.
Many Christians seem to relish a humility which denies assurance of their salvation. They will say they hope that Jesus has saved them. They suppose they will know in the last day. Sometimes, very sadly, people will accompany these statements with sentences such as, “I hope I’ve been a good person” or “I have always tried to live right.”
This view of Christian humility is dangerous. It rejects the care of God for his people, clearly laid out in Deuteronomy 7:6-9. Here we read that God has, of his own accord, and without human permission or merit, chosen to redeem his people from death. He has taken his people and established his love with them.
Why has God chosen his people? It is not because they are great or mighty. It is simply because he has loved them. And unlike the love we have, God’s love doesn’t pass away. He will never fall out of love with his people. This is because he never fell in love with them. He decided to love them. He has every intention of keeping his covenant of love. This is an everlasting covenant, to a thousand generations.
Realize that the idea of a thousand in the Bible indicates something which does not end. Ten, a very complete number which our fingers and toes would confirm, is cubed, a power of three, frequently signifying the Trinity. A thousand is a number which we would never bother to count. It is too many. And if we consider a generation to be about thirty years, when we realize the biblical account shows humans being in the picture now for about 6,000 years, we see that a thousand generations has barely begun. God’s love for his people extends farther and longer than we can imagine.
Let us, then, flee the false humility that denies God’s love for his people. Has God loved you? Yes. If you are trusting in Jesus, he has set his love on you, not because of your goodness or merit, but simply because he wanted to do so. This is the message of assurance which anyone who trusts Jesus can have. God has chosen you. He will never let you down. Thanks be to God.
If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.
Many Christians seem to relish a humility which denies assurance of their salvation. They will say they hope that Jesus has saved them. They suppose they will know in the last day. Sometimes, very sadly, people will accompany these statements with sentences such as, “I hope I’ve been a good person” or “I have always tried to live right.”
This view of Christian humility is dangerous. It rejects the care of God for his people, clearly laid out in Deuteronomy 7:6-9. Here we read that God has, of his own accord, and without human permission or merit, chosen to redeem his people from death. He has taken his people and established his love with them.
Why has God chosen his people? It is not because they are great or mighty. It is simply because he has loved them. And unlike the love we have, God’s love doesn’t pass away. He will never fall out of love with his people. This is because he never fell in love with them. He decided to love them. He has every intention of keeping his covenant of love. This is an everlasting covenant, to a thousand generations.
Realize that the idea of a thousand in the Bible indicates something which does not end. Ten, a very complete number which our fingers and toes would confirm, is cubed, a power of three, frequently signifying the Trinity. A thousand is a number which we would never bother to count. It is too many. And if we consider a generation to be about thirty years, when we realize the biblical account shows humans being in the picture now for about 6,000 years, we see that a thousand generations has barely begun. God’s love for his people extends farther and longer than we can imagine.
Let us, then, flee the false humility that denies God’s love for his people. Has God loved you? Yes. If you are trusting in Jesus, he has set his love on you, not because of your goodness or merit, but simply because he wanted to do so. This is the message of assurance which anyone who trusts Jesus can have. God has chosen you. He will never let you down. Thanks be to God.
If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.
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