THURSDAY April 11th
Romans 8:29-30
‘For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.’
God has a definite plan of salvation which is all being worked out to the minutest of detail.
This plan was already purposed before the creation of the world, and the moment that man fell in the garden because of his disobedience toward God, God set this plan into motion. Redemptions story is seen throughout the Old Testament, there are the promises that God had made, the types that we see through the way that God worked through both the lives of individuals and the nation of Israel, till we come to the time when God sent his Son to be born of a woman, his mission to become the Saviour of the world. In the words of Paul to Timothy, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners (1 Timothy 1:12).
As a result of Christ’s atoning sacrifice at Calvary, salvation has become available to all who will believe. And God has predestined, that is, he purposed in the past that all who believed would become a part of his wonderful family. And I do not subscribe to the teaching of those who would preach a limited atonement, that only a certain number who have been pre-determined by God can be saved. I without apology believe that God’s grace is available to all mankind, all can be saved, but sadly not all will be saved because not all will believe. God has given to us free will, and as we are presented with the truth of the gospel message, we can choose whether to accept it or reject it.
But Paul continues here to tell us that the plan of redemption, will continue once we have become saved, for those who have been justified will also be glorified.
Salvation lifts us out of the pit of sin and will eventually lead us into the eternal presence of God, where we will know what it is to be glorified, miraculously transformed into the image of his Son, the Lord Christ.
In Philippians 3:20-21 we read ‘But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.’ Again, in John’s first epistle we read ‘Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is,’ (1 John 3:2).
What a wonderful story redemptions story is. We have not only become new creations in Christ in the here and now, but one day we shall be utterly and completely transformed, and what a day that will be, well, it will be more than a day, it will suddenly become eternity and we shall be like him.
We shall be like him, when he shall come in glory;
Like him forever, thro’ riches of his grace;
O what assurance to all God’s children given,
We shall be like him when we see his face.