Today's Eagle's Wings: Tuesday, May 21, 2013

The angels of heaven have good reason to sing the praises of the Lord. Though they serve in the courts of glory and flawlessly execute His every command, they have no cause for self-congratulation. They owe their existence and happiness to the sovereign goodness of God, for, as Paul reveals, the reason they did not fall in Satans rebellion was the electing purpose of God (I Tim. 5:21).

However, even angels have not so much cause to sing Gods praise as do redeemed sinners. If creatures who never sinned rejoice in the power of God that kept them back from falling, how much more should we rejoice in His grace that saved us out of the depths of depravity and rebellion? That God would preserve sinless angels is one thing. That He should love and save foul and fallen sinners is something else. It is a miracle of grace. Yet that is what the Spirit records: He loved us! What a sublime statement!

Hethe pure, holy, and just Creator, the One whose law we had trampled beneath our feet in arrogant rebellion; lovedfixed the purpose of His goodness upon us in divine tenderness so as not merely to wish us well but to ensure our eternal salvation; usthe most unloving and unlovely of His moral creatures, sinners who not only did not deserve His grace but did not even desire it.

The Lords goodness to angels required the mere exercise of His will, the exertion of His power. The salvation of sinners required all that and more. It required the supreme self-sacrifice of the Son of God. Our salvation cost the Lord everything He could give. Out of love He gave it.

Whatever burdens we are called upon to carry today, let us lift our hearts to the Saviour who so loved us as to wash us from our sins. Think of it! All our sinsevery spot, stain, and wrinkleare washed away. As Jesus said, Ye are clean (John 13:10). Rejoice, Christian! Rejoice!