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Saturday, March 10, 2018

God's Loving Rescue


1 John 4:7-10 

God’s Love and Ours

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
https://www.biblegateway.com  New International Version (NIV)
   Christianity is unique among world religions — the others all require certain behaviors for people to become acceptable to their god. Therefore, they must perform intense labor, undergo self-denial, or observe specific rituals. But none of us can earn a place in heaven, because we can never reach the Lord's standard of utter perfection and holiness.
   God has provided an entirety different way of salvation. In His wisdom, He reached down to us by sending His Son. Jesus came to live a perfect life and then, by dying on the cross, paid the penalty our sin deserved. Why did God choose to rescue us? The reason was not that we deserved it but because of His great love and mercy. Instead of punishing us for our sin, God poured out His wrath on His Son, thereby satisfying divine justice. Now all who believe in Jesus Christ and His work on the cross are forgiven and accepted as children of God.
   Becoming a Christian doesn't require working or pleading for the heavenly Father's acceptance. Our salvation comes through repentance of sin and faith in Jesus Christ — God's only begotten Son, who went to the cross to die in our place, thereby paying our sin debt in full.
   What do you believe about Jesus Christ? Choosing to trust in Him is the most important decision you'll ever make. After this life is over, all people will have to give account to God for their life. (see Romans 14:12.) There will be no condemnation for those who have received the Savior, but for anyone who has rejected Him, the outcome will be eternal separation from God.

Stanley, Charles F. "God's Loving Rescue." In Touch: Daily Readings for Devoted Living. March 2018. Atlanta: In Touch Ministries. page 14.