Welcome to another day the Lord has made that we should rejoice and be glad in. (Psalms 118:24)

Let’s close our review of plans, by appreciating God’s plan of salvation.

Today’s scripture, Ephesians 2:4-5, 8 NLT
[4] But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, [5] that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)
[8] God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.

Consider…
It’s easy to get so caught up in the baby Jesus, dying Jesus and resurrected Jesus that we overlook the reason He came at all!

Hebrews 2:14-17 (NLT) explains…
[14] Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. [15] Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying. [16] We also know that the Son did not come to help angels; he came to help the descendants of Abraham. [17] Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people.

Jesus had to be born in order to die for our sins (1 John 2:2). And He had to die in order to be raised from the dead to break the power of sin and death.

Salvation was God’s Master Plan from before the beginning. 1 Peter 1:18-21 (NLT) explains…
[18] For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. [19] It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. [20] God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but now in these last days he has been revealed for your sake. [21] Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory.

That means, before God created mankind, He knew that He would have to save it. Appreciate the fact that our omniscient God knowingly made human beings who would choose sin over Him. 🤯

That makes me think of a couple song lyrics.

First, Kiera Sheard sings…

My flaws
You love, you love my flaws
Think they make me beautiful
You don’t see them as flaws at all
That’s why
That’s why, that’s why I love you
‘Cause you are, you are the one who
The one who loves my flaws

Next, Marvin Sapp sings…

Hey, He saw the best in me
When everyone else around me
Could only see the worst in me
Does anybody have their testimony?
When folks wrote you off
Said you would never make it
What did he see?
He saw the best in me
When everyone else around me
When everyone else around
Could only see the worst in me
Can I tell you all one more thing?
I just need to tell you one more thing
Listen to this
See, He’s mine, and I am His (yeah)
It doesn’t matter what I did
He only sees me for who I am
Does anyone know that tonight?

I like both sets of lyrics, because they reflect a God who looks beyond my faults. That thought hits play on Vanessa Bell Armstrong singing…

Amazing, hmm, amazing grace
Shall always be my, my, my, my song of praise
For it was, it was grace that brought
My, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my liberty, yeah
I… I never know, just how He came
How The Man came to love, love, love love, love, love me so
But He looked beyond every one of my faults, every one of my faults
And saw all of my, my, my, my needs
And I shall forever lift my eyes to Calvary
Yeah, yeah, yeah
To view, I, I gotta view the cross where Jesus died for me
How marvelous, how marvelous His grace that caught my falling soul
He looked beyond every one, every one, every one, He looked Beyond
He looked beyond every one of my faults, and saw my needs
Saw my needs

These lyrics remind me of Genesis 3:7, 20-23 NLT
[7] At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.
[20] Then the man—Adam—named his wife Eve, because she would be the mother of all who live. [21] And the Lord God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife. [22] Then the Lord God said, “Look, the human beings have become like us, knowing both good and evil. What if they reach out, take fruit from the tree of life, and eat it? Then they will live forever!” [23] So the Lord God banished them from the Garden of Eden, and he sent Adam out to cultivate the ground from which he had been made.

Notice, after Adam and Eve disobeyed God…

• They were ashamed of their nakedness
• They tried to cover themselves
• God made clothes to cover them

…it was only after God provided the solution for sin, shame and death that He banished from eternal life.

This displays the elegance of the salvation plan. Romans 5:8-10 (NLT) lays it out like this…
[8] But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. [9] And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. [10] For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son.

Someone needs to know that our loving God provided, and provides, the provision before the problem. No wonder Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NLT)…
[13] The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.

The Holy Spirit is telling me to emphasize, God provided the…

• Solution before the sin
• Provision before the problem

…that’s who Jesus is! That’s what Jesus did!

So I encourage us, as we reflect on the life and death of Jesus Christ, to focus on His purpose as much as His person. In fact, that’s what He instructed His disciples and us to do according to Luke 22:19-20 (NLT)…
[19] He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” [20] After supper he took another cup of wine and said, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you.

Jesus said remember my purpose was to make salvation available for everyone! The Holy Spirit showed me the picture of salvation being available to everyone, despite some eschewing it. Look at the verse that follows Jesus’ salvation declaration. Luke 22:21 (NLT) shares…
[21] “But here at this table, sitting among us as a friend, is the man who will betray me.

Jesus sharing His last supper with Judas Iscariot is emblematic of His unfailing love and unfathomable grace. It demonstrates the fact that God chose to become human and sacrifice His own life for both people who would accept and reject Him as the Lord!

Which brings us to the crux of the salvation plan, it’s available to everyone, but only given to those who choose it. John 3:16-17 (NLT) explains…
[16] “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. [17] God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.

God sent salvation from sin and death into the world, through Jesus Christ. Thus why the Angel said in Luke 2:11-12 (NIV)…
[11] Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. [12] This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

WOW! The Holy Spirit just hit me with the baby was just the sign of the Savior!

Thinking of the Savior, led me to Titus 3:4-7 (NLT), which says…
[4] But— When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, [5] he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. [6] He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior. [7] Because of his grace he made us right in his sight and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life.

The Holy Spirit also showed me another important distinction, God said everyone will acknowledge Jesus is Lord (Philippians 2:9-11), but that doesn’t mean He will be their Savior. Jesus declared that in Matthew 7:21 (NLT), where He said…
[21] “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter.

That means Jesus must be Lord AND Savior of our lives! That’s my testimony, I pray it’s your’s too!

Lastly, the Holy Spirit is telling me to close the loop on God’s salvation plan with Ephesians 3:6, 10-11 (NLT), which says…
[6] And this is God’s plan: Both Gentiles and Jews who believe the Good News share equally in the riches inherited by God’s children. Both are part of the same body, and both enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Christ Jesus.
[10] God’s purpose in all this was to use the church to display his wisdom in its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. [11] This was his eternal plan, which he carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Salvation was/is meant for everyone! But salvation can only be achieved through Jesus Christ, in accordance with God’s eternal plan.

Perhaps the true gift of Christmas is that God thought you and I were worth saving! 💖

Today’s Song is…
Worth/That’s Love

Blessings 4HG (1 Corinthians 10:31)