We Are Rich

He has given us so much. Taste and see that the Lord is good!

When you look at the world around you, what do you see? As an artist, I see a world full of vibrant colors, just waiting to be put down on paper with a paintbrush. The world around us is a beautiful thing, and God created it for us to enjoy. The beauty around us, the wonder that we see in this world, should point us to God. It should remind us that there is a wonderful, mighty Creator who loves us.

He made us.

And he holds us fast in the arms of love.

He will never let us go.

Think of it, the Creator of the universe, who made all of this beauty around us, the God who created everything we see with only a few words, He knows us by name. Even before the beginning of the world, he loved us¹. When I think of his deep love, his steadfastness, I know I don’t deserve it.

I’m not perefect; nobody is. When God gave Adam and Eve the choice between right and wrong, they chose the fruit, bringing sin into the world. It’s easy to think that if we had been in their place, we wouldn’t have done the same thing.

However, if Adam and Eve, God’s perfect creation without sin, couldn’t do it, how could we?

After the Fall, you would think that God would abandon us, that he would forget the human race and leave us to fend for ourselves after we had so clearly broken his law. Indeed, he had every right to.

But he didn’t. Instead, he gave us a promise, that a descandent of the woman would crush the serpent’s head, receiving only a bruise in the fight.

God gave us a promise of hope, that one day, He would send a Savior, to defeat sin. He didn’t abandon his creation. Throughout the Old Testemant, and the New, God is with his people.

He calls Abraham, promising him many descendants.

He calls Moses and frees the Hebrews from their Egyptian slavers.

He annoints and unlikely king and turns him into the man we know today as King David.

He calls Saul and transforms his life.

The list goes on and on… Even after we failed God so miserably, He stayed with us, and then, thousands of years later, He fulfilled his promise in a small stable in Bethlehem, on the cross at Golgotha, and in a rich man’s tomb.

We scorned and rejected him, but he gave us grace.

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:8

What a praise that Jesus did not stay dead but rose triumphant three days later!

And, on top of the gift of his Son, God gave us His Word, full of promises and instruction. I once heard a pastor suggest reading Ephesians 1, changing it to first person as you read.

Take a moment, and follow his advice. Read it out loud to yourself. Do you see how much you’ve been blessed?

All around us in this world, there is suffering, sickness, even death. However, we know that this is not the end.

We have hope. We are blessed.

Hard times will come; they always do. As Christians, God did not promise us an easy life without trials. However, he did promise us that he will be with us. He has given us so many promises of hope. Just look throughout the Bible, and you’ll see.

We are rich in Christ.

1. Ephesians 1:4