“To me, who am less than the least of all saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ …” Ephesians 3:8
In J.S.B. Monsell’s great hymn, “Oh, Worship the Lord,” he writes: “Fear not to enter His courts in the slenderness of the POOR WEALTH thou wouldst reckon as thine; truth in its beauty, and love in its tenderness, these are the offerings to lay on His shrine.” What is Monsell saying here? It is this, that man in his sin, has less than nothing to offer God in thanks for creating him, much less for redeeming him. The great King David, is aligned with Paul the Apostle, in declaring the true condition of man: “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.” Paul would express what he discovered of himself when he wrote: “O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24) Both men, and so many by their testimony, have declared the same thing, that which the apostle summed up when he wrote to the Ephesian believers: “And you He (Christ) made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins…” (2:1) What a bleak picture of the sinfulness of man, which in the presence of a perfectly holy God, cannot stand, or be accepted by Him. It will only be by the infinite mercy and grace of God that a “Way” has been provided for lost and sinful man, to be found and made righteous. God alone can replace filthy rags with His clean garments of righteousness, give beauty for ashes, and the oil of joy for sorrow. (Is. 61:3) Man, in and of himself, has nothing to offer God that is worthy, acceptable, and good. It is only when Christ comes knocking at the door of the heart, desiring entrance to save the soul, cleanse the vessel, and fill it with His beauty, righteousness, and goodness, that man can receive Him, being born to a new, living, and everlasting hope that will be fulfilled in greatest measure at the blessed meeting with Christ. It was Theodore Monod, a godly French pastor of long ago who summed it up like this: ” All is in Christ, by the Holy Spirit, for the glory of God. All else is nothing.”
Jesus, in using many illustrations, stories, and pictures painted with His words of truth and life, spoke of the kingdom of God and its relationship with children. In calling a child to Him, and setting him in the midst of His disciples, He said to them: “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of God. Therefore, whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt. 18:3,4) Why is it, and how can it be, that one must become like a child to enter the kingdom of heaven? It is because children are totally dependent upon those who care for it, to live. They must receive everything if they are to survive, and live. If one is not willing to receive from God all that He gives in Christ to be saved, he cannot live, for he declares by his refusal to receive that there is something in him that is worthy which he can claim as good so that God will accept him. He deceives himself, for there is none good, and all our righteousness is as filthy rags in the sight of God. Only by the cry of the sinner to God, for mercy to be heard, and grace to receive the perfect gift of cleansing in the precious blood of Christ, and the life-giving Spirit of Christ, can one be justified by faith, the gift of God.
Jesus spoke in a parable of a tax collector who in the temple, “stood afar off,” with head bowed low, earnestly praying, “God be merciful to me a sinner.” This man was justified, convicted that he had nothing, and Christ was everything.
Dear Father, Make us child-like today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.