Though You Have Not Seen Him,

You Love Him

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

1 Peter 1:3-9

There are unbelievable offers made every day that flood our mail and email boxes. And all of them are fraudulent. We are all vulnerable to fantastic offers to scams that in reality pay off with nothing but trouble. We are offered false hope that ends in dashed dreams.

There is one offer we need to take advantage of. It is genuine. It is the offer God makes to us – salvation through faith in Jesus’ finished work on the cross. If we believe in Jesus, we are saved. It is an offer that cost Jesus dearly, and we get the benefits. By saying yes to salvation, we can have hope, peace, forgiveness, incomparable riches, and redemption. This is the real deal, Jesus’ death and resurrection guarantees it.

Our salvation was infinitely costly to God, but it is absolutely free to us.

Our Daily Bread – April 30, 2013