What have you to be thankful for? What have believers to be thankful for? You are here in church aren't you? Not everybody is here. Not everybody is part of the family of God. Not everybody is part of the body of Christ. Not everybody is part of God's universal Church. But every genuine believer is part of God's family, Christ's body, his church.

Not everybody is entitled to look forward to an eternal life of bliss. But you are --if you are a believer. The destiny that lies ahead of unbelievers is totally different. Jesus said, "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) In the apostle's letter to the believers in Thessalonica we read more about the destiny of unbelievers, that is, people who do not believe Jesus was/is what he was/is--"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; see also Romans 6:23; Luke 19:14 & 27) If you are a true believer the apostle Peter says to you--"In keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness." (2 Peter 3:13) He does not say 'in keeping with God's promise everybody is looking forward to the home of righteousness'. Be thankful you have been included among the people who do have that right and privilege.

Now let's look at some of the benefits of being a citizen of heaven. What is the significance of being a citizen of heaven? What are you entitled to because of your position in God's plan? 

One of the benefits of being a citizen of heaven is that those people have been delivered from the dominion of sin. 

From the dominion of sin. The dominion of sin is not at all the same as the influence of sin. The law of gravity, for example, is something that has dominion. It does not just have an occasional influence over people on earth; it has absolute control over them. Individuals can't escape the control of gravity. Step out a window in a tall building and find out. Just as everybody born into this world is subject to the law of gravity everybody born into this world is also subject to sin.

What does it mean that man in his natural state is under the dominion of sin? It means he is not attracted or drawn to God. The Bible says so in many ways. "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) Elsewhere in that book we are told: "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 to anybody else who wants to listen), "those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God." It also says, "The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so." (Romans 8, verses 8 and 7; see also Luke 19:14) The Bible is very clear on this point.

"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." (Galatians 3:22) The Bible does not say 'some people' are prisoners of sin but "the whole world is a prisoner of sin." The apostle Paul describes how this fact had shown up in his own experience--"I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind..." And what does the other law at work in his members bring about? He says, It "makes me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?" (Romans 7:23-24) (Later he answers this question.) In another place he states, "We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. ['Gentiles' means every human being who is not a Jew] 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; James 2:10; Ecclesiastes 7:20)

People under the dominion of sin, people in the realm, in the territory, in the jurisdiction of sin are slaves of sin. They are prisoners of sin. Being a prisoner is not the same thing as being free. A prisoner has no power to make himself a non-prisoner any more than a person can choose to remove himself from the control of the law of gravity. Being a prisoner of sin means a person has no power to act otherwise. In the case of sin it is not only people's bodies that are captive but their consciences and wills that are in bondage. Prisoners in the 'prison-house' of sin are not free to choose between God and evil. They are not free to pursue or not pursue courses of action that are pleasing to God. Hear how the Bible puts it-- "When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness." (Romans 6:20) This is where you were. Prisoners are not free to choose Satan or 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..." (John 6:44) It is no surprise that the Bible describes the deliverance from the control of sin as a birth, as being "born again"! (And when was the time or place of our birth a matter of our choice?) But the Bible clearly says a rebirth is absolutely essential. Remember Jesus words? "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. ... I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, `You must be born again.'" (John 3: verses 3, and 5-7; see also 2 Corinthians 5:17)

What have believers to be thankful for? --that you have been born again.

Even a perfect law or standard of ethics could not do you (or anybody else) any good. For the natural man the dominion of sin is such a rigid truth that even the very standard or law of God cannot deliver a prisoner of sin. The Bible speaks of that condition as being 'dead in trespasses and sins.' The law of sin and death (as the Bible describes it) is too strong. (Romans 7:23; 8:2) The Bible says, "If a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law" [that God divised]. (Galatians 3:21)

Deliverance from the condition of bondage, deliverance from the law of sin and death comes about only through Jesus Christ. "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) The apostle Paul spoke of his own deliverance from the dominion of sin, saying, "through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death." (Romans 8:2)

What do you have to be thankful for?--That you were not left in the prison of sin, that we were not left in that state which we (like everyone else) were born into. Because the natural state everyone is born into is one of bondage, being a prisoner of sin, we can only thank God that he chose to show mercy to us and not leave us in that condition-- under the absolute control of of the 'law of sin and death'!

The apostle Paul tells believers whether they were living in the first century or are in the United Mennonite Church in Quakertown what they should be doing. And what is that? --"giving thanks to the Father." For what act of God should we be giving thanks? Because as the apostle goes on to say 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) The Bible does not say God rescued everybody from the dominion of sin. But it does say God rescued us from the dominion of darkness... (The pronouns the Bible uses often 'point' to the particular people that are the recipients of God's eternal blessings.)

So far we have been looking at our deliverance from the dominion, from the absolute power or control of sin. As extraordinary as this deliverance is this is not the only deliverance that God's rescue operation brought about. There is another 'deliverance' (perhaps an even more important one) that we who are believers should be thankful for. It is the deliverance from the just condemnation or wrath of God-a condition which lasts for eternity

We deserved the wrath of God. The Bible says so. Every word or thought or act that is offensive to God is a sin. And we can be sure that we (like everyone else) have offended God many times. For each and every such time that we have done so we deserved the death penalty. How can I say this? Because the Bible tells me that the "the wages of sin is death." (Romans 6:23) It also tells me that "whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it." (James 2:10) In the book of Galatians the apostle Paul tells believers-- "All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law." (Galatians 3:10)  In the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes I am told, "There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins." (Ecclesiastes 7:20) We, like every other human being, deserve to be on 'death row'. Our thoughts, words and deeds have been offensive to God. In the hymnbook of the Old Testament (the Psalms) the psalmist tells us about the human condition: "If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand?" (Psalm 130:3)  The obvious answer is, 'no one'. And that is exactly what the apostle says in his letter to the congregation at Rome. There we read, "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 3:10-12; see also Isaiah 64:6)

We were not only prisoners but we deserved to be there--where? --on 'death row'.

But. And this is a big 'but'. That is not the end of God's intentions or purposes--for us.

Instead of holding us responsible to pay for our sins God chose to lay the just penalty for those sins on Christ. That was God's choice, not ours. In the Old Testament God told us, "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all." (pause) "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah 53:6; see also 1 Peter 3:18; 2 Corinthians 5:17).

The Bible says, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us..." (Galatians 3:13) The Bible does not say Christ redeemed everyone from the curse of the Law. Some people are left to pay the penalty for their crimes against God (which is what sins are.) No, He redeemed us, that is, he redeemed his people--believers--where ever they are. (See Revelation 5:9)

Because of what God the Father did--laying the punishment that we deserved on Christ--we can be thankful. Thankful for what? --that God "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." (Psalms 103:10-12; see also Romans 3:25-26)

Thank God you are no longer among those who yet have to pay for their sins with their lives. "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." (Romans 8:1) And who are those people who will have to pay for their sins? The Bible's answer to that question is clear: "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him." (John 3:36)

Providentially we are no longer in that category. Instead of treating us according to what we deserve God chose to bestow his mercy upon us. The apostle Paul states this truth so clearly in his letter to the congregation of believers at 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." [Then comes the big 'but'] -- "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. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus..." (Ephesians 2:1-6; see also Titus 3:3-7)

The verses do not say that 'God made everyone alive'; no, they say "God , who is rich in mercy, made us alive..."

Thank God he included you in that group of people he made alive. We are now members of his Body, part of his Church. Being in this special position is an enormous privilege. While everybody alive deserved the punishment of death (Romans 6:23; James 2:10; Ecclesiastes 7:20) not every human being received what they deserved. Not everybody was given a pardon. It was God choice to pardon anyone. It was God's choice upon whom he would show mercy. The Bible says so. "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 [that is, 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)

Since we, like everybody else--like all the other prisoners of sin on death's row, deserved to be there. What Christian would not have the thought, 'Why me? Why did God pardon me? Why did he choose me to be showered with eternal blessings rather than to be treated according to the sins I have committed?' When we remember that people under the control of sin are prisoners and are not free to chose not to be under the control of sin we can appreciate what a tremendous privilege it is to be one of the individuals that God redeemed, one of the individuals that God called out of darkness and transferred to the kingdom of his Son.

But There Is More

But there is more--more reason to be grateful for the attitude of mercy that God has demonstrated to us by his rescue operations. God's attitude towards us becomes even more awesome and more amazing when we see that the deliverances and the promises that God has bestowed upon us were parts of God's eternal plan in which we were included from the very beginning.

God's actions in history showed us how certain that the purpose he had in his heart for us from the very beginning would be fulfilled. How did he show us this?--By sending his Son Jesus Christ into a sin-polluted world to die to bring it about. Jesus Christ "gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father." (Galatians 1:4) The Bible says, "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8) Listen to Jesus' words about himself and his mission--"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. (John 10:11) Later he repeats this truth-- "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me-- just as the Father knows me I know the Father--and I lay down my life for the sheep." (John 10:14-15) Christ did not risk his life for us --as many of our soldiers have done. Not at all. He gave his life. Risking your life and deliberately laying down your life are totally different acts.

Jesus' death on the cross was not an unfortunate outcome of his ministry; it was the very essence of his mission. (Isaiah 53:5-6; Romans 8:3; 2 Corinthians 5:21)  Some time in the week before his crucifixion when Jesus knew that his sacrificial death for his people was imminent what did he say? "Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? NO, it was for this very reason I came to this hour." (John 12:27; see also John 18:11; Acts 2:23; Hebrews 2:14; 1 Peter 3:18)

Christ's substitutionary death on the cross was a means of bringing about God's eternally existing purpose and plan for us--that his adopted children might be holy and blameless or free from accusation. God's concern for you began a long 'time' ago and continues at the present time. Do you have the nerve to doubt it? The apostle Paul tells all believers how we should look upon God's purposes--"He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies." (Romans 8:32-33)

Everybody, every human being, is not a redeemed individual. Every human being is not a citizen of heaven. But if you are a believer you are. It was by an act of God that you are what you are--a redeemed individual, an individual that has been effectually called out of darkness, an individual that has been transferred to the kingdom of God's Son. Be thankful that he included you.

What have we believers to be thankful for? For God's ability and determination to fulfil or bring about his long-standing purposes for us. Because of God's ability and determination to bring about his purposes we can feel confident that the awesome attitude he had for us from the beginning of time will never cease or become ineffectual.

Let's look at yet more statements about God's purpose for us---

"Christ Jesus, who died--more than that, who was raised to life--is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ....: No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." (Romans 8:34-35,37)

And again, "All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He [that is, God] does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: 'What have you done?'" (Daniel 4:35)

And again, "In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will." (Ephesians 1:11)

The apostle Paul was confident that God could be counted on-- "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39)

In another place the apostle speaks of God's continuing care for his adopted children in these words--"he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 1:6; see also 2:13)

And again, And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body." (Philippians 3:20-21)

In the apostle Peter's 1st letter to believers scattered in many parts of the known world we hear God's words of promise and comfort-- "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! 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." (1 Peter 1:3-5)

In the book of Jude we hear God's comfort in these words-- "To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy--to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore!" (Jude verses 24-25)

God's gracious attitude toward the people he delivered is awesome. God's attitude towards us existed in eternity. At the proper time God the Father sent his Son into the world to bring his purposes for us to fulfillment. "When the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons." (Galatians 4:4) Jesus Christ--God the Son laid down his life to bring God's purpose to fulfillment. "By one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. " (Hebrews 10:14) God's favorable attitude towards us will be watching over us forever.

If you are a believer what do you have to be thankful for? What a ridiculous question this is for the people who remember what God has done for them.

 

(If you appreciate what you read here please tell your friends about this URL and sign my guest book on the homepage. Also, if, as you read any of the meditations, you feel you know of a situation that beautifully illustrates any of the points made I would be delighted to learn of it. I might incorporate it.) )   mailto:camppp21355@comcast.net

 Copyright 2003 Cameron F. Paine Usage Encouraged