For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
The Greatest Gift
Today is Monday, December 23rd. We are only hours away from the commemoration of the greatest affirmation of God’s love ever given; the birth of his son, Jesus. Every year at this time we are reminded of an amazing fact. About two thousand years ago a poor, young Jewish girl, engaged but not married, became pregnant and gave birth to a boy child. Her betrothed accepted the mother and child as his own and before the child was born took them with him to Bethlehem to be counted in the census. The child would grow to become a man, and the man would become famous throughout the land as a healer and a teacher. He was someone who might be the long-promised Messiah.
In time, the authorities would become alarmed. They would plot to have him brutally killed, and they would succeed. Except that the man, Jesus, wasn’t just a man. He was also God. Unjustly killed, he was innocence personified sacrificed for the imperfections of man. Raised from the dead, he returned, having crushed the head of Satan. Before the arrival of Jesus, death was final. No man was sinless. None was righteous enough to stand before God on his own merit. All men stood condemned, and Satan, thinking he had won, gloated over his prize. He had done what no one had done before or would ever do again. He had kicked sand in the eye of Creator of Everything. He had spit on God’s creation, claiming the prize of God’s greatest creation, mankind, as his own.
Except that now, with the resurrection of Jesus, everything had gone horribly wrong.
Jesus stood in the presence of God; perfect and innocent of any sin. Wrongly condemned, Satan was now in his debt. If Jesus claimed someone as his own, his infinite righteousness was sufficient to cover up any debt they might owe. There is no limit to the number of people that Jesus can claim as his. There are no restrictions on time. All Creation is His to save.
Application: The greatest gift you will ever be given is the free gift of eternal life. Accept it! ”Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life.” (John 6: 47)
Food for Thought: Since Satan can no longer rely on our sin nature to keep us from our Creator’s love, what other strategies might he use?
Well, he’s the father of lies and the deceiver. He will try anything to ruin our witness and stir up doubt in our minds. He will try to make us near sighted instead of heavenly minded. A Christ centered life is essential. Ephesians 6:10-18.
Thank you, JEC!
Ephesians 6: 10-18 is a great passage. Verse 13 reads:
“ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ” Verses 14-18 providing details that are important to know. (Visitors can find the whole text here.)
Good perspective Jeff and JEC. We definitely wed to put on the full armor of God and be alert against the schemes of a very real, deadly and dangerous enemy. And we remain thankful for the victory we have through Christ.
A fool says in his heart there is no God. I think the driver likes to distract us with the foolish things of this world.
Thanks Rob! Nice analogy!!