Gift of God

The clock on top of the Lamar Life Building has been recording time for well over sixty years or approximately one lifetime. The concept of time never ending is difficult to imagine. The gift of eternal life will never end!

As the previous meditation revealed, the first part of Romans 6:23 tells the extremely bad news of the condition of human beings at birth. However, the last part of Romans 6:23 is packed with great news for those redeemed by God’s grace. Gift, God, eternal life, Christ Jesus, and Lord are words that explain the bottom line of Christianity. God is the giver of the gift. By definition, gifts require nothing from the recipient but acceptance. The gift that God is giving is eternal life. This life of happiness, worship, bliss, peace, joy and love will never end. This eternal life is in Christ Jesus. He made it possible by his perfect life of obedience and his sacrificial atoning death. There is no other way to receive this gift but through him. Human beings can sincerely follow other religions and be extremely moral and good by human standards, but this will not result in eternal life. Believing, accepting, trusting, and submitting to the Lordship of Jesus Christ is being in Christ Jesus. This is a relationship of love that is initiated by God….We love because he first loved us (1 John 4:16). This process is not like applying for social security where you sign up and return to your normal life style. It is a gift from God in which God, the Holy Spirit, applies a new heart in the recipient and enables him to willingly come and trust in Christ Jesus…..I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36-26). The only thing that man brings to the table is the sin. God, through his word and the preaching of his word, quickens sinners with his power…. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18). As the old hymn so beautifully states, “There is power in the blood.” Praise God for this most amazing gift.