The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe
"The Giver"
"He giveth to all life and breath and all things" (Acts 17:25).
God exists and acts as the source of all provision and supply in His creation. When created beings give, they do so as the stewards and conduits of the One from whom "every good gift and every perfect gift" proceeds (James 1:17).
No characteristic of God's nature more defines who He is. To say that He "is love" means to declare that He heart rejoices in providing for others, serving as the One whose sublimely generous disposition originates and perpetuates the truth of "it is more blessed to give than to receive" (I John 4:8; Acts 20:35). To know our Lord rightly means that we must view Him in terms of this sublime love for giving, particularly in light of the sacrifice that made and makes possible every provision He so generously supplies:
"God gave His only begotten Son… He that spared not His own Son, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" (John 3:16; Romans 8:32).
Before God created all things, He knew the sacrifice that would be required if He proceeded with His purpose. In His heart and mind, the Lord Jesus Christ existed as "a lamb without blemish and without spot, who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world" (I Peter 1:19-20). At the greatest cost to Himself, our Lord made angels, the universe, and human beings in full knowledge of the horror of sacrifice He would one day know at the cross of Calvary. There, the Lord Jesus would die alone, abandoned by the Father and the Holy Spirit as He "bore our sins" and was "made to be sin for us" (I Peter 1:24; II Corinthians 5:21). "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" (Matthew 27:46). How much does God love to give? How intrinsic to His nature is provision for others? How blessed is it in His heart to supply for His creation? Look to the cross for the most vivid revelation of our Lord's love for giving, at the highest cost to Himself.
"Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross" (Hebrews 12:2).
No prospect of pain in spirit, soul, and body was greater in our Savior's heart than "the joy that was set before Him." The giving of Himself for our salvation would make possible His glad giving of Himself to our spirits. No prospect of wonder in our own spirits, souls, and bodies transcends this awareness of how much our Lord loves to provide. Indeed, consider the most generous person you have ever known among human beings. Then realize that his or her disposition originates in their Creator, and that their magnanimity reveals but a glimmer of the infinitely bright light of giving that shines in His heart. We will never fully know how much our God loves to open His heart and hand to "give unto all life and breath and all things." We can, however, know such grace better as we acknowledge through the Holy Spirit, the Scriptures, fellow believers, and His generous providence in our lives that joy ever lies before our Lord, the gladness He knows in the giving of "every good gift and every perfect gift."
"It is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."
(Luke 12:32)
"The living God… giveth us richly all things to enjoy."
(I Timothy 6:17)
Weekly Memory Verse
When Thou saidst, Seek ye My face; my heart said unto Thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.
(Psalm 27:8)
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