"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." This well known verse is the quintessential encapsulation of the gospel, the good news. It expresses the enduring truth of God's nature and gift to humanity.
In our jaded society, His love is more applicable than ever, but we have lost sight of some of the significance of what God is saying He expects from us here. We see this verse and think, yes, God is the one who is there to take care of us and remove all of our problems. Of course He will, but His truth goes much deeper than that. In a first century society of many gods, the one chosen to serve was the master, the controller of fate. The one who received the loyalty also had the authority of life and death over the follower.
The Lord clearly expects us to change our allegiance. He wants us to turn our backs (repent) on following anything but Him. For those who choose to, it is clear that God has done everything else necessary to keep our souls safe in Him. We are totally inadequate to effect our own salvation. So when we believe, we change who and what we pursue and follow after, and trust in Him to do what needs to be done.
A modern definition would say that we are convinced of the truth of what we believe in. However, the Lord has left just enough ambiguity in the most apparent of the facts so that we must make believing Him an act of our will. We must choose to follow Him. (Satan had all the facts yet chose to disobey.) Also our actions result from what we believe. As an example, if a check was found with a large value and written out to "whosoever wills", any following actions in relation to said check would be indicative of whether we thought the check was any good and there were enough "funds" to cover it. (A poverty stricken person would be much more likely to try out the truth of the promissory note. So the greater sinner is much closer to being saved because he needs it more.)
What was accomplished on the cross was that God, as Jesus, swallowed up death and corruption and absorbed it back into Himself, on behalf of those who wish to follow Him. He carried the load that we could not carry so that we could be reconciled to Him. Where else can we find someone willing to die for us? Who else is powerful enough to be sufficient to cancel the effects of sin and the grave? For salvation, we must let ourselves realize just exactly who He is and what He has done!
2 comments:
Hi!!,... Alex D. Choice, choices, choices, . . . There quite a few I wish. . .
I'd have listened & followed...
Being such a sheep . . As any herd... You always follow... AT THE ONE . . UP FRONT....
If you don't have the lord's guidance..(sheperd)
One would stray into lust & will never find the tastey hey that I always long for!!!
Bbbaaahhh!!! Bbbbbaaahhhh!!! . . .
Sorrryyy ¡!! I HAD TO LET THAT OUT LOUD!!!! . . .
you see!!!??? Now I'm hungry....!!!! Hehehehe!!! By the way... Nice writting..8-). . Ciao....
Ya know I have friends (well not friends, just people I know) who I work with closely all the time, who are Christian. These guys talk to me about their lives... & sometimes I seriously look at them, then look at myself, or myself and GF, and I actually consider throwing in the towel and just converting to their side. It would make life so much easier. I could just walk around all day with a smile on my face, telling myself how good I have it because I have a personal relationship with God. All the burdens of life, like my health problems, my worries about showing up late to work one time too many and getting fired, would be lifted. All my anxieties (which prevent me from getting out of bed some days) would just disappear....
In return, all I would have to do is use my freedom of choice to shut down all my cognitive abilities, and just believe, believe, and believe some more! All I would have to do is stop asking questions, stop arguing, and everything would be OK!
I can't bring myself to do that.... You actually said it yourself, - Satan, who knew all the facts, chose to rebel for some reason, - WHY? I was googling a little earlier, looking for a link I wanted to send ya. I thought I had it saved onto my desktop, but I can't find it..... so anyway, are you familiar with the whole "We Are The Other People" concept, and if so, what do you think about it? If not I will track down a link & shoot it to ya. It takes less than ten minutes to read, but for me it makes the most sense...
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