Now To Him
Jude 24-25 NKJV
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling,
And to present you faultless
Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,
To God our Savior,
Who alone is wise,
Be glory and majesty,
Dominion and power,
Both now and forever.
Amen.
It’s funny how things can trigger a memory. You hear a song and go back to a time in your life when that song was playing. You see a film clip from earlier years, and it brings you back. For me, songs are the most powerful as they seem to impact different parts of the brain.
But there are verses that can trigger a memory. When I read our passage for today, I went back to my early teen years in the Baptist church we attended. The pastor would pray these verses as a benediction when he walked down the aisle to the back of the church where he would shake hands as we exited. Of course he would use King James Version. “Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,To the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen. I don’t recall grasping what was being said except that God was able to keep you from falling. It’s a marvelous God exalting benediction which is the bestowing of a blessing at the end of the service.
From a purely theological standpoint there is quite a bit being said in these verses. God is able to keep us from falling away from HIm. And He will bring us with great joy into His presence. There is coming a day when we stand before Him in His presence, not afraid because we have been brought in faultless. We will be reverent and full of joy. I don’t know exactly how He brings us in faultless but evidently this is the time when all our faults and mistakes have been forgiven and cleansed by Jesus. But I don’t have to know what and how everything will take place in order to believe it.
I like how the NLT translates verse twenty-five.” All glory to him who alone is God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power, and authority are his before all time, and in the present, and beyond all time! Amen.” These are beautiful powerful words that we can use to worship God with. When all is said and done it’s God’s glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time and beyond all time. There will be things taking place that our minds can’t even grasp at the moment. But we can ascribe all the glory and honor to our great God. Both now and forever. I am going to get a heads start on giving God, who alone is wise, the glory and honor that is due to Him. I will start now and continue forever and ever. Amen!