We are the passion of Jesus Christ; everything that he did was for the redemption and betterment of us. He saw the vision of what our Heavenly Father wanted. He knew what we were destined to be and the kind of life that we could obtain through his love. When we look at the state of our current standing, and how poorly we have treated the overwhelming gifts of God, it is very difficult to understand why He would give His only begotten son for us; and why Jesus would be willing to make such a sacrifice.
We have not honored the tremendous gift of Christ in the way that we should, and yet God continues to do so much for us. Romans 5:8 (NLT) tells us, “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” In His infinite intelligence and wisdom, God chose us as the vessels on which He would lavish His grace. Nothing we have done or will do in the future will change this; because HE does not change, nor does His Word. He declares in Malachi 3:6 (NLT), “I am the LORD, and I do not change.” This is one of the reasons we should honor God’s faithfulness and truth every moment of each day.
In our day and time, we see technological, medical, and intellectual advances every day. It is astounding what humanity is able to accomplish these feats. In Ephesians 2:10 (NLT), God calls us His masterpiece, because we are made in His image with awesome abilities and skillfulness, but even with everything that we are doing and have done, we are still very limited in our capacity.
It is easy to get a big head about the strides we all make in life, and many people are quick to give themselves a pat on the back. However, the only way that any of us will live to see another day is because of God’s grace. Through the Apostle Paul, God told us in Ephesians 2:8 (NLT), “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.” He saved us through His son, Jesus Christ, and this is something that we can’t take credit for. God is so good to each of us, and He created us to have a relationship with Him, and to receive all the wonderful blessings that He wants to give us.
To see this from another angle, we need to think about where we would be if Jesus Christ had not died on the cross for our sins. Sin is a killer. The bible tells us that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Sin robs us of the life that God wants for us. Knowing this will help us to recognize how thankful to God we must be. We didn’t deserve to be rescued from the death and destruction that sin causes, but God did it because of His love.
People don’t like to talk about sin these days because everyone wants to do exactly as they please. Philippians 2:13 (NLT) tells us, “For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.” The truth of why we are here on this earth is revealed in this verse. We are to please God. He is good all the time, and He wants us to have His goodness in our lives.
Sin comes from conforming to this world rather than conforming to what God says. He tells us in Romans 12:2 that we shouldn’t copy what we see the world doing, but that we should allow Him to transform us into the person He desires us to be. This happens by changing the way we think. If we change the way that we think, everything else about us will follow suit.
Sin is the death of a soul, and God is life. The actions of sin inhibit the Spirit from working in us to do the things that please God. These are the things that also help us to stay on the positive side of life. The Father doesn’t want us to have a life plagued by negativity. He’s rooting for our success and happiness all the time. When you sit back and think about this deeply, your heart will be filled with joy.
Jesus Christ is so passionate about us that he gave his life so that we would have the ability to fulfill our destinies within God’s Will and Plan. He came down to rescue us and to give us the ability to operate at the highest spiritual capacity that God desires. This should motivate us to continue reaching to be our best for God by fulfilling His call every day.
Colossians 1:26-27(NLT) tell us, “26 This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to God’s people. 27 For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory.” What a wonderful Lord and Savior we have. God cares deeply for us, and through Jesus Christ, He gave us a part of Himself. We have the Spirit of Christ living inside us, and this assures us that we belong to God and Christ belongs to us. This was God’s plan! And it was also the passion of Christ to see our relationship with God restored, so that we could be sons and daughters of God, and his brothers and sisters as well.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.