Jude 24-25 Devotional
Start by reading Jude 24-25
Hello Church! I'm Tom Caldie, and today in Jude, we're going to be looking at his doxology.
If you don't know what a doxology is, it's an expression that ascribes praise specifically to God. These two amazing verses ascribe a tremendous amount of truth and praise to God.
Have you ever noticed that we tend to overlook doxologies? We typically look for a verse to give us the answer we need for our problems right now. We don't stop to praise God and be in awe of Him for who he is!
But let's look closely at what Jude says, remembering that he just called us to persevere. In light of that, Jude is not saying that God is only able to keep us from stumbling as if it were dependent on us somehow. Instead, the word "able" is a present participle that emphasizes that we are presently being kept from stumbling. Jesus is currently keeping you from falling away. As we persevere in faith through all circumstances, unto the end, we know it is Him that keeps us. It's nothing we do or can do. Jude is ascribing this solely to God. A great example of this is Jesus's own words.
John 17:12 when he's praying to the Father... "when I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost..."
So, just as Jesus actively kept his disciples that the Father had given him, He is now actively keeping us! Praise God it's not up to us! Now what's interesting is what Jude says he's keeping us for. He's keeping us so that He can present us blameless in the presence of His glory. Jesus is going to present us guiltless and faultless of all the sin we have committed as if we never did it.
You might say, "I already knew that!" but, did you know that Jude says Jesus is going to do this "with great joy"? This verb means exultation or "wild joy." This "wild joy" reminds me of 1 Chronicles 15 when David brings the ark of the covenant into Jerusalem. He was "dancing and celebrating," it says. And in Hebrew, it means he was "springing about wildly." What an image that is. Our King will be springing about wildly as he brings us into His glory, completing His joy in redemption.
Isn't that incredible? Jude leaves us no doubt that God will do this as he ascribes to Him "glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen." So believe it, church! Jesus is going to keep you and bring you into His glory with a wild, joyful celebration!
What a time that will be. I can't wait, it's going to be glorious.
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