Sunday
Mar092008
A Post In Which I Boast
Sunday, March 9, 2008 at 8:30PM I came to Christ when I was very young. I can’t remember exactly how old I was, but I do know that it was before I started kindergarten, and I do remember the circumstances. I was a little girl, standing on the back pew of small church in rural Idaho, listening (believe it or not!) to the sermon.
I don’t remember the whole sermon, but I do remember that somewhere within it there was an explanation of Christ’s death on the cross and I was transfixed. I saw an image of my Saviour on the cross, suffering for me, and at that instant I understood that I needed what was accomplished for me there. And more than that: I knew that I wanted, above everything else, what was provided for me there.
I don’t remember the whole sermon, but I do remember that somewhere within it there was an explanation of Christ’s death on the cross and I was transfixed. I saw an image of my Saviour on the cross, suffering for me, and at that instant I understood that I needed what was accomplished for me there. And more than that: I knew that I wanted, above everything else, what was provided for me there.
Since I was only 4 or 5, I really shouldn’t have understood that sermon at all. It wasn’t the children’s sermon; it was the regular adult sermon and a pretty deeply doctrinal one at that. Yet I heard truths of Christ and the cross, put it all together and saw something wonderful: the beauty of Christ and the wisdom of the cross.
Looking back, I see that level of understanding as a gracious gift of God to a little girl: saving grace; enlightening grace. 2 Corinthians 4:6 says this:
First Corinthians 1:30-31 tells us that it is
I specifically remember understanding that I had already offended God by my actions. Standing on that pew, I knew that I lied regularly to my parents to get what I wanted. Listening to that sermon, I knew that I was in need of a great saving work and that Christ was the only person capable of performing that work. I knew that there was only one way that work could be accomplished, and Christ had already done it. I understood for the very first time the absolute necessity, rightness, and power of the cross.
This scripture from 1 Corinthians tells me that it was “by God’s doing” that I knew what I knew. It wasn’t because I was a spectacularly precocious five year old; it wasn’t because it was a extraordinarily powerful sermon. It was by God’s doing: God’s saving grace, his enlightening and regenerating grace.
There’s a reason God works this way. It’s so that none of us can stand up and say that we have the treasure we have in Christ because we were smart, or strong, or raised in the right sort of home. It’s so that when we glory in the treasure that Christ is to us, it is God who gets every last bit of the glory. Or, as this text says, it’s so that when we boast, we “boast in the Lord.”
There’s another sort of grace that I’m thankful for, too. It is God’s gracious work in all the circumstances of my life. Romans 8:28 and 29 says this:
What is good according to Paul? What is good according to God’s purpose, his plan? It’s conforming me to the image of His Son. The rocky road I’ve travelled didn’t come only because I live in a fallen world and bad things happen here. No, my trail is God-directed by God-worked circumstances to bring God-purposed results. All my trials are working something wonderful: they are conforming me to the image of his Son; they are working a family resemblance.
Sometimes I look at my life and get a glimpse of that. For one thing, when things are difficult, I’m forced, minute by minute, to depend on God’s help, and in a counterintuitive way, there is real joy in that. And I know, like never before, the transitory nature of everything in this world. Ever since the fall, this life has been a losing game, and knowing that through my own experience helps focus my heart on what is eternal. It causes me to long for the day when all the sons and daughters of God, along with all of creation, will be fully and finally redeemed. If we define hope in the biblical way, as certainty of a glorious inheritance to come, I’d say that the difficult circumstances in my life have given me real hope.
The truth of Romans 8 is that even the hard things (and all of the hard things) are good things in my Father’s hands, for they are making me like the One whose extraordinary beauty I first glimpsed as a little girl. My circumstances are tools of sanctifying grace in God’s hands.
As a matter of fact, all of this is saving grace working the process of salvation: enlightening and regenerating, justifying, sanctifying. It is God who shone in my heart to give me “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” It is by God’s doing that I am in Christ Jesus. It is by God’s causation that I am, through all the circumstances of my life, being conformed to Christ’s image. And so all the glory goes to God: “LET THE ONE WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD.”
Looking back, I see that level of understanding as a gracious gift of God to a little girl: saving grace; enlightening grace. 2 Corinthians 4:6 says this:
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.I love this verse because it explains exactly what happened to me that day. It puts my experience in the context of the creative work of God. “…God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness…” points us right back to God’s work at the beginning of time when he called out light and light came into being. When we see “the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (and that’s exactly what I saw that Sunday) it, too, is the result of a creative act of God. Only in this case, he is not calling something out; he is shining something in: himself in our hearts. As as a result of his shining, we see and know and understand “the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
First Corinthians 1:30-31 tells us that it is
….by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, “LET THE ONE WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD.”When Christ became wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption to me, as he did that day, it was by God’s doing. I was not wise; I had only a child’s limited understanding of things. Humanly speaking, I was not in a position to understand the “preaching of the cross.” Yet to me, the preaching of Christ crucified was indeed the “power of God and the wisdom of God.”
I specifically remember understanding that I had already offended God by my actions. Standing on that pew, I knew that I lied regularly to my parents to get what I wanted. Listening to that sermon, I knew that I was in need of a great saving work and that Christ was the only person capable of performing that work. I knew that there was only one way that work could be accomplished, and Christ had already done it. I understood for the very first time the absolute necessity, rightness, and power of the cross.
This scripture from 1 Corinthians tells me that it was “by God’s doing” that I knew what I knew. It wasn’t because I was a spectacularly precocious five year old; it wasn’t because it was a extraordinarily powerful sermon. It was by God’s doing: God’s saving grace, his enlightening and regenerating grace.
There’s a reason God works this way. It’s so that none of us can stand up and say that we have the treasure we have in Christ because we were smart, or strong, or raised in the right sort of home. It’s so that when we glory in the treasure that Christ is to us, it is God who gets every last bit of the glory. Or, as this text says, it’s so that when we boast, we “boast in the Lord.”
There’s another sort of grace that I’m thankful for, too. It is God’s gracious work in all the circumstances of my life. Romans 8:28 and 29 says this:
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren…I’ve had some very difficult things in my life, especially in the last seven years, a time when I experienced my husband’s terminal illness and death. My children lost their father when my youngest son was barely 13 years old. When I read that God causes all my circumstances to work together for good (and I do love God, so this statement can correctly be applied to my life), it sure seems like Paul has a different definition of good than I do. And it turns out, if we read on to verse 29, that he does.
What is good according to Paul? What is good according to God’s purpose, his plan? It’s conforming me to the image of His Son. The rocky road I’ve travelled didn’t come only because I live in a fallen world and bad things happen here. No, my trail is God-directed by God-worked circumstances to bring God-purposed results. All my trials are working something wonderful: they are conforming me to the image of his Son; they are working a family resemblance.
Sometimes I look at my life and get a glimpse of that. For one thing, when things are difficult, I’m forced, minute by minute, to depend on God’s help, and in a counterintuitive way, there is real joy in that. And I know, like never before, the transitory nature of everything in this world. Ever since the fall, this life has been a losing game, and knowing that through my own experience helps focus my heart on what is eternal. It causes me to long for the day when all the sons and daughters of God, along with all of creation, will be fully and finally redeemed. If we define hope in the biblical way, as certainty of a glorious inheritance to come, I’d say that the difficult circumstances in my life have given me real hope.
The truth of Romans 8 is that even the hard things (and all of the hard things) are good things in my Father’s hands, for they are making me like the One whose extraordinary beauty I first glimpsed as a little girl. My circumstances are tools of sanctifying grace in God’s hands.
As a matter of fact, all of this is saving grace working the process of salvation: enlightening and regenerating, justifying, sanctifying. It is God who shone in my heart to give me “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” It is by God’s doing that I am in Christ Jesus. It is by God’s causation that I am, through all the circumstances of my life, being conformed to Christ’s image. And so all the glory goes to God: “LET THE ONE WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD.”
[A week or so ago I mentioned that I’d be giving my testimony in church today. This is the text of it.]
Reader Comments (9)
I was hoping that you would post this, since we were less than present this morning.
Thanks for posting this and sharing it with those of us who were not in church (well, at least not with you!) this morning!
SDG!
Thanks for this, Rebecca! This just blessed my heart so much. You continue to be an example to those of us who have not travelled those roads, but may very well find ourselves on them.
Thanks so much for sharing Rebecca - I also came to Christ quite young and that alone can shake assurance somewhat, your testimony has been a real blessing to me.
Elaine
What a great post, Rebecca! Thank you for sharing your testimony, I was so blessed reading this today.
Thank you for testifying to God's sovereign grace in your life - from beginning to end it is all His work. You made my heart rejoice!
Do you have a favorite hymn?
PS Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!
Yes, Happy Birthday!!!
Thanks to you both for the birthday greetings.
Right now, my favorite hymn is God Moves in a Mysterious Way. At other times, it's When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.