Some things require black and white thinking. Here are a few: good and evil, heaven and hell, God and Satan, love and hate, forgiveness and unforgiveness, and this one: Salvation or damnation.
Today I want to focus on Salvation vs damnation. If you are “saved” by the blood of Jesus. Meaning, you have put your trust in His death and resurrection, meaning you have died with Christ, and now have been raised to new life with Christ. In other words, you are no longer living to gratify your sinful nature (because you crucified it) and instead, are living to please God (through the power of the living Christ, by the Holy Spirit inside you). Of course, I am not saying you are “perfect” nor am I. That is not what it is about. But, if you claim these things as belonging to you, then you have eternal life! This, being born again to eternal life through Christ, automatically makes you different from the world. It means you are set-apart as Holy to God. It means you belong to Him!! Is that not exciting news! To belong to God, to be His, to be His own, His responsibility, to be under His covering, to be seen and known by Him. This is extremely exciting news for sure!
Therefore, the consequence of this exciting news of your salvation through Christ means you have the privilege to actually walk with God, just like Jesus did with His Father, intimately, and continually, all the time! That is incredibly good news! You see, you are your Father’s child, and you are in your Father’s House/Kingdom. Therefore, you are under your Father’s roof and are taken care of by Him “FULLY”, if you will allow Him to take FULL responsibility for your well-being. You are still under His roof and care even if you choose to not allow Him to care for you fully. But you must fully trust that He is good enough to fully care for your well-being while you dwell in His House if you want His blessings. See, you can tell Him you believe you are smarter, more intelligent, and wiser than Him now that you’re all “grown up.” And you can go and attempt to care for yourself while under His roof. You can insist that you earn your own keep, and take care of your own health, and your own food, and your own clothing, and pay rent while in His house, and just go about your business without ever having to rely on your Dad, since you’re all grown up now and wiser than Him, right? Tell me, did your Father raise you to leave the Kingdom? Did He say, “now that you’re a mature Christian you need to go out on your own and take care of things, being “more responsible”? NO NO NO, He never did say any of those things. You see, the way the “world” and America raises its children are to send them out on their own, to kick them out of the nest, as they grow up. Now, I am not saying that is wrong in any way! But the child of God never grows to be on their own. Actually, as the child of God grows, they end up realizing how dependent they are on their Father and enjoy the security of being under His roof. Why? Because they come to realize they are not so wise after all and that the only secure safe place to remain is “in the Fathers house” and under His provision and protection (from the enemy).
The gift of Salvation means you get to dwell with your Father, in the Kingdom, walking next to Jesus, hand in hand, in peace and security…WITHOUT CONCERN for your well-being. But many children of the King are acting like peasants outside of the Kingdom! And like one’s who are responsible for taking care of themselves, instead of acting like trusting children who rely on their good and gracious Father to care for them!
But the key to living the way the Father desires for His children to live is, “by faith” and not by sight. It all begins with an ETERNAL PERSPECTIVE. So, since you are not an orphan and awaiting damnation, as mentioned at the beginning, the contrast between Salvation and damnation, but you are a beloved child of your Father…begin living like it! And since you know the blessing of salvation, make sure you are offering this free gift to the orphans who know not a Father like yours. Now watch this video below from Rabbi Schneider on “eternal perspective” and you will be encouraged!
Aletheia: Truth in the Darkness 