Salvation - The Expresssion of God's Love
Salvation is the expression of God’s love for us. God Himself is Love. The Word, God, is love expressed to me, His child. The Bible is my Father’s Love letter to me, telling me how Love Himself thinks and believes and acts. Every word is an expression of Love Himself, not only for encouragement and uplifting but also for correction.
The scripture that all of us is familiar with is John 3:16. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. I love the way this verse reads in the Amplified Bible. Listen---For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life. Don’t you love that translation!
My God so dearly prized me, so greatly loved me that He gave Jesus, His only begotten Son at that point, to rescue me and restore me to the family, to the household of God my Father. My Father had one thing on His mind from the fall of Adam in the Garden of Eden. He wanted His family back. He wanted His household restored. Restoration was on His heart and mind. His heart was beating with reconciliation. He wanted His children back home.
I love the Lord. He courted me and wooed me when I didn’t even know Him. He protected me. He watched over me. He hovered over me as the Holy Spirit until Christ was formed in me.
We know what Jesus Christ did for us. He bore our sins in His Body. He bore our sickness and diseases and carried our sorrows and pains. He became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. He became poor that we might become rich. My big brother took my place so that I could go free of all the curse that had been placed on me, the weight of sin and its consequences, with death being the ultimate result.
If there is one thing that every one of us must realize, it is this: Jesus Christ loves us. Our dear Heavenly Father loves us. Jesus told us in John that the same love with which the Father loved Him was the love that the Father loved us with (John 17:23). Jesus also told us that the same love of the Father was in us (John 17:26). His love has been shed abroad, poured forth in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5).
And anyone who has studied the word salvation knows that it is not limited, as so many have limited it, to the born again experience. Being born again, becoming God’s child once again, gives us access to all the benefits of the heavenly household. Those benefits are all inclusive. We have access to health, wealth, safety, prosperity, well-being, marriages that are like days of heaven on earth, lives that are full to overflowing with the goodness of the Lord, children who are disciples taught of the Lord and obedient to His will, whose peace and prosperity is great, and best of all, a restored intimacy with our Lord God. We have the permission to come boldly before His throne. He is our papa.
What a wonderful day it was when Jesus became flesh and dwelt among us. No wonder the angels couldn’t stand it; they had to burst forth in song to those shepherds who were watching their flocks the night Jesus burst into the envelope of this atmosphere, split the heavens wide open. The angels were excited. Glory to God in the highest, they proclaimed. They were ecstatic. They could not contain themselves. The angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds and told them to fear not but to rejoice because he was bringing good tidings of great joy to all people. When He told the shepherds that this day a Savior which is Christ the Lord is born in the city of David, suddenly the multitude of angels, the heavenly host started praising God. They could not contain themselves any longer. They had waited for this. Now the time was here. They proclaimed: GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST AND ON EARTH PEACE, GOOD WILL TOWARD MEN. They were saying: He is here. The Savior is here. The One who will bring salvation is here at last. The Savior is here. What excitement there must have been in heaven.
He is here. And He wants to reign in our hearts and be the Lord over our lives. The Savior, the Lord of Lords and the King of kings is here. And He reigns forevermore, forever and ever. Shake off those grave cloths of the earth and those situations that have held you captive to the plots and schemes of satan. Shake off that doubt and unbelief. Turn loose of that fear, and start rejoicing. The Savior reigns in your heart and life. He has come and He has brought salvation with Him. Rejoice! Lift up your heads and your hands in adoration to the Lord. He has come. The Word has come and is resident once again in the earth in our hearts. The Word of God is alive. He is alive in our hearts.
Release the praise and the worship that is in your hearts tonight. Lift up your hands in adoration to the One Who loves you dearly. Let Him enclose you in His beauty, His nature, His Love and desire for you. Let Him do what He loves to do best----take care of you, set you free to The Blessing of Father’s household. Enjoy Him!
The scripture that all of us is familiar with is John 3:16. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. I love the way this verse reads in the Amplified Bible. Listen---For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life. Don’t you love that translation!
My God so dearly prized me, so greatly loved me that He gave Jesus, His only begotten Son at that point, to rescue me and restore me to the family, to the household of God my Father. My Father had one thing on His mind from the fall of Adam in the Garden of Eden. He wanted His family back. He wanted His household restored. Restoration was on His heart and mind. His heart was beating with reconciliation. He wanted His children back home.
I love the Lord. He courted me and wooed me when I didn’t even know Him. He protected me. He watched over me. He hovered over me as the Holy Spirit until Christ was formed in me.
We know what Jesus Christ did for us. He bore our sins in His Body. He bore our sickness and diseases and carried our sorrows and pains. He became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. He became poor that we might become rich. My big brother took my place so that I could go free of all the curse that had been placed on me, the weight of sin and its consequences, with death being the ultimate result.
If there is one thing that every one of us must realize, it is this: Jesus Christ loves us. Our dear Heavenly Father loves us. Jesus told us in John that the same love with which the Father loved Him was the love that the Father loved us with (John 17:23). Jesus also told us that the same love of the Father was in us (John 17:26). His love has been shed abroad, poured forth in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5).
And anyone who has studied the word salvation knows that it is not limited, as so many have limited it, to the born again experience. Being born again, becoming God’s child once again, gives us access to all the benefits of the heavenly household. Those benefits are all inclusive. We have access to health, wealth, safety, prosperity, well-being, marriages that are like days of heaven on earth, lives that are full to overflowing with the goodness of the Lord, children who are disciples taught of the Lord and obedient to His will, whose peace and prosperity is great, and best of all, a restored intimacy with our Lord God. We have the permission to come boldly before His throne. He is our papa.
What a wonderful day it was when Jesus became flesh and dwelt among us. No wonder the angels couldn’t stand it; they had to burst forth in song to those shepherds who were watching their flocks the night Jesus burst into the envelope of this atmosphere, split the heavens wide open. The angels were excited. Glory to God in the highest, they proclaimed. They were ecstatic. They could not contain themselves. The angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds and told them to fear not but to rejoice because he was bringing good tidings of great joy to all people. When He told the shepherds that this day a Savior which is Christ the Lord is born in the city of David, suddenly the multitude of angels, the heavenly host started praising God. They could not contain themselves any longer. They had waited for this. Now the time was here. They proclaimed: GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST AND ON EARTH PEACE, GOOD WILL TOWARD MEN. They were saying: He is here. The Savior is here. The One who will bring salvation is here at last. The Savior is here. What excitement there must have been in heaven.
He is here. And He wants to reign in our hearts and be the Lord over our lives. The Savior, the Lord of Lords and the King of kings is here. And He reigns forevermore, forever and ever. Shake off those grave cloths of the earth and those situations that have held you captive to the plots and schemes of satan. Shake off that doubt and unbelief. Turn loose of that fear, and start rejoicing. The Savior reigns in your heart and life. He has come and He has brought salvation with Him. Rejoice! Lift up your heads and your hands in adoration to the Lord. He has come. The Word has come and is resident once again in the earth in our hearts. The Word of God is alive. He is alive in our hearts.
Release the praise and the worship that is in your hearts tonight. Lift up your hands in adoration to the One Who loves you dearly. Let Him enclose you in His beauty, His nature, His Love and desire for you. Let Him do what He loves to do best----take care of you, set you free to The Blessing of Father’s household. Enjoy Him!
posted by Rev. Kialeen Potterton @ 3:45 PM
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