Imperishable Inheritance

For so long I held to the thought that I saw The Cre­ator through His cre­ation. I did this specif­i­cally while I ven­tured into pan­the­is­tic reli­gions. The thought of The Cre­ator “in all at all times” struck me as a great mag­ni­fi­ca­tion of His name, glory, and His work on our hearts.

He has made every­thing appro­pri­ate in its time. He has also set eter­nity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the begin­ning even to the end. I know that there is noth­ing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one’s life­time; more­over, that every man who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor–it is the gift of God. I know that every­thing God does will remain for­ever; there is noth­ing to add to it and there is noth­ing to take from it, for God has so worked that men should fear Him.
Eccle­si­astes 3:11-14

As I came to a spe­cific faith on The True Cre­ator man­i­fested through the Bib­li­cal Trin­ity, I found a dif­fer­ent view on how to see His glory and name. I saw it in His Redeemed. I have made the mis­take of being unduly harsh to my broth­ers and sis­ters through doc­tri­nal indoc­tri­na­tion, cal­lous­ness, and an ego­tis­ti­cal air about myself. How I have learned to love and appre­ci­ate the Redeemed.

I spent so much time around so much death, that when I was sur­rounded by life I didn’t know how to handle it. It was easier to live in the morgue, because I wasn’t respon­si­ble to the dead. But now I have respon­si­bil­ity and rightly so. If The Cre­ator of the heav­ens and earth knew me per­son­ally before His cre­ation came to fruition, who am I to not rec­og­nize Him through loving those who have felt the same love?

We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death. Every­one who hates his brother is a mur­derer; and you know that no mur­derer has eter­nal life abid­ing in him.
1 John 3:14-15 (empha­sis added)

Being sur­rounded by life man­i­fests the glory of The Cre­ator to me. I no longer have to look wor­ship­ing the cre­ation to feel close to The Cre­ator. What a gift to know the Source and not exchange it for an idol of my ingenuity.

For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and wor­shiped and served the crea­ture rather than the Cre­ator, who is blessed for­ever. Amen.
Romans 1:25

As my heart con­tin­ues to change, I con­tinue to real­ize the pre­cious­ness of—not only the redemp­tion I have received—but also the redeemed that sur­round me. To be immersed in the Chosen Race of The Cre­ator is a thought that con­tin­ues to throw my mind into a state of unal­ter­able praise.

I’m learn­ing more and more every­day. I’m not even a year old yet, so my devel­op­ment thus far encour­ages me for my con­tin­ual sanc­ti­fi­ca­tion. I am pon­der­ing again on the majesty of a Savior that came to earth, loved those who couldn’t love Him on their own, taught and pro­tected them, and then they all deserted Him while He was tried, beaten, and pegged to a tree. And what does He say?

But Jesus was saying, “Father, for­give them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots, divid­ing up His gar­ments among them­selves.
Luke 23:34

I find much soli­tude in the fol­low­ing pas­sage that more clearly than any other pas­sage in the Bible illus­trates Christ’s uncon­di­tional love, humil­ity, and glory.

Do noth­ing from self­ish­ness or empty con­ceit, but with humil­ity of mind regard one another as more impor­tant than your­selves; do not merely look out for your own per­sonal inter­ests, but also for the inter­ests of others. Have this atti­tude in your­selves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equal­ity with God a thing to be grasped, but emp­tied Him­self, taking the form of a bond-​servant, and being made in the like­ness of men. Being found in appear­ance as a man, He hum­bled Him­self by becom­ing obe­di­ent to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will con­fess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philip­pi­ans 2:3-11

And what a pas­sage it is! But how do we forget what is said right after it?

So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my pres­ence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your sal­va­tion with fear and trem­bling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good plea­sure.
Philip­pi­ans 2:12-13 (empha­sis added)

My Father and My Sov­er­eign God,

I thank You for the work You have done in my life. I thank You for the work You con­tinue to do in my life. How I am noth­ing with out You, but with You I have every­thing. I can’t even fathom the amount of divine love You have dis­played and con­tinue to dis­play. Please mold me and change me to be what You want me to be. Break me to the point of lying at the base of the Cross. Help me to boast in noth­ing but the Cross. How beau­ti­ful You are. I ask this all in Your Holy Spirit and the name of Your Holy Son Christ Jesus. Amen.