The Wonders of Salvation!

There is no greater wonder in the universe than salvation. The creation of a billion galaxies fills the mind with awe. The vast oceans, the snow-capped mountains, the endless heavens adorned with countless stars--all proclaim the wisdom, power, and majesty of their Creator and Sustainer. Yet magnificent as these are, they pale before the infinitely greater wonder of God's saving grace.

The universe displays His hand--salvation reveals His heart.
Creation demonstrates His omnipotence--redemption unveils the immeasurable riches of His mercy, holiness, justice, wisdom, and love!

Salvation is not the story of man's search for God, but of God's eternal purpose to save those who could never save themselves. Every step of salvation magnifies the Lord and strips fallen man of every ground of boasting. From eternity past to eternity future, salvation is wholly "from Him and through Him and to Him . . . To Him be the glory forever! Amen." (Romans 11:36).

Before a single mountain was formed, before the first angel lifted his voice in praise, before the foundations of the earth were laid, God had already purposed the salvation of His people. Scripture takes us back beyond time itself into the secret counsels of eternity, where the Father chose a people for Himself. "For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight" (Ephesians 1:4).

What astonishing grace! God did not choose His people because He foresaw faith, goodness, wisdom, or any desirable quality within them. Left to themselves, all mankind . . .
  lay equally ruined in Adam,
  spiritually dead,
  rebels against their Creator,
  lovers of darkness rather than light.
Nothing in us could ever move God to save us.
His choice rested entirely upon His own sovereign pleasure and everlasting love.

Election humbles every sinner into the dust. It silences pride forever. If salvation began with us, then we might claim some measure of the glory. But if salvation began in the eternal purpose of God alone, then every crown belongs at His feet. "We love Him, because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19).

From eternity the Father's electing love flowed toward an innumerable multitude whom no man can number. Their names were written in the Lamb's Book of Life before the world began. Every circumstance of history, every movement of nations, every event in providence, would ultimately serve this one glorious purpose--the gathering in of those whom the Father had given to His beloved Son.

Yet election alone could never satisfy the demands of divine justice.
The holy law had been broken.
The wages of sin remained death and damnation.
God's righteousness could not overlook guilt.
Therefore, in the fullness of time, the eternal Son of God entered this fallen world to make atonement for the sins of His people.

Here we behold another wonder beyond all comprehension:
The infinite Creator, became a helpless infant.
The holy Lord of glory, walked among sinners.
The One whom angels worshiped, humbled Himself to become obedient unto death--even death on a cross.

At Calvary, mercy and justice met together in perfect harmony.
There the spotless Lamb willingly bore the sins of His people.
Every accusation, fell upon Him.
Every demand of divine justice, was satisfied in Him.
Every curse deserved by His people, was exhausted upon His sacred head.

Jesus did not merely make salvation possible. He accomplished it. He finished the work His Father gave Him to do. His precious sin-atoning sacrifice actually redeemed His people, securing forever their forgiveness, reconciliation, adoption, and eternal inheritance.

What love is this!
The Judge Himself bore the penalty due to His people!
The Shepherd laid down His life for the sheep.
The Prince of Life died, that condemned rebels might live forever.

Yet even this glorious redemption would never be experienced, unless God Himself applied it to the hearts of those He had chosen and redeemed. Thus we marvel at the gracious work of the Holy Spirit.

Every child of Adam enters this world spiritually dead.
Dead men do not awaken themselves.
Blind eyes cannot give themselves sight.
Hearts of stone cannot soften themselves.
Fallen sinners neither possess the desire nor the ability to come to God.

But the Holy Spirit enters the lifeless soul with omnipotent power. Quietly, irresistibly, and sovereignly, He accomplishes the miracle of regeneration.
He opens blind eyes.
He unstops deaf ears.
He removes the heart of stone and gives a heart of flesh.
He breathes spiritual life where only death once reigned.

What creation was in Genesis, regeneration is within the sinner. The same God who said, "Let there be light," shines into darkened hearts "to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:6).

Only then does the sinner willingly come to Jesus.
Repentance is no longer a burden but a delight.
Faith is no longer impossible but irresistible.
The soul gladly abandons every false refuge and flees to Jesus alone.

Conversion is not man persuading God to save him. It is God so transforming the sinner that he joyfully embraces the Savior whom he once despised. Nor does God's saving work end there.

The God who justifies, also sanctifies. From the moment of regeneration until the believer enters glory, the Holy Spirit patiently fashions him into the likeness of Jesus.
Sin is progressively weakened.
Grace steadily grows.
Pride is humbled.
Faith is strengthened.
Love deepens.
Holiness increases.

This work is often slow. It is frequently painful. The heavenly Sculptor uses trials, afflictions, disappointments, temptations, and chastening mercies as His instruments.
Every providence serves His purpose.
Every tear has its mission.
Every burden carries hidden blessings.
The believer may stumble often, yet he shall never finally fall, for the God who began the good work has pledged to complete it (Philippians 1:6).

Even our failures become occasions for deeper humility, greater dependence, and richer displays of divine mercy. The Christian learns that apart from Jesus he can do nothing, but through Him all grace is abundantly supplied.

At last comes the final wonder: Glorification.

The long warfare will cease.
Sin shall trouble us no more.
Temptation shall forever vanish.
Faith shall become sight.
Hope shall be fulfilled.
Every stain of corruption shall be removed forever.
The redeemed shall stand faultless before the throne with exceeding joy.

Every saint shall be perfectly conformed to the image of Jesus.
Every tear shall be wiped away.
Every prayer shall be answered.
Every promise shall be fulfilled.
Death shall be swallowed up in victory.

Then shall the vast multitude of the redeemed, unite in one everlasting song: "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!" (Revelation 7:10).

Throughout eternity no redeemed sinner will boast of his wisdom, his decision, his strength, or his faith. Heaven will forever testify that salvation is entirely of the Lord. Every saint will know that he was:
  chosen by the Father,
  redeemed by the Son,
  regenerated by the Spirit,
  brought to repentance and faith by sovereign grace,
  preserved through every trial by divine power,
  and finally welcomed into everlasting glory by infinite mercy alone.

What a wondrous salvation!
It began before time.
It was planned by the Father!
It was purchased by Jesus, at Calvary.
It is applied by the Holy Spirit.
It is sustained by unfailing grace.
It will be consummated in everlasting glory.

The wonders of salvation shall never be exhausted. Throughout endless ages, the redeemed will continue discovering fresh displays of God's . . .
  infinite wisdom,
  boundless love,
  perfect justice,
  sovereign grace,
   xand immeasurable glory.

Every moment of eternity will unveil:
  new reasons for adoration,
  deeper reasons for humility,
  and greater reasons for praise.

Indeed, salvation humbles man in the dust, and exalts God upon the throne!

"For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.
To Him be the glory forever! Amen." Romans 11:36
(The above article was AI generated.)