o Lord, you have searched me and known me! you know when i sit down and when i rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. [psalm 139:1-2]

 

fully known, fully loved, fully saved, fully sanctified.

 

God knows you. he created you. he created your mind and your heart. he knows what you love and hate. he knows what you fear. he knows your every thought and every word and every deed. he knows you better than you know yourself. he knows how you are struggling with sin right now in this season of your life, and he knows every season past and every season future. for the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” [1 sam 16:7] 

 

God loves you. the thought of being fully exposed before the Lord can drive us to despair because of our unloveliness, but what it should do is drive us to a completely humble state of joyous thanksgiving for the unconditional mercy of God. his grace looks to us only as great as our sin looks to us, so we welcome the revealing of our own depravity! he loves you, his child, unconditionally.  God said to moses, “I will be gracious to whom i will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom i will show mercy.” [exodus 33:19] his mercy does not depend on any ability of ours to choose or follow him. his mercy is fully dependent upon his unchanging goodness. when did he first love us this way? before the foundation of the world! even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. in love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, [eph 1:4-5] God placed his choosing love on you before any evil thought crossed your mind, before any evil word passed your lips. nothing you have done has qualified or disqualified you from this choosing love. no, this covenantal love is freely given and the covenant upheld by the good God who has given it! what amazing truth!

 

God saved you. because of God setting his choosing love on you despite his knowing every flaw and every sin, he upheld his covenant by sending his Son to become the blood sacrifice for your sin. if you read through the pentateuch, the first five books of the bible, you would see the massive amounts of animal blood required to allow God’s presence to be with his people. this is to show us the height of God’s holiness in comparison with the depth of man’s sin. there had to be blood for the forgiveness of sin, but the animals would not do. so he crushed his Son. but he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. [isa 53:5] the receiving of this blood was not dependent on you, but on the love that he set on you before the foundation of the world. it was an inevitable order of events. thanks be to God!

 

God will keep you to the end. because of God’s choosing love, in his justice, he upheld that covenant by saving you by the blood of Jesus Christ. and so for the sake of his Name, he will not let you go. he has made you this promise, and so has sealed you for himself by the Holy Spirit who lives in you. because of this promise, he will use every moment, whether full of joy or full of pain, to prepare you for his eternal kingdom! for I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. [rom 8:18] he is making you ready. he is preparing his bride, the church. he loves you through this process of sanctification, and he is always with you in every moment of it.

 

rejoice that you are fully known, yet fully loved, and so fully saved to be fully sanctified, to spend an eternity with the Father who knows you so well, loves you so fiercely, saved you so mercifully, and sanctified you so faithfully, to the praise of his glorious grace.

 

~arwen eastman