Jesus:To minister and give His life as a ransom for everyone (Part a)

⁵¹ And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem,
⁵² And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him.
⁵³ And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem.
⁵⁴ And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?
⁵⁵ But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.
⁵⁶ For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.~Luke 9:51-56

• This passage is so beautiful.A clear contrast exists between Christ and his disciples (before their conversion).They had this condemnatory nature of dealing with those whom they deemed as disrespecting Christ (more like 'us' at times).
• They were also genuine in this:they believed it was their place to protect Christ and make sure He received the respect that He deserves but unfortunately that's not who Christ is.
• Christ does not possess highmindedness.Even when wronged,mocked,He never reacted in pride.Instead,He'd keep quiet or show love instead.
•  Christ sympathises with the wrongdoer nor does He treat us like we deserve.Just a thought on this point:when we reject Christ's gift of free salvation,then we want to carry upon ourselves the penalty of sin.
•  Christ knew that Judas would betray Him yet He never showed partiality.He even called Him friend--never accused Him.
• Even when he dealt with the enemy of souls(Satan),He never hurled out insults;instead He said "The Lord rebuked thee".

That is who Christ is : redemptive and meek--love

After the incident,the disciples' egos were bruised on behalf of their Master (Jesus),they ask: "should we call out fire to consume them?" .Jesus instead of looking out for His own benefit,rebukes them saying: The Son of man came not to destroy men's lives,but to save them. It was for this purpose that Jesus became flesh:"But we see Jesus,who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death,crowned with glory and honor;that he should by the grace of God should taste death for every man" (Hebrews 2:9).Christ voluntarily took our place so that He may break the bonds of sin that threatened to destroy mankind and lead to eternal death.He was willing to suffer shame,to be rejected,to be mocked,and even killed so that He may "bring many sons unto glory" (Hebrews 2:10).

"And he made his grave with the wicked,and with the rich in his death;because he has done no violence,neither was any deceit in his mouth."-Isaiah 53:9

"It is no part of Christ's mission to compel men to receive Him. It is Satan, and men actuated by his spirit, who seek to compel the conscience. Under a pretense of zeal for righteousness, men who are confederated with evil angels sometimes bring suffering upon their fellow men in order to convert them to their ideas of religion; but Christ is ever showing mercy, ever seeking to win by the revealing of His love. He can admit no rival in the soul, nor accept of partial service; but He desires only voluntary service, the willing surrender of the heart under the constraint of love."-Acts of the Apostles,p.541

Christ,although no longer on earth,continues to work for the salvation of mankind;with long-suffering towards us He continues to knock that each may be saved (2 Peter 3:15).He continues His work as man's Saviour and this salvation is available to all that will receive Him (John 1:12;Romans 8:34)

" Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me."-Revelation 3:20

"⁶ Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:
⁷ Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon."-Isaiah 55:6-7
 

MISCARRIAGE

It must be the most painful experience one can ever experience in this lifetime (among others).I can imagine a wife excited that she is going to be a mother.I can almost see her beginning to plan ahead:how she's going to be a good mother,how she's going to give her child all she ever dreamed of.I can imagine her bracing herself for sleepless nights.I can imagine her smiling at every baby she sees.And as time goes,so does excitement and preparations.And when she finally expects to hold her precious child for the first time,she's confronted by the sad reality that she will never hold this first baby of hers,that she will never breastfeed her and she ever live to remember the painful experience because she has had a miscarriage..Although she might have other children,her mind will ever wonder.Almost a mother,but NOT to this particular child,for death made it impossible.

I'm sure it will be a similar experience when we don't make it to heaven.I can imagine all that God has gone through,just to make sure we make it to heaven.I can imagine all the opportunities he has made available to make sure we make it:strength to resist even sin and enabling power to have a character like Christ's.I can imagine the new heavens created and a new earth and the feast prepared for every soul.But sadly,by our doing,we don't make it.The scars in Jesus' hands will ever remind him that we should have been there and our names on his palms?Almost saved,but not saved.Almost our eternal father,but we chose not to let him.

Isn't it sad?God doing all that he can to give us victory over sin,so that we may be able enter into heaven,where nothing defiled enters.

Friends,let us soldier on.Let us consecrate ourselves entirely to God and do our part to ensure that we are not almost saved.God has emptied heaven.The Godhead is involved in ensuring that we receive the gift of eternal life and so are the angels.Let us not disappoint our heavenly father,who longingly and desires to spend eternity with us-as his children,free from sin and to eternal joy.

May we be part of the good fruit that will be harvested.May we be among those who will joyfully exclaim,"Lo,this is our God;we have waited for him,and he will save us:this is the Lord;we have waited for him,we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation "(Isaiah 25:9).

"Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith  Christ hath made us free,and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage"-Galatians 5:1

"Work out your salvation with fear and trembling"(Philippians 2:12)