LifeLink Devotional

Thursday, April 23, 2020

Until Jesus came, it is likely that the predominate view of God was that He was a harsh law-giver who demanded perfection and declared judgment on those who didn’t measure up. I think that is Satan’s biggest weapon against us today, even against those of us who believe in the Gospel of grace. There is a consistent temptation to believe that we must somehow measure up to God’s standards or we will be punished.

When God gave the law to Moses, His intention, according to Paul’s letter to the church in Galatia, was to show us that we can never measure up to the divine standard of holiness. When we finally admit that, and see ourselves as undeserving of anything from God, then Jesus brings life to us through grace. When Jesus appeared, He showed us the nature of God and the path to God, and both are the same – grace and truth.

John 1:14-18 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.”

In Jesus, the consequences of falling short of the demands of the law are fully covered by grace. In Jesus, we have received grace upon grace, which means that nothing we do or desire to do to earn the favor of God is ever considered by God to be of any value. We do not come to Christ for salvation by grace, but then keep ourselves saved by obedience. We are kept safe in Christ by grace alone.

Today is the day to quit trying so hard to please God. In Jesus, you are fully accepted by God, and qualified to be His son or daughter, with full rights to share in the inheritance of glory with Jesus.

In Jesus, we have seen God the way we must see Him to have a relationship with Him. He is the God of grace, in He revealed himself to us in His One and Only Son, Jesus, who is the fullness of God’s grace and truth. Repent of your wrong view of God as a harsh law-giver and judge. Receive the grace of God through belief in Jesus Christ, and you will be saved for all eternity. Quit trying so hard to measure up. Don’t trust in what you can do for God, but trust in what Jesus did for you to bring you to God based on His merit, not yours.

Pastor John