Do You Know Him?
Jesus Christ created the heavens and the earth (Col 1:16; Heb 1:2). He sustains all things by the Word of His power (Heb 1:3). All authority in heaven and earth were given to Him by His heavenly Father (Mt 28:18), so that we may say “Jesus Christ is Lord (Phil 2:11),” and “He is Lord of all (Acts 10:36).”
As the eternal Son of God (Is 9:6; 1 Jn 5:20), He came into the world, taking on human flesh (Jn 1:14). He was like us, yet without sin (Heb 4:15), but He who knew no sin became sin for us (2 Cor 5:21). He bore our sins in His body on the cross (1 Pet 2:24). While we were helpless, Christ died for us (Rom 5:6). We are the people of His pasture (Ps 79:13; 95:7; 100:3), and He is our Good Shepherd (Ps 23; Jn 10).
False Christs, false prophets, and false teachers die and remain dead. It is appointed for a man to die, once, and then comes the judgment (Heb 9:27). All are conceived in the sin of Adam (Rom 5:12). All are guilty before God because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23). The wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23), and the death of the soul and body result in the second death, which is eternal punishment in the lake of fire (Mt 25:46; Jude 1:7; Rev 20:14–15).
Jesus came into the world to save His people from their sins (Mt 1:21). He saved us (Titus 3:5). It was all the work of our Triune God, from beginning to end because salvation belongs to the Lord (Ps 3:8; Jon 2:9; Rev 19:1). The work of God, for the salvation of His church (Mt 16:18), the Israel of God (Gal 6:16), is by grace alone (Eph 2:8–9).
The redeemed of the Lord contribute nothing to salvation, except the sins that create the need for deliverance. Thanks to Adam, we were born slaves to sin (Rom 5:12–21; 6:6). Spiritually dead men, that is, the natural man has a sin nature (Eph 2:3). He has no interest in the things of the Spirit of God (1 Cor 2:14), nor does he seek for God (Rom 3:10–12). His heart is wicked (Jer 17:9) and his mind is set on the things of the flesh (Rom 8:9; Phil 3:19; Col 3:2), which is futility (Eph 4:17), leading to evil practices (Eph 4:18–19; Gen 6:5). He is spiritually dead in his trespasses and sins (Eph 2:1).
Man is wretched, totally depraved. In confirmation of God’s predetermined plan and foreknowledge (Acts 2:23), He has displayed some of His attributes. The perfection of His plan is shown, in the utter success of His saving His beloved (Jn 10:28–29). He predestined His chosen people to adoption (Eph 1:4–5). He purposed in Christ, to make atonement on their behalf and for their eternal benefit (Eph 3:11; 1 Jn 2:2). The gathering for worship in heaven is representative of people from every nation, tribe, and tongue (Rev 5:9; 7:9).
The gathering of God’s people into His assembly on earth, in every generation, is the work of the Holy Spirit. The third Person of the Trinity is sent by God the Father and God the Son to the lost sheep of Israel, that is, the unregenerate elect of God. The Spirit guides these into all truth, as it is in Jesus Christ (Jn 16:13; Eph 4:21).
The Spirit helps the blind to see. He gives life to the dead (Jn 6:63). He transfers God’s people, from the domain of darkness and moves them into the kingdom of God’s beloved Son (Col 1:13). He baptizes the soul with the gift of Himself, for He is the gift of God (Rom 5:5). He makes the spiritually dead soul come alive to God (Eph 2:5; Col 2:13), by causing it to be born again of God (1 Pet 1:3). This is His work of regeneration (Jn 3:1–8), in which He grants repentance (Acts 5:31; 11:18) and gives faith (Phil 1:29).
Having been justified (declared “not guilty”) by the blood of Christ (Rom 5:9), the grace of the Spirit sanctifies the new creature with the knowledge of the truth (Jn 17:17), causing faith in Christ to manifest (Gal 5:22). The Spirit testifies to our spirits that we are the children of God, adopted into God’s family (Rom 8:15, 23), by the Spirit of adoption given to us. We see the love the Father has for us (1 Jn 3:1), and we know from His true Word that we belong to Christ (1 Cor 3:23), who promised to never leave us nor forsake us (Heb 13:5).
He who has made promises to us is faithful and true (Rev 19:11). Heaven and earth will pass away, but His Word will never pass away (Mt 24:35). This is how the Christian knows he or she has eternal life (1 Jn 5:13) because the indwelling Holy Spirit reveals the Word of truth (Ps 119:160; Jn 17:17), which is the Word of life that never returns empty (Is 55:11). God has demonstrated His love toward us (Rom 5:8), and His love never fails (1 Cor 13:8) because God is love (1 Jn 4:8). Do you know Him?
Christian, here is your eternal inheritance…Jesus Christ. His Spirit has been sent to you as a pledge of His glorious riches (2 Cor 1:22; 5:5), reserved for you in heaven (1 Pet 1:4), where you have a seat held for you (Eph 2:6). The knowledge of His grace toward you is your eternal rest, for men of religion frantically scramble to create rites, rituals, and traditions in order to be reconciled to a god they do not know, who has no salvation to give them.
Today, as your serve the Lord, in your reasonable service of worship, remember these things. Rejoice in the Lord always and give thanks in everything, for He has done great things for His church, and He is worthy of all our praise.
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
September 8, 2022
