Jesus died for ALL
Daily Scripture
Romans 1:5, 11:32, 2 Corinthians 5:14-15
Romans 1
5 Through him we have received God’s grace and our appointment to be apostles. This was to bring all Gentiles to faithful obedience for his name’s sake.
Roman 11
32 God has locked up all people in disobedience, in order to have mercy on all of them.
2 Corinthians 5
14 The love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: one died for the sake of all; therefore, all died. 15 He died for the sake of all so that those who are alive should live not for themselves but for the one who died for them and was raised.
Daily Reflection & Prayer
In Acts 16:30, a scared Roman jailer asked the apostle Paul an age-old question: “What must I do to be rescued (or saved)?” All of Paul’s letters gave the same answer about salvation he gave the jailer: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.” Some Christians hold a different view. Based mainly on Romans 8:29-30 and Ephesians 1:4-5 they say God already settled every person’s final destiny. If Paul believed that, he and his letters should have said, “You have no choice—God’s already decided if you’re saved or lost.”
- Paul (and the whole Bible) made it clear that we all fall short, (“locked up” in disobedience—Romans 11:32). But Paul was just as clear in today’s text (2 Corinthians 5:14) that “one died for the sake of all” (not just some). God did not arbitrarily “predetermine” who would be saved or condemned. Jesus came to offer us ALL (including you) salvation. No matter how you’ve fallen short, God loves you. How does God’s saving love for you and those you care about shape the way you feel about yourself?
- Jews and Gentiles had widely opposing worldviews (like today’s Democrat vs. Republican landscape). If God wanted to save only some people, most Jews believed it would be “us,” not “them.” Romans 1:5 instantly made it clear that God loved Gentiles just as much as Jews. How does God’s desire for ALL people to choose his loving salvation guide how you navigate your disagreements with “others”? How could you be more loving toward those you don’t understand or agree with?
Prayer
Loving God, thank you for loving ALL people, not just me and my people. Thank you for answering my biggest questions with your love. Help me to embrace your love and trust that it is the ultimate answer to anything I may face. Amen.
GPS Insights
Melanie Hill
Melanie Hill serves as the Director of Operations and Community Life at Resurrection's West location. She originally blessed our Insights readers with this post in 2017.
We live in a “fix it” culture. We’re told over and over that we can fix it, whatever the problem may be. Lose that extra weight. Buy the latest device–it will simplify your life. Try this app–you will find your soul mate. We are constantly reminded of what needs fixing in our lives, often to the point that we even start to nit pick at areas of our lives that are just fine. And it’s not just in advertising, which understandably has a vested interest in making us feel like we need more stuff. It comes in the inspirational quotes that are meant to be helpful but often leave us wondering again how we can fix whatever IT is. These are plastered all over my Facebook page from friends who no doubt mean well. One showed up the other day that said, “Try a little harder to be a little better” or “You only fail when you stop trying.” No pressure!
While I absolutely believe that none of us are perfect, and that working to better ourselves is always a good idea, I also believe that the true gift of becoming a new creation is the miracle that God accepts us–all of us–right where we are. And that is what’s hard about grace. It means that not only does God accept me just as I am, but I have to do the terribly hard work of accepting me too. I can’t be a new creation if I am clinging to the old titles that defined me. I have to let go of phrases like “not good enough,” “not successful enough,” “not pretty enough,” “not thin enough,” not_______–fill in the blank. Being a new creation means that I start to see myself through the eyes of my heavenly Father, not as a project to fix, but radically accepted just as I am. Only then can the true creative process of becoming start to take place in my life. And I desperately need the Creator to create in me.
What old ideas, thoughts, or lenses are stopping you from fully accepting that you are indeed a new creation? How can you start to see yourself the way God sees you? Make no mistake–I’m not saying this is easy. It is in fact counter cultural to our society. For me, it means that whenever that sneaky, destructive voice starts to speak in my head that I’m not enough, I have to counter it with “Yes, I am. My Abba, my heavenly father, told me so.” My prayer for you today is that you would see yourself as your heavenly Father, your Abba, sees you–as a new creation.
You are not a project. Whoever you are, wherever you have been, Jesus died for you. You are included in God’s family, if you choose to be. You are the Creators workmanship.
