INTRODUCTION

Why be thankful? Because not everybody is 'us', that is, a believer, a Christian. Because not everybody is part of the Family of God, part of the Church, part of the Body of Christ. But we are. Only those that qualify as 'members' are part of that particular group.

Not everybody is a democrat. Not everybody is a woman. Not everybody is an American. Not everybody is a citizen of Spain or the Philippines. Isn't it obvious? Only certain individuals fall into particular categories. In the same way that not everyone is a citizen of France not everyone is a citizen of heaven. The Bible does not teach that everybody has been delivered from the control of Satan. The Bible does not teach that everybody has been delivered from the kingdom of darkness and been transferred to God's kingdom, the kingdom of the beloved Son. Not everybody is included in the category of people who will receive an unending inheritance of blessing. Not everybody is chosen. Not everybody is 'us'.(1 Corinthians 1:18; Ephesians 1:3-5; 2:3-6)

Who is the Bible speaking to and about? When the apostle Peter said to a group of people, "You have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God." (1 Peter 1:23) was he addressing everybody on earth at that time? He did not say 'everybody has been born again' but that the people he was addressing-('You') have been born again. Who was he speaking or writing to?--real members of the Body of Christ, real members of the God's Church--people who have been given entitlement to God's promises--(the same way people in the United States are entitled to the benefits of American citizenship) that is, genuine believers

When Jesus made the statement, "He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, 'Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.'" (John 7:38) was he addressing everyone or speaking about every human being? Who the individuals are (and are not) about whom the Bible says, 'Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water' the next verse points out even more clearly: "Now this he said about the Spirit, which those who believed in him were to receive; for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified." (John 7:39)

Why be thankful? Because every genuine believer ('you') has been called out of darkness and is one of the eternally favored people. Should believers be thankful? The Bible tells believers that they should be "giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves..." (Colossians 1:12-13),

After 'gazing at' and digesting God's many statements about his people (each of which brings out more of the beauty of the position that every believers is in) we believers can better appreciate the marvelousness, the awesomeness of our position as God's adopted children, an adoption which will last for eternity.

Now let's do so. Let's look the statements of God which remind us of where we stand in God's heart and purposes. Let's revel in those verses that remind us of how unique, how special our position in Christ is.
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Why Be Thankful? --Because God's Actions Made Us What We Are

Why be thankful? Because God's actions made us what we are and put us where we are. The greatest reason (in a sense the only reason) to be thankful, is having been included among those upon whom God has chosen to bestow his mercies. This very special group of people is what the Bible calls the Church, the Body of Christ, the Family of God. There is no greater privilege than to be one of these people. What makes this such a special honor and privilege is it's uniqueness. Not every human being is made a 'member'. (While in this world God causes his rain to fall on the righteous and the unrighteous that is not the way God treats the righteous and the unrighteous in eternity (2 Thessalonians 1:8-9; Revelation 21:27; Matthew 13:41)) The other reason that inclusion in this special group is a unique honor and privilege is that the 'group' is a creation of God and it is God who chose and qualified the 'members'. (John 15:16; 6:44; Colossians 1:12-13)

What makes this privilege stand out is that God did not bestow this mercy, this privilege on everybody. As is readily observable not every human being in the human race belongs to this special group that the Bible calls the Church, the Body of Christ, the Family of God, etc. It was God who created the group. It is not the result of human will or natural descent. How does the Bible express this truth-- "to those who believed in his [Jesus'] name, he gave the right to become children of God--children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. (John1:12-13)

What makes this privilege stand out is that it is privilege and not an automatic or natural part of being a human being. It is not the natural state of human beings the way breathing is. Man in his natural state is not a 'member' of God's Church. Man in his natural state is not one of God's 'called out' ones (which is what the Greek term for 'church' suggests--ek klesia). The 'once born' individual is not a 'member'. The condition of the natural man is not to fear God. The condition of the natural man is not to reverence him or his ways. (Romans 8:7,8; John 3:19) On the contrary the natural disposition of the 'once born' individual is to have contempt for God and despise his ways.

Man in his natural state is under the dominion of sin and is therefore not attracted to God. "The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Corinthians 2:14) and "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." (1 Corinthians 1:18) Scripture says to believers (and anybody else who wants to listen), "those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. / the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so." (Romans 8:8,7) The Bible is very clear on this point.

The state of the 'once born', the natural man (or woman), the unrescued is totally alien to that of the believer. What is the state of the natural man--bondage, that is, being under the dominion or absolute control of sin. "The Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe." (Galations 3:22) "We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. As it is written: 'There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.' " (Romans 3:9-12; see also Isaiah 64:6) Even an ethical standard or law as perfect as God's cannot save (or even resuscitate) a dead man. (Galatians 3:21) God knew that. "For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man..." (Romans 8:3)

Being a prisoner of sin (as the verses quoted in the 2 paragraphs preceding this one point out) is an entirely different situation from being free to choose good or evil, from being free to pursue or not pursue courses of action that are pleasing or offensive to God. What did Jesus say about who can believe in him? "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. (John 6:44) No wonder the Bible describes the deliverance from the control of sin as being "born again"! (John 3:3,5) This state of bondage was the state everyone was born into. Because the natural state everyone is born into is one of bondage we can only thank God that he is merciful and did not leave us in that condition! It was because of the dominion of sin over all people that God the Father sent his Son on a rescue mission. But he did not rescue everyone.

Prior to an individual's deliverance, prior to an individual's rescue from the 'prison-house' of sin there were no believers. Everybody alive deserved the punishment of death because everybody had transgressed God's will. (Romans 6:23; James 2:10; Ecclesiastes 7:20) It was God choice to deliver anyone. It was God's choice upon whom he would show mercy. "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." (Romans 9:15; see also John 15:19) It [being a recipient of God's mercy] does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: 'I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.' Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden." (Romans 9:16-18)

The reason there are believers today, the reason there are any people today who are not under the absolute control of sin (=dead in trespasses and sins) is because of God's mercy. (Ephesians 2:1,3)

Because not everyone is an eternal beneficiary of Christ's planned death on the cross (Acts 2:23) it is good to be one of the individuals God has chosen to receive God's eternal mercies. Look at what the Bible says in what is probably the most familiar and widely quoted verse in the New Testament-John 3:16. The verse describes God's action that benefited this special group of people. "God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son." (John 3:16) Who were the intended beneficiaries of this action? In that very verse God answers that question--"that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

That verse does not say that God sent his Son to die on the cross 'that everyone shall not perish but have eternal life'. The verse limits the beneficial effect of Christ's shed blood to a special group of individuals--believers--"whoever believes in him." It is only this special group of people (the Church) who benefit for all time from Christ's shed blood. It is they and they alone that have been given the blessed gift of eternal life. It is they and they alone that have been delivered from the dominion or absolute control of sin. Everybody else is left in their natural state, their 'once born' state. To be one of the chosen ones is something to be thankful for.

How great a blessing it is to have been included among the 'called-out' ones becomes more apparent and more wonderful when we contrast what we have to look forward to with what unbelievers have to look forward to.

God does not look with favor upon individuals who do not recognize God's existence and stature. In 2 Thessalonians God's actions towards those individuals "who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus" is described in very blunt language. The Bible says, "He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power." (2 Thessalonians 1:8-9)

The apostle Paul in his letter to the believers in Galatia describes the kind of behavior that does not please God--"The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;  idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions  and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God." (Galatians 5:19-21)

In other places in Scripture the dreadful destiny of people who are not part of the blessed group-the Church, the Body of Christ, the Family of God, etc. is set forth. In the last book of the Bible God speaks of the kind of people who are left to die in their sins, people who are left to pay for their sins, people who have a very different kind of destiny ahead of them. In Revelation 21:7 after God says, 'He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son' God goes on to point out the terrible destiny that lay ahead for other people, "But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars--their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death." (Revelation 21:8; see also Galatians 5:19) Look at the destiny that Jesus said lay ahead for those Jews who did not believe his claim to be the Son of God. "I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins." (John 8:24)

What a privilege it is that I (and all believers) do not have this dreadful destiny to look forward to.

Why be thankful? Because believers are the only people who benefit eternally from Christ's shed blood and I am one of them. When we remember that we are believers like those in Colossae we 'hear' the apostle Paul saying to us, "When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,  having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross." (Colossians 2:13-14) To have the sentence of death (Romans 6:23) which we deserved removed from our destiny is a great blessing

Those individuals who have been rescued from the 'prison house' of sin, that is, believers, were themselves in that state. Like everybody else they were under the dominion of sin. The Bible says to believers, "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins." (Ephesians 2:1). As the Jewish New Testament puts it, "In our natural condition we were headed for God’s wrath, just like everyone else." (Ephesians 2:3) In 1st Corinthians the condition of saved people both before and after being called out of darkness is vividly described. "Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." (1Corinthians 6:9-11)

What do I have to be thankful for? That we were washed, sanctified and justified; that God rescued us from the jurisdiction of sin and transferred us to the eternal kingdom of God's Son. It is to God that Christians are to give "thanks to the Father" for what he has done. And what according to his own word has he done that we are to be thanking him for? "[He] has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves." (Colossians 1:12-13; see also Romans 8:32)

What does God call his people whom he has called out of darkness? "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God (1 Peter 2:9) Me? What an awesome thought! To think of what God has done for me... Christ, the Son of God "gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good." (Titus 2:14; see also Galatians 1:4; Ephesians 5:25-27) What an enormous reason to witness--Making us, not everyone but us "a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." (1 Peter 2:9) Thank God that he did this for us!

Not only did God create the group--his people, the Church, the Body of Christ, the Family of God but his decision to do so was not a spur of the moment decision. His desire to pay the penalty for believers' sins and to rescue us from the dominion of sin was not a response to circumstances. What God did was not what in everyday life we describe as 'the best way to handle a strange and unexpected development'. Far from it. His desire to save a people for himself, the desire to be merciful to me was in God's heart and part of his plan from the beginning of time, even from eternity past. (Such a truth is hard to take in.)

Only those whom God chose before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless will enjoy God's eternal favor. "For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight...." (Ephesians 1:4; see also 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 1:9; Colossians 1:22) Only those people were chosen and at the same time predestined to such an unspeakable inheritance.--"And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified." (Romans 8:30) "In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will--" (Ephesians 1:5). What a debt of gratitude I owe God! Why be thankful? What a ridiculous question!

God's purpose for such people from the beginning of time was that each of them would become like Jesus. "For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers." (Romans 8:29; see also 2 Corinthians 3:18) "From everlasting to everlasting the LORD's love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children's children." (Psalm 103:17; see also Romans 8:33-34,35-39)

It isn't everybody that was made entitled to God's mercies or blessings in eternity past and forever. What do you have to be thankful for? That you were included among the people upon whom God bestowed his eternal favor. Is there anybody who would not have the thought, 'Why me?' We, like everybody else--all the other prisoners of sin on death's row, deserved to be there and God could have left everybody there. But he didn't. He chose to be gracious to us, to bestow pardons upon us. It was his choice. "He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us." (Psalm 103:10-12; see also Ephesians 2:1, 3-6)

The way the Bible describes Christ's role in the plan of salvation of God reminds me that God did not bestow his mercy upon everybody. The way the Bible describes Christ's role in the plan of salvation of God reminds me that the sacrificial death of Christ on the Cross eternally benefited only certain people. The Bible says, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us..." (Galations 3:13) The Bible does not say Christ redeemed everyone from the curse of the Law. No, He did it for us. In the letter to the Church at Colossae the same act of God is set forth in different language--"But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—" (Colossians 1:22). The verse does not say 'but now he has reconciled everybody...'. The promises of God are for those God bestowed them upon. Unless God had done this for us, our wills like everyone else's would still be in bondage. (Galatians 3:22; Romans 3:9-12; 8:7,8; Ephesians 2:3)

Only those individuals that God has delivered (rescued) from that condition, from the 'prison-house' of sin, are no longer in bondage. Only those individuals that God has delivered (rescued) from that condition or from that 'prison-house' are qualified to be 'members' of that special group of people--the people that are in the eternal favor of God. Believers were once in that bondage --that the natural man still is in-- but they are no longer in that bondage. "Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)

Hear the apostle Paul's statement addressed to the believers in Ephesus--"As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, ...All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved." (Ephesians 2:1,3-5; see also Titus 3:5; Isaiah 64:6)

And who are the people who have been rescued from that condition, from the condition of bondage? Believers. Who else? What are the marks of 'membership'? The basic one is that you believe. Believe what?--that Jesus is God come in the flesh. Only those individuals who believe this fact are qualified to be in this group. Belief that Jesus is God come in the flesh is the essential mark that sets those people God rescued apart from the rest of the human race. "This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist." (1 John 4:2-3; see also 2 John 1:7) The apostle Paul summed up the essential response, the essential mark of the Christian this way: "If you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." (Romans 10:9)

Not everybody believes this and therefore not everybody is qualified to be a 'member' of this special group of people. What cause do we who believe have to be thankful? That God delivered us from the penalty for, and dominion of, sin so that we had the power of the new birth, the ability to 'see' (to believe) that Jesus was God come in the flesh. (Acts 16:14; Romans 10:8-9; John 5:24; 11:25-26)

Because of God's delivering us from the dominion of sin and from the penalty that our sins made us liable to we now have the privilege to look forward to the new heavens and new earth, the home of righteousness. "But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. (2 Peter 3:13-14) To be able to look forward to the fulfilment of God's promises is a tremendous privilege which not everybody has. Think about it. Make use of of the privilege. 

Another way this positive side of salvation is described is the statement that we have been made heirs to an eternal inheritance. "The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory." (Romans 8:16-17; see also Philippians 1:29)

This is what our God promised us--an eternal inheritance. In our future we have an inheritance to look forward to. It has been reserved for us. This inheritance that is reserved for us is spoken of in many ways. "In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you." (1 Peter 1:3-4). In the letter addressed to the Church at Colossae the inheritance is spoken of as 'the hope'. "...the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel." (Colossians 1:5) "Here indeed we groan, and long to put on our heavenly dwelling," (2 Corinthians 5:2,4) "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. .... creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.... we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies." (Romans 8:18-19,21,23) Christians are exhorted to look to the destiny that God promised them--"We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised." (Hebrews 6:12; see also 10:36; Colossians 1:22-23)

How good it is to have the privilege to look forward to this destiny--an eternal inheritance. There are many who cannot look forward to anything good. (1 Peter 3:18; Hebrews 10:14) Be thankful that you can and do. 

Having been delivered from the dominion of sin and from the penalty that sin incurs believers have the privilege to look forward to the reappearance of him who died to set them free from the prison-house of sin and from deserved wrath of God  We are waiting with anticipation, waiting with eagerness for Jesus' final appearance. The apostle Paul states the truth so clearly: "Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day-and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing." (2 Timothy 4:8) The Bible tells believers about the future--"Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him." (Hebrews 9:28) In the book of Titus believers are told how to live in a dark, sin-dominated world (2:12) "while we wait for the blessed hope-the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ." (Titus 2:13) The Bible says to believers--"But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ." (Philippians 3:20) Is not being able to look forward to the reappearance of the God who redeemed us a great privilege to be thankful for? As a familiar hymn says, 'Count your blessings'. And that includes the eternal blessings our God has made us heirs to.

FINAL REMARKS

What fact is more heart-warming and comforting to recall than that 'I' have been chosen to receive God's mercies, that I was one of those whom God chose not to treat according to his sins and iniquities. (Psalm 103:12; Psalm 32:1-2; Romans 4:7-8)

That is what Christians give thanks for--for what God did--his deliverance of us from that bondage to sin, from deserving God's just condemnation (his wrath), and his transferring of us to the eternal kingdom of his beloved Son.. (Colossians 1:12-14; see also 1 Peter 2:9)

A few delicious and nutritious declarations of God repeated--

"Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him." (Romans 4:7-8)

"There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death." (Romans 8:1-2

"I tell you the truth, [Jesus said] whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life." (John 5:24)

"In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice..." (1 Peter 1:3-6)

"To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy--" (Jude 1:24; see also Ephesians 5:25-27; Romans 14:4)

[God] "..who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 2:13)

What emotion can we have other than being thankful that we were included among the pardoned, that we were included among those who were given entitlement to the eternal blessings of God. Like the rest of sinners we were on 'death row' where we deserved to be according to God's own law and where we would still be if God had not shown us mercy. (Romans 3:25-26; Ephesians 2:3-6). But it was God's choice to deliver us from the dominion of sin and from the consequences of sin, that is, from the eternal death that the offenders against God deserved. It was his choice to bestow upon us an inheritance of eternal blessings.

Why be thankful? --Because of God's actions--they made us what we are.

 

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