Remember learning about verb tenses in school? Present-Future-Past. “Run-Will Run-Ran”? Of, course, then they threw in those more involved conjugations, such as Present Continuous (am running), or Past Perfect Continuous (had been running), or how about Present Perfect Continuous (have been running). Still make your head spin? Mine does.
This morning my favorite is past tense, defined as denoting past events. And one of my beloved examples is found in Ephesians 2:4-5: “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-it is by grace you have been saved.” [NIV]
God “made” us alive. It is by grace you “have been” saved. We are not waiting for life to happen, nor are we waiting to be saved. God in His great love and mercy has already accomplished it for us and in us. Once we placed our faith in God’s Christ, we were given life and salvation.
Too often we forget what God “has done” for us. We spend too much time striving for what we already have. Today might be a great time to think about some of the things you already have in Christ. Here are a few to get you started:
Ephesians 2:6: “God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus”
1 John 5:4: “This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.”
Colossians 1:22: “Now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death….”
Colossians 3:1: “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.”
Isn’t past tense the greatest!
