GOD DELIGHTS IN YOU

SATURDAY 11 JUNE 2022

God loves and delights in those that fear Him; He considers them more precious than gold. He sees those that treasure His will, as more than the fine gold of Ophir. Why use the analogy between man and fine gold to describe, clarify and estimate the magnitude of His love for us? It's a reflection of the glory of transformation God has well-wrought in "a man in Christ" by His Spirit.

Reference: Isaiah 13:12 New King James Version (NKJV) "I will make a mortal more rare than fine gold, A man more than the golden wedge of Ophir."

The word "fine gold" here means a precious metal that is associated with magnificence and prosperity. It is expressed under the figure that God delights in His own whom He makes as more noble and scarce as the purest kinds of gold. Since Gold is a rare precious metal, the idea is to convey a deep meaning - in awe of how precious we are to God.

A new creature has been created anew in Christ, thereby possessing a recreated human spirit. In God's sight, he is as rare as the finest gold. The Bible says, "...but you received the Spirit of sonship, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!" The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children' (Romans 8:15-16). When you receive the Spirit of sonship, you are made more than a fine gold. Did you get it? That's what makes the difference in a mortal man. The Spirit of sonship is a characteristic of those who have been born again in Christ and admitted into the relation of sonship with God or under His fatherhood.

In a nutshell, the expression by God, "I will make a mortal more rare than fine gold, A man more than the golden wedge of Ophir", simply suggests that God had in mind to create us anew and He went ahead to accomplish His will by sending Christ to the world. No wonder Ephesians 2:10 (NIV) says, "For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

Making us more rare than fine gold also suggests that we have been chosen, set apart and consecrated for His purpose. The Scripture reveals that, "Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what He wanted to do, and it gave Him great pleasure" (Ephesians 1:4-5 NLT). Did you get it? It was God's plan all along, to make us more rare than fine gold, which is a figure of speech that conveys the wealth of this divine plan in the mind of God. So the sampling of fine gold or golden wedge of Ophir in today's verse offers [Christians] a nice springboard for us to travel deeper in understanding God's love for us and then stay empowered to construct a mindset of the chosen, which distinguishes us from the rest of the world.

Indeed, as you believe what God has done with you, it will sprinkle or moisten the ambience of your imagination with the distinctive flavour of your true identity in Christ. So the goal of this article is to position you to be able to see yourself from the viewpoint of a more precious and glorious creation, and yes, God addresses you as "Extraordinary" because you belong to Christ. Shalom!

Scripture Reading - Isaiah 49:16; Psalm 139:13-16; Romans 5:8; 1 John 3:1.

Guided Prayer: Thank you Father for the excellent illustration of how much you love me and the accurate description of my worth in your sight. It gets me to always see, think and imagine myself as one-of-a-kind masterpiece of the Divine. I'm forever grateful that my walls are continually before you because you have engraved me on the very palms of your hands, in Jesus' Name, Amen!