I wonder if we ever thought that we are stewards of that wonderful gift of Salvation given to us by a God, who loves us with a love that is matchless and everlasting. When we contemplate the world He created and presented to us in its perfect form to use and enjoy to the fullest, we can’t but realize that we are special to Him. Even after sin, we are still enjoying it and through the promise of redemption, we hope to enjoy it in its perfect form again alongside our Redeemer. Why?
John 3:16 (NIV) tells us:
“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”
What kind of Love is this?
The magnitude of this sacrifice can be further contemplated when we read John 1: 1-3, 14 (NIV):
“In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; and without Him was not anything made that has been made.
V14 “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His Glory, the Glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
So, salvation has come to mankind, full and free. Nothing that we could do to obtain it. Not even the greatest of the angelic hosts could obtain it for us, but Jesus did.
But there is something about us when we get something free. We do not appreciate it as much as when we put our own resources into it. There are times when we see it in the attitudes toward our worship services and in our commitment to God. We sometimes wonder if we really understand and appreciate this gift of Salvation. I also wonder what God thinks of our love and appreciation when we are skimpy and choosy in the way we serve and worship him. Serving Him only when it is convenient and comfortable to us and for us!
Jesus invites us into His service. Matthew 16:24 states:
“Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.’”
What does this mean? While we are not trying to earn Salvation by works, we are simply showing our love and appreciation by committing our lives to Him which is all He asks of us, not as repayment, but in our devotion. We are His first by creation and again because He redeemed us by His blood from the penalty of sin, which is death (the second death),.
Let us not forget the conversation Jesus had with the rich young ruler (Mark 10:17-22). Obviously, this young man had done well for himself. Apparently, he was very accomplished for his age and he felt very satisfied with himself. He felt secure in his salvation. He felt that of all the things Jesus was saying he had been there and done that. So like some of us, he wanted to flaunt this to Jesus and underscore his righteousness to the multitude.
This man was willing to go through the motions of worship and service. He did not care to go beyond the formalities, neither willing to give up any of his comforts. When asked to go beyond these limits, he resisted. In fact, he rejected it. He did not understand the sacrifice that was to be made on his behalf through unselfish divine love. How about us? Do we truly understand what Christ has done for us?
When we contemplate all of this, we should exclaim in the words of Paul in 2 Corinthians 9:15:
“Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!”
In the book Desire of Ages Ellen G. White states:
“Love for God, zeal for His glory, and love for fallen humanity brought Jesus to earth to suffer and to die. This was the power that controlled His life. This is the principle He bids us to adopt.”
With such a gift at such a cost, what can we do? As good stewards, we can share with others, such as our friends, families, and neighbours, the wonderful gift of Salvation.
When we shall come to the end of Earth’s journey, and we are redeemed from our experiences here and we see the face of Jesus, will we hear the words, “Well done thou good and faithful servants!” from His lips, because we helped to retrieve our share of souls from the kingdom of the enemy to share in the joy of salvation?