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Grace takes you from where you are, to where God wants you to be, to a place that is higher, for God is in the process of lifting you up. Your responsibility is to remain humbly submitted to God in patient endurance and perseverance. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty Hand of God that He may exalt you at the proper time. [1 Peter 5:6] This is the other side of the coin, what God will do for you. It is the balanced understanding that you need in order to stand upright in the kingdom of God. Focusing only on yourself will lead you to frustration, while leaving everything to God will make you lazy and irresponsible.
Co-worker with God
This is the truth that will liberate you. What you need to do you do, and what needs to be done, God does. You are a co-labourer with Christ doing what you ought to do, knowing that Christ has done it all for you on the Cross. The apostle Paul describes the connection, encouraging you with the knowledge that you are not alone – I planted, Apollos watered. But God gave the growth’. [1 Corinthians 3:6]
Knowing your God, His greatness
It is good to be reminded, to know the greatness of the God whom you serve and worship, for it will see you act accordingly. “The people who know their God shall be strong and carry out great exploits”. [Daniel 11:32]
David’s grateful praise of God’s greatness
As he neared the end of his life on earth, David made all the preparations for the temple of God that his son Solomon would build, and encouraged the people to stand with him in the awesome task. And his prayer to the Lord was: “Yours O Lord is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty. Both riches and honour come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand is power and might. In your hand is power to make great and give strength to all”. [1 Chronicles 29:11,12] It is not just poetry arising out of an overwhelmed heart. It is sound theology, true forever. God can give strength to all. It is all inclusive. The New Testament is all about ‘whoever believes’ and ‘what so ever you ask’. You are included in the massive plan of God – all because He loves you.
David’s words of praise acknowledges three important things:
1) God is the source, the only source of all that is good.
2) God is sovereign, ruling over all and in full control of every aspect of your life.
3) God can bring success and victory to anyone who chooses to put their trust in Him.
1. Understanding God being your source
Two sets of words help in understanding this truth. They are: a) Greatness and power b) Glory and majesty
He is the God of mighty acts, who is always in power, seated on the throne, ruling over all and able to give you success, victory in your circumstance. “Your right hand O Lord, glorious in power. Your right hand O Lord shatters the enemy. In the greatness of your majesty, you overthrow your adversaries”. [Exodus 15:6,7]
The context of this proclamation –
Egypt was the then super power, and the pharaoh was more than a king. He had the status of a god. The Israelites on the other hand had been slaves, in bondage for more than four hundred years, subjected to hard toil with no income or reward in return. Consequently their mind set had reached a state of being satisfied with status quo with no hope of redemption. They were not paid, but they paid with their sweat and blood to build the massive pyramids of that day. But it all changed in a single night. Hundreds of years of slavery and bondage came to a miraculous and quick end when the mighty God, the Great I AM, intervened with His glorious power to deliver His chosen people.
The celebration of Passover –
It was a night of redemption, as the Israelites observed the Passover, the blood on the door posts of their homes, signifying that death could not enter in. They had passed over from death to life, leaving their place of bondage not empty handed, but with silver and gold. And there was none feeble or frail among them as they left. Today, remember and proclaim the death of Christ, the Passover Lamb, who has been sacrificed once and for all for the remission of your sins. You have passed over from death to life, from bondage to freedom, from sin to righteousness, from curse to blessing, from poverty to prosperity and riches. By His wounds you have been healed, made whole. It is what the power of the Cross can do in your life. The unlimited God became limited so that you can enjoy His unlimited blessing. And however prolonged and lingering your pain and trouble might have been, the mighty God can put an end to it in a single moment. He is great in power and majesty.
And when your problem threatens to return:
It was just three days into their freedom when the Israelites found the enemy pursuing them once again with murderous threats. The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil. My desire shall have it’s fill of them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them’. [Exodus 15:9] And the Israelites knew that the pursuing pharaoh was well able to carry out his vengeful plan. It could be happening in your life too, when the same problem, the arrogant voice of the enemy seems to be returning once again to bring you down. It was at this point that some of the Israelites wanted to give up and return to the bondage of the enemy. But you don’t have to turn back, coming to a wrong conclusion.
All you need to do is to stand firm, proclaiming the power of the Blood that has already been shed for your freedom, the perfect and finished work of the Cross. The Lord God will, even as you put your trust in Him, blow your problem away, as He did the pharaoh and his army, together with their horses and chariots. “You blew with your wind, the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters”. [Exodus 15:9]
Let loose your imagination and picture in your mind’s eye the awesome spectacle as it would have unfolded, even as Moses and the Israelites watched – when the enemy was pursuing, trumpeting his arrogant might, God just blew him away as you would do to the dust that has settled on your phone or computer. And they sank like a stone, never to be seen again. Believe it, to see it happen in your life too. You will indeed never see your problem again.
The New Testament parallel
A similar imagery is illustrated in Paul’s epistle to the Thessalonians to describe the vanquishing of the anti Christ. However powerful he may appear to be, his end is destruction. And then the lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord Jesus will kill by the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. [2 Thessalonians 2:8] Once God has spoken, twice have I heard this; that power belongs to God. And to you O Lord belongs steadfast love. You will render to a man according to his work. [Psalms 62:11,12] God’s power is wondrously complemented by His love. God loves you, and nothing shall separate you from His love. You shall overwhelmingly conquer through Him who has loved you with an everlasting love. And by what He does, He shows who He is.
“I will ponder all your work, and meditate on all your deeds”. [Psalms 77;12] As you muse and reflect upon what God has already done, His wondrous works, you will have the faith and courage to believe and expect an outworking of His miracle in your life too. The Lord not just parted the Red Sea, it was dry ground on which the people crossed over. Even their footwear was not affected. God cares about every little detail of your life. Nothing is too insignificant in His sight. “Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods ? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders ? [Exodus 15:11] He is the God who is like no other – the God who is greater. And He reveals it by what He does in your life.
2. Power demonstrated
“You are the God who works wonders. You have made known your might amongst the peoples”. [Psalms 77:14] And when you are the people of God, He will demonstrate the greatness of His power in your life, thereby displaying what kind of God He is. He is the God who blew the wind to make the enemy sink, never to rise again. There may be an enemy, a person, a problem arrogantly trumpeting in your life, threatening to bring you down – Or, you may know the way out of your problem, but wondering how to navigate the miry path to reach your destination whatever it may be, the Lord will blow the enemy away and make you walk on dry ground. God’s majesty reveals the incomparable excellent nature of His ways. The glory of God is the self manifestation of God through what He does, in whatever way He chooses to reveal it. It is why the apostle Paul is able to say with confidence, ‘For me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Whether I live or die He will be glorified’.
The revelation of Christ’s glory
It was in a marriage feast, at the wedding in Cana that the Lord Jesus first manifested or revealed His glory. He changed water into wine. [John 2:1-11] And meditating upon it, believing and applying the truth that it teaches, by grace through faith will lead to the glory of God being manifested in your life.
a) God is a God of perfect timing
And Jesus said to her, ‘….My time has not yet come’. [vs 4]. God is never in a hurry. Your worrying will not hurry Him, for He is never early or never late. He is an on time God, and He will surely come on time in your life.
b) He is a God of transformation
When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine. [vs 9] God transforms you and can transform your situation, your relationships and anything that concerns you. It is not just a behavioral change but an inner change in the very nature of things. He is a God who transforms Marah into sweet, a sinner into a saint, a slave to a son, all that He may be glorified in it. He is the unchanging God who changes everything else in your circumstance for the good.
c) The good wine – at the end
God never begins something in your life that He will not complete. He is there till the end. Even in your life, He remains the same every day of your life till the very end. In your marriage God being glorified, will see it being not just a miraculous wedding, but a miraculous wedded life. In your painful relationships He can bring about a change from tears to cheers, good cheer in your spirit. He is a God who does all things well. Jesus went about doing good, healing all who were oppressed. And now, He is living in you. He can do it in and through your life, that He may be glorified.
3. God’s victory – your connection to it:
Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ [1 Corinthians 15:57] Jesus Christ is the resurrected Lord, alive forevermore. He is our Lord. And when He is your Lord, very specifically and personally, God gives you victory through Christ in you, the hope of glory. He leads you in triumph, gives you victory, manifesting His glory. [2 Corinthians 2:14] A bruised reed He will not break, a dimly burning wick He will not quench, until He leads justice to victory. [Matthew 12:20] If you are fighting for justice in your life, God says to you, ‘I will never give up, till I lead justice to victory’. You are declared just and righteous in His sight through the precious Blood of Christ. He will lead you in victory, in triumphal procession, manifesting His glory. You have passed over from death to life, from curse to blessing, from poverty to riches, from tears to cheers, a godly rejoicing, exceedingly abundantly more than you asked or imagined. He will bring a transformation in you, demonstrating His power, granting you victory, for the glory and honour of His matchless Name Amen.
