A Free Offer of Everlasting Life in the Kingdom of God

John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

While we may be able to recite John 3:16, do we really take the time to examine what this powerful verse means to us? Do we fully understand that God’s immeasurable, inexhaustible, divine love was required to save a sin ravished world. He gave His Son, Jesus, to be the Prophet, the Priest, the King and, most importantly, the Savior for all mankind. This was an unequivocal necessity for our eternal good.

Through His unlimited mercy, Our Heavenly Father provides a plan for each of us to avoid eternal damnation for our sins. His plan is simple. We must submit to Jesus Christ as our teacher, our ruler and Our Savior. Our duty is to proclaim His name. Our benefit is everlasting life in His Kingdom.

Jesus sacrificed His life for us. He is asking us to sacrifice our old lives in exchange for a new life under His stewardship. There is really no sacrifice on our parts. What we receive is eternally greater than what we leave behind – what an awesome offer! Yet many do not accept it.

To further understand the full value of the gift that we have received, we need to understand that we would not make the right choice if it were not for the grace of God. We choose salvation because the Holy Spirit does a work in us that we could not do for ourselves. What a loving, forgiving, merciful God we serve!

As we accept the precious eternal offer from Almighty God, let us exalt the name of His Son, Jesus, who sacrificed everything for us. Let us sacrifice everything for Him so others may know Him and accept His eternal offer of salvation.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing a way for us to escape eternal damnation because of our sins. We thank You for providing Your Son as our sacrificial lamb and as our living, ever present Good Shepherd. We humbly submit to You all that we are and all that we have in the name of Jesus Christ. We pray that the presence of Your Holy Spirit will strengthen us as we walk the pathway of sanctification that You have set aside for us. We pray, Lord, that Your Holy Spirit will prepare the hearts of those around us to receive Your Son as their Savior. May our changed lives help draw them to Your Son. We ask all these things in the name of Our Holy Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

Cleansed of All Unrighteousness

2 Corinthians 5:21
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

When we hear the word sin, we usually think of a single transgression or specific transgressions which go against God’s law. Sin defined in this manner only captures an aspect of sin. In reality, sin is much more. Sin is a complete, damning condition that separates us from God. It is a chasm that we cannot cross on our own. The chasm was created when Adam and Eve sinned. At the moment of their sin, we inherited a condition that separated us from God for all eternity.

Thankfully, our merciful Father in heaven provided a way for us to bridge the chasm created by sin. He provided His Son to take on the burden of all of our sin. He allowed His Son’s blood to be shed so that we may be cleansed of all of the unrighteousness that separates us from the presence of Almighty God. God made His own Son take on our sin so that we might become saints in heaven.

Jesus was not a sinner. He never sinned, yet He was made sin by the Father. He became a sin offering, a sacrifice for the sins of all men. The supernatural plan for all of this was that we might be made righteous in the eyes of God. Let us praise Our Lord for without Him we cannot surrender enough, we cannot labor enough nor can we suffer enough to secure our places in heaven for all eternity.

Let us be forever mindful that there is not a single thing that we can do on our own to pay off the sin debt that we inherited. Let us run to the foot of the Cross to receive the righteousness that is only available to us through Our Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Let us insure that our living testimonies reflect the eternal gift that we have been given at an enormous price to Our Savior.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, our thanks are inadequate to cover the redemptive work that cleanses us of our unrighteousness and allows us to stand in Your Holy Presence. There is no manner of word or worship that we could bring before You that would be sufficient to cover the debt that has been paid for us. We bless the name of Jesus who left His throne in heaven to come to earth to redeem us from the debt we could not pay on our own. We humble ourselves before You, Lord. We kneel at the foot of Your Cross and submit ourselves to a life in Your service here on earth and in heaven. We rejoice in knowing that we will serve You forever. We pray that our lives in Christ here on earth will lead others to the foot of Your Cross to receive their salvation. We ask all these things in the name of the Lord of Our Righteousness, Jesus Christ.