Saturday 9 April 2016

At Just the Right Time

At Just the Right Time

“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.  
Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.  
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 
Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!  
For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!  
Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation”
                                       Romans 5:6-11.
I see Christians all the time taking their salvation for granted. Dietrich Bonhoeffer in his book The cost of Discipleship called the grace God offers us as “Costly Grace” he explains,
“It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: 'Ye were bought at a price', and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.” 
                                                                                     Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship.
We as Christians cannot take our salvation for granted. We must thank God everyday for it.
At the same time we cannot keep the message of Salvation through Jesus Christ a secret. We must in a respectable and polite manner present that message to those around us. We must have an open and loving dialogue between ourselves and non-Christians.
Jesus said,
“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
                                                                           Matthew 28:18-20.
We must remember that the Salvation we have cost Jesus his life. Thus it must be of paramount importance in our life to tell others why he died.
Lorenz Eifert said,
“The dying Jesus is the evidence of God's anger toward sin; but the living Jesus is the proof of God's love and forgiveness.”
                                          Lorenz Eifert
Jesus speaking of Himself said,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
John 3:16,17 
Christians must remember John 3:16,17 because the prime purpose of Jesus coming to this world is to offer the free gift of salvation to all who would believe in Him.
Please think about it.

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