“For God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through Him. There is no judgment against anyone who believes in Him. But anyone who does not believe in Him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.” (John 3:16-18 NLT)
Fear, as we mentioned in an article a few days ago, is the opposite of love, so to fear is to run from love; thus, judgment is the sentence we place on ourselves for denying or ignoring the forgiveness we can have through the love gift God gave us in the sacrifice of His holy Son, the Lord Jesus.
God’s judgment is a very serious issue with which we must deal, but here’s the truth: our judgment, the death penalty for our sin, our willing rejection of God’s way in favor of our own way, is only for those who ignore the gift of God’s salvation through Christ alone by faith alone. “Yeh, but isn’t that awfully narrow? Shouldn’t I have more than one choice?”
Imagine you’re in the middle of the ocean on a piece of driftwood. You’ve been hanging on for dear life for nearly three days and nights. You’re exhausted, literally dying of thirst and along comes a man in a boat and he throws you a life preserver and offers to pull you on board. Would you say? “Who are you? What are your credentials? Do you have a license for that boat? Is this life preserver tested and proven to hold my weight?” Only if you’re an idiot or delirious.
You’d grab that one and only life preserver for all your worth and pray like you’d never prayed it would hold you up long enough to get you to safety on that one and only boat. And when you got on that one and only boat you’d hold on to that one and only man with all your strength, struggling to find the words to express your gratitude, wailing with relief for being rescued by your one and only rescuer.
That’s the hand of Jesus reaching out to you to save you from an eternity of judgment in hell, a judgment we all deserve, but from which we can never rescue ourselves. God knew that and, though there was no way, by His grace and because of His eternal love, He made a way. It was a way that cost Him the life of His only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, but it was a price both God the Father and God the Son were willing to pay. But why, you may wonder? Because love pays the price when there’s no other way!
Love sacrifices, suffers, bleeds, and dies on a Cross to pay what can’t be paid in any other way. If you think you’re worth that sacrifice, you’re either ignorant or stupid. No human being regardless of their credentials, intellect, or even spiritual prowess deserves one drop of the priceless blood of the Savior. It is never about who deserves it, it’s always and only about the One who was willing to make the sacrifice.
For those willing to open their heart and mind to the Lord Jesus, receive the gift He paid on the Cross as their own and to place their undying trust in Him for their eternal life, the Bible says for that person, He will “keep no record of wrongs!” (1 Corinthians 13:5). The Bible also says in Romans 8:1-2 “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to Him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.”
Please stop floating in the ocean of your lostness and reach out and grab the hand of Jesus by faith right now. Tap anewstory.com and learn how to end your misery, aloneness, and lostness by placing your faith in the Only Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ today, before it’s eternally too late.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 