“For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who will have all men to be saved.” 1 Timothy 2:4
Dear Ones:
How determined is God to save mankind? By “save” we mean that God is willing and working so that all of a person’s sins are forgiven and washed away, that he or she receives the gift of righteousness in Jesus’ blood by faith, and that Christ, by His Spirit, comes to dwell in the heart. In order to answer the question concerning the determination of God to save all men, we need to ask ourselves another one: “How determined was the Lord Jesus to go to the cross, endure the cross, and finish perfectly the work that His Father had given Him to do?” In the book of Hebrews, we read the following: “Then He said, “Lo, I come to do Thy will, O God.'” (10:9) There is in this short statement the unveiling of the perfect and total commitment of the Son of God to DO, to accomplish absolutely, the perfect work of salvation. At one point, in going towards to Jerusalem, Christ’s demeanor was such that His disciples were afraid of Him. When we see Him in the Garden of Gethsemane, He has fallen down on His face, then kneeling, praying in agony to the Father, to remove from Him the “cup” of all that He was to receive, drink from. All in His humanity was repulsed by the coming ordeal of the cross. The Father would even send an angel to strengthen the Lord Jesus at this time. His suffering was so intense that his sweat was, as it were, “…great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” (Luke 22:44) What is the central thrust of His prayer in the garden? “Not My will but Thine be done.” Not only is the Father determined to make the ultimate sacrifice in the giving of His Son to be the perfect Lamb for all mankind, to die and taste death for every man, but the Son is determined to obey the Father, even if it means bearing the judgement for the sin whole world. Christ’s determination is even seen when He was brought before Pilate. He could have pleaded His case of innocence, but He did not. On the contrary, even as He was in private counsel with Pilate, He was seeking to save him. Then would come the cross. Every strand of decency was stripped from Him. Every form of verbal abuse and rejection was hurled at Him. Pain without measure was inflicted upon Him. But beyond all that, when the Son of Man became sin for us by virtue of the Father, “…laying on Him the iniquity of us all,” (Is. 53:6) the cold, inescapable darkness of the judgement of God, was immeasurably felt and known. It was in that moment of accomplishing the perfect will of God, by overcoming every form of opposition to Him and to His mission, that He would declare: “It is finished.” (Jn. 19:30) We come back to our question: “How determined is God to save us?” His determination can only be measured by the suffering of the Father and the Son, in the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In the book of Isaiah, chapter 53, he begins his clear and moving description of the suffering, and work of Christ, by asking this question: “WHO has believed our report?” THIS is the great question for mankind, and for each of us individually.
Dear Father, open our eyes to see, “…the bleeding Prince of life and peace,” upon that cross, and to realize that you are DETERMINED to save all men. With the vision of Your determined will, and proof of eternal love, give us grace to turn wholly to You, to BE entirely yours, receiving all that You desire to freely give of LIFE in Christ. We thank and praise You, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Love, Dad