The Perfect Plan for the Perfection of Imperfect Man

UV 1608/10000 The Perfect Plan for the Perfection of Imperfect Man
Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged.
Isaiah 51 v 1
The Lord asks us to listen to Him, to His voice and to His Word. His voice is heard in our inner being through the whispering of the Holy Spirit. His Word makes explicit His will and purpose in all things. His righteous judgments are a light unto the people. When we listen keenly to His word,law and judgment , we will follow after perfection- the righteousness of God. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness as they will be satisfied. If we are passionate about perfection, we will be fulfilled. As Jesus said, “ Be perfect because your Father in heaven is perfect.” Jesus is the model of human perfection crafted by divine plan and will. He is the rock cut from the mountain of Zion that no human hand had chiselled out. He is the rock that Daniel wrote about as one that will one day fill the whole earth. We are to look to Him for He is the author and finisher of our salvation. As author, He writes our lives, page by page, day by day, moment by moment, thought by thought, word by word, action by action. As finisher, He completes us, helps us, enables us, equips us, strengthens us, fills us, perfects us.

Jesus has redeemed us from the pit of death and destruction. We owe our salvation to Him. He has a common plan of salvation for whole mankind as well as an unique plan for each individual. This is the reason that each individual’s journey with Jesus is unique, each testimony is unique. Our response is to zealously seek after the Lord, to listen keenly and to follow diligently in imitating His righteousness. The stumbling stone in the understanding of much of humanity is that we need to be first perfect and then we will be saved. Since none are perfect and perfection is impossible, all would give up the pursuit. But we can be perfect by faith in the perfect One- Jesus. He is the Redeemer. He will redeem us of our wanton flaws and hidden faults. He is the Wonderful Counsellor- He will counsel us in avoiding the pitfalls of life hereafter. He is the Prince of Peace. He will heal our uneasy and guilty conscience and give us triune peace -with God, peace with self, peace with others.
In the recent flood in Chennai, the rivers and canals were in spate and swept through offices and homes, leaving several inches of miry clay. Each step we took on this miry clay left in our office compound and floor was extremely slippery. Jesus has taken us from the miry pit and placed us on the rock. He has redeemed us of our slippery ways and given us the security of faith, the assurance of salvation that is rock-like and unshakable. We can now take confident steady steps. As it is written in the book of Proverbs, “He who follows after righteousness and mercy will find life, righteousness and honour.” We need the mercy of the Lord to be seen as righteous by grace. Thereafter, we need to strive to obey His Word in order to match the standards of righteousness in all aspects of our lives: our attitude towards money, sex, our enemies and foes, the purpose of life, our priorities and goals, our relationships, the quality of our communication. The righteousness of God are in the details of our lives. When we pay attention to these details, we are building our house on the rock.

Prateep V Philip