The Bible in 2020

Today’s Reading

Ezekiel 32-33; 1 Peter 1

Selected Verses

“You consider yourself a lion of the nations, but you are like a dragon in the seas;
you burst forth in your rivers, trouble the waters with your feet, and foul their rivers.
Thus says the Lord God:
I will throw my net over you with a host of many peoples,
and they will haul you up in my dragnet.  Ezekiel 32:2-3

 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,  to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.  1 Peter 1:3-5

Reflections

Pharaoh was one of those people who had a faulty and exalted opinion of himself. He saw himself as a “lion of the nations”, but God had another view of him. Through Ezekiel, the Lord told the king of Egypt that he was no lion but a dragon who was fouling the rivers and who was about to be caught and destroyed.

Peter wrote that Christians are heirs of God. It is not their own doing. They didn’t earn this status. God, by His mercy, has granted it to His people. There is a process.

First, He caused them to be born again. He did it. They did not will themselves to be reborn. Jesus told Nicodemus a new birth was an absolute prerequisite in order to see the Kingdom of God (John 3:3). Rebirth is a gracious gift from God’s mercy. Second, because of that new birth, believers have a living hope through Jesus Christ’s resurrection. Whatever they hoped in before is perishable, defiled, and fading. This new living hope is in an inheritance totally unlike any material and earthly inheritance. Third, they cannot lose this hope because the inheritance is kept in heaven (not Wall Street!) for them and they are guarded by God’s power through faith for a salvation which they will see at the last time.

Think about it

Do you see yourself in the way Peter described, an heir of God with a living hope? You should, if you know the new birth has been granted to you and your faith is in Jesus Christ. Consider if your view of yourself is accurate and in accordance with the way God sees you. Remember seeing yourself correctly glorifies God.

© 2017 John A Carroll  Used by permission

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