“To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy – to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen!” (Jude 24-25 NIV)
Lesson #12
Is our final lesson and we’ve been saying it aloud (when possible) since we began. Let’s say it one more time.
Jude comes to an end with PRAISE!! Here in these last two verses of this incredible letter we see God is able! How often do I end my conversations about God with praise?
God is able to keep us from slipping, the Greek word is aptaistos. It is used both of a sure-footed horse which does not stumble and of a man who does not fall into error. To walk with the Lord is to walk safely. Recently, on a board retreat, I had the pleasure of learning to repel off the side of a rock wall properly. Back in the seventies I experienced this in a most dangerous and improper method which I will not detail here, since my Mother may be reading and would have a heart attack. By repelling properly, I was attached with strong ropes, pulleys and a harness; I was given instruction from two skilled mountaineer’s one from the top and one below. As I began to go over the edge I cried out “Belay (safety) on,” resistance was applied by the person at the bottom. My feet stayed secure, they did not slip, and even though my heart was pounding, I knew I was safe, sure footed and had no trouble descending down the side of a drop off! God keeps us from slipping, He is up above and down below, He knows what’s going on, He’s experienced, He “knows the ropes”, we really can trust Him. If we are depending on Him our feet will not stumble, even during the “over the edge” times. Have you ever felt like you were slipping over the edge, with no safety mechanism? What happened in those times did you lean into the Lord? Or crash to the bottom?
God is able to make us stand blameless in the presence of His glory. The word used here is amōmos. This is a sacrificial word; and is commonly and technically used of an animal without spot or blemish fit to be offered to God. The amazing thing is when we surrender ourselves totally and completely to God, His grace makes us that pure sacrifice for Him. I meet far too many people who have difficulty with this concept. They really struggle with seeing themselves as God sees them, pure and whole because of Jesus. That is why Jesus died, that is why His blood was shed - to reconcile us to God, to make us righteous, to give us new life and to restore us to wholeness. And that, my dear friends, is how God Almighty looks at you and at me, think about it…NO WONDER JUDE PRAISES!
God is able to bring us into His Presence jubilant, overjoyed, and triumphant. By the work of Jesus Christ, we know that we can go to God with all fear and shame banished. Through Jesus, God the stern Judge has become known to us as God the loving Father. Jude purposely attaches the word Savior to God here. So we end with the great certainty that in this world we live in the love of God and in the next we go to that love. To steal a phrase from Max Lucado, “No Wonder They Call Him Savior.” Resources: “The Letters of John and Jude” by William Barclay, information on repelling from Derek & Rhonda Coulter
Nancy Cantrell,
Associate Pastor
