What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory… As he saith …I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. Romans 9:22-25
Before we move on to the next era in my life’s search for love, I feel I must linger for a moment more on the subject of sin. If God is Sovereign over my life; then, how does He respond to my sin? Has He allowed my sin? Couldn’t He have stopped me? That is what I pleaded for? Then why did He not stop me? Why did He not stop Peter from denying Christ? He told Him that it would happen. Peter pleaded “no.” Yet, instead of stopping Peter from sinning; Jesus prayed for Peter, “that thy (Peter’s) faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren” (Luke 22:32).
Then the question that comes to mind is “Does God then ordain sin? After all He is Sovereign, didn’t He ordain the crucifixion of Christ which was the worst atrocity of sin ever enacted by mankind?” Yet, the answer is clearly “No!” God is not the author of sin; yet, God holds His hand steady—withdrawing for a moment His Immediate Judgement so that the ultimate result will still be His Glory displayed and the good of the Beloved. Complex, difficult thought; however, please let me present my feeble attempt to explain as best as my human brain can comprehend. So, let’s dive in to try to answer this question. This can transform your Christian walk to one of Joyous Victory in Christ. I wish I had known this way back then.
To say that God allowed my sin does not decrease my responsibility nor my guilt when I sin; nor, does that say that God in any way ordained my sin. It does demonstrate the greater mercy and grace of God’s love toward each of His children. God does not ordain evil, the purest display of His Grace is that He is willing to even use the evil that man perpetrates and through His Grace display His kindness, His love and His Glory. His greatest desire is to “perfect His love” within me. His love is so great that He cannot leave me where He found me. He wants His Beloved Children to experience the greatest imaginable joy possible. The joy of His love. Can I truly ever experience that love, that joy, and see the magnificence of His beauty without first understanding the depth of despair of what life could be without His presence? Can I understand the magnificent warmth and beauty of light if I never stood in darkness? Can I truly love the beauty of spring if I never lived through the bitter cold of winter? If I never recognized the depth of darkness and evil which lurks in my own heart can I ever truly understand the depth of grace and love that God has for me? So, does God’s grace toward me minimize my guilt? NEVER. Indeed it magnifies my guilt!! At the same time, it magnifies the beauty of Christ and draws my rebellious heart ever closer to Christ!! Only in Christ can I have victory. My only hope is a heart transplant from Christ!!
THE CANCER OF SIN
I had breast cancer. The treatment for that required surgical excision followed by very strong chemotherapy to attempt to destroy every cancerous cell. That was tough!! To this day, there are long term post chemotherapy effects that I have. There are scars from the surgeries. Yet, I am alive. Still before the cancer can be treated, you must first know that it is there. Sin is like that cancer eating away at my heart. It is like a small cell that begins to multiply. God so graciously holds steady His hand at times so that those cancerous cells of sin can be revealed to me. I might even think the surgery and therapy harsh at first; yet, God in His Sovereignty knows exactly what must be removed so that I can see Him more clearly as my greatest treasure. Only then can I learn to abide in His love and His Joy.
THE QUESTION THAT GOD ASKS IS, “DO YOU LOVE ME?”
The question God always returns with is, “Do you love me?” As He becomes my greatest treasure, the one I love beyond all else; then, my desires change. All consuming, self-sacrificing, love of God because of His magnificent beauty and Glory is the only place where I can have victory over sin’s destruction and where I can be fully joyous in Him. There I find joy in the midst of every circumstance. There is where I can rise above all other trials. Anchored, rooted and secured in His love.
GOD HATES MY SIN, BUT LOVES ME
God hates my sin; but, loves me. God weeps over my sin because He knows my sin is a direct result of my not recognizing that He is a greater treasure than my earthly desires. Yet, God patiently, gently, lovingly waits. He takes all my failures, frailties, weaknesses and molds them, kneads them, until they become the object of beauty He desires.
CAN GOD CHANGE MY SINS AND FAILURES INTO SOMETHING GOOD? HOW?
What is even more amazing is how He can take all my failures and still uses them for His Glory!! That is grace upon grace!! What Satan thought would destroy me (my own sin and guilt); God used for my good. My life is filled with joy in Christ. I have hope in Christ. In Christ, I am His Beloved Betrothed Bride to Be!!
LET’S LOOK AT OTHER EXAMPLES OF GRACE TRANSFORMING EVIL TO GOOD
1.DAVID sinned. He committed adultery, ordered the murder of an innocent man, and lied to try to cover it up. When David repented he cried before God
”Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.2 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest” (Psalm 51).
Oh and by the way, if you don’t know what to pray when you have sinned—Psalm 51 is a good place to start. Yet, we know that Jesus was born from the lineage of David and Bathsheba (the woman with whom David had the affair and later married). Tell me that is not an act of wondrous mercy and Grace!!
2.JONAH ran from God; refusing to go to Nineveh. God caused a storm. Jonah was swallowed up by a big fish and spit onto the shore. A frustrated, angry Jonah went to Nineveh to preach; but, the story of what happened went ahead of him. The story of how God caused the storm, the fish to swallow Jonah and the depositing of Jonah alive on the shore went ahead of Jonah. The people were ready to repent before Jonah arrived.
“ 6 For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water:8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn everyone from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands” (Jonah 3).
Tell me that is not God taking the sins of one broken man and turning them for good. Tell me that isn’t Grace!
3. PETER denied Christ 3 times while Christ was on trial. Yet, Peter was the one who lead the early church and on the day of Pentecost preached,
“Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made the same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2).
3000 were saved that day. What Amazing Grace!! God used Peter to lead the greatest revival.
4. MANKIND The fact that God allowed the greatest evil act of all time—the beating and crucifixion of His own son, does not diminish the evil sin of those who committed this crime. It is the greatest display of God turning evil into good through Grace. That atrocious sin of mankind, God used to pay the penalty of sin for mankind. He then reached down and raised Jesus from the dead to be the victor over sin and death. What Satan meant for evil, God did for good. God won the victory!!
CONCLUSION:
Please do not think that you have fallen too far down for a God of Grace and Mercy to use you. He is calling your name. [bctt tweet=”Never forget: “all things work together for good to them that love God” Romans 8:28.”] [bctt tweet=”So I guess we are back to God’s question for you. “Do you love me?””]
The song I chose for you today is Call It Grace
photo used by permission https://unsplash.com/pumabg I added the quote
©Effie Darlene Barba, 2016
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.