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2 Cor. 3:12-18
We invite you to join us for worship each Sunday morning at 9:30. You can download our service on iTunes or tune in for “The Good Word” each day on AM 1230 WSAL or on Hoosier Country 103.7 FM just after 8am. The Christmas season is called the most wonderful time of the year. It is also the time of year when many people seem to suffer more with depression, loneliness, anxiety, and emptiness. Perhaps one major contributing factor is that, for the most part in our current culture and society, Christ has been taken out of Christmas. However, to the true believer in Christ, Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year, because we celebrate the birth of the Savior. Scripture makes it crystal clear that God was, is, and will eternally be glorified in the birth of Christ. The glory of the Lord was shown to so many people in so many ways that it is impossible to talk about the Incarnation without focusing on the glory of the Lord! Glorification is defined by one theologian as the final step in the application of redemption. You understand that God’s salvation affects your entire being, right? We are given spiritual life at the instant of our salvation and God comes to reside in us in the Person of His Holy Spirit. John records that truth in chapters 13-17 of his Gospel, as Jesus taught the 11 in the upper room just before He went to Gethsemane for the last time. Our soul – our mind, will, and emotions, or what we think, desire, and feel, is redeemed/changed/transformed throughout our life through progressive sanctification. Jesus is teaching the doctrine of progressive sanctification in His sermon on the mount in Matt. 5-7. The final step in redemption has to do with our bodies. Christians will receive their glorified bodies at the Rapture. When that happens, God’s entire redemption plan and process will be finished. According to one author, in its simplest form “glory” means “honor” or “excellent reputation.” It is important to remember God always takes the initiative in seeking and choosing people to call to Himself. Sin will not allow anyone to even consider looking for God and redemption. If God doesn’t initiate the call to salvation, people won’t be saved. That is exactly what God does in the doctrines of election and calling, according to Eph. 1:4 and a host of other passages. The only part a person plays in these two doctrines is responding to the call to be saved. God then takes another step in revealing His glory when He regenerates every person who is saved. New spiritual life brings to a person’s very essence, their heart, their conscience, a desire to honor (glorify) God. Regeneration makes it possible for us to honor God out of desire to thank Him for what He has done just in saving us. We also desire to uphold God’s excellent reputation because we understand more of God’s excellence or perfection in all He is. Conversion is the part of our salvation where we become actively involved in our new life in Christ. The indwelling Holy Spirit begins to influence a true Christian’s behavior in such a way that they not only want, but put whatever effort is required into turning from their sin in genuine repentance to Christ in genuine faith! When that happens God’s excellent reputation is shown to others in a radically changed life and lifestyle that draws others to Christ. God continues to “glorify” Himself and us in our salvation when He justifies us before Himself! You remember as defined by one theologian, justification has 2 parts to it: 1st justification is an instantaneous act of God where He thinks of our sins as forgiven, and Christ’s righteousness as belonging to us. When God justifies us He also declares us to be righteous in His sight. The focus here is God “declaring” us to be righteous in His sight. That means He now and forever views our sin as paid for in full. The Scales of justice have been balanced in that a punishment equal to the crime has been served, and fulfilled. All that is the suffering, death, burial, and resurrection, or the finished work, of Christ. As we focus on the birth of Christ, we are also drawn into God’s nature and character because the Incarnation cannot be separated from the revelation of God’s own glory! I trust that in these next days, and then for the rest of your life you will equate, and never separate the truth that God has revealed His own glory, or His honor and excellent reputation not only to you, but through you in saving you. Now do you see a little clearer why using the title, Christian, redeemed, saved must be used so carefully?
If we can help you with your spiritual questions, call us at 574-643-9419.
