Jesus is our Rescuer.
I bought The Jesus Storybook Bible for my kiddos this past year, and as Caiti and I were reading it this afternoon I was just blown away by the truth revealed to me. Although I've read it over and over again with them, I didn't "get" this until today. As adults, we so often overdo everything, including our faith. We get so caught up in debates and apologetics (which is so good and necessary in light of this:) that we oftentimes forget the simple truth of the gospel.
We're messed up, we need Jesus, He chose to love us, and He is coming to rescue us.
It's beautiful. In this is the childlike faith in Jesus that we ought to aspire to have. It's the faith without doubting that James talks about. It's the simple faith of knowing and believing Jesus is who He says He is, He has done what He said He would, and He will do what He's told us He will do. It's trusting in His name despite what everything and everyone is saying around us. Following is an excerpt in the kids' Bible:
"There are lots of stories in the Bible, but all the stories are telling one Big Story. The Story of how God loves His children and comes to rescue them. Even though He knew He would suffer, God had a plan - a magnificent dream. One day, He would get His children back. One day, He would make the world their perfect home again. And one day, He would wipe away ever tear from their eyes. You see, no matter what, in spite of everything, God would love His children - with a Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love."
Do we really understand the weight of this? How beautiful it is? Even as I type this I'm crying. We exert SO much energy towards things of this world that WILL FAIL US. They're temporary and they'll vanish. Even the good things Jesus gives us - they fail us. They weren't created for us to worship, but were created as an outlet to worship our King. We pour out our hearts, give our bodies, lose our souls to this world- for what? For nothing. We are a broken, fractured world and we need Jesus. Every last one of us need Jesus, the "religious" and the "too far gone." We all need Jesus, and outside of Him, we are ALL too far gone. There is nothing in any of us that has made it possible for us to be forgiven, to experience grace, to understand love, to be rescued.
Yet...
He loves us. He loves us with a Never Stopping love. It doesn't end. We throw our love out to friendships, relationships, money, materials, working out, external beauty, talents...but what happens? It ends. It eventually ends and we're left with nothing. But Jesus? His love? It's Never Stopping. It's forever. NOTHING CAN SEPARATE US FROM HIS LOVE! Romans 8:3-39.
He loves us. He loves us with a Never Giving Up love. It doesn't falter or fade. Earthly relationships? They do give up on you! You fail and you make mistakes too, and because of our brokenness and our sinfulness, we want to give up. We do give up. Even thinking of giving up is giving up! Jesus doesn't even THINK about giving up. His love for you has NO bounds. No limits. It never wavers or shakes. It is unshakable and unchangeable. It never ends. In spite of everything you are He adores you. He died and bled for you.
He loves us. He loves us with an Unbreaking love. His covenant with us is eternal and forever. The Holy Spirit sealed the deal and Jesus' blood paid our ransom so that we are forever, eternally, united with Him. It will never be broken. Ever. Ever ever ever ever. THAT is the love we have. It's incredible. It's incomprehensible!
He loves us. He loves us with an Always and Forever love. He is our Alpha and Omega, our beginning and end. He is our Husband. Our Great High Priest. Our Savior. He is our Redeemer. Our Atonement. Our Ransom. He is our Forgiver. Our Grace Giver. Our King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is our Messiah. Our great God and King. Our Justifier. Our Rescuer.
You're a mess. We all are.
You need Jesus. We all do.
Jesus loves you. He has chosen and adopted His sons and daughters. He died and rose again for you. HE LOVES YOU.
Jesus is coming to rescue us.
"He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." Revelation 21:4
"No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His servants will worship Him. They will see His face (AWESOME!!), and His name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever." Revelation 22:3-5
"He who testifies to these things says, 'Surely, I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!" Revelation 22:20
We're messed up, we need Jesus, He chose to love us, and He is coming to rescue us.
It's beautiful. In this is the childlike faith in Jesus that we ought to aspire to have. It's the faith without doubting that James talks about. It's the simple faith of knowing and believing Jesus is who He says He is, He has done what He said He would, and He will do what He's told us He will do. It's trusting in His name despite what everything and everyone is saying around us. Following is an excerpt in the kids' Bible:
"There are lots of stories in the Bible, but all the stories are telling one Big Story. The Story of how God loves His children and comes to rescue them. Even though He knew He would suffer, God had a plan - a magnificent dream. One day, He would get His children back. One day, He would make the world their perfect home again. And one day, He would wipe away ever tear from their eyes. You see, no matter what, in spite of everything, God would love His children - with a Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love."
Do we really understand the weight of this? How beautiful it is? Even as I type this I'm crying. We exert SO much energy towards things of this world that WILL FAIL US. They're temporary and they'll vanish. Even the good things Jesus gives us - they fail us. They weren't created for us to worship, but were created as an outlet to worship our King. We pour out our hearts, give our bodies, lose our souls to this world- for what? For nothing. We are a broken, fractured world and we need Jesus. Every last one of us need Jesus, the "religious" and the "too far gone." We all need Jesus, and outside of Him, we are ALL too far gone. There is nothing in any of us that has made it possible for us to be forgiven, to experience grace, to understand love, to be rescued.
Yet...
He loves us. He loves us with a Never Stopping love. It doesn't end. We throw our love out to friendships, relationships, money, materials, working out, external beauty, talents...but what happens? It ends. It eventually ends and we're left with nothing. But Jesus? His love? It's Never Stopping. It's forever. NOTHING CAN SEPARATE US FROM HIS LOVE! Romans 8:3-39.
He loves us. He loves us with a Never Giving Up love. It doesn't falter or fade. Earthly relationships? They do give up on you! You fail and you make mistakes too, and because of our brokenness and our sinfulness, we want to give up. We do give up. Even thinking of giving up is giving up! Jesus doesn't even THINK about giving up. His love for you has NO bounds. No limits. It never wavers or shakes. It is unshakable and unchangeable. It never ends. In spite of everything you are He adores you. He died and bled for you.
He loves us. He loves us with an Unbreaking love. His covenant with us is eternal and forever. The Holy Spirit sealed the deal and Jesus' blood paid our ransom so that we are forever, eternally, united with Him. It will never be broken. Ever. Ever ever ever ever. THAT is the love we have. It's incredible. It's incomprehensible!
He loves us. He loves us with an Always and Forever love. He is our Alpha and Omega, our beginning and end. He is our Husband. Our Great High Priest. Our Savior. He is our Redeemer. Our Atonement. Our Ransom. He is our Forgiver. Our Grace Giver. Our King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is our Messiah. Our great God and King. Our Justifier. Our Rescuer.
You're a mess. We all are.
You need Jesus. We all do.
Jesus loves you. He has chosen and adopted His sons and daughters. He died and rose again for you. HE LOVES YOU.
Jesus is coming to rescue us.
"He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." Revelation 21:4
"No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His servants will worship Him. They will see His face (AWESOME!!), and His name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever." Revelation 22:3-5
"He who testifies to these things says, 'Surely, I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!" Revelation 22:20
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