Hi Friends,
As we said last week, God so loves us. And when God loves, it leads Him to act on the behalf of the ones He loves. Listen:
“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” Jn 3:17 NIV
Condemned. Here’s the truth, apart from God we are already condemned. (Jn 3:18) There is a price to be paid for that sinful nature we are each born with and the price is death. (Ro 6:23) So much like that once popular TV show, we are all “the walking dead.” Yes, for the most part, we are all animated. We move around. We eat and drink and sleep and work and play, but are we really alive? Have you ever found yourself thinking, “What is the point to all of this?!” I believe you are not alone. The point to life is, well, Life. What most of us have before Christ is called existing…again, like that old TV show, we roam about, moaning to ourselves about this or that, seeking something to fill our appetites, but never getting any satisfied. We exist to eat one another instead of to love one another, just so we can make it to the top…but when we get there, we are left unsatisfied and still asking, “What is the point to all of this?!” This is the sad life apart from Christ. Even if you find some “joy” here, it is fleeting, never lasts, and only leaves the hole within us bigger and emptier. But it needs not stay this way.
Saved. The point to this life is to give us opportunities to find God’s Love and the Life Everlasting that comes with it. Again as we said last week, there is only ONE WAY to do this. The miracle of surrendering our lives to Jesus is not so He can add His Life to our dead lives. It is so He can transform our dead self to Life. When Jesus saves us, He creates a New You. The person you used to be was dead, remember? That person should STAY dead. We should begin to LIVE LOVE. We should have NOTHING to do with our old way of living. Notice I said “should.” This is where all the growing in Christ happens. God will give us countless occasions to choose to live by this New You instead of the old self, but we must continue to choose Life over death. We must continue to choose to follow Jesus, The Way. We must continue to humble ourselves, pray, seek His face, turn away from our wickedness. (2Chron 7:14) We must continue to choose because even when we are saved, we are still being saved.
Being saved. Once our spirit comes to Life in Christ, our soul must learn to follow Him. The more we follow Him, the less prideful we become. The less prideful we become, the more our Salvation is displayed. It is in us, now united with the Holy Spirit, we work out that Salvation so others can see what it means to be saved. (Php 2:12) Our thoughts center on God, more and more. Our emotions are controlled, more and more. And our will, or our desires, align with those of God, more and more. We live our lives, not looking to just please our appetites, but to reflect God’s Love and to seek whatever is best for those we love. We begin to live the way we were always intended to live, Jesus first, Others second and Yourself last. (JOY) We begin to focus on the fact that we are saved, being saved and will be saved by Him who so loves us.
Will be saved. When our time here is done, then we will fully realize the beautiful miracle of Salvation. Our bodies will be transformed from perishable to imperishable. No longer will we feel pain or experience disease. No longer will we know depression, anxiety, worry, fear…add your own struggles here. No longer will we sense we are alone and unworthy and guilty. When our time here is done, oh the inexplicable joy! But in the meantime, let us choose to make our time mean something. Because “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him,” let us choose to join Him by living Life to the full. Finding His Love and living in it. This is the point to life and this my goal. How about you? Then won’t you join me?
Until we meet again, keep lifting your eyes to God, He’s closer than you think.
<>< Peace, Diane
