This coming Lord’s Day, I’m planning to move into 1 Pet. 5:6-7 in our exposition Peter’s great letter:
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you”.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, what a glorious and comforting truth to be strengthened by: in the great sufficiency of Jesus’ saving work, God cares for you! The assurance of such a truth enables us to humble ourselves under His mighty hand, confidently casting all our anxieties on Him. Oh, how infinitely great is the love of God for His own!
A.W. Tozer, in his classic book, The Knowledge of the Holy, dwells upon the impact of God’s sovereign love:
“The world is full of enemies, and as long as we are subject to the possibility of harm from these enemies, fear is inevitable. The effort to conquer fear without removing the causes is altogether futile. The heart is wiser than the apostles of tranquility. As long as we are in the hands of chance, as long as we look for hope to the law of averages, as long as we must trust for survival to our ability to outthink or outmaneuver the enemy, we have every reason to be afraid. And fear hath torment.
“To know that love is of God and to enter into the secret place leaning upon the arm of the Beloved – this and only this can cast out fear. Let a man become convinced that nothing can harm him and instantly for him all fear goes out of the universe. The nervous reflex, the natural revulsion to physical pain may be felt sometimes, but the deep torment of fear is gone forever. God is love and God is sovereign. His love disposes Him to desire our everlasting welfare and His sovereignty enables Him to secure it.” (pg. 99)
Beloved, may your knowledge of, and faith in His infinite, immeasurable love continue to increase – Eph. 3:14-21!
Because He lives and loves,
Greg