Wednesday, June 16, 2021

A Most Precious Gift

 

"Even when we were dead

 by our own shortcomings and trespasses,

He made us alive

in fellowship and union with Christ;


Heliotrope Flowers in bloom



He gave us the very life

of Christ Himself,

the same new life

with which He quickened Him,

for it is by grace,

His favor and mercy,

 which you did not deserve,

that you are saved

delivered from judgment,

and made partakers of

Christ's salvation.


And He raised us up 

together with Him

in the heavenly sphere

by virtue of our being

in Jesus Christ the Messiah.

He did this that He might

clearly demonstrate 

through the ages to come

the immeasurable riches

of His free grace

His unmerited favor in

 His kindness and goodness of heart

towards us in Christ.


For it is by free grace

God's unmerited favor

that you are saved

delivered from judgment 

and made partakers of Christ's salvation.

And this salvation is not of your own doing,

it came not from your own striving

but is a gift of God.


Ephesians 2:5-8


As an avid gardener and lover of all growing things,
I have come to understand more about the nature of plants
and how they can relate to what the Lord told us in John 12:24:

"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless the grain of wheat,
having fallen into the ground, should die, it abides alone;
but if it should die, it bears much fruit."


 Jesus was talking about Himself in this parable, but,
He was also speaking a clear message to His listeners.
If we embrace life in this world apart from Him,
the wages due our unwashed fallen nature is death,
and separation from God for all eternity.

If through faith we accept the free gift of God's grace, 
 as provided through the death of His Son on the cross, 
  then we too have been crucified, buried, and
 raised with Christ to new and eternal life,
 and into right standing with God forever.


Recommended Reading: Romans Chapters 5-7.







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