Where do you Belong?

For every living soul belongs to me, the father as well as the son – both alike belong to me. (Ezekiel 18:4)

Did you know that you belong to Jesus? Yes! It does not matter where you live or have lived, or whether you are rich or poor. It does not matter if you are big or small, Black or White, Oriental or American Indian. It does not matter if you are a child or an adult, a man or a woman, single or married – You belong to Jesus!

Because God loves all people so much, he sent his Son to pay the price for sin… your sin, my sin, everyone’s sin. When Jesus died on the cross he declared us all forgiven! The prophet Isaiah tells us in chapter 1:18, Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.

Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection from the dead on Easter morning proclaims to us that we are his. It tells us that we will never die. Through his sacrifice he saved us from sin, death and the devil. Jesus has won heaven for us.

But in order for us to experience God’s gift of eternal life in heaven, we need to believe in Jesus as our only Savior from sin. This is where God gives us more good news. He inspired the apostle Paul to write; For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2: 8,9)

What beautiful words. They tell us that God not only saved us through Jesus, but also that he gives us the faith we need to believe in Jesus. God does it all for us! We are saved by grace alone through faith alone! We don’t have to do anything to receive God’s gift of salvation! As a matter of fact, we are unable to do anything. As humans we often get confused about this fact and think that we must actively accept Jesus into our hearts in order to be saved.

People have this misguided idea because our sinful nature tells us we can come to God. But God tells us in Ephesians 2:1; as for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins. We are born into this world physically alive, but spiritually dead. Just as a dead person is unable to do anything for himself, a dead spirit is also helpless and unable to come to God. Our sinful human nature keeps us from believing in Jesus on our own. We need God’s help.

So how do we come to believe in Jesus then? Where does faith in Jesus come from? Romans 10:17 tells us; Faith comes from hearing the message and the message is heard through the word of Christ. The “message” is the Gospel. The word “Gospel” means “Good News”. The Gospel is the good news that all people have been declared not guilty because of Jesus’ perfect life and innocent suffering and death. He lived a perfect life in our place. He took the punishment we deserved upon himself when he died on the cross, and he gave us his holiness. This is what we call “God’s Great Exchange”.

You and I don’t have to accept Jesus into our hearts; he is already there when we hear about him. Through the message of the Gospel, he creates faith in our hearts. Faith does not come from us. It comes from God. It is his gift to us. It attaches us to him and allows everything Jesus accomplished for us in his life, death and resurrection to become ours as well.

God loves you. He bought you back from sin, death, and the devil. He has made you his own precious child. He wants you to know that. He wants you to continue to grow in your knowledge of that “good news”. Our faith is like a green plant. It needs to be watered and nourished with God’s word on a regular basis or it will shrivel up and die.

My faith is precious to me. It’s what keeps me connected to Jesus. It is important that I take the time to read my Bible every day. It is important that I go to church and Bible class on Sunday morning. It is the reason I want my children and grandchildren to be baptized, and see that they go to church and Sunday school. I want them to be God’s precious children too. I want them to grow close to their Savior and know his unconditional love. I want them to experience the joy of having a personal relationship with him, and freedom from sin and the fear of death. Like me, I want them to hear the most wonderful news anyone can hear. YOU BELONG TO JESUS!!

By Kristeen - To God be the Glory!