Nevertheless, He saved them for His name’s sake, that He might make His mighty power to be known. Psalm 106:8
Doug Howard was telling us about a conversation he had when he was a young Christian with a sceptic. The man asked Doug if there was anything God can’t do. No, Doug assured him in his innocence, God can do anything. So, the man asked him, can God make a stone so big he can’t lift it? Although it was a trick question, Doug realized that there some things that God cannot do. For example, He cannot lie or renege on any of His promises. God’s perfect integrity is such that He cannot move outside of His own character. Our text reminds us today that one of the great principles of God’s character is the preservation of His Name by saving undeserving sinners, thus displaying His loving kindness and His grace.
We have a bad habit of attempting to understand God by comparing Him with us. When we try to grasp God’s loving kindness to us, we consider someone we know who is known for showing loving kindness, and we say that is what God is like, only more so. But that comparison fails, because nobody on earth can possibly display the kind of compassion and grace that belongs to the Lord. We are simply unable to grasp the reality that God’s love is so great and His integrity is so pure that He saves us for the honour of His own name.
We all have standards that we try to live by, and it’s important to us that other people see us as upholding those standards. We will often do certain things just to make sure people understand how firm our principles are. In a small way, that something like what God does. His great plan of salvation was conceived and implemented that He might prove the reality and greatness of His love, and the extent of His grace. His preservation of us since we were first saved is another proof of His character. Day by day, we see continued proofs of Who our God is and what His character is like. Our text is a wonderful meditation on God’s character. It reminds us that for His Name’s sake, He saved us. When we wonder why God would ever step into our experiences and save sinners like us, we can remind ourselves that, despite our lack of merit, His salvation reinforces His character and His almighty power.
Although our lifelong goal should be to explain and describe our loving and gracious God, we know the subject is far beyond us to exhaust. -Jim MacIntosh