“TO THIS END we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his call, and may fulfil every good resolve and work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thess. 1:11–12).
This follows from the call of yesterday—He will make you worthy of His call. Further, He will fulfill every good resolve. It does not depend upon our resolution, but upon His revolution in us. Besides the good resolve, He undertakes to fulfill every “work of faith” which you have already started. By prayer you may tap resources adequate for anything that should be done.
The result of all this interplay between His power and our need is this: “so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him.” This is amazing, for it is a double glorifying: the name of our Lord Jesus glorified in you and you glorified in Him. To glorify the name of the Lord Jesus would be enough for any ransomed sinner, but to be told that in the very glorifying of Jesus he himself would be glorified in Him—well, that is just too overwhelmingly good! But that is grace—grace overwhelms us with its graciousness. But this reveals the intention of redemption—it is not the glorifying of the Redeemer, but the glorifying of the redeemed. In the glorifying of the redeemed the Redeemer is thereby glorified. Each saves his life and finds it. Each thinks only of glorifying the other, and each ends in being glorified! All this is “according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Hail to grace!
O Jesus, our Redeemer, we thank Thee for a grace which not only redeems us and regenerates us, but also glorifies us. We shrink from glory, but we cannot escape it if we are in Thee. Thy grace is glory. We thank Thee. Amen.
AFFIRMATION FOR THE DAY: My working faith: a faith that He will “fulfil every good resolve and work of faith by his power.”
