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The Gift That Keeps on Giving!

The Bible promises all Christians:

“⁸ God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. ⁹ Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. ¹⁰ For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” Ephesians 2:8-10

A wonderful fact about this gift is it keeps on giving, year after year and continues even after time, as we know it, has ceased to exist!

As Christians, we have been created anew in Christ Jesus, in 2 Corinthians 5:17-19 it is revealed:

“¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! ¹⁸ All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹ that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.”

The Bible goes on to explain, in Galatians 2:20, the lives we live as Christians are not ours, they belong to Jesus Christ!

” ²⁰ My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

It is vitally important to be sure our world view is based on these facts; their reality should shape all we think and do! We must be ever mindful we are to live by faith and not by sight!

⁷ For we live by believing and not by seeing. 2 Corinthians 5:7

The New Testament devotes a great deal of its message to providing instructions on what we should do and how we should do it. God has given us extraordinary blessings which are ours as his children; it is up to us to claim those blessings and let them work through us “so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”

Fulfilling God’s Purpose for Our Lives

I rejoice in the thought that I am a very small part of God’s creation; I further rejoice in the thought that my very existence is dependent upon a deliberate act of God, from moment to moment, which permits my existence to continue!

I recognize that the Triune God is the only true reality and all else is nothing more than his creation which exists at his good pleasure! I have written more on this in the essay, “What is Reality?”

In light of these facts, I am totally amazed that he has selected certain individuals to serve as his representatives to his creation, given them a place in his family, and sent the Third Person of the Trinity to indwell them now and forever.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll seek to explore the numerous gifts our gracious creator wants his representatives to enjoy. I encourage you to participate in this journey of praise and rejoicing with the sincere expectation that you too will fully share in these gifts our creator has made available to you!

Next, Do I Believe God’s gift of peace.