The security of the believer series – A sure foundation

By Rev. Al Williams, II
Bethel Missionary Baptist Church

God has a way of reminding us of who He is when He exercises His supreme authority in the lives of His people. The reality that God is the supreme and unrivaled ruler of the universe usually brings a sense of security, comfort and confidence to the believer. When believers begin to rehearse the attributes of God that distinguish and describe Him it doesn’t take long to be overcome with elation and enthusiasm.
He is unrivaled in His reign as supreme ruler of heaven and earth. His power is unmatched by any individual, group, or institution. He is exclusive in authority and superlative in command. God is unstoppable when determined to achieve a particular end and unwavering in His commitment to bring Himself glory through the working out of our circumstances.
His compassion is exceptional and His commitment to bless those who remain faithful to Him is unbreakable. God’s grace is sufficient to adequately compensate for our weaknesses and His love so unconditional that it always manages to cover a multitude of sins.
The ultimate demonstration of His goodness toward us is expressed by Paul in His letter to the Roman community of faith when he declared that Jesus Christ died in the place of and on behalf of humanity. The willingness of Jesus Christ to substitute Himself in humanity’s place has removed all condemnation and wrath from those who put their faith in Jesus Christ as Savior.
So, when we think about what God has done in Christ Jesus we cannot help but show some sign of gratitude and celebration. It is in Christ Jesus that we are justified freely by grace through redemption. It is in Christ Jesus that there is no condemnation for those who walk not in the flesh but walk in the Spirit. It is in Christ Jesus that the law of the Spirit of life makes me free from the law of sin and death. It is in Christ Jesus that we are ensured that nothing can separate us from the love of God.
It is in Christ Jesus that we gain wisdom and righteousness and sanctification. It is in Christ Jesus that we are made into new creatures despite how much we still struggle and strain to meet the standards of a holy God. It is in Christ Jesus that we are raised up and able to sit in the heavenly places one day!
It is without question that we enjoy the privilege of God’s authority to act on our behalf. Yet I hasten to say that we do not maintain the same amount of enthusiasm when the privilege of experiencing God’s authority shifts from delight to discipline. We love His power when it is directed at our enemies and when it enables us to overcome our obstacles but we shutter at the thought of God’s prerogative to chastise us when we step outside of His will.
This sobering reality is what is being driven home in the sixth and seventh verses of the twentieth-eighth chapter of Isaiah. We find out that God gives a divine inspection of the true condition of His people and promises both an accurate depiction of who we really are. God selected Assyria as His agent of judgment upon the Israelites but it was ultimately to remind them of His authority and to offer them the opportunity to be restored.
God can amazingly use discipline to reveal His agenda of preserving His people. The nature of God’s work of preservation for Israel in the midst of the approaching Assyrian invasion is paramount to our understanding of how God continues to preserve us today. God reveals that life with Him often requires the dismantling of structures that stand in contradiction to His agenda and without his approval. God then reveals that He is mercifully willing to build us up where we have been torn down. He can take a life that is in pieces and put that life back together again. God can take a nation that is in pieces and put them back together again. He is the supreme architect of the universe and therefore He never constructs without ensuring that what He constructs will stand regardless of the season or circumstance. No building project has sustainability without a sure and steady foundation. We are privileged to have the promise of a firm foundation upon which our lives can be constructed. In this we have confidence!