Just a thought

“But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; that being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”               Titus 3:4-7


“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.”
                                                                                                                                              1John 3:1-3

A simple thought.

On that very long day when we each, in our own turn, come to stand before Jesus, we will stand alone. What merits will we claim to our own tribute? Not the works of our own righteousness. Even if our efforts, great or small, were counted toward some advantage, how would we stand alongside men of great spiritual stature, whose accomplishments shine like purified gold? There are so many great men of God whose lives cast long shadows. Do we dare compare?

Would we want to compare our character or personal accomplishments with Moses, the meekest man on earth? Or, consider Abraham the father of the faithful; Solomon the wisest; David, the man after God’s own heart; Job or Joseph, the patient in unexplainable suffering; Paul in his profound inspiration, intellect, endurance in trouble, and spiritual impact in his generation; Stephen, the first Christian martyr, or James the first Pentecostal pastor who died for his faith.

We will not have any appeal based on our own righteousness. We have only the righteousness and mercy of Jesus to base our hope on. We have no position or place guaranteed by our own accomplishment. We have only a place guaranteed by our sonship. Beloved, now are we the sons of God.

It is no personal accomplishment, great or small, that is our hope. It is our sonship, our new birth in Jesus Christ through repentance, taking on His Name in baptism, and the infilling of His Spirit that is our hope. It is not accomplishment, but relationship.

Now are we the sons of God. It’s not clear yet what we shall be... what place, position or reward awaits us... but we are promised that we shall be like Him. The spiritual genetics will be evidenced by our being cast in the likeness of our Lord. Imagine that moment when He says, “Yep, my Name, my Spirit, my Likeness... you look like Me... you’re Mine.”