10 L.M. J. Kent
The Everlasting Love of God. Jer. 31. 3; Eph. 2. 4, 5
1 ’Twas with an everlasting love
That God his own elect embraced;
Before he made the worlds above,
Or earth on her huge columns placed.
2 Long ere the sun’s refulgent ray
Primeval shades of darkness drove,
They on his sacred bosom lay,
Loved with an everlasting love.
3 Then in the glass of his decrees,
Christ and his bride appeared as one;
Her sin, by imputation, his,
Whilst she in spotless splendour shone.
4 O love, how high thy glories swell!
How great, immutable, and free!
Ten thousand sins, as black as hell,
Are swallowed up, O love, in thee!
5 [Loved, when a wretch defiled with sin,
At war with heaven, in league with hell,
A slave to every lust obscene;
Who, living, lived but to rebel.]
6 Believer, here thy comfort stands –
From first to last salvation’s free,
And everlasting love demands
An everlasting song from thee.
A few excerpts from a great quote of Archibald Alexander I read last year are in order:
"There is a defect in our belief of the freeness of divine grace. To exercise unshaken confidence in the doctrine of gratuitous pardon is one of the most difficult things in the world... the doctrine of free grace, without any mixture of human merit, is the only true object of faith."
The Everlasting Love of God. Jer. 31. 3; Eph. 2. 4, 5
1 ’Twas with an everlasting love
That God his own elect embraced;
Before he made the worlds above,
Or earth on her huge columns placed.
2 Long ere the sun’s refulgent ray
Primeval shades of darkness drove,
They on his sacred bosom lay,
Loved with an everlasting love.
3 Then in the glass of his decrees,
Christ and his bride appeared as one;
Her sin, by imputation, his,
Whilst she in spotless splendour shone.
4 O love, how high thy glories swell!
How great, immutable, and free!
Ten thousand sins, as black as hell,
Are swallowed up, O love, in thee!
5 [Loved, when a wretch defiled with sin,
At war with heaven, in league with hell,
A slave to every lust obscene;
Who, living, lived but to rebel.]
6 Believer, here thy comfort stands –
From first to last salvation’s free,
And everlasting love demands
An everlasting song from thee.
"There is a defect in our belief of the freeness of divine grace. To exercise unshaken confidence in the doctrine of gratuitous pardon is one of the most difficult things in the world... the doctrine of free grace, without any mixture of human merit, is the only true object of faith."
The glory of God's grace shines brightest when we begin to realize that "from first to last salvation's free". Every other conception of God's orientation to those in Christ falls woefully short. Never underestimate the freeness of God's grace. Never restrict the freeness of God's grace. Don't underestimate the true state of God's Church - a spotless people shining with the glory of Christ' righteousness. Don't underestimate what it means to be "in Christ" (Rom. 3:21, 6:11, 8:1; 1 Cor. 1:2, 15:22; 2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 3:26; Eph. 1:3, 2:10, 2:13; 1 Pt. 5:10).
The love of God is the prism of prisms, it shines into our hearts in a million different splendid colors. One ray of God's love shines brightly in His electing unborn, naturally-guilty, rebellion-bound, children of wrath. He chose us before we were. More than that, He loved us before we were.
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