I thought it necessary to continue with the blog "How Does God See You Now?" There is just so much truth here. Thought I would start with an Old Testament truth and then move to the Apostle Paul's writings.
Isaiah 30:18 And therefore the Lord [earnestly] waits [expecting, looking, and longing] to be gracious to you; and therefore He lifts Himself up, that He may have mercy on you and show loving-kindness to you. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are all those who [earnestly] wait for Him, who expect and look and long for Him [for His victory, His favor, His love, His peace, His joy, and His matchless, unbroken companionship]!
Take it in parts and pieces. The Lord earnestly waits (expecting, looking, and longing) to be gracious to you. God is just beside Himself. He can hardly stand it. He wants so much to pour his great love and mercy on us that He can hardly contain Himself. He earnestly waits. That means He is very intentional and anxious to be gracious to us. I get the picture of a young child who has before him or her a wrapped present, and they are just shaking with anxious anticipation to tear into it and get it opened.
Then it goes on to say that because of His exuberance and anticipation, He lifts Himself up so He may have mercy on us and show us His loving-kindness. It’s as if you are at the beach laying on a beach chair and your child is at the water’s edge. You will lift yourself up from your very comfortable reclined position to see if your child is okay. If necessary, you will get up off that comfortable chair and go to show your child your loving-kindness. It is such a strong statement of His great love for us.
Then look at that last part where it says “ Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are all those who [earnestly] wait for Him…” Why are we blessed, happy, fortunate and to be envied? Because we earnestly wait for Him. Plus we expect and look and long for Him. Keep studying, because here’s the even gooder (I know that’s not a word, but I like it right here) part.
It says we expect, look, and long for Him, for His victory, His favor, His love, His peace, His joy, and His matchless, unbroken companionship. Come on somebody. Are you shouting? You ought to be. What’s our part in all this. Expectation and rest. He’s falling all over Himself to get this to us. It’s not us trying to get it from Him.
Now lets move to Eph 2:1-10.
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
Now I want everyone to notice the tense of this statement. That’s right. I have heard religious legalists preach from this verse and say “right there we can see that we are dead in our sins”. Well it doesn’t say that. That’s why we check scripture and not take anyone’s word for it.
2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—
See? In which you once walked. Well if you once walked in it, that means you no longer are. God really made the bible easy. We are the ones that make it hard. It’s just pure step logic in most cases. Look in the next verse. It goes on to confirm that the condition being discussed is a past condition. It says “ we all once lived in the passions of our flesh……” Just look at it.
3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
One of the big buts in the bible. BUT GOD!! Who was rich in what? Condemnation? Judgment? Punishment? NO. Rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us.
5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved
6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
I’m still seated there in the heavenly places. This truth in this study is keeping me there. Whew!! As I’m going through this, I’m sitting at the round table with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I’ve been there ever since the truths surrounding Isaiah 30:18.
7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
So that. Did you catch that in verse 7. Why did He make us alive and save us by His grace? Why did He raise us up and seat us in the heavenly places. It’s right there in verse 7. “So that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” It’s all in Christ Jesus. We are alive in Him. We are saved by His grace. We are seated in heavenly places in Him.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
Just in case you didn’t hear Him the first time in verse 5, He repeats that we have been saved by grace.
9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Wow. If that’s not enough for you to understand the truth about how God sees you, then there’s something wrong with your mind. It really needs renewing. God doesn’t see anything wrong with you. He sees what’s missing from your experience of him.How does God see you now? I think we’ve answered that question to the full. Grace and Peace.
