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HAS CHRIST DONE ANYTHING SPECIAL FOR YOU?
Has Christ done anything for you that He
did not do for everyone else too? I did not ask what have you done. I asked
has Christ done anything special for you? Has He done anything for you that
has had an effect on you that makes you different?
Paul explained mankind's natural born
condition saying: “Even when we were dead
in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;),”
(Ephesians 2:5). This word “quickened”
means to make something dead alive.
The
Bible says, “For as the Father raiseth up
the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will,”
(John 5:21). Here the Bible speaks of Christ making dead sinners spiritually
alive. Has Christ made you alive spiritually? There are a great many who
give evidence by their words and works that Christ has not made them alive.
They have no interest in spiritual things. They do not love Christ nor do
they follow Him. They do not read nor meditate upon His Word nor have any
interest in it. Their life is totally involved in the things of this natural
world.
In His great high-priestly prayer, the
Lord Jesus prayed these words to His Father:
“As thou hast given him
[Christ] power
over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast
given him...” (John 17:2). In this verse
we actually learn not only of what Christ does for some, but also what the
Father has done. In the first place, God gave some people to Christ. These
were not just random people, but chosen ones. Paul wrote of himself and
other children of God when he said:
“According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the
world...” (Ephesians 1:4). These chosen
ones were the ones the Father gave to the Son.
The second thing John 17:2 teaches us is
that while Jesus has power over all humanity, His intention – His action –
is that He “should give eternal life to as
many” as were given to Him. This giving of
life is not a matter of debt. That is, eternal life is not a wage or a
reward or a benefit paid to a sinner who does something religious. It is
freely bestowed to those given by the Father to the Son.
Somebody says 'I don't like that. It is
not fair.' My friend, you do not want to go there. You do not want God to be
fair with you – you don't want justice. If we sinners got justice we would
all be cast in to the lake of fire. If God in His wisdom and goodness for
wise reasons has determined to rescue some of His created beings by giving
them eternal life is that not mercy and grace? Is that not something good?
Has Christ done something special for you?
Has He given you eternal life? Then glorify Him for it and live for Him.
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