"The God Who Saved Us" -2

"Therefore will I give thanks unto Thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and sing praises unto Thy name." (Psalms 18:49) The "Therefore" is here because of deliverance has taken place, and therefore we are to give thanks! When we give thanks, we are to do so with a thankful heart; which means that we have a heart that is truly thankful for the deliverance that we have been given. The main reason that someone might be considered a heathen is because they are separated from God, or outside of the family of God; such as a Gentile would be outside the people of Israel. When it comes to God's purpose for the people of Israel, His purpose was that through His chosen people all the nations of the world would be blessed; meaning those that are considered heathen also, (Genesis 12:1-3). Everyone that is born upon this earth is born in bondage to judgement of sin, and is condemned from birth to a spiritual separation from God; this is the curse of the sin that was committed in the Garden. To be set free from the bondage of sin, is to be delivered from all that which is associated with sin; including that thing called judgement. If you understand what judgement requires to be removed from any situation, it requires reconciliation to take place, whereby the judgement has been settled and then healing can happen. Paul speaks of this act of being reconciled in Romans 5:8-11, and gives us the reason why healing is a key ingredient to the proof of being reconciled to God. The healing that we are to look for is not a physical healing, but a spiritual healing that has given life to something that was previously without life and separated from God. Paul starts out speaking about how we have peace with God, and how that we have the love of God shed abroad in our hearts because of what Jesus Christ has done for us on the cross. The requirement for the judgement of the sin in our lives was satisfied by the blood of Jesus Christ; thereby, the reconciliation was established by the debt for that sin being paid. Now that we have been reconciled unto God, the healing has been granted to our spiritual lives; whereby, the spiritual death that was once separating from God has been made alive in us, and the Holy Spirit now is residing in us. Now then; we have this life that has been established in us, which has at it's core a spirit of reconciliation; because it is alive because it has been reconciled unto God, it is therefore alive unto God to spread reconciliation in every area of our life. When we honestly take a hard look at our lives and consider what it is that we have been given and what it is that we are to give out, we find that there is no comparison, and that there is so much more that we need to give; because in reality, we could never give enough. It is this new life that has been reconciled to God that requires reconciliation in our life on every level, including those that have hurt us or have offended us in any way. If we do not be reconciled with those that we have grievance against, then we have not satisfied the judgement, and forgiveness has not taken place; and if forgiveness has not taken place in life here amongst each other, then we are still in the bondage of sin because judgement still remains... "But God commanded His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son; much more, being reconciled we shall be saved by His life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement." (Romans 8:8-11)