Tuesday Reflection – August 25, 2020 Rejoice in God’s Salvation

Tuesday Reflection – August 25, 2020
Rejoice in God’s Salvation

Today’s watchword is from 1 Sam 2: 1. Lord, I rejoice in your salvation. It is part of Hannah’s prayer which she prayed when she brought Samuel to the temple in fulfilment of her promise to God. The birth of her son was for her the greatest gift she could receive and the surest confirmation that God heard her prayers. Hannah had promised the Lord that if he gave her a son, she would return that son to him as soon as he was weaned. He was about five or six years old when she returned to the temple with him. By this time, she had taught Samuel about the Lord, and now he was ready to be taught by Eli and be trained for his duties in the temple.
Hannah was able to rejoice because God had heard and answered her. Note however that her rejoicing was in much more than God’s blessing of a child. She was rejoicing in God’s salvation.

As Christians we understand what it means to speak of salvation. We know that God had a plan for the salvation of the world which was fulfilled in Jesus Christ life, death, resurrection and ascension and will be culminated in His return for the church on earth as He establishes His new kingdom. God’s plan has always been to save or deliver humanity from a life of, as well as the consequences of sin. God’s plan gives life where we deserved to die. Ez 18: 4 reminds us, Indeed! All lives are mine – the life of the father as well as the life of the son is mine. The one who sins will die. Although our sins made us deserve death, God put in place a plan for us to live. As a Hebrew, Hannah understood that no human could redeem her, neither could she redeem her son as much as she loved him. She knew the words Psalm 49: 7 ‘None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him. God’s plan was the yearly atonement sacrifice for Israel’s sin which pointed to the coming of the messiah who would be the ultimate sacrifice for humanity’s redemption. Hannah’s rejoicing was in knowing that regardless of what others did or said, God’s plan was the only certainty for Israel’s salvation, and that was all the assurance she needed.

Today I want to assure us that God’s plan for our salvation has not changed. Indeed Paul wrote: “God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we would become the righteousness of God.” 2 Cor 5: 21. Christ became the atoning sacrifice for our sins and our acceptance of Him as our Lord and Savior guarantees our salvation. It is such knowledge and acceptance that leads to our rejoicing today. In the midst of the turmoil of pandemic, injustice and disasters, we have the assurance of salvation. Don’t be distracted. We may need justice, we may need intervention, we may need a vaccine, but none of these needs surpass the need for salvation. Jesus himself promised in John 6: 37 “Whoever comes to me I will never drive away”. This is reason to rejoice. With all that’s happening around us, we are safe in our salvation; we are safe in our Lord. God gifted us with life eternal through Jesus Christ thus we can rejoice. John assures us in 1 John 5: 11 -12: And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. That’s just it friends. Salvation is not coming from a political system or from some politician. Salvation is not coming from a vaccine. No Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and it is from Him alone that it comes. I urge us therefore to keep our focus and our hope on the Lord, the author and finisher of our faith, and like Hannah, let us rejoice in God’s salvation. Amen

Bevon White