Precious in the Sight of the Lord…
Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. (Psalm 116:15)
I HAVE READ THIS VERSE MANY TIMES at funerals.
It is one of the greatest Bible verses! I had to remember it for myself recently as I looked into the face of one of my dearest friends as he lay in his casket. He was one of the finest Bible preachers I had ever heard and had been my college roommate. It was helpful to remember that this was a precious thing in the sight of the Lord. Those who remained behind were not alone. The Lord was there.
THERE IS A HUGE THRONG OF PEOPLE ON THIS EARTH that are precious to God. They are precious to Him from the time of their conception to the time of their death. Lost people are precious to Him and He longs for their salvation. But God especially notices the death of His saints and it is precious to Him. The Saints are those who have turned to Him in repentance and with their whole heart have received God’s Son as their Savior and Lord.
God has an inheritance and we are it:
The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, (Ephesians 1:18) We know about inheriting things from our ancestors. But God also has an inheritance, also: His saints.
IT BEGAN SEVERAL THOUSAND YEARS AGO when God was making the earth. On the third, fourth and fifth day of creation, God saw that it was good. On the sixth and last day, the day that He made man, we read: And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. (Genesis 1:31) (I recently read that Josephus, the chief Jewish historian, held that the days of creation were six literal days and that Genesis should be interpreted as it reads.)
NOTICE THAT ON THE SIXTH DAY, THE WORD: "WAS" IS IN ITALICS. This means that the translators of the King James Bible added “was” for clarification. But the word: “very” is not in italics. God says that all He had made was very good, including the man He had made. Included in the very good creation was a man that God had given a will. This man could exercise his will in favor or God or he could go against the will of God.
"VERY GOOD CONTINUED WHEN GOD CHOSE TO REDEEM the fallen man and woman He had made. Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them. (Genesis 3:21) Adam and Eve were precious to God because He had made them and loved them. In order for them to have a coat to cover their nakedness, an animal had to die and shed its blood.
GOD HAD TOLD THEM THAT IN THE DAY THEY MIGHT EAT of the forbidden fruit, they would die. They ate the forbidden fruit and on that day, they began the process of dying. They and their offspring would now have a limited time of life on earth. But, they were precious to God and He chose to provide His own Son as a sacrificial lamb to die in their place. They were precious in His sight.
But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. (Galations 4:4-5) We are precious to God because He made us in His image and because He has redeemed us (bought us back) with the blood of His Own Son.
WE ARE PRECIOUS TO GOD BECAUSE, He chose to redeem us but did not redeem fallen angels. God created angels, just as He created man. Yet we were redeemed from our ruined estate and the angels that rebelled against God with Satan were not redeemed. Jesus did not die for fallen angels. Jesus died for fallen man. We need to fix this in our minds in realizing we are precious to God.
THESE FOUR VERSES AE INSTRUCTIVE in understanding our position with God compared to angels. For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. (Psalm 8:5) God did not crown the angels with glory and honor, but God crowned created man with glory and honor and gave him dominion over the earth and over the living things of His creation. Angels are more powerful than men but they have not been honored as men were honored in their creation and their commission to rule the earth.
Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands: (Hebrews 2:7) This is a quote from Psalm 8:5 but it is headed toward the inclusion of the Son of God who was born of a virgin who had never “known” a man. It is, thus, Messianic, and prophetic.
WE ARE PRECIOUS TO GOD BECAUSE HE CAUSED A VIRGIN TO GIVE BIRTH to His Son who would enter the realm of human beings as one of us. He would be the God-man. We are precious to God because we have this legacy, this heritage. Jesus came in the likeness of man to redeem us from ourselves.
But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. (Hebrews 2:9)
ANGELS ARE MINISTERING SPIRITS, to minister to those of us who shall be heirs of salvation. The writer of Hebrews says: Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? (Hebrews 1:14)
WE ARE PRECIOUS BECAUSE OF GOD'S INVESTMENT IN US to make us like His son: Jesus. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. (Romans 8:28-29) We are precious to God because after we were saved, He has destined to make us like the Lord Jesus Christ.
THIS WONDERFUL SONG CAPTURES MAN'S POSITION regarding angels.
"There is singing up in Heaven such as we have never known, Where the angels sing the praises of the Lamb upon the throne, Their sweet harps are ever tuneful, and their voices always clear, O that we might be more like them while we serve the Master here!
Refrain
"Holy, holy, is what the angels sing, And I expect to help them make the courts of Heaven ring; But when I sing redemption’s story, they will fold their wings, For angels never felt the joy that our salvation brings.
"So, although I’m not an angel, yet I know that over there I will join a blessed chorus that the angels cannot share; I will sing about my Savior, who upon dark Calvary Freely pardoned my transgressions, died to set a sinner free. (Refrain) (Source: The Cyber Hymnal #2510) Ω
Read Through the Bible in a Year
AUGUST 1, 2018 – WEDNESDAY
A.M. Psalms 65-67 P.M. Romans 2
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)
A Good Verse to Memorize:
And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:13) (Write verse on scrap of paper and put in your pocket to memorize.)
Song for Today:
He Said, “Arise!” (3:15) (Cal. Mem. Church – Sou. Pines.NC)
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