Accept Me Because of Jesus
Dear Champions,
The short excerpt is by Tim Keller, and the Scripture is in the excerpt.
Jesus is a shepherd, and He's bringing you home. In John chapter 10, Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd. The hired hand when he sees the wolf coming; he abandons the sheep and runs away, but I lay down my life for the sheep". Jesus is the only shepherd who became a sacrificial lamb. He says, "I have done everything for you. I lost my glory, I lost my Father, and I lost my life. I lost everything, so that I wouldn't lose you." Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world!
Salvation of the world had to come into the world in weakness and through defeat. It's the opposite of the way that you receive any other kind of salvation that any philosophy of any other religion offers. Every other philosophy and religion says, "Here's how to relate to God: Pull yourself together and be strong and then say, "God, accept me because of what I've done." But the gospel is to admit that you are not together, and to admit that you are weak. It is to say, "God, you're going to have to relate to me because of what Jesus has done."
The gospel saves people, not who are strong, but those who will admit that they are sinners and that they are weak. Religion says, "I give God a record of righteousness, and then God owes me blessing." But the gospel says, "God through Jesus Christ has given me a perfect record of righteousness which I receive by faith, and now I live for him." The gospel message is that you are more sinful and evil and weak than you ever dared believe, but you are more valued and accepted and loved than you ever dared hope. John 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." I didn't come to show you how to live the perfect life and then die, I lived the life you should have lived, I died the death that you should have died, I am the way! Come ask for me, come grab me, come rest in me, reach out and say, 'Father, love me and accept me because of what Jesus did,' and you're there.
Champions, have a great week!-David Vining
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