"After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out, "Hallelujah! [Salvation] and glory and power belong to our God,"
(Revelation 19:1)
“Salvation” turns our attention to the whole redemptive work of God through His Son, the Lamb of God. That salvation is necessary brings us back to the condition in every person—sinful, separated from God, depraved in every aspect of our being, without hope and without God in this world, darkened in our understanding of ourselves and of God (Eph. 2:1-3; 2:12; 4:17-19). Yet out of our desperate plight, God had purposed before the foundation of the world to provide deliverance (which is the literal meaning of “salvation”). That’s one reason that John has reminded us of the names of the redeemed having been “written in the book of life from the foundation of the world” (17:8). Salvation was not God’s reaction to man’s condition but His intentional plan, His eternal covenant made before the foundation of the world. He planned and initiated salvation for His elect. He did even more! He secured it through the offering of His Son as the Lamb of God “who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). So, salvation belongs to God. It is not part of the human imagination and instigation; it is the display of God’s great mercy and grace through Christ. As we contemplate that salvation belongs to God, let us worship Him for every aspect: that He would consider such sinners as us; that He would purpose to save a people (even rebels) for Himself; that He would secure our salvation at such a great price of His Son bearing His own wrath on our behalf; that He would bring us into His presence forever.
(Phil A. Newton)
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