Jaw-dropping Jewels about Jesus
Rarely does Jesus, God the Son, do exactly what we expect of Him. It seems odd that He so frequently surprises us, given that He never changes. Hebrews 13:8 makes this absolute statement: “Jesus the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Still, though He is blessedly consistent in His goodness, Jesus does unforeseen things. Even when He does what is expected, He does not always do it in the way that we anticipate. Let us join with Jesus on a jaw-dropping journey. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
As we have been searching out “the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3:8), we have spent several days considering our sanctification, God’s setting of us apart to Himself. When we are saved through faith in Jesus, we are positionally sanctified (I Corinthians 6:9-11). Then, through the indwelling power of God the Holy Spirit, we are to become more like Jesus, what is called experiential or progressive sanctification (I John 1:7). The end of our salvation, called future or ultimate sanctification, occurs when we are changed, and welcomed into our Lord’s immediate presence in heaven (I Corinthians 15:51; Jude 24-25). Certainly these are riches, and assuredly we are rich! But wait – there’s more! Before any of these riches are bestowed upon us, our God is at work. I have coined the term “preliminary or preparatory sanctification” to describe this labor of love by our Lord. Long before we had any interest in the things of God – in fact, long before we were even born – He was preparing us to be saved. Paul wrote in Galatians 1:15-16 that “when it pleased God, Who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the heathen; I conferred not with flesh and blood.” Paul’s recognition of God’s divine hand upon him is not an exclusive experience, something for Paul only. I Peter 1:2, written of all of Christians, calls us “elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.” As always, we must note the Trinitarian emphasis. We also should rejoice in God’s foreknowledge, which theologian Charles Ryrie defines as “God’s prior knowledge of all things based on His causative relation to them.” Yes, He has caused us to be prepared to receive His eternal salvation. All glory is His.