“The Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘children of the living God.’” (Hosea 1:10)
The reach of God’s amazing grace knows no bounds. God’s arm is not short . . . He can reach all the way to anyone and He can reach anybody. May that truth be a source of eternal encouragement to you today!
Notice the power of God’s amazing grace that is declared in today’s verse. It makes strangers into sons and the rebellious into the righteous. This is the truth about my standing with the Lord God Omnipotent, and I pray that it is your truth as well.
For most of us, there was a time when we felt as far off from God as we do from the stars. We had nothing to do with God or His people. We were distant, disconnected, and desperate. But God, in His sovereign mercy and amazing grace, opened the eyes of our hearts and gave us ears of faith so we could hear Him whisper from on high, “You are now a child of the living God.”
Our God is a saving God, full of mercy and grace. Adam and Eve knew this truth by way of personal experience. When they chose to rebel against God, they ran and hid from Him. And what did God do? He pursued those rebels on the run. This is the pattern of God that is presented throughout the entire Bible. It’s rare to find a story in the Scriptures where a great saint of God did not rebel in some way. And yet, with every right to leave His children wallowing in their wickedness, we see how God ran after them, picked them up and dusted them off, and set them back on their feet so that His robe of righteousness would shine forth once again.
It is beyond human comprehension that the Creator of the universe would desire a personal relationship with selfish, sinful creatures such as you and me. Yet God the Father sent God the Son to die on a cross for our sins so that we would be transformed from NOT His people to BOUGHT people. The deep truth of Scripture, of course, is that we were always His, having been chosen before the foundation of the world . . . but we didn’t know it. As Steve Brown says, “God knew you and took care of you before you knew Him.”
So . . . knowing that you were once far off from God but now have been brought near by the blood of the Lamb who took you from NOT to BOUGHT . . . are you encouraged? Living in the light of this truth—not just daily, but moment by moment—will keep you strengthened, even in those moments when you have done something that makes you feel like you are NOT. You are His, Christian, BOUGHT by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, and there is no power in heaven or on earth that can change that. Rejoice in His unfailing, unchanging, amazing love!
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 