A Father's Gift

Yesterday I was sitting in on an adult Sunday school class that one of our elders was teaching on the Westminster Confession. This class in particular dealt specifically with chapter 8, which begins with these words: 

It pleased God, in his eternal purpose, to choose and ordain the Lord Jesus, his only begotten Son, to be the Mediator between God and man, the Prophet, Priest, and King, the Head and Savior of his church, the Heir of all things, and Judge of the world: unto whom he did from all eternity give a people, to be his seed, and to be by him in time redeemed, called, justified, sanctified, and glorified.

There are all kinds of wonderful truths contained in this statement, but one thing in particular stood out for me. The normal way we think about the relationship we have with Christ is that he came to save us from our sins. While this is technically true, it falls short of the whole truth. Ultimately, the reason Christ came was so that God's glory might be made manifest, first in Christ and then in us.

Note in particular these words from the Confession, "unto whom he did from all eternity give a people..." We are self-centered by (our sinful) nature. As a result, we tend to see things only from our perspective, often making Jesus little more than a role-player in the story of our lives. The Confession offers a helpful correction to this, reminding us that from all eternity, God's purpose was that we would be a gift to his Son. We are the role-players; he is the star. He does not exist for us; we exist for him.

May we each and every day, by the power of his Spirit dwelling in us, be more and more conformed to Christ's likeness, that we might be a gift that proclaims God's glory!