YOU SHALL NOT PERISH

TUESDAY 27 DECEMBER 2022

God is so much interested in the souls of all men, and He did something crucial about it. Let's find out more!

Reference: John 3:16 New International Version (NIV) "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

Let me be clear with this thought: Its impossible to perish if you receive Christ Jesus, the Son of the living God, and hearken to the voice of His Word. That is the only way to avoid "perishing." Mankind is designed to perish because of Adamic nature, but there is great joy in today's Scripture. You don't have to because God has done something about it by giving and sending His one and only Son to die for your sin.

Romans 5:8 (NASB) says, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." So, dear friends, it is for us to realise what God has done and make a firm decision to believe in Jesus, receive Him as Saviour and accept all He has accomplished for us on the cross. Although Christ is unseen, by faith we can accept the unseen which has come to us by the revelation of God's grace.

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart to preach the gospel of grace said this: "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek" (Romans 1:16 NIV). That is why he was so eager to preach the gospel both to the wise and the foolish. What is his message all about? It is the message of the cross, which entails the significance and purpose of Christ's crucifixion, death, burial and resurrection.

1 Corinthians 1:18 (KJV) says, "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." In other words, as the gospel message is preached, those who are in the way of perishing may remain stubborn, but to those whom God has chosen to be saved, the message will translate to their saving power.

Beloved, God made it so clear that whosoever believes in Christ shall not perish but have eternal life. This implies that if you don't have eternal life, you are bound to perish, but the good news is that God has revealed the mystery of eternal life in Christ Jesus. To that effect, John the Evangelist wrote, "And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life" (1 John 5:11-12 NKJV).

If eternal life is in His Son, Jesus Christ, then it means that the knowledge of the location has been made available to us. Therefore, even if you haven't received Christ yet, you don't have to perish. All you need to do is to pray the prayer of salvation below, and Christ Himself will swiftly become your Lord and make His abode with you forever. Shalom!

Scripture Reading - John 3:17-18; John 14:6; Acts 2:38; Romans 10:9-10; Acts 4:12.

Guided Prayer: I acknowledge today that God demonstrated His unconditional love for me in this: While living without Christ, He sent Him ahead of time to die for me. Therefore I renounce the nature of sin and I accept Jesus as my Saviour. I believe and confess with all my heart that Jesus is the Son of the true living God, who died for me and was raised from the dead on the third day by God. I affirm that Jesus is risen and He's alive forever. I accept Him into my heart and I declare His Lordship over my life forever. I'm now born again as a new creation. I have eternal life: my present-moment reality. Thank you Lord Jesus for saving me and taking full charge of my life, as my Lord. GLORY TO GOD!