Malachi 1:5, New King James Version

“Your eyes shall see, And you shall say, ‘The Lord is magnified beyond the border of Israel.’”

Have you even thought about what those who have believed in Jesus as their Lord and Savior have been saved from? I think that for many people, we tend to think about the things that we are going to receive from something and view that as the benefit of it. For instance, when we come to know Christ, we will experience peace that surpasses understanding even when our circumstances are hard. We will be united in relationship with our Father for all eternity. We will be in a place where there is no more pain and no more tears. But one of the most important parts is not what we will receive as a result of our relationship with Christ, but what it is that we won’t receive.

The Bible is clear, all have fallen short of the glory of God and have sinned. There is not one of us who has any right to receive anything. There is in fact only one thing that we have earned and deserve - to separate from our Creator. Not because He is mean or likes to punish those who disobey Him, but because we choose to be separated from Him and respect our choice. When we make Christ Lord, we will not experience this! The eternal consequence of sin and rebellion is gone! This is a miracle and one that will affect those who believe in Jesus for all eternity.

When we think about the eternal consequence of sin and the reality of that existence, I believe our reaction should be to first, ensure that we know Christ ourselves, and secondly, to let everyone around us know about the salvation that is available through Him. There is no one who we should not desire to know Jesus. It should be one of the biggest motivations that we have to spread the Good News of the gospel of Christ. In order to do this, I have two questions for us to think about today. The first is, are we truly grateful for the mercy and grace that the Lord has shown to us by making a way where there was no way? Do we genuinely care that there are others around us who currently do not know Christ and therefore are facing the consequences that will come as a result of it? It is very easy to answer these questions with a “church” answer of “yes, of course”. But the real issue to wrestle with is, does our life actually demonstrate that we truly believe it? If we truly believe it then the way we speak, act, and think will be different than the way the world does.

Today, let us be a light in this world. Let us be thankful for being saved from the consequences of sin. Let us be unafraid to share the Good News with those around us in hope that all who hear about what Jesus has done on the cross and in our lives might come to know Him in the same way.