Articles
Bragging About God
In the old Andy Griffith show, Barney referred to himself as 'second in command'. And he was, in a town with only two law enforcement officers.
The Apostle Paul quotes the Old Testament, as he often does in his writings, when he quotes Jeremiah 9:24 in 1 Cor 1:31, "Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord." Barney wanted to be recognized for being immediately under the Sheriff, but he was also at the bottom of the totem pole. But we can boast, that God has moved us from the bottom of the totem pole to His immediate family. He has adopted us as sons (children), and we are now His heirs, and at His desire we are entitled or ranked immediately under Him.
Now that's something to brag about, as Paul says. God has taken us from being cast away from Him due to our sin, to His immediate family, through the death (shed blood) of Christ and our obedience to Jesus' teachings. We have "crossed over from death to life." (John 5:24) We "all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." (Rom 3:24). "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins..." (Eph 1:7)
We have a lot to brag about, but not because of anything we have done or anything we managed on our own, yet we can and should brag about what God has done for us, and what He has made us because of His desire and love. "Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ,..." (Rom 8":17) He took us from being lost to being saved, from being distant to being near, from being out of His presence to being ever present with Him.
Claiming to be a co-heir with Jesus Christ is a big deal. Do we understand just how big? Maybe we aren't bragging enough!
