God gave up His most precious possession for us. He freely handed over His most prized belonging. We did not deserve it but out of His unfailing love, He gave us His one and only Son, Jesus, to make us, all that calls upon the Lord and accepts Him as their Lord & Savior, righteous before God as stated in the gospel of John 3:16-21:
“For God so [greatly] loved and dearly prized the world, that He [even] gave His [One and] only begotten Son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him [as Savior] shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge and condemn the world [that is, to initiate the final judgment of the world], but that the world might be saved through Him. Whoever believes and has decided to trust in Him [as personal Savior and Lord] is not judged [for this one, there is no judgment, no rejection, no condemnation]; but the one who does not believe [and has decided to reject Him as personal Savior and Lord] is judged already [that one has been convicted and sentenced], because he has not believed and trusted in the name of the [One and] only begotten Son of God [the One who is truly unique, the only One of His kind, the One who alone can save him]. This is the judgment [that is, the cause for indictment, the test by which people are judged, the basis for the sentence]: the Light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For every wrongdoer hates the Light, and does not come to the Light [but shrinks from it] for fear that his [sinful, worthless] activities will be exposed and condemned. But whoever practices truth [and does what is right—morally, ethically, spiritually] comes to the Light, so that his works may be plainly shown to be what they are—accomplished in God [divinely prompted, done with God’s help, in dependence on Him].”
The perfect will of God was for Him to ransom His one and only Son for us, a sinful world. Our Sovereign and Righteous Creator loved us enough to save us from eternal condemnation as explained in Romans 6:23:
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God [that is, His remarkable, overwhelming gift of grace to believers] is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
God ransomed His most precious possession to reconcile us to Himself even while we were still slaves to sin and enemies of God. Our Creator died for its creation! It is incomprehensible for our little minds to completely understand the amazing love God has for us. God expresses His awesome love for His only begotten Son Jesus as He came up out of the water from baptism as explained in Mark 1:10-11: “Immediately coming up out of the water, he (John) saw the heavens torn open, and the Spirit like a dove descending on Him (Jesus); and a voice came out of heaven saying: “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased and delighted!’”
Because Jesus had defeated death (conquered the enemy) in victory, we can have exceedingly great joy in Christ today as disclosed in Romans 5:8-11:
But God clearly shows and proves His own love for us, by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Therefore, since we have now been justified [declared free of the guilt of sin] by His blood, [how much more certain is it that] we will be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, it is much more certain, having been reconciled, that we will be saved [from the consequences of sin] by His life [that is, we will be saved because Christ lives today]. Not only that, but we also rejoice in God [rejoicing in His love and perfection] through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received and enjoy our reconciliation [with God].
His triumph over the enemy is clarified this way in Colossians 2:15:
When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities [those supernatural forces of evil operating against us], He made a public example of them [exhibiting them as captives in His triumphal procession], having triumphed over them through the cross.
God’s ultimate plan had to be carried out in this manner because sin first entered the world in the garden of Eden from the serpent (the devil), who first deceived mankind. This is the reason Jesus (a sinless, righteous, and worthy servant, the precious lamb of God) became the only way, the truth, the life, and to provide the only access to God the Father, our Creator (John 14:6). There is no other way to eternal life in heaven as we read in Acts 4:12:
And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among people by which we must be saved [for God has provided the world no alternative for salvation].
Paul stated that this had to take place for us to be made whole again or to be returned to a righteous standing in the eyes of God as disclosed in Romans 5:12-21:
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, so death spread to all people [no one being able to stop it or escape its power], because they all sinned. Sin was [committed] in the world before the Law [was given], but sin is not charged [against anyone] when there is no law [against it]. Yet death ruled [over mankind] from Adam to Moses [the Lawgiver], even over those who had not sinned as Adam did. Adam is a type of Him (Christ) who was to come [but in reverse—Adam brought destruction, Christ brought salvation]. But the free gift [of God] is not like the trespass [because the gift of grace overwhelms the fall of man]. For if many died by one man’s trespass [Adam’s sin], much more [abundantly] did God’s grace and the gift [that comes] by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, overflow to [benefit] the many. Nor is the gift [of grace] like that which came through the one who sinned. For on the one hand the judgment [following the sin] resulted from one trespass and brought condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift resulted from many trespasses and brought justification [the release from sin’s penalty for those who believe]. For if by the trespass of the one (Adam), death reigned through the one (Adam), much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in [eternal] life through the One, Jesus Christ. So then as through one trespass [Adam’s sin] there resulted condemnation for all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. For just as through one man’s disobedience [his failure to hear, his carelessness] the many were made sinners, so through the obedience of the one Man the many will be made righteous and acceptable to God and brought into right standing with Him. But the Law came to increase and expand [the awareness of] the trespass [by defining and unmasking sin]. But where sin increased, [God’s remarkable, gracious gift of] grace [His unmerited favor] has surpassed it and increased all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, so also grace would reign through righteousness which brings eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The most precious lamb of God was slain in our place and it pleased God to see Him bruised for our transgressions. Jesus loved us enough to freely give up His life for us. He left His heavenly throne to come to earth as the one and only sin-bearing servant to carry out the Father’s will by dying for all humanity as unveiled in Matthew 20:28:
just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many [paying the price to set them free from the penalty of sin].
The prophet Isaiah reveals Jesus as the precious, righteous, and sinless lamb who went to the slaughter and did not open His mouth in Isaiah 53:2-12:
For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken. And they made His grave with the wicked—But with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Jesus became our chief cornerstone (Ephesians 2:19-22) by showing us His greatest love for us by dying for us, His friends (His sheep, John 10:27-30) as illustrated in John 15:13-15:
No one has greater love [nor stronger commitment] than to lay down his own life for his friends. You are my friends if you keep on doing what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you [My] friends, because I have revealed to you everything that I have heard from My Father.
Another example of this great love sacrifice that is explained in the scriptures where we can better relate to is where God finally blessed Abraham with a son of his own by Sarah who had been barren until both of them were very old. Abraham was 100 years and Sarah was over 90 years old when she bore Isaac. Isaac was Abraham’s most prized possession (apart from God), a blessing from God, and God knew it. This is the reason God wanted to test Abraham’s faith in Him, whether he treasured God more than his own flesh and blood, Isaac. We see this where God asks Abraham to sacrifice his only son on an altar at Mount Moriah where Abraham’s great faith in God was unveiled in Genesis 22:1-12:
Now after these things, God tested [the faith and commitment of] Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he answered, “Here I am.” God said, “Take now your son, your only son [of promise], whom you love, Isaac, and go to the region of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” So Abraham got up early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and his son Isaac; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and then he got up and went to the place of which God had told him. On the third day [of travel] Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. Abraham said to his servants, “Settle down and stay here with the donkey; the young man and I will go over there and worship [God], and we will come back to you.” Then Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on [the shoulders of] Isaac his son, and he took the fire (firepot) in his own hand and the [sacrificial] knife; and the two of them walked on together. And Isaac said to Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” Isaac said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself a lamb for the burnt offering.” So the two walked on together. When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood, and bound Isaac his son and placed him on the altar, on top of the wood. Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son. But the Angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” He answered, “Here I am.” The LORD said, “Do not reach out [with the knife in] your hand against the boy, and do nothing to [harm] him; for now I know that you fear God [with reverence and profound respect], since you have not withheld from Me your son, your only son [of promise].”
Do you have any prized possessions or treasures (idols or distractions) that you value more than God, or do you take pride in or are you consumed with anything (Philippians 2:3-5) that hinders your relationship with Christ? Do you treasure anything in this world above Christ? If this is you, why do you NOT value the price Jesus paid for you over and above everything else? Jesus sets us straight with His words to ensure we abide in Him by not having any self-centered-idols above Him as disclosed in Matthew 10:37-39:
He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross [expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come] and follow Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me] is not worthy of Me. Whoever finds his life [in this world] will [eventually] lose it [through death], and whoever loses his life [in this world] for My sake will find it [that is, life with Me for all eternity].
Because of Abraham’s great faith, fear, and act of obedience to the Lord, God blessed him and proclaimed to multiply all his descendants like the stars of the heavens and like the sand grains of the seashore as stated in Genesis 22:15-18:
The Angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, “By Myself (on the basis of Who I Am) I have sworn [an oath], declares the LORD, that since you have done this thing and have not withheld [from Me] your son, your only son [of promise], indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your descendants like the stars of the heavens and like the sand on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies [as conquerors]. Through your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have heard and obeyed My voice.”
God also gave us another one of His most precious possessions, His Spirit, the Holy Spirit. When we become genuine born-again believers in Christ, we receive the Spirit of the one true living God that dwells inside of us as our Helper and Comforter as we read in John 14:16-17:
And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby), to be with you forever—the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive [and take to its heart] because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He (the Holy Spirit) remains with you continually and will be in you.
God sealed us as a guarantee of inheritance into His kingdom with His own Spirit by the blood of Christ who bought us at a great price as revealed in Ephesians 1:13-14:
In Him, you also, when you heard the word of truth, the good news of your salvation, and [as a result] believed in Him, were stamped with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit [the One promised by Christ] as owned and protected [by God]. The Spirit is the guarantee [the first installment, the pledge, a foretaste] of our inheritance until the redemption of God’s own [purchased] possession [His believers], to the praise of His glory.
His Holy Spirit that dwells in us gives us life, directs us, and guides us in His righteousness as illustrated in Romans 8:9-11:
However, you are not [living] in the flesh [controlled by the sinful nature] but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God lives in you [directing and guiding you]. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him [and is not a child of God]. If Christ lives in you, though your [natural] body is dead because of sin, your spirit is alive because of righteousness [which He provides]. And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you.
We are the temple of God where He dwells in us by His Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16-17). Our temple or temporarily dwelling place is not of our own but is of God and was bought by the precious blood of Jesus to use for His honor and glory. Paul states this in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20:
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is within you, whom you have [received as a gift] from God, and that you are not your own [property]? You were bought with a price [you were actually purchased with the precious blood of Jesus and made His own]. So then, honor and glorify God with your body.
With a personal relationship in Christ, our blessed hope and redeemer (Titus 2:13-14), as we live with and according to His Holy Spirit indwelling in us, we are joint heirs with Christ as children of the Most-High God. As we are called to be the salt and light of the world for Christ and His gospel (Matthew 5:13-16), we will also share in His sufferings in this world as His true disciples as disclosed in Romans 8:13-17:
for if you are living according to the [impulses of the] flesh, you are going to die. But if [you are living] by the [power of the Holy] Spirit you are habitually putting to death the sinful deeds of the body, you will [really] live forever. For all who are allowing themselves to be led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading again to fear [of God’s judgment], but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons [the Spirit producing sonship] by which we [joyfully] cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies and confirms together with our spirit [assuring us] that we [believers] are children of God. And if [we are His] children, [then we are His] heirs also: heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ [sharing His spiritual blessing and inheritance], if indeed we share in His suffering so that we may also share in His glory.
We must NEVER take for granted the great sacrifice that the Holy Trinity (God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit) gave up for us. God did not have to give up His precious Son for us or His Holy Spirit, but because of His true and amazing love for us, we can be redeemed through Christ by His Holy Spirit. God gave up everything for us! We have a choice of free will to choose. This is the most important decision we will ever make in this life and determines where we will spend eternity in the next life, either heaven or hell? God’s Word tells us there will be many who will love this world and will NOT give up its sinful desires to follow Christ (Matthew 7:13-14) as stated in 1 Timothy 6:7-10:
For we have brought nothing into the world, so [it is clear that] we cannot take anything out of it, either. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who [are not financially ethical and] crave to get rich [with a compulsive, greedy longing for wealth] fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction [leading to personal misery]. For the love of money [that is, the greedy desire for it and the willingness to gain it unethically] is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves [through and through] with many sorrows.
Some will profess to know God in Christ (Matthew 15:8-9) but will reject the will of God (1 John 1:6-7) by instead following the world as illustrated in 1 John 2:15-17:
Do not love the world [of sin that opposes God and His precepts], nor the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust and sensual craving of the flesh and the lust and longing of the eyes and the boastful pride of life [pretentious confidence in one’s resources or in the stability of earthly things]—these do not come from the Father, but are from the world. The world is passing away, and with it its lusts [the shameful pursuits and ungodly longings]; but the one who does the will of God and carries out His purposes lives forever.
Or worse, some will have a falling away after once knowing the truth of the gospel by making a commitment to follow Jesus to later choosing to follow after the world and its desires (Matthew 13:20-22) as unveiled in 2 Peter 2: 20-21:
For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world by [personal] knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, their last condition has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them not to have [personally] known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to have turned back from the holy commandment [verbally] handed on to them.
If you have had a falling away from God in Christ, turn back now before it’s too late as stated in James 5:19-20: “My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you strays from the truth and falls into error and [another] one turns him back [to God], let the [latter] one know that the one who has turned a sinner from the error of his way will save that one’s soul from death and cover a multitude of sins [that is, obtain the pardon of the many sins committed by the one who has been restored].”
Make sure your profession of faith and commitment to follow Jesus (salvation in Christ) is genuine and secure according to the gospel of Christ (the scriptures). For if we are ashamed of Him and His gospel, He will be ashamed of us on judgement day (Luke 9:26). Jesus stated these very harsh words to swallow for our benefit to ensure our relationship with Him is sincere as explained in Matthew 7:21-23:
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day [when I judge them], ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, and driven out demons in Your name, and done many miracles in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them publicly, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME [you are banished from My presence], YOU WHO ACT WICKEDLY [disregarding My commands].’
Watch this inspiring video by Servants for Jesus Christ – Jesus Fulfilled All OT Prophecies. Watch another inspiring video by Servants for Jesus Christ – God Has Always Been. Watch another inspiring video by Servants for Jesus Christ – Be Filled With The Holy Spirit.
Do you know where you will spend eternity after you die on earth? Will Jesus be your Lord and Savior or your eternal judge – John 3:15-21, Romans 2:16, 2 Timothy 4:1? Jesus says He is the narrow gate to heaven where it is difficult to find and only a few will enter by it where many will enter the easy, wide and broad gate that leads to Hell and destruction – Matthew 7:13-14. Will you experience the second eternal death (spiritual death) – Revelation 2:11, Revelation 20:6, Revelation 21:8? Do you know for sure that you are written in the eternal Lamb’s Book of Life – Revelation 3:5, Revelation 20:12-15? The place called Hell is NOT a myth and is very real and an extremely scary place – Watch this Video!
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