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Thoughts on Today’s Verse…
God doesn’t just bless us. He establishes us! He makes us strong. He matures us into solid and faithful disciples. He does this in many ways. One of the most important, however, is through the words the Holy Spirit inspired and shared with us through Jesus’ early disciples. As this year approaches its close and another year stands at the door, let’s renew our commitment to spending time in the Bible daily. We must not let this powerful tool and great resource God inspired for us be relegated to being a coffee-table book or a good luck charm to take with us to church.
My Prayer…
Thank you, O God, for your Holy Spirit, who breathed your message into human scribes and gave us the Scriptures. Thank you for those human partners who shared the Spirit’s message in those Scriptures. Thank you for the many fine translations of the Bible that are available to us today. I thank you for the freedom to have a copy of the Bible in my home in my language. Please help me not squander the incredible blessing of your written word. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
Bible References
25 Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,
26 But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:
27 To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen.
Romans 16:25-27
Now to Him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ….to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.
Paul closes this Epistle addressed to the God who is able to make His people stand firm in accordance with the gospel which Paul preached and which he calls “my” gospel. There is only one way of salvation and it was entrusted to him as the Apostle to the Gentiles.
God alone is the source of pure wisdom, and to Him belongs glory through Jesus Christ our Mediator, forever! This is such an important topic in today’s culture, isn’t it? It reminds me of another precious verse that Paul penned:
1 Timothy 2:5-6
For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time.
I love the clarity of this verse:
First Paul addresses the fact that there is one God. He and He alone is the God of all men and He desires for all to come to Him and be saved (2 Peter 3:9). There are not many “gods” as the world teaches, just the One true God of the universe.
Secondly, he states that just as there is only one God, there is also only ONE mediator between God and man, and that is Christ Jesus. John 14:6 reads…Jesus answered: “I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
No mere man can be the go-between for us to God, ONLY Jesus Christ is qualified for this position, for only He is both God and man.
Our sin left a huge gap between us and God (Romans 3:23), Jesus came and bridged that gap with His sacrifice for our sins at the cross of Calvary, He became our ransom. Christ enabled us to approach God through faith in His bloodshed for the forgiveness of our sins. Consequently, anyone who places their faith in Jesus’ blood to forgive their sin is saved eternally and will never perish (John 3:16, Romans 3:21-31). We become children of God and joint-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17). No longer is there alienation between us and God, now when He looks at us He sees us through the veil of His one and only Son’s blood that atones for our sins! Oh, what a glorious position we have before our God through the precious work of Christ on our behalf. His sacrifice is sufficient for all who will accept the free gift of salvation that He offers (Ephesians 2:8-9).
God picked the time frame in which Christ would come to this earth and become our substitute. The same God who desires for all to be saved and provided a way for us to be saved in Christ, has chosen that the gospel message should go out in this age in which we live. All of this shows overwhelming longing on the part of God to have a personal relationship with mankind, and to bless us beyond measure. What love the Father has for us that we should be called the children of God (1 John 3:1)!
Thank You Father God for sending Jesus to pay my sin debt and make me Your child through faith in Him. I love You so Abba Father and give You all the praise, glory, and honor that You are so deserving of this day, Amen!