It's No Accident

The Word is first...

1 Corinthians 1:30 (NIV)
³⁰ It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.

The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984

I'm a curious fellow, not that I'm interesting or worth further investigation but rather I am interested in knowing the why's and wherefore's of many things. One such thing concerns how I came to be adopted by God. I have no question about the factual certainty of that adoption but knowing me, where I've been, what I've done, who I was, I am sometimes incredulous at my good fortune that I am counted among the friends of God. It's just so unlikely as to be unbelievable. Yet, it is so.

Anytime that I find myself re-examining this situation, I inevitably come to the conclusion that its' just a "God thing." Don't you just love that phrase? To explain the inexplicable, we say its' just a "God thing." :) How else can I explain it? Its' certainly not a ME thing!

My study passage today very simply explains, in very simple terms that I can understand, how it is that I came to be the man I am today; a child of God and a man that pursues a relationship with God with faltering steps and steadfast determination.

"It is because of him that [I am] in Christ Jesus." It IS a "God thing." Its' no accident, its' not luck, there's no chance involved at all. It has been divinely planned and elegantly executed. God intends for me to be His. God intends for you to be His. Though the path by which I arrived was twisty and strewn with obstacles of my own device, He drew me to Him with loving kindness and everlasting love. He drew me. He draws me still. The knowledge of this fact simply breaks me and causes my eyes to leak.

What He has drawn me to is a relationship with Him through His Son Jesus the Christ. He has placed me in Christ, covered me with Christ, enveloped me with Christ. When God looks my direction He doesn't see my foolishness, my weakness, my sinfulness. What He sees is the covering of His Son. My unrighteousness is overcome by Jesus and I am justified. My unholiness is defeated by Jesus and I am sanctified. My sin, the stain of my sin is washed away by the flood of the blood of Jesus and I am glorified. By Him and through Him I am perfected. This is the perfect wisdom of Almighty God that became flesh that my spirit be redeemed.

My response to this fact, aside from the incredulous smile on my face and my leaky eyes, is to offer back to Him everything He has given me; my heart, my mind, my soul, my body, my very life, my all. And to reach out to you to share what has been given me, to place your hand upon the latch of the gate that leads to the garden of God's love. So today, now, here, I offer to you the love of God, the wisdom of God that is Christ Jesus. Brother, sister, sojourner, sufferer, take it, take the gift from God that defies logic and reason. Accept your own sinfulness. Believe that Christ has paid your penalty in full. Confess your heart before God and be redeemed, reborn and adopted into the family of God.

Peace and Grace to You,

Carl