Open to All

When you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed in Him, you were also sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.

-- Ephesians 1:13

There’s power in the principle of exclusivity.

For example, your interest might be piqued if you receive an email or letter marked Exclusive Offer. Nightclubs, restaurants, and vacation resorts build their reputations on catering to an exclusive clientele of celebrities, politicians, and power brokers. Reporters also seek exclusive interviews with top sports stars and other personalities. And you might feel like you’ve made it to the top if you wear a certain brand of clothing, live in a high-brow community, or drive a big-ticket motor vehicle.

Marketers likewise understand that our attraction to exclusivity starts early. When you were growing up, were you one of the popular kids in school who was always picked first for the kickball team … or were you the odd-man-out nearly every time? 

Here's some good news, particularly for those of us who were never crowned king or queen of the high school prom. And it covers something much more important and lasting:

God — the most powerful and loving Presence in the universe — has chosen you and me as his heirs. Through faith in Jesus Christ as our personal savior, we can then become an adopted son or daughter of the Creator. And as God’s children, we’ll all have an amazing inheritance to enjoy for eternity.

That's a remarkable concept. And we don’t have to wait until we die to enjoy some of these special family benefits. One is the privilege of knowing God within a personal relationship. Through prayer, we can come to him directly with our joys, needs, and sorrows. It’s this close bond that helps us overcome the rough spots that we’re guaranteed to face in life.

Jesus also showed his disciples that God is a warm, reassuring, and loving father in the best sense of the word. And to the amazement of all who heard him, Christ even referred to God as “Abba” — a child’s word that translates into English as Daddy. That’s why it’s such great news that God has chosen you and me as his adopted children. But it’s not an exclusive offer for just a certain few. As we read in Acts 2:21: 

“Then whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Many will be invited through our Creator’s exclusive offer, but sadly, few will accept. Jesus just wants us to respond, “Yes, Abba!”

Picture This

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast.

– Ephesians 2: 8-9

What is GRACE?

For one thing, it’s a “churchy” word that’s hard to picture. You must experience grace before you can really understand the concept. And even more confusing is that grace is both a thing and a process.

Receiving an unexpected, luxurious gift is one way to picture grace. It comes straight out of the blue, and we did nothing to deserve such a priceless expression of love. What’s more, we know that we could never afford it ourselves.

But grace is also an ongoing transformation. It’s something that changes us from the inside out starting the moment we ask Christ to live through us until the day we meet him in person. Grace invites us to turn over our lives to him. And as we begin our faith-journey as Christ-followers, it teaches us to become more like him and see the world through his eyes. It’s an evolving, full-bodied change of heart, mind, and spirit.

Here’s one more picture of what grace is all about: Envision a block of rough marble that’s sculpted into a museum-quality masterpiece. With each tap of the chisel from the artist’s expert hands, a work of beauty and craftsmanship emerges. It often takes much longer than anyone expects. But the result is both awesome and lasting.

These examples of grace paint a picture of a God whose love for us is relentless. Even before the foundation of the world, he decided to pay the exorbitant price for our countless transgressions, failures, and shortcomings — also known as sins. And since the wages of sin is death, that payment was made on our behalf through the death of his own Son (Jesus) on the cross. We were once in prison awaiting the punishment we all so rightly deserve. But God’s loving grace proclaimed our righteousness and freed us from condemnation:

“For the law was given through Moses,” we read in John’s gospel. “Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Get the picture? We see that grace is both a thing and a transformation. It’s also a work in progress. But most of all, it’s God’s extraordinary gift of love to anyone who’s willing to accept it.

Touching the Untouchables

Terrors overwhelm me; my dignity is driven away as by the wind, my safety vanishes like a cloud.

– Job 30:15

The Bible reveals that Jesus performed amazing, life-changing miracles. He enabled the lame to walk, the blind to see, and the sick to regain their health. On multiple occasions he even brought the dead back to life — and the crowds were amazed and praised God for what they had witnessed. But in some instances, our Savior went a step further.

In Biblical times, a person afflicted with the skin disease leprosy faced a death sentence. Not only were they forced to experience their body’s painful disintegration, their social lives were also cut short. Declared “untouchable” by the priests, lepers were banished from all contact with their family members, friends, and business associates. Never again could they experience a warm hug, a firm handshake, or even a tap on the shoulder. Considered unclean, lepers were literal walking curses. And according to Old Testament instructions:

The priest is to examine the sore on the skin, and if the hair in the sore has turned white and the sore appears to be more than skin deep, it is a defiling skin disease. When the priest examines that person, he shall pronounce them ceremonially unclean.

All that changed one day when Jesus healed a leper. It’s in Matthew’s gospel that we read how he did the unthinkable by touching the untouchable:

When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

Jesus could have cured the ailing man through a simple word or prayer. But instead, he physically contacted the shunned outcast. The healing itself revealed the miracle of God’s love. And not only did Jesus restore the leper’s health, he also reinstated the victim’s dignity and place in society. 

Let’s now fast-forward about 2,000 years to current times. Modern medicine has largely eradicated leprosy, but there are still conditions — medical, social, or otherwise — that can subjugate or even banish their victims. And while we can’t heal them with a mere touch, Christ-followers can help restore them in many ways by using our gifts and resources to serve as our Savior’s hands and feet on earth. 

“You are the light of the world,” Jesus told his disciples through his famous Sermon on the Mount. “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

 

Grand Prize Winner

As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

– Mark 10:17

You’re the Grand Prize Winner!

At least that’s what’s printed in bold red letters on the official-looking envelope. You then rip open the sealed flap with anticipation. And as you scan the accompanying letter’s first paragraph, it all sounds good. You learn that you’ve won an all-expense-paid, 3-week trip to Hawaii. You’ll be staying at a fancy resort on the Big Island. And your days will be spent sightseeing among the Aloha State’s active volcanoes, lush rain forests, and white sandy beaches. 

How could you be so lucky? It almost sounds too good to be true.

And of course, it is. As you scan down the page, you begin to read the fine print. First, it says your cruise ship leaves from California, which means you’ll have to pay for your own flight from the East Coast. Right there, you’ll be out hundreds of dollars. Then it says that you’re responsible for all taxes, gratuities, and service charges. Transportation around the islands is extra. And even breakfasts and lunches aren’t part of the deal!

This is one of those times when being a “winner” means having to do and pay a lot. You’ll need to drain your bank account and run up your credit card before you ever reach your dream destination. And besides, you can’t afford to take off that much time from your job.

What you really need is a grand prize to an unforgettable destination, where someone has already paid your entire bill. All the work is done, and your worries are over. That sounds like … paradise!

So, maybe you’re a winner after all. And as Christ-followers, that’s what Easter is all about. It’s the day that God set apart before the creation of the world, when he would defeat death once and for all. He came to earth in the form of a man (Jesus), lived a perfect, blameless life, and paid in full for the sins of all who would believe and put their faith in him as their savior.  

It was about 2,000 years ago that Christ fulfilled the Old Testament predictions about him that were written centuries before his birth. And following his unjust execution on a cross for your sake and mine, he returned to life three days later — just as foretold. Death, the common enemy of us all, was defeated. 

Here’s how Jesus explained this Good News: 

“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.”

Now that’s a real grand prize. But “prize” sounds a bit impersonal — and a little like something we’ve had to work for to achieve. Instead, think of it as your Creator’s priceless gift to you. It cost so much that no one except God’s own Son could pay it. But for those who accept it, it’s totally free.

Start Spreading the News

Jesus isn't here! He has been raised from death. Remember that while he was still in Galilee, he told you, “The Son of Man will be handed over to sinners who will nail him to a cross. But three days later he will rise to life.

– Luke 24:6-7

If it bleeds, it leads. 

That’s the old saying in the news business. Turn on the TV or check your smartphone, and you’re bound to come across story after story about political corruption, bankruptcies, job layoffs, and degenerate behavior. The fact is that the media thrives on bad news and hyping the worst possible scenarios. After all, uplifting headlines rarely attract clicks or drive ratings.

Likewise, a steady stream of good news doesn’t paint a gloomy picture of our circumstances. Bad economic headlines (which the media often hype) can become self-fulfilling when the public is too scared to purchase big-ticket items like an automobile — or even something more affordable like a pair of shoes. Of course, too many people really ARE struggling these days with difficult life challenges. But poverty, crime, sickness, and death have been part of the human experience since Genesis. There’s nothing new under the sun.

How about spreading some GOOD news for a change? We can do that through one of the most-popular passages in the Bible: John 3:16:

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

As Christ-followers, our Good News (the Gospel) is that Jesus paid the price for our sins (past, present, and future) when he died in our place on a Roman cross. Three days later, just as predicted centuries earlier in the Old Testament, God resurrected him to forever defeat the power of sin and death in our lives. And it’s this same power that will one day raise all Believers to eternal life and joy with our Creator.

“Death has lost the battle!” proclaimed the apostle Paul. “Where is its victory? Where is its sting?”

Does this Good News sound too good to be true? If so, you’re not alone. Even some of Jesus’ closest followers found it hard to believe when they heard — just days after witnessing his crucifixion — that he was actually alive. Let’s consider the skepticism (and later amazement) of a certain apostle, who to this day is known as Doubting Thomas:

Although Thomas the Twin was one of the 12 disciples, he wasn't with the others when Jesus appeared to them. So they told him, "We have seen the Lord!"

But Thomas said, "First, I must see the nail scars in his hands and touch them with my finger. I must put my hand where the spear went into his side. I won't believe unless I do this!"

A week later the disciples were together again. This time, Thomas was with them. Jesus came in while the doors were still locked and stood in the middle of the group. He greeted his disciples and said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and look at my hands! Put your hand into my side. Stop doubting and have faith!"

Are today’s bleak headlines getting you down? Now’s the time to start spreading the Gospel: Jesus’ Good News for mankind.