Matthew 8:27
And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”
When the disciples were in a dangerous storm at sea, they feared for their lives. Terrified, they woke up Jesus, and the Lord did something that may have frightened them even more. Jesus spoke to the wind and the sea and commanded them to be calm, and they obeyed. This led the disciples to the question above, “What kind of man is this?”
A look at just a couple of passages of Scripture would have told the disciples exactly what kind of man was in the boat with them.
Exodus 14:21
Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.
When Moses stretched out his hand over the sea in what may well have been the most famous miracle of the Old Testament, something happened that parallels what we see Jesus do. When Moses called on God, God caused a change in the wind that in turn caused a change in the sea. God parted the Red Sea and rescued his people through his almighty power over the elements. But Moses is not the parallel to Jesus, because Moses did not actually cause the wind to do what it did.
So, , how about this passage:
Psalm 107:23-29
23 Some went down to the sea in ships,
doing business on the great waters;
24 they saw the deeds of the Lord,
his wondrous works in the deep.
25 For he commanded and raised the stormy wind,
which lifted up the waves of the sea.
26 They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths;
their courage melted away in their evil plight;
27 they reeled and staggered like drunken men
and were at their wits’ end.
28 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
29 He made the storm be still,
and the waves of the sea were hushed.
Does this not look like an exact picture of the frightened disciples in the boat? The psalm depicts men in a boat and in danger of losing their lives in the waves. Then, when they cry out to God as the disciples cried out to Jesus, God calms the sea. Look again:
Psalm 107-28-29
28 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
29 He made the storm be still,
and the waves of the sea were hushed.
Who made the storm be still and hushed the waves? It was the LORD, the God of Israel. God, the Creator, the Great “I Am,” he is the one who calms the storm. Yet, in Matthew, it is Jesus who commands. Jesus did not cry out to someone else to calm the seas, he is the one that people cried out to, and Jesus, by his power, calms the swells.
What kind of man is this? What kind of man has the wind and the sea obey him? There is only one kind of man who can do that, a man who is God. Jesus stood before the disciples in the boat, and he revealed to them something that the Bible declares that the LORD does. Jesus is the LORD, the God who made us.
Jesus, I worship you. I worship you, not as a representative of God, but as God Himself. You have shown that you are the very God of the universe. You are the One who created the wind and the waves and the One they must obey. You have the power to do all that you wish. You have the authority to rule my eternity. I thank you for coming to earth to reveal yourself and to rescue sinners like me. My hope is only in you, as only you, the God who made me, have the ability to save me.
A Picture of Jesus in Genesis (Genesis 44:33)
Genesis 44:33
Now therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the boy as a servant to my lord, and let the boy go back with his brothers.
Is Christ truly on every page of Scripture? Does, as the title of my favorite little children’s Bible declares, every story whisper his name? Is the gospel hinted at or depicted in one form or fashion in every account?
There are times when I see someone look at a passage, say that they see Jesus, and I find myself scratching my head. But I must also say that there are many, very many, that require very little imagination to see Jesus.
Of course, I say all of that, and today is the first time that I have managed to notice that Genesis 44:33 is a verse that shows us Christ in vivid color. When the eleven brothers of Joseph come to Egypt to buy food, Joseph tricks them and makes them believe that their youngest brother, Benjamin, is going to be required to stay in prison in Egypt. Judah, knowing that his father would be devastated at the loss of what he believed to be his only living son through Rachel, approaches Joseph, and he shows us a glorious picture of Jesus.
Judah stands before Joseph and begs, “Now therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the boy as a servant to my lord, and let the boy go back with his brothers.” What does Judah do there? He says, “for the joy of my father, please punish me in the stead of my little brother. Let me suffer in his place. Let my suffering free him to return to his father.” The only thing that I see missing in this account to parallel the story of the atonement is that the father is not also the offended party in the redeeming transaction, but then, no parallel ever truly holds up under all scrutiny.
What did Jesus do? For the joy and glory of the Father, he came to earth. He interposed himself, put himself in the middle, between the just wrath of God and God’s children. Jesus suffered in our stead, allowing himself to be punished in order that we might be free to be reconciled to the Father. If the parallel isn’t perfect, it’s awfully good.
Lord, as I watch what Judah did, it shadows what is to come. I read this account, and I thank you for Jesus. He, the perfect Son of God, chose to suffer on behalf of the children of God. I thank you for this, as I know that I could never escape the wrath that I deserve without the perfect substitution of Jesus. I fully trust in him and his finished work for my eternity. I also pray that you will help me, like Judah did here, to point the world to Jesus in all that I say and do.
The Sweet Word of God (Psalm 19:10)
Psalm 19:10
More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
and drippings of the honeycomb.
I’ve often joked, when people ask me to go and speak for them somewhere and want to pay me, that I’m content to be paid in food. I really do enjoy good food. Now, I’m not some huge dude declaring a gluttonous nature; I just really enjoy good food. I like unique foods from other countries. I love spicy things, sweet things, pretty much whatever (though mushrooms and olives are not high on my list).
I’m guessing that many who read this are also people who like good food. Sometimes I will run into someone who doesn’t care much what he or she eats so long as he or she gets full, but not often. Most of us have a favorite restaurant, a favorite pizza, a favorite dessert.
Have you ever wondered why it is that God made food, good food, to be such a good thing? Psalm 19 might give us a hint. Throughout this psalm, God has been extolling for us the absolutely unimaginable value of his holy word. The law of God, the Scripture, is a treasure, a glorious, life-changing, soul-reviving treasure. The follower of God cannot live without it. And God, by his choice, compares the word to good food.
How is the word like food? In one sense, there is a functional similarity. To the believer, reading the word of God and taking it deep into his or her soul is a means of spiritual survival. We need to feed our souls with the word, or our souls will shrivel up and get sick and weak. If you don’t feed your soul with the word of God, it is unquestionable that your Christian life will be unhealthy and lacking growth.
But there is more than mere functional survival in the word of God. The Bible is not just general food. There are lots of foods that are just general food, but not the word. The words that David chooses to describe the word of God are sweet words. The word of God is not a ham sandwich on week-old bread; no, God’s words are sweet as honey. David is trying to stir in your mind the tastiest food you can come up with. Maybe it’s not honey for you. Maybe you love steak or pasta, chocolate or fresh fruit, seafood or pizza; whatever is that extraordinarily good food to you, that is what God’s word is to b. The word, if you are a healthy believer, is sweet to your taste and as desirable as your favorite dish.
So, could it be that the reason that a Thai curry, a hot fudge Sunday, or a mound of biscuits and gravy is so tasty is because God wants you to understand how glorious his word is? That’s quite possible, indeed. So, the next time you bite into something delectable, don’t just think of your dinner; instead think of the true treasure that God has given you. Think of the perfect word of God that feeds your soul, that brings you close to your Lord, that restores spiritual life to hurting hearts. Pray that, like David, you can say that God’s word is worth more than the greatest treasure and sweeter than the sweetest pleasure.
Who Is Unclean to You? (Acts 10:15)
Acts 10:15
And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.”
In the days of the early church, there was always a little bit of discomfort between Jewish Christians and gentile Christians. Jews had grown up all their lives believing that they alone were the special people of God. For the church to suddenly have her doors thrown open to people other ethnicities was very difficult for them to stomach. The ethnic Jews probably did not mean to be harsh or unloving, it was just very hard for them to get past years of seeing the gentile world as unclean, cruel, ungodly.
Simon Peter, one of the original twelve disciples, had an experience in Acts 10 that opened his eyes to the value of gentile believers. He had a vision of all sorts of animals that were marked as unclean, animals that Peter would have never eaten as a Jew. God tells him to eat them. When Peter refuses, God lets Peter know that Peter has no right to consider unclean something that God has declared clean. The application of this strange vision was so that Peter could understand that it was now his job to go to the gentiles, share the gospel with the gentiles, and welcome the gentiles into the family of God.
Now, a question for you and me today. We do not live in a world that thinks of many items of food as unclean (no matter what my dad says about sushi). But we are still living among people who consider other people who are different from us as dangerous, as dirty, as unclean. This is ugly, it is untrue, and it is counter-gospel, but we have to admit that, for many in church pews today, it is true. We still apply the label of unclean to somebody or to some group.
What is the truth? God so loved the world that he gave his Son (John 3:16). The point of that word “world” in the verse is to make us see that people of all people groups, all ethnicities, are included in the love of God. God did not send Jesus for only Jews, only Asians, or only Americans. God sent Jesus to redeem for himself a people from every nation (Rev 5:9-10).
Ask yourself, “Who is unclean to me?” Is it a particular ethnicity? Is it a particular education level? Is it a particular income level? Is it a particular hygiene level? God sent his Son to redeem people from all peoples. God has called all kinds of people clean. We must not consider unclean or common that which God has called clean.
Lord, help me to see all peoples as clean in your sight. Help me to get past my social and cultural stereotypes to understand that you want me to love people who are different than me in a multitude of ways. Convict me when I fail in this area, and help me, I pray, to honor you with love that looks like the love of Jesus.
God’s Sovereignty and the problem of Evil
Genesis 20:6
Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart, and it was I who kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I did not let you touch her.
With the disaster in Haiti still constantly on our television sets, newspapers, and computer screens, I find myself reminded of other tragic events. I remember stepping out of the shower and hearing that evil men had flown airplanes into buildings in New York City on 9-11. I remember sitting in an airport, stunned at the horrors of the tsunami that ravaged Thailand and Indonesia at the end of 2004. Not only do I remember these events, I remember prayerfully considering how I, as a pastor, could offer people any sort of explanation of what was going on.
Whenever tragedies strike, be they natural disasters or human evils, people often ask questions about the involvement of God. Some people bow to God’s sovereignty and goodness in the midst of seeming Chaos. Others offer attempts at explanations for why God chose to do what he did as if they could explain the motivation that would cause God to send an earthquake, tsunami, or wasting disease. Others attempt to remove or soften an attribute of Gods’ being in order to say that he either did not know that the tragedy was coming or that he cannot stop the tragedy without violating his own natural laws.
A few days after 9-11, I was talking with a leader in a Christian denominational agency that I will not name. I asked him how he would explain to people what happened on 9-11. He told me that, while God was saddened by those events, God does not take action to inhibit the decisions and actions of his free creatures. Amazed that this man would tell me that God did not move to sometimes change the directions of people’s lives and actions, I asked him if he did not think that God moved to change the actions and attitudes of individuals in the Bible such as Pharaoh or Nebuchadnezzar. The response of this “Christian” leader was to tell me that it only seemed that God was intervening to the writers of the Bible, but that we know that this was not the case.
What that man offered to me and to others as a way to explain the tragedy was totally useless. Regardless of how many explanations we give to try to “Get God off the hook” for the hardships that occur in our world, such explanations ultimately offer no hope to believers. God does intervene in human affairs. God himself has declared that he prevented free men from doing things in Genesis 20:6 above. God has the power, the knowledge, and the skill to stop or start any natural event imaginable—he did create the universe with a word after all.
No, the fact is that God is in control. We will not understand his acts and his ways, at least not enough to allow us to say that a particular storm hit a particular neighborhood because of a particular sin. Yet, God has given us insight into his character in his written word. God is mighty, wise, powerful, and perfect in every way. His ways are not our ways, neither are his thoughts ours (cf. Isa 55:8). But his thoughts and ways are always holy. There is no trace of sin or of evil in God. He will do rightly. He will intervene in the affairs of men on earth for the sake of his holy name.
I don’t know how to explain Haiti. I cannot say what God is up to. But I can confidently say that God was not surprised by what happened, Nor was God powerless to stop it or ethically bound to act or not to act. God has moved in the lives of people in the past. God has moved the forces of nature in the past, stilling storms and walking the sea. God is sovereign and good. God is still worthy of our worship and praise, because he is a truly wonderful and gracious God.
Hold Fast the Word of God
In a challenging message that I heard this morning, John Piper said something that I found to be profound. He pointed out that we cannot guarantee that reading the Bible regularly will make us strong. However, we can guarantee that, if we do not read the Bible regularly, we will certainly not be spiritually strong.
*From the message which you can check out here
So I am giving you no guaranteed regimen or device or scheme or trick for spiritual power and health and fruitfulness. Bible reading is not magic. Bible
memory is not mind control or divination. I don’t know if your reading the Bible and meditating and memorizing will give you power and health and fruitfulness.
…
What I do know is: Without it you starve every grace that God means for you to thrive on his world. There is a spiritual diet without which no Christian
can be strong and healthy and fruitful. And that is a diet of the word of God.
We’re Not as Good as We Think, Even When We Are (Genesis 31:36-37)
Genesis 31:36-37
36 Then Jacob became angry and berated Laban. Jacob said to Laban, “What is my offense? What is my sin, that you have hotly pursued me? 37 For you have felt through all my goods; what have you found of all your household goods? Set it here before my kinsmen and your kinsmen, that they may decide between us two.”
Jeremiah 17:9-10
9 The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately sick;
who can understand it?
10 “I the Lord search the heart
and test the mind,
to give every man according to his ways,
according to the fruit of his deeds.”
When Jacob decided to leave Laban’s service, he pretty much had to take off and run. Jacob knew that, should he try to leave in an open and honest fashion, Laban, who had proved to be untrustworthy himself, might attempt to do Jacob harm. So, Jacob sneaks away, which is pretty consistent with his modus operandi.
As Jacob takes off, Rachel decides to sneak into her father’s house and swipe his household idols. (Sadly for Laban, Dora was not there to shout out, “Swiper no swiping!”) Jacob and his family run, and Laban, once he learns what has happened, pursues.
Once the inevitable confrontation between Jacob and Laban occurs, Laban accuses Jacob of stealing his gods. Jacob, who knows nothing about Rachel’s pilfering, demands that Laban search through his belongings. Laban searches, but is unable to come up with the false gods because they are under Rachel’s behind.
Once Laban’s search proves fruitless, Jacob, feeling righteously indignant, begins to berate Laban for his accusation. We see those words and claims of innocence from Jacob in the Genesis Scripture above. It’s that wonderful picture of indignation that we so often see in politicians when they point at one another and say, “How dare you accuse me of such a thing. I am offended at the very notion.”
Now, here is what has my attention. Jacob was wrong. His family had stolen from Laban; he just wasn’t aware of it. The irony of the situation is hard to bear. Were Laban given the knowledge that we the readers have, Laban could have pointed to Rachel’s saddle bags and proved Jacob to be harboring the crook.
How many times have you felt indignant at someone who accused you of something? How many times have you felt wonderfully vindicated when those accusations against you prove false? Doesn’t’ it make you feel smug when someone calls you guilty, and then you are able to show them that you are innocent?
Perhaps a lesson from Jacob is in order here. Jacob thought he was innocent. In many ways, he was. In many ways, he had been wronged by Laban. But, his guilt was still there, hidden in a place he did not even know to look. Jacob was not as innocent as he thought, nor was he as innocent as Laban’s investigation showed.
Jeremiah tells us that our hearts are desperately sick, unimaginably wicked. We do not even know the depths of our own depravity. Only God, the holy and omniscient One, has the ability to look into the depths of our souls and see the corruption that lies beneath the surface. Only God knows how truly not innocent we all are.
So, the next time that you find yourself vindicated against the accusations of those who accuse you falsely, perhaps you can learn from Jacob and from Jeremiah. We are not nearly as innocent as we portray ourselves. We are guilty, even in places that we cannot see. Only the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ makes us able to stand before God. Without him, all of our righteousness is filthy (Isa 64:6).
The goal here is not to make you feel bad about yourself. Rather, the goal is for us all to grasp the fact that we must not be smug, even when it seems that we have been wrongly accused or persecuted. Our hearts are evil deep down.
The truth of our wickedness should cause us to be so incredibly grateful to Jesus. He takes us, wicked hearts and all, and he totally, perfectly, 100% cleanses us before himself. Jesus gives us his perfect righteousness, and makes us able to live eternally in the presence of our God. The more we grasp our own evil, even the hidden parts, the more grateful we will be to Jesus who cleanses us, even in our deepest and most hidden parts.
Are You Seeing All You Should See? (Genesis 28:16)
Genesis 28:16
Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.”
It’s time for a reality check. Is what you see all you see? Is what you know all there is? When you see a sunrise, a thunder storm, a snow drift, or a quarter moon, what do you really see? When you hear a beautiful voice, a piano concerto, a skillful guitarist, or a moving rhythm, what do you hear?
I ask these questions, not with the intension of getting you to philosophically question whether or not the chair you are seated in is really there or some other such nonsense, but rather, because I want you to think about how you perceive reality. We see far too little. We hear far too little. We remember far too little about the real world in which we live.
This reality came to my attention recently as I read through an account of the life of Abraham’s grandson, Jacob. Jacob, as you probably know, was a sneak, a lying cheater. He swindled his hungry brother out of his birthright and then duped his poor, blind father out of a blessing that wasn’t intended for him. When Jacob’s brother had reached the boiling point, Jacob, on the advice of his mommy who was a trickster in her own right, ran away from home to his uncle’s place for safety.
It was while Jacob was traveling, when he had camped out one night, that he saw something amazing in a vision from God. Jacob saw a staircase stretching from earth to heaven, and saw that the Lord was there at the top of it. Angels from God were traveling from heaven to earth and back again, and God was there overseeing it all. The Lord told Jacob that he indeed would carry the blessing of God that had been given to his grandfather Abraham and to his father Isaac.
When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” And here we return to my original questions. Jacob was living his life as if God were not there. He was not an atheist, for sure. Jacob believed in the God of his fathers. Jacob even schemed to receive the blessing. But, Jacob was practically living as an atheist, acting as though the presence of God was a non-factor. Jacob lied, stole, and ran away, all with the assumption that God would play no role in this drama. Only now did Jacob begin to realize that he had not seen nearly enough.
So, back to the original question. What do you see? When you look at your life, do you live as though God is not a part at all? Do you assume that what you will accomplish is only that which you are supposedly able to accomplish? Do you assume that the people around you will not be impacted by the presence and power of God? Do you see the sun, moon, and stars and forget the voice of the God who looked into the blackness of the void and said, “Let there be…”? Do you look at political and financial news and assume that the nation will have to pull herself up by her own bootstraps in order to stand? Do you assume that political change is what will help the people of the land to actually do what is right? Do you look at your breakfast, and foolishly think that the food came only from the grocery store and not look deeper to see the hand of the Creator?
It’s so easy, isn’t it, to look at what is around you, be it weather, people, or technology, and assume that what you can see is all there is. But Christians, we know better. There is far more. There is a God who made us. There is a God who is working out his plan, his will, and no one will stop him. There is a God who cares for us, who provides for us, and who fixes things we could never fix.
Christians, let’s not find ourselves saying, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” The first half is fine, because God is surely in this place, whatever place you are in. But the second half has to go. Know that God is there. Know that God is active. Pray, and ask God to remind you that he is with you and in control. Pray that God will help you to think as a person who is a creation of God, redeemed by God, kept by God, and destined for eternity with God.
A Thought about Times of Emptiness (Genesis 25:20-21, 24-26)
Genesis 25:20-21, 24-26
20 and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife. 21 And Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren. And the Lord granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived.
24 When her days to give birth were completed, behold, there were twins in her womb. 25 The first came out red, all his body like a hairy cloak, so they called his name Esau. 26 Afterward his brother came out with his hand holding Esau’s heel, so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.
One of the weaknesses that we have as we attempt to read through the Scripture is our lack of ability to imagine the passage of time. As we watch the recorded events of the lives of men and women in the Bible, it can appear to us that they were always turning around and seeing God, hearing God’s voice, seeing miracles, or experiencing the supernatural. This, of course, makes us wonder what is wrong with our world. Has God stopped working?
Take a look at the passages above. Isaac had a problem. Isaac’s wife was unable to have children. This, as you undoubtedly know, was a terrible thing for the couple. But, the Bible tells us, Isaac prayed to God, and God allowed Rebekah to conceive. Well, that was easy, wasn’t’ it.
But take just a second to look at the numbers. Isaac and Rebekah were married when Isaac was 40 years old. The twins were born when Isaac was 60. It took a full 20 years of prayer before God answered Isaac’s cries. That’s 20 years of watching everyone they knew have kids. That’s 20 years of watching their neighbors go to kindergarten plays, softball games, high school graduations, and even weddings. That’s 20 years of crying out to God and asking why and wondering what’s wrong with them that they could not have children. That’s 20 years of not understanding how it is that God would keep his promises to Abraham and Isaac when Rebekah was unable to conceive.
It’s too bad, in some ways, that we see a verse like verse 21 above and we fail to understand that 20 years passed from the wedding to the nursery. It’s too bad, because we think that the people of God don’t go through hard times if they are really God’s people. But, in this case at least, we now see that sometimes it takes a very long time before God answers our prayers. Sometimes it takes so long that we want to give up, to quit, to turn and go do something else. But God was there. For all 20 of Isaac and Rebekah’s hard, childless years, God was there. God was doing exactly what needed to be done at exactly the time it needed to be done.
I don’t know what you are begging God to do. I do know, however, that God wants us to continue to trust in him, to come to him, and to seek his blessing. Maybe God will answer your prayer in the way that you want him to today. Maybe it will take 20 years. Maybe you will never get exactly what you want because God has something better in view. At least learn this from Isaac: God is always there, even when it looks and feels like he is not.
And, the next time you find yourself discouraged that the people in the Bible had all the fun, seeing miracle after miracle after miracle, remember that all we are getting are the highlights of their lives. We do not get pictures of the intervening decades of silence. Thank God that you live when you do, in a time when Christians have the Spirit of God and the word of God to keep us in daily fellowship with God.
What’s So Different About Christianity? (Genesis 15:6)
Genesis 15:6
And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
What separates Christianity from other world religions? There can be many different answers to this question. Christians understand that we are created by one, perfect, personal, holy, Creator. Not all religions think so. We understand that we are sinners who have rightly earned the judgment of that Creator. Not all religions think so. We have also understood that there is forgiveness to be had in that God. Not many religions think so.
What makes us different, however, is our understanding of how we receive that grace. In all other forms of religion that at least acknowledge the existence of sin and wrong, those religions call upon the adherent of that religion to do something, to take an action, to work his or her way back into the favor of their deity. Christianity is different. We understand that we are not saved by right actions, not even right religious actions. We are not saved by being baptized, by attending services, by doing good deeds, or by living in such a way to make up for our sin.
Christians are different because of the amazing words that we see in Genesis 15:6. God is willing to credit us with righteousness, not because we do good things, but because we believe God. That is unbelievable for many, but it is at the core of genuine Christianity. We are forgiven, not by being good, but instead by believing God.
Most people who have any experience with Christianity are familiar with John 3:16, which says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” This is the same message that is present in Genesis 15:6. The way to be right with God is to believe in the name of God’s only Son.
Now, you might argue, believing is an action—all be it a mental one—thus making your point invalid. Well argued, indeed. However, the Bible takes away from the believer the credit for his or her faith, calling that faith that saves us a gift from our God. As Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
So, are you still afraid that you are under the judgment of God? If so, you cannot “do something” to get out of that trouble. However, God has told you that if you will put your entire hope for the eternity of your soul in the person and finished work of Jesus Christ, he will save you. God will forgive the person who genuinely believes in Jesus, who cries out to him for grace, and who comes to him in repentance. Do not try to do something, just trust in Jesus.
And for you who are believers in Christ, realize that your salvation is nothing about which you can boast. You “did” nothing to save yourself. Even your faith is a gift from God. So praise Jesus, and thank God for his radically different way of saving people. God did what the rest of the world could never imagine; he chose to save his children by his grace through faith in Christ.
