It wasn’t so long ago that we were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. We let the world, which doesn’t know the first thing about living, tell us how to live. We filled our lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It’s a wonder God didn’t lose His temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, He embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah.
Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all His idea, and all His work. All we do is trust Him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work He does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.
The above is a paraphrase of a paraphrase (The Message). I wouldn't go to a paraphrase to do theology, but as I read this I just liked the way someone put it into their own words. It's kind of like us telling our story using God's Word as a background.
I especially like the word picture of God embracing us in His immense mercy and incredible love which is what He does when He makes us alive in Christ. Enjoy the embrace of God today.
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