Trying to understand grace 2

I have been silent for the last two days.  A technical fault has left me unable to feel connected with the world in cyberspace.  The word silent has new connotations for me since Sunday's sermon which highlighted the 400 years of silence from God between the Old and New Testament.  

During those 400 years many events came to pass, including the history of Alexander the Great and Cleopatra.  Why was God silent for 400 years before He sent John the Baptist to tell the Israelites to repent and be baptised, and to make straight paths for the Lord?  I am reminded of the saying "calm before the storm".  

I am not comparing my silence to God's silence and saying they have the same significance.  It was merely an association in thought to silence.  And considering my question on grace in these past few days which are turning into weeks, I feel almost as though silence could well be an extension of God's grace.  

Perhaps He was angry but He knew full well that He couldn't speak to His children when He is angry.  Perhaps it took Him that amount of time to concoct a plan to make the message clear that He really does exist, and heaven really does exist, and what clearer way to convey this message than by coming to earth Himself, in the flesh?  

After a discussion with a new good friend of mine, words fell from my mouth as though I were a waterfall who couldn't help but bring forth the message that I myself needed to hear.  It was nothing I ever had clearly thought through or even about.  It just sprang from my lips.

God is the source of all things, and I felt His Holy Spirit bubble up inside me, and the message was this: We cannot, by our "good nature" save ourselves and enter heaven.  We cannot, by our good intentions and kind deeds, enter Your kingdom.  We cannot, in other words, work for our salvation.  

But this is really where the crux of the matter lies.  Once saved, we have that understanding.  We have come to understand and know God as our Lord and Saviour, and it is then that God seeks our willingness to be His workmen.  God says we now belong to the Body of Christ.  Can you imagine Christ folding His hands, or turning about in His bed in slumber, or feeding Himself before His flock?  Can you imagine Christ smoking a cigarette in idleness or self-pity?  Can you imagine Jesus doing anything with His Body that is not holy?  We are no longer trying to work for our salvation because we who believe in Him have received it.  The question is not if we are trying to gain our salvation, but rather what we are doing with it?  To say we should not work is a lie.  We are God's craftsmanship.  God has set tasks for us to do.  We will be judged by our deeds.  Jesus said, if we follow His teachings, we are truly His disciples.  John 8. 32 says, "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

I think this is why there are many more "good" people in this world, inclined to do good and doing it, because no one else is, and because they are compelled.  They might not put down this compulsion down to God, but I believe it is God.  They merely do not recognise the source.  But what good can come from a bad source?  Where does goodness come from, after all?  And why do we have a desire to do good at all?  I think it is because a good God has made us and no matter what we do in life, we are either consciously or subconsciously trying to get back to Him.  We were, in other words, created by Him and for Him.  



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