Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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Salvation, the Gift of God
Revelation 7: 9-17 
“And they cried out in a loud voice: ‘Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”
John is worshipping on the island of Patmos and finds himself suddenly in the midst of what appears to be the end of times.  He is seeing truly awesome and frightful sights, beginning with a sealed scroll that, at first, no one appears worthy to open.  A slain Lamb appears and opening the seals only unleashes more fearful events, including the infamous Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.  But before the seventh seal is opened, a hopeful sight presents.  It is the great multitude of those come out of the great tribulation - the ones whose robes were made white in the blood of the Lamb.
Our world is full of many different religions; even Christianity itself has been divided into so many different sects, each claiming that they are the ones in the right.  It becomes easy to doubt and wonder: are we on the “winning” side?  In fact, is anyone in the right?  Who will actually be saved?  John saw a multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language.  How petty our squabbles about whether the Sabbath is on Saturday or Sunday or whether priests can marry or not becomes apparent.  The saved ones proclaim that salvation belongs to God and the Lamb.  This salvation is given freely to those who accept Christ as their Saviour.  It’s as simple as that.
The gift is given freely but that doesn’t mean it is free.  It comes to us at the cost of the blood of Jesus Christ.  That is a cost that we cannot pay back or even attempt to pay back.  We cannot make repayments on this gift in the form of good deeds or regular Sunday attendances.  It’s simply unrepayable.  And that is the perfect nature of God and his gift to us.  Let us rejoice in this truth and have His gift fill us with joy each and every day.  Smile and know that one day, you too will be in the great multitude that no one can count, crying out, “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”
Prayer: “Heavenly Father, you are good and full of love.  You’ve given us the gift of your Son, Jesus Christ, and we thank you.  We know that we cannot earn our way into heaven but you gladly open the doors when we believe in Jesus as our Savior.  We look forward to spending eternity in your presence.  Amen.” 
Thought for the day: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”
Dr. Jerel Chacko, Epiphany MTC, NY


Theme of the Week: Salvation: the gift of God

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