What
God Continues To Do For
Us Through Jesus! Part
II
"For
if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through
the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we
shall be saved by His life" Romans 5:10
This
meditation is a continuation of what God has done for us through
the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, His Son, and
what God and Jesus continue to do for us throughout life.
We were
reconciled to God through the death of His Son and we are
saved by His life. Listen to the words of Paul; "God
demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were
still sinners Christ died for us. Much more then, having now
been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath
through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled
to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been
reconciled, we shall be saved by His life" Romans 5:8-10.
Salvation
is a free gift of God given to those who by faith accept what
God has done for them through the death of His Son on the
cross; and who will continue to receive Him through the life
of His Son, "For He (God) made Him (Jesus) who knew no
sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness
of God in Him" 2 Corinthians 5:21.
"What
we have through the death of Jesus is an established fact.
It is ours-and we did nothing to earn it. It has been given
to us as an absolute free gift. So many incredible blessings
are ours through the death of Jesus: forgiveness, justification,
reconciliation, the stripping of our enemy of all his power,
and our redemption" Overcoming Through Jesus, p. 129.
In addition
to what Jesus has done for us at the cross, because of His
resurrection, He continues to be with us throughout life.
Salvation is an established fact and an ongoing process, and
Jesus is there for us every step of the way.
Listen
to John, the disciple, as he explains the process. "As
many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become
children of God, to those who believe in His name; who were
born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the
will of man, but of God" John 1:12, 13. This is referring
to the new birth experience spoken of by Jesus to Nicodemus,
"Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom
of God… unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he
cannot enter the kingdom of God" John 3:3, 5.
What
is this New Birth by which "one is born of water and
the Spirit," that Jesus is speaking of? Jesus shared
more fully with His disciples what the New Birth experience
is and how we may receive it. On the evening before His crucifixion,
Jesus shared a lot of information with His disciples that
is recorded in John 13-17.
We will
focus more specifically on His instructions relating to the
New Birth experience. Three times in John 14:15-24, Jesus
tells us how it works. He said, "If you love Me, keep
My commandments, and I will pray the Father, and He will give
you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever, the
Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it
neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells
with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans;
I will come to you" John 14:15-18.
Again
He said, "He who has My commandments and keeps them,
it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by
My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him"
John 14:21.
And a
third time, this time in answer to a question, He said, "If
anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will
love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.
He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word
which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me"
John 13:23, 24.
Three
times in this one passage Jesus tells us how we may receive
Him and His Father's Spirit into our lives. And each time
it includes 3 elements; love, obedience and the Helper, the
Holy Spirit - if we love Him we will obey His instructions
and we will receive His Helper, the Holy Spirit, His very
Presence into our lives.
What
does the Holy Spirit do for us? Listen to Jesus, "These
things I have spoken to you while being present with you,
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send
in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your
remembrance all things that I said to you" John 13:25,
26.
The Lord
also shares an insight on this with us through Ezekiel, "I
will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you;
I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give
you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and
cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments
and do them" Ezekiel 36:26, 27.
God does
it all for you and me. Our part is only a conscious choice.
Do we want, or do we not want, God to live in our lives. God
sent His Son to the world to reveal Himself to us and to reconcile
us to Himself. However, He gives us the freedom to make our
own choices in life.
If we
are drawn to Him, He will teaches us the foundation principles
of life, "I have come that you may have life, and that
you may have it more abundantly" John 10:10, and if we
chose the life that He offers, He implants a new heart and
a new spirit into our lives.
Jesus
has not asked anything of us than He has already done for
us. He has loved us supremely from the very beginning, at
the cross, and He continues to love us and to share His instructions
with us throughout life.
John,
the disciple, wrote, "Beloved, let us love one another,
for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God
and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for
God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward
us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world,
that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that
we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be
the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us,
we also ought to love one another" 1 John 4:7-11.
What
does God do for us? If we recognize the values that He shares
with us and we invite His Presence into our lives, we receive
His Helper, the Holy Spirit who will teach us "all things,
and bring to your remembrance all" that Jesus has shared
with us through the scriptures; He gives us "forgiveness,
justification, reconciliation, the stripping of our enemy
of all his power, and our redemption." He gives us a
new heart and new spirit and takes away the rebellious and
stony heart out of our flesh; He gives us a more abundant
life as we accept and follow through on His instructions,
and we receive His gifts of the Spirit, gifts of love, joy,
peace, hope, health, healing, inspiration and so much more
(see Galatians 5:22; Exodus 15:26; John 17:3; 1 John 3:1-3).
May you
be blessed as you contemplate what God has done and what He
continues to do for you.
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