What's that you carry?
Devotion by Wendy Davie
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…” (Genesis 1:1)
The Hebrew name for God used here is Elohim, a general term for our one true ‘God’ yet expressed in the plural form. The word shows His greatness and glory, and contains the idea of creativity and governing power, of omnipotence and sovereignty. Many of us know and speak of His character: He is HOLY, RIGHTEOUS, a God of LOVE and a God of WRATH. To be God, He also has to have the ability TO GIVE AND TAKE LIFE and to have AUTHORITY OVER ALL THAT HE HAS CREATED. The wonderful thing is that our God (Elohim) has never failed and never will, for truly He is God. Have you ever considered what He carries? The greatest thing that comes to mind is responsibility.
God carries His responsibility with total faithfulness in who He is and what He has done. He has the responsibility to be faithful to His promises (be they blessing or cursing) and to fulfill all He has ever said or prophesied through His servants, the prophets, without one failure or mistake. Just think about that for a moment! If He could not do this, He would not be God and never could be!
By comparison, we carry unfaithfulness, self-orientation, changeableness, and the inability to create or sustain. We have no hope of meeting the standards of God even when we are at our best.
Some scoff and claim, ‘There is no God, and even if there was a God, how could we know that He is faithful?’ Others say, ‘Does it really matter to me?’ The wonderful thing is that God reveals Himself to all - even when we scoff, neglect or disbelieve in Him. Even we, who have chosen to follow Christ, at times neglect to walk in the Spirit and do not apply the Word of God to our lives as we should. We have a responsibility to be obedient to Him so that He, and He alone, may receive all glory in our lives.
Jesus Christ, God’s holy Son is the exact representation of the Father (Hebrews 1:1-3). He reveals His righteousness and His wrath and therefore each one of us is without excuse (Rom. 1:17-20). God has set eternity in the hearts of men, our desire is to live forever, but our hardened hearts still cannot understand how this can be (Ecclesiastes 3:11). It can only be through the amazing grace of God’s gift of His Son. He carried the entire wrath that we should have carried, and He carried it for us in that, while on the cross, He could honestly cry, ‘It is finished!’ (John 19:30). The job of redemption was done!
Heavenly Father, thank you that you sent your son Jesus Christ in order to carry my sins. I praise you for the forgiveness, grace and love you’ve given. I thank you for your faithfulness and that I can fully trust in you. In Jesus Christ’s precious name … Amen.