GOD DID IT FOR MANKIND

TUESDAY 19 APRIL 202

To varying degrees, God has given us precious gifts that grant us enormous or overwhelming blessings as we receive them. For instance, the blessing of salvation comes to us as we accept the gift of God's unconditional love, which is Christ Jesus. This is the best gift God gave to all and sundry, regardless of age, background, race, tribe, nationality, skin colour, height, stature and any human disparity you can think of.

Reference: John 3:16 New Living Translation (NLT) "For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life."

Its simple, God fell in love with the world of human He created and for this reason, He gave His one and only Son. Anyone born into this same world, who recognises the gift and acknowledges Him with their belief system, will be eternised. The gift is so extraordinarily wonderful because eternity is involved in the offer, meaning that God is so longing and racing to reach out to man in order to engage him in an ageless commitment.

This perfect gift from God is designed for everyone born into this world – although, sad to say, not everyone will eventually receive Him because the above Scripture declares that the gift is specially meant for everyone who believes in Him. Now watch this: Understand that this very gift, Christ Jesus, is for the whole world. If any man receives the gift, they will automatically graduate from being heirs of the world to being heirs of God's Kingdom. They are no longer the same with the world because they've been born again; hence their origin is above and divine. The Bible says, "Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit" (John 3:6 NIV). And everyone born of the Spirit is a new creation according to 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV).

Now watch this: Although the whole world is called to receive the best gift, Christ, the next gift (The Holy Spirit) is not for everyone. For instance, John 14:17 reads, "He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn't looking for him and doesn't recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you" (NLT).

But every Christian who has believed in Christ is enabled to receive God's perfect gift of grace, who is the Holy Spirit, for their ever-present help. In another way, the Holy Spirit is given by God to everyone in Christ and by Him we have unbounded access to everything freely given to us in Christ, which the world cannot receive. 1 Corinthians 2:12 (NKJV) reads, "Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God."

Now what are those things freely given to us? Firstly, we have received the wisdom of God because according to 1 Corinthians 1:30 (NIV), Christ Jesus has become for us wisdom from God - that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. More so, the Spirit of God empowers us to function according to this wisdom in Christ and to gain access to every good and perfect blessing of salvation from God.

For instance, 1 Corinthians 2:7-10 reads, 'But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him." But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.'

How do we possess what God has prepared for us - both earthly and heavenly blessings? The answer is found in Acts 20:32 (ESV), which reads, "And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified."

By digesting today's article, I believe that you've grasped the difference between the gift God gave to the whole world, and the treasures God gave or bequeathed to the saints (those who are already in Christ). God's gifts are not the same for everyone. They vary, depending on our stand with Him. However the focus of God's love and entire plan for mankind is Jesus Christ, and His all-encompassing purpose for us has been consummated and accomplished through His life, death, and resurrection. Shalom!

Scripture Reading - Matthew 7:11; Romans 6:23; Mark 16:15-16; Romans 5:8; Titus 1:2-3; Romans 10:9-10.

Guided Prayer: Heavenly Father, I love you today and always, and I gracefully appreciate the significance of your love, which you've shown to mankind through the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus. I'm exquisitely thankful for your faithful consideration which suggests the conclusion that, while the world is in its state of sin and hopelessness, Christ came to die for all, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. By letting this truth permeate the stream of my consciousness and by upholding Christ as Lord, I seize the faith position to strategically possess all that God has prepared for me by His Spirit, in Jesus Name, Amen!