BE AN EXAMPLE

1 Timothy 1:15 New Living Translation

“This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: ‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners’—and I am the worst of them all.”

       Why did Jesus come into this world?  Did he come to show us how to live better lives and be better people?  No, but that should be the result of the true reason he came.  Romans 3:23 tells us that all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.  ‘All’ by definition eliminates the option of it being ‘some’ or ‘a few’. The word ‘all’ means “the total number” of something.  It’s “entire quantity”.  So ‘all’ means every last one.  It isn’t referring to animals that have no soul or anything in creation other than man.  Jesus, the Christ, came to save the souls of men. 

       Why does man need saving? Picture, if you will, Peter attempting to walk on the water in Matthew 14:22-33.  The unregenerate soul is exactly like Peter when he begins to sink. Peter was overwhelmed by the surrounding circumstances and in a split seconds time lost his focus and with that all faith and hope.  Those outside the family of God are focused on all the wrong things and therefore have no eternal hope.  They live in sin yet live in denial of that sin.  As with Peter, Christ’s hand is extended, but man rejects the hand, believing they can save themselves. In fact, if they choose not to believe in God, they don’t even see the hand. 

       Those that choose to belief in God and as a result, his Son Jesus, have accepted the extended hand and have been brought into the vessel of safety.  However, like those who laughed at Noah when he was building the Ark, those who choose to live life by their own rules will be like those who rushed the door of the Ark for safety once the rains came and the flood waters rose on the last day.  We live in perilous times.  Now more than ever believers must live like Christ and not embrace the world.  Focus on Christ and live to please God and not man, for the human race is on a major decline.  There is no hope aside from hope in God.  Be a shining example of his love, mercy and grace each day.  Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing!

Resources:  (1) American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved. (2) The Life Application Study Bible; published by Tyndale House.