Luke 2:11,34: "The Savior-yes, the Messiah, the Lord-has been born tonight in Bethlehem, the city of David! This child will be rejected by many in Israel, and it will be their undoing. But he will be the greatest joy to many others."
How a person responds to Jesus Christ will determine whether that person will receive God's unimaginable, eternal blessings or His righteous, unending wrath. When mankind fell into willful rebellion against the Lord through their sin against His Sovereign reign, a cosmic verdict was pronounced against humanity . . . and that sentence was eternal death (Romans 5:8).
Because man was not able to justify himself before the One True and Most Holy God, God sought to provide the payment for sin by offering Himself as the only sufficient "atoning sacrifice for our sins" (I John 2:2). Jesus Christ's death and resurrection is the only perfect remedy for our rebellion against God, and God now offers this gift to each person who would surrender himself to the Lord through faith and repentance.
To those who respond to the Lord's gift of grace, God imparts a living hope and an inheritance for all eternity that will never perish, spoil, or fade . . . and it is this covenantal promise that gives the believer reason to rejoice, for he knows that God's grace has been imputed to him (see I Peter 1:3f). With our declared righteousness, we are adopted by the King of Kings into His royal family, to experience forever the blessings of His presence and His rewards.
Conversely, those who obstinately refuse Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior will find that the One who today would offer salvation will one day ultimately be their downfall. These damned souls will "perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved" (2 Thessalonians 2:10). The Living Stone, who once offered forgiveness of sins to those who would trust in Him will at the end of time become the Rock that will crush the defiant ones (see I Peter 2:4ff). Jesus will come "from heaven in a blazing fire with his powerful angels (and) He will punish those who do not know (Him) and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power" (2 Thessalonians 1:9).
The choice of whether Jesus will be one's joy or one's downfall is available today to all who are alive. As the Scripture says, "now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2). Surrender your life to the Lord so that His abundant joy will be given to you.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment