The Established Path of Discipleship

Wow! This was the first word my friends and I spoke upon seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time. We could not keep from saying, wow! We were out of breath. We could not keep from staring. It was just too much! We were overwhelmed with the majesty, beauty, and vastness of God’s handiwork. I have hiked and backpacked in beautiful places, but nowhere as incredible as seeing the expansive wonder of the Grand Canyon.

And yet, I experience something more beautiful than the Grand Canyon. I experience an ongoing relationship with the God who formed the Grand Canyon through my union with Christ. I remember when I first began to understand some of the simplicity, complexity, and wonder of God’s gracious act of saving me. I was overcome by the wow factor. Gaze on the beauty of these truths:

• God the Father chose to save us before he created the world.

“Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before him. In love, he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will” (Eph. 1:4-5).

• God the Son accomplishes our salvation by demonstrating God the Father’s great love.

“In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10).

• God the Holy Spirit applies salvation to our hearts.

“He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5).

If you see these truths and experience them, there is only one thing you can say: wow! The more you dig into the multifaceted splendor of the gospel, the more the word wow will escape from your lips. You will not be able to look away. You will be overwhelmed by the universe eclipsing beauty of God.