March 16, 2019 WITH WHOM HE IS PLEASED
Luke 2:10-11,13-14 “And the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which shall be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.’” And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”
The announcement proclaimed in these verses is the greatest news mankind, that includes you and I, has ever heard. Can you imagine? Angels appearing and speaking to men and saying that they were bringing good news of a great joy-for all the people! And then announcing peace on earth among men with whom God was pleased? There is much in these verses that we could spend a lot of time on, but there is one truth I would like for us to focus on today. Primarily, it is about our basic, underlying view of God. As we go through life with all of its ups and downs, and as we hear so many conflicting comments about what God is like and what He expects from us, we may lose the essential truth about who God is and what He is like. It must be said that we, in this life, can never fully comprehend God; but He has revealed much about Himself to us, and it is critical that our view of Him is according to who He says He is. To have a wrong view or concept of God is to miss the blessings that come with knowing Him for who He truly is. It is one thing to have a mental agreement or understanding of who He is, but something else to know who He is in the deepest part of our being-our mind, spirit and soul. The first and the primary thing we must understand about God is that there has been a Savior born for us-you and I-who is Christ the Lord. God was not obligated to send the Savior for us, but He did so because He loves us and has compassion on us-that’s good news! (If you by chance do not know Christ as Savior, you can know Him as your Savior by believing and confessing that Jesus is the Son of God and that He came and died for you; it’s a matter of putting your trust in Him and following Him.) Another truth we must know about God is that He is pleased with us. Certainly God is not pleased when man rejects Him and goes his own way, or even when a believer lives in a way contrary to ways of God. However, God does see mankind as His creation and He desires that all come to know Him as Savior; you might say that God sees the potential of a loving relationship with those He created. At our core, we must see that though our wrong choices and wrong actions do not please Him, He is pleased with us as His created beings. Because He loves us as we are, He made a way through the sacrifice of His Son for us to be made new creations, capable of knowing Him intimately and has made it possible to have continual fellowship with Him. When we come to know His love that has been poured into our hearts and we learn of our new identity, we will by our new nature do the things that please Him-then in the fullest sense, He is indeed well pleased with us. We can take no credit for doing the things that please Him-for it is by His grace and His work in us that we are able to do such. Know that God is for you-not against you. Enjoy getting to know Him-you will find that He is good.
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”
Revelation 3:20 “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.”
Blessings,
Buddy
Luke 2:10-11,13-14 “And the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which shall be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.’” And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”
The announcement proclaimed in these verses is the greatest news mankind, that includes you and I, has ever heard. Can you imagine? Angels appearing and speaking to men and saying that they were bringing good news of a great joy-for all the people! And then announcing peace on earth among men with whom God was pleased? There is much in these verses that we could spend a lot of time on, but there is one truth I would like for us to focus on today. Primarily, it is about our basic, underlying view of God. As we go through life with all of its ups and downs, and as we hear so many conflicting comments about what God is like and what He expects from us, we may lose the essential truth about who God is and what He is like. It must be said that we, in this life, can never fully comprehend God; but He has revealed much about Himself to us, and it is critical that our view of Him is according to who He says He is. To have a wrong view or concept of God is to miss the blessings that come with knowing Him for who He truly is. It is one thing to have a mental agreement or understanding of who He is, but something else to know who He is in the deepest part of our being-our mind, spirit and soul. The first and the primary thing we must understand about God is that there has been a Savior born for us-you and I-who is Christ the Lord. God was not obligated to send the Savior for us, but He did so because He loves us and has compassion on us-that’s good news! (If you by chance do not know Christ as Savior, you can know Him as your Savior by believing and confessing that Jesus is the Son of God and that He came and died for you; it’s a matter of putting your trust in Him and following Him.) Another truth we must know about God is that He is pleased with us. Certainly God is not pleased when man rejects Him and goes his own way, or even when a believer lives in a way contrary to ways of God. However, God does see mankind as His creation and He desires that all come to know Him as Savior; you might say that God sees the potential of a loving relationship with those He created. At our core, we must see that though our wrong choices and wrong actions do not please Him, He is pleased with us as His created beings. Because He loves us as we are, He made a way through the sacrifice of His Son for us to be made new creations, capable of knowing Him intimately and has made it possible to have continual fellowship with Him. When we come to know His love that has been poured into our hearts and we learn of our new identity, we will by our new nature do the things that please Him-then in the fullest sense, He is indeed well pleased with us. We can take no credit for doing the things that please Him-for it is by His grace and His work in us that we are able to do such. Know that God is for you-not against you. Enjoy getting to know Him-you will find that He is good.
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”
Revelation 3:20 “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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