06/29/2021
The God Who Rescues Us (John 3:16,17)
The Gift of Forgiveness should always be shared with others, because God send His beloved Son on a rescue mission to rescue lost humanity. Truly, that is God's AGAPE love to a lost and hurting world and that story was told in the above topic. Make it real in your life is my prayer! What is the story?
The Christians story is clear evidence of God’s unconditional love. Only a God who cares would come to earth as a baby to rescue his people. You might be wondering: From what did we need to be rescued? The answer is: from eternal death.
In Genesis, God created two perfect people in a perfect environment. When they disobeyed Him, their very natures became sinful, and they faced the death penalty God had decreed. (Genesis 2:17) Because Adam and Eve were the first parents, every person since has been born with a sinful nature bent away from God. All humanity is under the same penalty: physical, spiritual, and eternal death. Many people think they can somehow be good enough to be allowed into heaven, but that will not work
People are condemned, not because of what they do, but because of what they are. Despite our most earnest efforts, we disobey God because we are born with a rebellious nature. Furthermore, we relate to the Lord through our spirit, not our body. If a man’s spirit is dead, he cannot do anything to make himself acceptable to God—he is totally helpless. God’s laws will never change; if they could, we would never be certain He was trustworthy to do what He says. In human terms, this posed a “dilemma”: Man was created so that God could love and fellowship with him, and so that man could love, worship, and glorify the Creator in return. But God had decreed sin would bring death upon Adam and ultimately the entire human race. How could God save this man who faced condemnation for violating His law? Would His entire plan suddenly be destroyed because Adam disobeyed?
In reality, it was no dilemma at all because in eternity past, our omniscient God planned the solution to man’s hopeless condition. He designed a rescue operation that would be available to all humanity: the God who made the law also paid the penalty. God’s divine Son Jesus Christ stepped down from His glory and assumed our sin-debt Himself, paying it with His own all-sufficient, substitutionary death on the cross. We are saved, not by any works of righteousness we have done, but purely by grace—God’s unmerited favor. The wonder of grace is that God, knowing everything about you and me, chose to save us anyway. That truth is beyond comprehension, and it is what redemption—and forgiveness-are all about.
In His service,
Rev. Dr. Lawrence S. Thompson
