Romans 5:1-5 Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory. We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.
Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory. The joy of the Lord is our strength. His plan for us brings him great joy. Jesus makes something new out of that which was not. God had a plan to make us into his image when we were but dust, nothing. We existed after creation, but we were not truly like God in our behavior in that created state. Able to communicate with God, we walked in the Garden, fellowshipping with our maker. Yet we find Adam and Eve failed to be like the God they imaged because of their wayward and rebellious hearts. They rejected God’s authority and will. But God’s heart held a redemption plan, not to salvage a fallen creation, but to bring them into his family. He made that which was not into the form of himself, the Mighty God, with his own heart. In the fulness of time, He would send his only begotten son, Jesus. He knew we needed a Savior for us to be eternal, good, filled with his wisdom and knowledge, and revealing his nature. The answer is, we needed a Savior who is God, who would place his heart into us. Salvation means God has come to us in the nature of Jesus Christ. But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. (Galatians 4:4-5) We who know Jesus, have seen God, for Jesus is the perfect representation of God. When we look into the face of Jesus by faith, we see God, his nature. We are hidden IN JESUS CHRIST, but not only are we hidden in him, He places the wonderful Holy Spirit within us. Therefore, we have the heart of God in us: the dynamo, the Holy Spirit, functions in our lives. His voice is in us. In every way, we are God’s own, adopted members of his family. He paid a tremendous price for us: the humiliation and death of his Son. Now we know God’s plan from the beginning has been to make us his, as a part of his family. We also know with confidence that the culmination of this plan will not lead to disappointment but to eternal life. We cannot fully image this in our finite robes, but God has told us through Jesus’ words that we are new creatures, born again unto his plan and not the plan of the flesh. Our lives are not defined by these old bodies that we carry around daily. No, we have a new likeness, one that is made like Christ. We are new creatures bought with the precious price of Christ’s blood. As Paul goes on to tell the Galatians, Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” (Galatians 4:6)
There is great joy in God’s plan because we are constantly in his presence. Ananias and Sapphira did not understand the reality of God with us at all times. They thought as many religious people do that God is with us only when we do religious things, such as worshipping in the Temple. But when they lied to the church, Peter reminded them that they could deceive people, but they could not deceive God. But there was a certain man named Ananias who, with his wife, Sapphira, sold some property. He brought part of the money to the apostles, claiming it was the full amount. With his wife’s consent, he kept the rest. Then Peter said, “Ananias, why have you let Satan fill your heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit, and you kept some of the money for yourself. (Acts 5:3-5) When the couple were struck dead by the Holy Spirit, the whole church knew that God’s presence was a reality at all times. This new understanding of God brought great fear upon the believers, for they realized they were constantly in God’s presence: their lives were hidden IN CHRIST and HE was in them. This new reality of dwelling in the hearts of men was integral to God’s plan from the beginning. We are born again, capable of dwelling IN GOD and HE IN US. This should bring us great joy and not fear, for He has made what was lost to him his own possession: members of his family. God is with us: his righteousness and goodness are with us at ALL TIMES. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 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. (Ephesians 2:6-7) Even if heaven and Earth disappear, we will not, for God exists beyond the realities of matter. As limited human beings, our minds sometimes fail to comprehend God’s redemption plan, but the Holy Spirit testifies to us that we are the sons and daughters of God. Likewise, as new creatures, we hold onto the faith of Abraham: he believed God could raise the dead and make everything out of nothing. Consequently, nothing is beyond God’s ability to create. He can make dust into his own children with his nature and his heart of love.
Today, do our faces shine with joy with the knowledge of the Good News? Or are we beset with gloom by the condition of mankind? Are we looking at the sicknesses and sins of the world or are we looking at the magnificent face of God? When Moses came down from Mt. Sinai, his face radiated with so much light that the Israelites feared him. He had to call them to come near him, so he could speak to them about what God had given him. As he spoke to the Israelites without a veil on his face, they observed the brightness of God’s glory reflecting from his face. The astounding brightness of Moses’ face proved that Moses had been with the God of creation and was different from the rest of the people. Their faces did not radiate God’s glory; their faces reflected the circumstances of their daily lives. Moses’ continence, reflecting the glory of the Lord, verified that God was with him and that Moses provided a conduit for God’s words to the Israelites. When Moses was not actively expressing God’s words to the people, he covered his face with a veil. Moses had the Shekinah glory on him at all times, signifying God’s presence, but as he mingled with the people on a daily basis, he veiled his face, so they would not fear him. For the many Israelites who did not know him personally, Moses, with his veiled face, was like everyone else, even though the fire of God reflecting on his face was still present. We who are IN CHRIST, filled with the Holy Spirit, have the Shekinah glory within us. We are the light of the world, we are the salt of the earth. People should know us as who we really are: children of the Most High. Jesus said, You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:14-16) Do we walk around with veiled faces or are we vibrant testimonies of God’s light on Earth? We will only be the latter if we have the fruit of the Spirit evident in our lives, especially JOY. We will rejoice if we truly believe the message of redemption: God has made us his children, created something so unimaginable that the angels could not anticipate the product: a born again child of God, created in his image, with his heart. We are new creatures, alive forevermore because God can raise the dead and make something out of nothing through Jesus Christ’s work on the cross.
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