GOD HAS NO GRANDCHILDREN

“To all who received Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.”  (John 1:12)

Decades ago a pastoral colleague of mine shared in a sermon, “God has no grandchildren -- only children.” It wasn’t original to him, but it has stuck with me. Faith isn’t passed down like an heirloom; it’s born fresh in every heart by the Spirit.

That’s why watching my sixteen-year-old granddaughter declare her own faith this past Sunday and step into the waters of baptism filled me with such joy. She wasn’t leaning on her grandparents’ faith or her parents’ faith -- she was answering God’s call for herself. Paul wrote to the church in Rome, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9-10 ESV)

Before she was baptized my granddaughter shared her faith journey and concluded, “My worth was no longer determined by how other people saw me, my worth came from who I am as a child of God and from knowing that I am deeply loved by Him… Today I am being baptized to show everyone that I have placed my faith in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior because He died on the cross for me.”

One generation telling the next of God’s goodness and love, and each one making their own personal decision to accept the gift and become His child by grace. “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 NIV)

The gospel moves forward not by inheritance, but by personal faith. God has no grandchildren – but I do! 

-- Rev. David T. Wilkinson, SOUND BITES Ministry™

#6443

“IT IS FINISHED”

“When He had received the drink, Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’ With that, He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.”  (John 19:30)

Good Friday brings us to the foot of the cross, where the final words of Jesus ring out with earth‑shaking power: “It is finished.” In Greek, the word is tetelestai -- a single word that carries the weight of eternity.

In the ancient world, tetelestai was written on receipts to mean “paid in full.” It was spoken by servants reporting a completed task, by artists stepping back from a masterpiece, by priests announcing that a sacrifice had been offered without blemish. It was a word of completion, fulfillment, and victory.

And Jesus chose that word. Not “I am finished,” as if His life were slipping away. But “It is finished” -- a declaration, not of defeat, but of triumph.

At that moment: The debt of sin was paid in full. The long‑awaited sacrifice was complete. The work the Father gave Him to do was accomplished. The barrier between God and humanity cause by our sin was torn down. The serpent’s claim on humanity was shattered. What began in a garden with a forbidden tree ends on a hill with a rugged cross. What sin broke, Christ restored. What we could never do, He did perfectly. And He did it willingly.

When Jesus cried tetelestai, He wasn’t whispering resignation, He was proclaiming redemption. The Lamb of God was not overcome by death, He was offering Himself in love. The cross was not a tragedy to endure but a mission to complete.

Good Friday reminds us that our salvation does not rest on our striving, our goodness, or our spiritual performance. It rests entirely on the finished work of Christ. We don’t add to it. We don’t improve it. We simply receive it.

Because of tetelestai, you can rest.  The work that saves you is done. The grace that holds you is secure. The love that claimed you is complete. It is finished! 

-- SOUND BITES Ministry™

#6341

FAITH BELIEVES, TRUST RESTS – Part 1 of 2

What is faith? John Patten (1824 -1907) traveled to New Hebrides (a group of islands in the Southwest Pacific) to tell the tribal people about Jesus. The islanders were cannibals and his life was in constant danger. Patten decided to work on a translation of John’s Gospel, but found that there was no word in their language for “belief” or “trust.” Nobody trusted anybody else.

Eventually, Patten hit upon the way to find the word he was looking for. One day, when his native servant came in, Patten sat back in his chair, raised both feet off the floor, and asked, “What am I doing now?” In reply, the servant used a word which means “to lean your whole weight upon.” This was the expression Patten used. Faith is leaning our whole weight upon Jesus and what He has done for us on the cross.

It all starts with God’s love for us: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)  [As a result of our sin,] we all deserve to “perish.” God, in His love for us, saw the mess we were in and gave His only Son, Jesus, to die for us. As a result of His death, everlasting life is offered to all who believe. 

-- Nicky Gumbel in Alpha’s “Questions of Life: A Practical Introduction to the Christian Faith”

#6324

FREE BUT COSTLY – Part 2 of 2

Then Jesus said to them all: ‘Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for Me will save it.”  (Luke 9:23-24 NIV)

In offering ourselves as fully as we can, we discover the cost of discipleship. For to bind our lives to Jesus Christ requires that we try to walk with Him into the sorrows and sufferings of the world. Being bound to Jesus Christ, we see barriers broken down and we are led to places we have never been before. Having offered ourselves to Jesus Christ, we may expect to become the eyes, ears, voice, and hands of Jesus Christ in the world and in the church.

The cost of salvation? It is completely free and without cost. The cost of discipleship? Only our lives -- nothing more and nothing less. 

-- Rueben P. Job in “A Guide to Prayer for All Who Seek God” 

#6318

FREE BUT COSTLY – Part 1 of 2

“Yet to all who did receive Him to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God -- children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”  (John 1:12-13 NIV)

“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  (John 3:16 NIV)

Salvation is free, but the cost of discipleship is enormous. I try to hide from the truth, but when I read the Gospels and seek to live in communion with God, I discover both parts of the statement are dead-center truth.

I can do nothing to earn my salvation. My redemption is a pure gift of grace, a gift offered to me without qualification or reservation. I am God’s child and no one or no thing can change that fact. Jesus Christ lived, died, and lives again to bring this gift of salvation to me in all its fullness. My faith can appropriate this gift, but even my greatest doubt cannot change its reality. I am God’s beloved, embraced in God’s love for now and eternity. All words are inadequate to describe the extravagance and grandeur of the gift of salvation. Our hymns of praise and gratitude fall lifeless before the immensity of this gift. We simply and humbly offer all that we are to the One who offers us the option of becoming more than we are. 

-- Rueben P. Job in “A Guide to Prayer for All Who Seek God” 

#6317

LET LIGHT SHINE OUT OF DARKNESS – Part 1 of 2

“The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.”  (2 Corinthians 4:4-7 NIV)

Let us remember that it is a full salvation that we offer. Some… have been content to save their people and leave them to heaven. John and Charles Wesley insisted that we are saved so that we can grow. They believed that their somewhat ragtag group of butchers, miners, and household servants could become saints. We are challenged to believe as grandly for the computer generation, for a century of skeptics, and the spiritually cautious.

And we are saved to serve our present age. Traditionally, we have believed we could spread scriptural holiness throughout the land. Now we must do so in a time when family structures are under assault, while political systems build their new Babels, and when the evils of misery, poverty, and war seem more entrenched than ever. 

-- J. Ellsworth Kalas in “Our First Song: Evangelism in the Hymns of Charles Wesley” (1984)

#6144

HOSANNA TO THE SON OF DAVID

Hosanna is a word used in some songs of praise, particularly on Palm Sunday. It is of Hebrew origin and was part of the shout of the multitudes as Jesus entered Jerusalem: “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” (Matthew 21:9).

Hosanna is often thought of as a declaration of praise, similar to hallelujah, but it is actually a plea for salvation. The Hebrew root words are found in Psalm 118:25, which says, “Save us, we pray, O LORD!” (ESV). The Hebrew words yasha (“deliver, save”) and anna (“beg, beseech”) combine to form the word that, in English, is “hosanna.” Literally, hosanna means “I beg you to save!” or “please deliver us!”

So, as Jesus rode the donkey into Jerusalem, the crowds were perfectly right to shout “Hosanna!” They were acknowledging Jesus as their Messiah, as shown in their address “Son of David.” Theirs was a cry for salvation and a recognition that Jesus is able to save.

Later that day, Jesus was in the temple, and the children present were again shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” (Matthew 21:15). The chief priests and the teachers of the Law were displeased: “’Do You hear what these children are saying?’ they asked Him. ‘Yes,’ replied Jesus, ‘have you never read, “From the lips of children and infants You, Lord, have called forth Your praise”’?” (Matthew 21:16). In saying, “Hosanna!” the people were crying out for salvation, and that’s exactly why Jesus had come. Within the week Jesus would be hanging on a cross. 

-- From Got Questions Ministries, gotquestions.org

#6091

THE GIFT OF DEPARTING IN PEACE

“There was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said: ‘Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel.’”  (Luke 2:25-32 NKJV)

Death stood at the door. This dear old man hovered in the valley of the shadow. I had been called to his bedside by the family to be present for his final hours. His sister-in-law, who had kept a constant vigil of love, told me he had made a death wish some months ago. “As I get near the end,” he had said, “I have my doubts about many things in life. But I hope I can leave this earth with dignity… my faith in God is stronger than ever.”

She showed me a picture of him from earlier years. He seemed so vibrant and full of life then, and now so forlorn and hopeless, gasping for that final breath. Then he was gone. I held his hand until his hold ended, almost symbolic of giving up and letting go. But he died in dignity. No respirator kept him from his date with destiny or his meeting with the God he loved. There was the sadness of farewell, but also gratitude that his wish had been granted.

We all proceed every day to our final destiny. If we are wise, we will accept its finality with gratitude; if we are sensible we prepare for it now. If we are blessed “for my eyes have seen Your salvation,” we will depart, as Simeon prayed, in peace. 

– Adapted from Richard L. Morgan in “Autumn Wisdom”

#6069

STRUGGLING TO DO GOOD - Part 2 of 2

God did not save us because of our goodness but because of His own kindness and mercy, Thanks to the saving work of Jesus Christ our Savior, God can declare us good. Our goodness is a gift from God. We cannot work for it. We cannot earn it. We do not deserve it.

The Bible calls this work of Christ justification. That’s a big word that simply means God says you are okay because of what Jesus did for you. When you put your trust in Christ, God gives you a new nature (2 Corinthians 5:17). (It is like starting over; that is why it is called being “born again.”) Then God not only gives you the desire to do good. but also gives you the power to do good.  Philippians 2:13 says, “It is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (NKJV, emphasis added). He gives you the desire and the power to do what is right…

By God’s grace and power we are re-created as good people, and then we are given the ability to do good deeds. God works from the inside out, not from the outside in… God solved the problem of my old selfish nature by giving me a new Christlike nature. 

-- Excerpts from “God’s Power to Change Your Life” by Rick Warren

#6055

DIAGNOSING THE PROBLEM

“But God is so rich in mercy, and He loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when He raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) … God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.”  (Ephesians 2:4,5,8,9 NLT)

Doctors study medicine not so they can go around telling people they are sick, but so they can heal those who are sick, and the healing care can’t start until patients are willing to admit they are sick. Once patients admit this, there is the important task of the diagnosis, which then makes possible the cure. So it is with Christianity. We speak about sin in an attempt to diagnose the spiritual malady that affects us all. My goal, then, is not to accuse you of being, or even to tell you that, you are sick, but to offer you the medicine that makes you well. It’s not simply to ask you the question, but to lead you to the answer. Yes, we’re all sinners, and yes, this is a serious issue. But God is a God of grace and mercy. 

-- Adam Hamilton in “Forgiveness: Finding Peace Through Letting Go”

#6053

KINGDOM PROMISES: ALREADY BUT NOT YET

“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body.”  (Philippians 3:20-21 NIV)

When we think of kingdom, we often think of place, but the kingdom of God is not a place: it refers to the reign of God, or God's in-breaking, saving activity. Eschatological living means envisioning life in light of the saving activity of God in our midst -- not only what He has already done, but also what He promises to do in the future. God's kingdom is not fully manifest yet; we live between the beginning and the completion. 

-- Ben Witherington III in “Christianity Today,” October 15, 2012 

#5977

A WORLD IN NEED OF A SAVIOR

Let us remember that it is a full salvation we offer. Some movements have been content to save their people and then leave them to heaven. [From early on] Methodism has insisted that we are saved so that we can grow. John and Charles Wesley believed that their somewhat ragtag group of butchers, miners, and household servants could become saints. We are challenged to believe as grandly for the computer generation, for a century of skeptics, and for the spiritually cautious.

And we are saved to serve our present age. Traditionally, we have believed we could “spread scriptural holiness throughout the land.” Now we must do so in a time when family structures are under assault while political systems build their new Babels, and when evils of misery, poverty, and war seem more entrenched than ever.

There could hardly be a better time to preach the gospel of Christ, and surely no better time to sing it. The gospel has always been needed, since it is God’s solution for the human race, but in our day the need is more poignant and more dramatic. Whether one looks at the penultimate threat of nuclear destruction, or the private anguish of the lonely soul in an impersonal society, one cannot imagine a world more starkly in need of a Savior. There could hardly be a more demanding, more exhilarating time to preach the Good News of Jesus Christ.

But we must have a song to sing. Without a song, we will only add to the dissonance of our times… On one of his birthdays, Wesley wrote:

          In rapture of joy
          My life I employ,
          The God of my life to proclaim:
          ‘Tis worth living for this,
          To administer bliss, 
          And salvation in Jesus’ name.

-- J. Ellsworth Kalas in “Our First Song: Evangelism in the Hymns of Charles Wesley”

#5969

 

NOTHING BUT THE BLOOD OF JESUS

"This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of His blood -- to be received by faith.” (Romans 3:22-25a)

The gospel of grace is underwritten by the most precious commodity in the universe -- the blood of Jesus.

Some have lost sight of an important truth, possibly the most important truth, which is this: no blood means no salvation. And no redemption, no forgiveness, no sanctification, and no future.

Without the blood, the gospel is no gospel and the cross is nothing more than two beams of wood. As the song-writer Robert Lowry wrote, our cleansing, our wholeness, our pardon, our hope, our peace, our righteousness, our overcoming, are all based on “nothing but the blood of Jesus.”

On the night before He died, Jesus said: “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is poured out for you.” (Luke 22:20) 

-- Paul Ellis 

#5934

THE GOSPEL OF GRACE

"After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: ‘Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.’” (Revelation 7:9-10 NIV)

Because salvation is by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9), I believe that among the countless number of people standing in front of the throne and in front of the Lamb, dressed in white robes and holding palms in their hands (Revelation 7:9), I shall see the prostitute from the Kit-Kat Ranch in Carson City, Nevada, who tearfully told me she could find no other employment to support her two-year-old son.  I shall see the woman who had an abortion and is haunted by guilt and remorse but did the best she could faced with grueling alternatives; the businessman besieged with debt who sold his integrity in a series of desperate transactions; the insecure clergyman addicted to being liked, who never challenged his people from the pulpit and longed for unconditional love; the sexually-abused teen molested by his father and now selling his body on the street, who, as he falls asleep each night after his last "trick" whispers the name of the unknown God he learned about in Sunday school; the deathbed convert who for decades had his cake and ate it, broke every law of God and man, wallowed in lust and raped the earth.

"But how?" we ask.  Then the voice says, "They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."

There they are.  There we are -- the multitude who so wanted to be faithful, who at times got defeated, soiled by life, and bested by trials, wearing the bloodied garments of life's tribulations, but through it all clung to the faith.

My friends, if this is not good news to you, you have never understood the gospel of grace. 

-- Brennan Manning in “The Ragamuffin Gospel” 

#5933

SALVATION 101 - JOHN 3:16

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him may not perish but have eternal life.”  (John 3:16)

 The heart of salvation: “For God so loved”

The breadth of salvation: “For God so loved the world”

The act of salvation: “For God so loved that He gave”

The Savior of salvation: “That He gave His only begotten Son”

The means of salvation: “That whosoever believes in Him”

The need of salvation:  “That whosoever believes may not perish”

The promise of salvation: “That whosoever believes may not perish but have eternal life”

-- Rev. David J. Kalas

#5891

JUDGMENT OR SALVATION

“If My people who are called by My name humble themselves, and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”  (2 Chronicles 7:14 ESV)

When God comes among us there are always and only two possible consequences: judgment or salvation. There is judgment if we close our eyes to His coming or refuse to receive Him. In that case, we are dependent on God’s justice and mercy. Or there is salvation and healing if we welcome Him with faith and trust.  “But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.” (John 1:12 ESV) 

– David Winter in “Forty Days with the Messiah”

#5872

AMAZING GRACE

“Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found;
Was blind, but now I see.”

When I was young, I was sure of many things; now there are only two things of which I am sure: one is, that I am a miserable sinner; and the other, that Christ is an all-sufficient Savior. He is well-taught who learns these two lessons. 

-- John Newton

#5870

CHRIST IN GETHSEMANE

“Jesus went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, ‘O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.’”  (Matthew 26:29 NKJV)

We all know there is no such thing as a free lunch. Yet the Christian insists that salvation is free. Well, yes and no! It is freely offered to the sinner, but at a tremendous cost to the Savior. Our appreciation of salvation is directly related to our recognition of its cost…

[In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus prayed an agonizing prayer.] He knew that He would rise again in a matter of days, so death held no fear for Him. It was the uniqueness of His dying that horrified Him. He would become a sin offering (2 Corinthians 5:21), He would carry the responsibility and the penalty for the sins of the entire human race (Isaiah 53:5), and He would experience being forsaken by His Heavenly Father (Matthew 27:46; see Psalm 22:1). In agony Jesus contemplated not so much the physical suffering, although this would be considerable; nor the emotional anguish, although this would be excruciating; but the spiritual dimensions of His death, the likes of which no other human has ever experienced or ever will (see Mark 15:34). Yet He was willing to suffer even to that extent for the salvation of a sinful world -- He was committed to His Father’s will (Matthew 26:29,42). 

-- Excerpted from “Daily Study Bible for Men” with daily studies by Stuart Briscoe

#5825

TODAY IS THE DAY

Jesus said to His disciples, "Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me.”  (Matthew 16:24 NIV)

Jesus calls us to take up a cross and die. Not someday when we take our last breath, but to die to ourselves today…

Bruce Thielemann is an author, he wrote these words, “Please don’t say anything to me about tomorrow. Tomorrow is a word the Bible does not know. The Holy Spirit’s word is “today.” The Bible says, “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts” (Hebrews 3:15). And Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 6:2, “For God says, ‘At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.’ Indeed, the ‘right time’ is now. Today is the day of salvation.”

Today is the day of salvation. Don’t say tomorrow. The word is “today.” 

-- Adapted from “Not a Fan” Study by Kyle Idleman

#5816

SALVATION HISTORY

“I long for Your salvation, O Lord, and Your law is my delight. Let my soul live, and it shall praise You; and let Your judgments help me. I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Your servant, for I do not forget Your commandments.”  (Psalm 119:174-176 NKJV)

The Bible is the record of those divine breakthroughs into human history. “God’s search for man,” it is described, rather than being our search for God. And its accents are considered a key for discerning the continuing divine activity in the present. Unlike most religious literature, it is not chiefly a collection of noble sayings, but a drumroll of events, people, struggles, great and terrible; of frailty, doubts, and heroism; of the ultimate might of right. Scripture isn’t meant as scientific exposition or as mere history. It is “salvation history,” a universal spiritual drama of an overarching compassion and concern for human integrity, of an unwavering love [on God’s part] that seeks an answering affirmation [on our part]. It is a vivid, sometimes parabolic account of God’s persistent, unrelenting quest for us and our stumbling, often faithless response. 

-- George Cornell in “The Untamed God”

#5643