Position and Condition

The journey of life is fraught with unexpected twists and turns, unforeseen obstructions, and a never-ending list of choices. So, just because we may not always get it right, doesn’t mean that our position in Christ is changed. When we are born again, our position in Christ is not dependent upon our condition in life. We are children of the living God, with all the privileges Christ purchased for us on the cross of Calvary, and we are ‘heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ’ (Romans 8:17).

King David had got it badly wrong when he decided to stay at home instead of going to out to battle with his army. One wrong decision opened the door for the flesh to rise up and take control when he pursued Bathsheba. But the downward slide didn’t stop there. To cover up his sin against God, and desperately trying to cover his tracks, he arranged for Bathsheba’s husband to be killed in battle.

However, God was watching, and wasn’t about to let him get away with it. God sent the prophet Nathan to confront him and set him back on the right track. David fell to his knees, wept bitterly, repented and turned back to God. His heart-felt cry of “Create in me a clean heat, oh God, and renew a right spirit within me, Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation” (Psalm 51:10-12) echoes the depth of despair into which he had fallen, and his desire to be restored in joyful relationship with his Heavenly Father.

He was still his Heavenly Father’s child, and such is the length and breadth of God’s restoration, King David is named in the genealogy of Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords, in Matthew’s gospel Chapter 1. God’s restoration is not partial, it is total, when we fully return to Him in repentance.

Equally, when the petulant prodigal son mistakenly took the decision to go his own way, he actually insulted his father in asking for his inheritance prematurely, before his father had died. His father did not argue with him but gave him his due. It wasn’t until his money ran out, along with his fair-weather friends, that he hit rock bottom. Of course, it was because of his own wrong choice in life, that he ended up where he was. He had left a rich house-hold, with a high standard of living, and traded it to eat the food that the pigs ate. But, whether he was in the rich house or the pig pen, he was still his father’s son.

And the scripture declares ‘when he came to himself’ (in other words, when he came to the realisation that he had made the wrong choice), he began the journey of returning to his father. The picture of his father seeing him when he was still a long way off, running towards him, embracing him in full and total acceptance, covering him with the best robe, and placing a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet, is a wonderful picture of our Heavenly Father’s total acceptance of each one of us, despite our tendency to stray.

So today, if you’ve been assailed by the accusations of the enemy because of your past, remember you are positioned IN CHRIST, and no-one can pluck you out of His hand. Your Heavenly Father is waiting with open arms to receive you.

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, help us to remember who we are in You and to live as children of the King of kings, and to be quick to return to You when we foolishly stray from the path of righteousness. In Jesus’ name, Amen.