My biggest thanks is the Grace that God provides. This Grace can only be given as a gift and it is undeserving. If I were to be aware of the awesomeness of God but had no Grace that was available to me, I would go mad, or more mad than I already am, as I have been diagnosed with schizoaffective type bipolar disorder.
Jesus provided a way where there was no way. God had showed us that blood must be shed for the forgiveness of our sins. All the way back to Cain and Abel and the sacrifices they provided to God. Jesus was the Lamb of God to be the final and ultimate sacrifice for the sins of those that would believe and receive His gift of ultimate redemption with the Father and indwelling of Their Spirit, the Holy Spirit.
We see with Abraham and Isaac the story being played out and the faith and obedience of Abraham. This story affects me so much that my son’s middle name is Isaac. That God would provide the sacrifice and it would be Himself at Golgotha.
This also means that He Himself will judge who will receive this grace and whom He determines has rejected it themselves.
When Jesus was praying in the Mount of Olives for this cup to be taken from Him, it assured me that there is no other way except by Christ to be saved. Because if there were any other way, than Jesus would not have had to suffer the horrendous death that He did. How He will treat those that never have the chance to know about Him because of location or even culture I do not know, but I do know that if you have had an honest chance to know about Him and reject Him that He will give it to you as you wish… He will likely not force it upon you.
In all circumstances God’s Grace is sufficient for you, for there is a life to live after this one and it is the place we ultimately were created for and it will be glorious.
I see this life as an incubation life to determine who will populate heaven. I tell you for certain it will not be works, but God’s Grace. He is trying to populate heaven with the type of souls He is looking for, and it will be a matter of the heart, He sees the inside of people. What bigger matter of the heart is to surrender to Him as your Lord and to love Him with your mind, body, and soul.
You see, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were complete in and of Themselves, full of joy. Then they decided to share this joy with angels and placed them in a place called heaven. Well, some of them went bad and God had to get them out of heaven. This is why there is an incubation life… bring the souls into heaven that will not tant heaven at Christs choosing… not the other way around.
My daughter’s middle name is Grace and it is not because I like the name, but because I like the meaning and I want it to be a reminder to her everywhere she goes. That Grace is available no matter what she has done and that God is a redeemer and is always there waiting, even in our own junk. That it was important enough for her parents to name her Grace.
