God surveyed the whole earth, loved mankind as only He could, with His everlasting love, then, in His Plan ‘A,’ made the stupefying decision to call the whole lot (not willing that any should perish) to His heart. “This is the divine exchange: he who knew no sin embraced our perversion; he appeared to be without form; this was the mystery of God’s prophetic poetry. He was disguised in our distorted image and marred with our iniquities; he took our sorrows, our pain and our shame and birthed his righteousness in us. He took our sins and we became his innocence.” 2 Cor. 5:21, MIRROR. You may need to read that again, after you’ve caught your breath. Do keep breathing. It’s good for you.
We’ve been caught up in a story much larger than the one that overwhelmed Mister Frodo. Just listen to how the Apostle Paul describes our ‘story’: “As you yield freely and fully to the dynamic life and power of the Holy Spirit, you will abandon the cravings of your self-life. . . when you are brought into the full freedom of the Spirit of grace, you will no longer be living under the domination of the law, but soaring above it . . . the fruit produced by the Holy Spirit within you is divine love in all its varied expressions:
Joy that overflows,
Peace that subdues,
Patience that endures,
Kindness in action,
A life full of virtue,
Faith that prevails,
Gentleness of heart, and
Strength of spirit.
Never set the law above these qualities, they are meant to be limitless.” (Gal. 5:16-23, TPT).
We are the nobodies* of the world – the foolish nobodies God has chosen to be His own to confound the wise (from 1 Cor. 1:27). “We have become his poetry, a re-created people that will fulfill the destiny he has given each of us, for we are joined to Jesus, the Anointed One. Even before we were born, God planned in advance our destiny and the good works we would do to fulfill it!” (Eph. 2: 10, TPT).
Master craftsmen take a lump of wet, soggy clay, a cold block of marble, a blank sheet of paper, various edible ingredients, a heap of construction materials, and after their work, something of beauty has emerged. God takes a living soul and does likewise. He sees and is pleased, knowing what He’ll do. Far from being repulsed by the untamed nature of the human soul, He, like all artisans, appreciates the raw material and looks beyond to what will be. And like all artisans, God is not the least disturbed at the time and effort it takes to complete His magnificent works of art. PD
