The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Deuteronomy 7:6,
"You [Israel] are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession."
Imagine God holding a people as his "treasured possession"! When God treasures something, that is something indeed!
As all mankind is, the Israelites were sinners estranged from God and would treat this love God had for them, as well as their standing as his "treasured possession" contemptuously.
Why did God love these people? Why did God hold them as his treasured possession? Why did God embrace them as his chosen people? It is all about the faith Abraham had placed in God.
"Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness." Genesis 15:6. Abraham, the progenitor of the Israelites, held God in the kind of faith God desired to reward with a standing of righteousness, bringing redemption from sin and entrance into his kingdom, his family, for all eternity: heavenly bound. In Romans chapter four, Paul makes a focus of this in his explanation of salvation by faith.
Due to Abraham's faith, God promised to make a people of him with a special purpose in mind, the purpose of mankind's redemption. It would be through this chosen people of God that he would communicate to the world, through prophetic pronouncements and in the Scriptures of God's intention of redeeming mankind.
Additionally, in that God is a seriously just God, the sins of mankind would have to be paid for in order to effect redemption. This he determined to do through offering his Son, Jesus Christ, as payment for those sins. The chosen people of Israel, due to their standing with God because of Abraham's faith, would be the vehicle through which the Son of God would be brought into the world, to be made human in every way (see Hebrews 2:14-18). The offering Jesus Christ made of his body on that cross paid the price for the sins of mankind.
Those who have embraced Jesus Christ in the faith Abraham had now become God's treasured possession! In speaking of Christians, Peter says, "You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." 1 Peter 2:9-10.
How wonderful is that?!
"You [Israel] are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession."
Imagine God holding a people as his "treasured possession"! When God treasures something, that is something indeed!
As all mankind is, the Israelites were sinners estranged from God and would treat this love God had for them, as well as their standing as his "treasured possession" contemptuously.
Why did God love these people? Why did God hold them as his treasured possession? Why did God embrace them as his chosen people? It is all about the faith Abraham had placed in God.
"Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness." Genesis 15:6. Abraham, the progenitor of the Israelites, held God in the kind of faith God desired to reward with a standing of righteousness, bringing redemption from sin and entrance into his kingdom, his family, for all eternity: heavenly bound. In Romans chapter four, Paul makes a focus of this in his explanation of salvation by faith.
Due to Abraham's faith, God promised to make a people of him with a special purpose in mind, the purpose of mankind's redemption. It would be through this chosen people of God that he would communicate to the world, through prophetic pronouncements and in the Scriptures of God's intention of redeeming mankind.
Additionally, in that God is a seriously just God, the sins of mankind would have to be paid for in order to effect redemption. This he determined to do through offering his Son, Jesus Christ, as payment for those sins. The chosen people of Israel, due to their standing with God because of Abraham's faith, would be the vehicle through which the Son of God would be brought into the world, to be made human in every way (see Hebrews 2:14-18). The offering Jesus Christ made of his body on that cross paid the price for the sins of mankind.
Those who have embraced Jesus Christ in the faith Abraham had now become God's treasured possession! In speaking of Christians, Peter says, "You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." 1 Peter 2:9-10.
How wonderful is that?!
And, now you know!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
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