Meditations
- (Nos. 29-36)
"My
meditation of Him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the LORD." — Psalm
104:34.
_______
29. In these closing days of Christendom, and the nearing
day of the judgment of God (James 5:9, Rev 1:3), all that now remains for us is
to be faithful to the One “Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy
calling...” (II Tim. 1:9), and walk in the pathway of Christ "..even as He walked." (I John 2:6; I Peter 2:21-23),
“in lowliness of mind" (Phil. 2:3); and, having once "escaped
the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ," wherefore, not to be again
entangled therein (2 Peter 2:20), but rather overcome the world by our faith (I
John 5:4) -- laying "aside every weight, and the sin, which doth so easily
beset us," so that we may "run with patience the race that is set
before us, looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith;.."
(See Heb 12:1,2.)
30. Beloved! What are we seeking? Is it wealth,
power, position, and praise of men? Or humble obedience to Christ and His lowly
pathway? (Philippians 2; I Peter 2:21-23.)
31. Is the Lord Jesus the center and circumference of our
lives? Is He everything to us so that we
can say with the apostle, "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is
gain."? Phil. 1:21. (See Gal. 2:20.)
32.
“And of His fulness have all we received, and grace
for grace.” (John 1:16.) All the
fullness of God comes close to us in the Person of Christ, the eternal Son of
God, Who assumed but perfect and sinless humanity -- “And the Word was made
Flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only
Begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” (1:14.)
33.
"he that hath seen Me hath seen the Father;"
declared Christ (John 14:9.) What a
glorious revelation of the New Testament!
We see the Father in His Son Jesus Christ. We see "the light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." (II Cor. 4:6.) Christ is the full and perfect revelation of
God. "No man hath seen God at any time;
the only begotten Son, Which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared
Him. (John 1:18.) The eternal glory of Christ is that "..the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of
grace and truth." (1:14.) It is the Father which is in heaven
revealed to Peter that Jesus is "the Christ, the Son of the Living
God." (Matt. 16:16-17.) The Son and
His Father are One (John 10:30; see John 17 &c). Christ is "the brightness of His glory,
and the express image of His Person," (Heb. 1:3) -- He is "the image
of God," (2 Cor. 4:4.) -- He is "the image of the invisible God, the
Firstborn of every creature: (or, all creation)" Col. 1:15. God has fully revealed Himself "in these
last days" in His Son (Heb 1:2).
34.
"..God is Love." (I John 4:8.) He has embodied this grace in the Person and
Work of His beloved Son Jesus Christ.
And this same grace is shown toward the ungodly, and the sinners; “But
God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we
were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8.) "But God, Who is rich
in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in
sins," etc. (See Eph.
2:1-10.) Such is His love -- divine,
sovereign, fathomless, great, and infinitely precious, and holy. It is only by entering upon such
contemplation of God’s love in Christ toward us, we can rejoice fully and
truly. "And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full." (I John
1:4.)
35.
I Tim. 3:16. “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God
was manifest in the Flesh” &c. God
in Christ is the original and sure foundation of our faith. (Matt. 16:18; Hebrews 12:2).
36. The love of Christ
had been there for the elect even from everlasting. "My delights were with the sons of
men." (Proverbs 8:31b). "..the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in
whom is all My delight." (Psalm
16:2-3). In
John 10, He spoke of His own who were not yet redeemed as "My sheep",
because they were given to Him as the Father's gift. (See also John 17.) Such is the eternal goodness of Lord
Jesus for His own. His love is free,
unmerited, unaltered, and all surpassing "..having
loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end." (John
13:1). "..the
Son of God, Who loved me, and gave Himself for me." (Gal. 2:20.) It was a fathomless love of the Son of
God. Moreover, it is a love in which the
saints find eternal safety and security—"in the clefts of the Rock"—"your life is hid
with Christ in God (Song of Solomon 2:14;
[March 15, 2016]
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