What happens to a person the moment his eyes are opened to the inexorable love of God?
What is left is merely an exposed sinful man—a ravished heart. His response must be—will be—prostrating himself in repentance. He falls down upon the earth despising the life lived in accordance with his former master. He sees Jesus for who He truly is, and believes that He penetrated humanity over 2,000 years ago taking on human flesh, that He lived a perfect life, died on a cross as the only sacrificial substitute received by God as a satisfaction for the wrath of God stored up for man’s sin, that He conquered death by His resurrection, is now sitting at the right hand of God, and that there is only one Triune God who will judge the living and the dead.
This man is made into a new creation–old things have passed away, behold all things have become new. Grace has been received through faith. His appetites are changing, and he is now hungry to reform his former ways. He believes that his debts are cancelled, that he is adopted into the beloved as an heir to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and that his sins that were exposed are removed as far as the east is from the west. He walks in humble resolve applying the grace of God to his life, direction, plans, present realities, and purposes, and is constantly being conformed into the image of Christ and lovingly disciplined through an active and intimate fellowship and communion with God.
His is a life of love, of hope, of confession, of wisdom, of reflection, of gospel proclamation, of investing in the lives of others, of feasting upon the Word of God, and of struggling well through the triumphs and tragedies of life–until he is called home to be with His Savior and His God.
“…the joy of the Lord is your strength.” -Nehemiah 8:10
— November 20, 2015