God’s plan is pretty straightforward. We were dead.
Ephesians 2:1 says, “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions
and sins.” But then God made us alive; “God, who is rich in mercy,
made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions.”
– Eph. 2:5. We were dead, but now are alive! Once we are alive, God
goes the extra step of raising us up. Raising us up with Christ! God
does all of this so that he can show his grace to others who have yet to
discover it. Ephesians 2:7 – “in order that in the coming ages he
might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his
kindness to us in Christ Jesus.”
We’ve suspected it all along, but it really isn’t
about us. God’s plan is focused elsewhere. Even though Jesus died on
the cross and offers us salvation, there is a sense in which even our
salvation isn’t about us. It’s about God’s desire to show the next
person the new life that Jesus offers. It’s not as though we are
abandoned or unimportant once we receive salvation. It’s that our
lives take on an entirely new purpose; a God-ordained purpose –
reaching the lost. We still need to keep doing the good works that God
created us to do (see: Ephesians 2:10). God still has a plan that we
would be wise to follow. God will use even our feeble efforts on His
behalf for His glory.
The end result of God’s grace toward us is that
what was once dead is now alive – alive and raised up with Christ. We
are made peers, “sitting with Jesus in the heavenly realms.” All of
this is God’s gift to us, but it is also meant to be God’s gift to
all. God wants to reach one more person with the life-saving message of
Jesus.
So we keep working, keep struggling, in spite of
all obstacles and trials. We keep on doing the work God created us to do
and God keeps on perfecting the craftsmanship of our lives.
Godspeed,
Pastor John