Devotion - June 2, 2014 Daily devotion from John 17:3. See series: Devotions DEVOTION - JUNE 2, 2014 “Now this is eternal life that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” John 17:3 Death and Life Ever since God passed judgment on the first sin in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3), people have tried to avoid it. Still, generation after generation the judgment stands… You will die. As a result, death has reigned throughout time and over all people. As a further result, people have tried to ignore it, escape it, or minimize it. Regardless of what people try to do, death continues to hold its sway. So how can I escape the sentence and control death holds over me? The answer is provided by Jesus. As he faced his own death on the cross, he offered the assurance of life. When Jesus says, This is eternal life, he captures my undivided attention. Eternal life, Jesus said, is received through knowledge, but not just any knowledge. It is the knowledge about what the only true God has done for all people through his Son, Jesus Christ. God the Father loved the people of the world. His dearest desire was to rescue them from the just sentence of death. This is why he sent Jesus to overcome deaths power and destroy its tyrannical hold. To accomplish what God the Father desired, Jesus himself had to die. Because he gave up his life—willingly and obediently—death has been defeated. It is this specific knowledge of God the Father and the work of his Son which gives eternal life. It is a knowledge I desperately need to release me from the fear of death and the power of its threats. This is why I go to the place where God has recorded what I need to know, namely the Bible. Through his holy, precious, and unchanging Word, I always learn more about the undeserved love God has for me, as well as the faithfulness and obedience of Jesus who became my Substitute under the sentence of death. Through the knowledge of the only true God and his Son, Jesus Christ, I know I am free from death and from its terrifying threats against me. I also know I am free to live to the glory and praise of this loving God who has assured me that death is swallowed up in victory and I have eternal life. Prayer: O gracious Lord and Triune God, I rejoice to hear and learn your precious Word. It is through that Word where I receive the knowledge of you my heavenly Father, Jesus Christ my Savior, and the gift of eternal life. Comfort me through your precious Word, and cause me to rejoice in the knowledge of eternal life. Amen. Todays Devotion is brought to you by WELS and WhatAboutJesus Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.
Posted on: Mon, 02 Jun 2014 11:00:08 +0000
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