Reverence and Awe

» Today's reading at Blue Letter Bible

The text for this Morning's Reading is both wonderful and perplexing. The wonderful part is that Jesus declares He has given us the same glory that God the Father gave to Jesus. However, that is also the text that is perplexing to me. For as I look at myself in the mirror (physically and spiritually), I do not see that glory.

It is only something that the LORD must be able to see, since I know that the words of Christ are true. I believe it is only because He sees us in Christ. It a wonderful thing to know that, in Christ, God sees us differently than we are in the flesh. The LORD sees our natural self buried in that tomb with Christ, 2000 years ago. He sees a new creation riased with Christ (Rom 6:4). Following are just a few snippets of who I am in Christ (as you are, if you are a believer in Christ):

• I have been delivered from the power of darkness and conveyed into the kingdom of the Jesus Christ. (Col 1:13)


• I currently possess redemption, the forgiveness of sin, through the blood of Jesus. (Col 1:14)


• I have died, and my life is now hidden with Christ in God. (Col 3:3)


• I was purchased by God at a price. (1 Cor 6:20)


• I now belong to Christ and therefore belong to God. (1 Cor 3:23)


• I was chosen in Christ before the creation of the world, to be reckoned as holy and blameless before Him. (Eph. 1:4)


• I have been made alive with Christ and sit with Him in the heavenly places. (Eph. 2:5-6)


• I am God's child. (John 1:12)


• I am Christ's friend. (John 15:15)


• I am seated with Christ in the heavenly realms. (Eph 2:6)


• I am a citizen of heaven. (Phil 3:20)


• I am born of God, and the evil one cannot touch me. (1 John 5:18)


• I am free from the power of sin, and am now a slave to righteousness. (Rom 6:7-8, 11, 14, 18)


• I have been redeemed from the curse of the Law. (Gal. 3:13)


• I am free from condemnation. (Rom 8:1-2)


• I am saved by the grace of God through faith. (Eph 2:8-9)


• I am able to find God's grace and mercy in time of need. (Heb 4:16)


• I am in Christ, and am therefore complete in Him, because He is the fullness of the Godhead in bodily form. (Col. 2:9-10)


• I have access to the mind of Christ so that He may instruct me. (1 Cor 2:16)


• Through Christ, I have overcome the world. (1 John 4:4)


• I am safe for He will never abandon me. (Heb 13:5)


• I am confident that the good work that the Lord has begun in me will be perfected. (Phil 1:6)

Wow! That really is amazing! How can God do all of that for me and to me? Well the answer is contained in the text for the Evening Reading.

Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You.—Jeremiah 32:17

It is too hard for us, but not for God. Let us thank Him for His bountiful grace and mercy towards us, this day and forevermore.

Labels: Devotional, Morning and Evening, Spurgeon