Christ came down to death to bring us to life

 

Freedom in Christ (Mark 2:1-12)

Rev Noddy Sharma

I have not posted about the sermon on Sunday because I have been thinking about it and trying to figure some things out. The takeaway for me is that we don't deserve anything from God. The best thing that we have received from God is the gift of salvation through Jesus's death on the cross. That is indeed the ultimate gift and the only thing that matters. 

The speaker then said God does not owe us anything. We are the ones that are indebted to his act of love on the cross. 

I do agree with him. We cannot be conceited and live our lives as if God should and must answer our prayers because we have done for much for him. Not at all. We serve him because we love him, because he is the meaning and purpose of our lives, because he has bought us with the price of his blood. That's why we serve him and that's why we belong to him. 

But God did promise us an abundant life. I have heard a lot of people say that God has given us an abundant life and we need to live a life in abundance but do they know what it actually refers to?

This "abundant life" is only found in John 10:10, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." 

D.A. Carson says in his commentary that, "This is a proverbial way of insisting that there is only one means of receiving eternal life." Indeed, further on in John 14:6, "Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

An abundant life does not mean that we will be prosperous and rich and filled in the material sense. But in context of the verse, we have an abundant life in Christ because life will be eternal and because we have God in it, we have Jesus and all his goodness in our lives. Now, that's abundance. 

I know this is quite basic when it comes to Christian living but with the spread of prosperity Gospel and liberal theology, we need to always remind ourselves that Jesus is all who matters. 

We don't deserve anything at all but God in his great mercy and love has given us life through Christ. We can never have life because we are headed down to death. All that we are reek of death. Christ has to come down to death and bring us with him to life. 

pearlie