June 10, 2014 Redemption

Tuesday June 10, 2014

Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. (Galatians 4:3-5 NKJV)

God, in His mercy, had a plan for the redemption of human beings right from the time the first couple sinned against Him. He loved His human creation so much that He sent His son Jesus to die for their sins. In the form of a man, Jesus was obedient to death, even death on a cross, to open up the way for human kind to live with God forever. By Jesus’ act of obedience the broken relationship between God and man was restored. Eternal life was once more offered to human kind. However the choice to obey what God says is the only way that restoration can take place.

Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” (John 6:28-29 NIV)

Too many times we choose to believe what we want to rather than believing what God says. If we desire a relationship with God we need to obey what He says. We need to listen to God's guidance and then choose to do what He commands whether we are inclined to or not. If we are surrendered to God, we will obey him because we desire to be obedient to His way. In everything we do we will ask for His guidance through prayer, through reading the Bible, and through the guidance of responsible Christians.

When we do things God's way we have the promise that love and joy and peace and goodness, etc. will all follow us. However, if we choose to believe and do what we want, regardless of what God says then, we are not choosing life.

Why don't you choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions of a law-dominated existence? It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on. This isn't the first time I have warned you, you know. If you use your freedom this way, you will not inherit God's kingdom. But what happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard--things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely. (Galatians 5:18-23a MSG)

God has given us a choice between a redeemed life and certain death. Which will we choose?

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June 10, 2014 Redemption

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