“With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26
Dear Ones:
In one of Charles Wesley’s great hymns, he writes: “All things are possible to him that can in Jesus’ name believe…If nothing is too hard for Thee, All things are possible to me.” Why are these statements so significant, and life-changing? It is because that which is impossible to man, becomes possible, by virtue of God’s working, for whom nothing is impossible according to His will and purpose. Jeremiah would write about the same truth many years before Matthew: “Ah Lord God! Behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by Thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for Thee.” The Lord would then say to Jeremiah: “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?” (Jer. 32:17,27) We might ask at this point: “Well, this knowledge of God is all well and good, but where does the impossible become possible in the hearts and lives of men? Where does that which is Possible with God become possible with man? Again, Wesley comes to our aid. He writes: “I can, I do, BELIEVE in Thee; all things are possible to me.” And then, “All things are possible to God; to CHRIST, the power of God in man.” What do we see here, and what is the basis of believing the impossible to be realized?
The first thing to grasp is that faith, true faith, is in one Object and one Object alone…Christ. God has declared through the writings of the Apostle Paul: “All the fullness of the Godhead abides in Him (Christ).” He then declares: “And ye are complete in Him (Christ),” seated in heavenly places in Christ, and yet, one with him as our Vine and we the branches. In other words, man is called to look completely away from himself, and his circumstances, to Christ. In that gaze and expectation, man is to “live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” It is in the knowledge of the truth, as it is in Christ, that we are able to SEE and to GRASP what God will do, always according to His good will, and for the glory of God. Secondly, there has to be a grasping by faith of the greatness, and enormity of God, for whom NOTHING is impossible. Faith for the impossible comes only when the vision of God, born out of worshipping Him, is greater than the impossibility.
Perhaps the greatest of impossibilities is that which pertains to the human soul, spirit, and body. There is so very much in this sinful world which militates against the soul, that we are obligated to realize that in and of ourselves, we cannot save ourselves from sin, self, the world, and the devil. In Matthew 19, where Jesus deals with the rich young ruler, we see a man who has everything “good,” and yet he feels very keenly that he needs to be saved. He lacks eternal life. Even his sincerity is not enough to assure this. It is then, when the Lord makes it clear that a man can never truly save or change himself, that He declares: “With men this is impossible, but with God, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE.”
Dear Father, give us grace to grasp the reality of our limitations and need, and that which is truly impossible to us. But at the same time, and in an ever-increasing way, give us to see THEE Lord Jesus, our sovereign and victorious Lord, for whom NOTHING is impossible, and who dwells in our hearts. Fill us with Thy life and victory, as we look unto Thee, going forth in full assurance of faith. We praise and thank Thee for the reality that “…I can do ALL things through Christ which strengthens me.” (Phil. 4:13) In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad