Malachi 3:6; John 1:14, 16-17
The Lord, through Malachi, the last prophet of the Old Testament said, "I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed." This was God's promise to His chosen people, Israel.And in the New Testament, God came in the person of Jesus Christ, went to the Cross, was buried, went to hell took its keys and rose again- Revelation 1:18; Isaiah 42:8. When He came as the unchanging One in the flesh, He brought Grace to humanity. This Grace in itself is 'unchanging.'Everything on the earth changes; man, the world's systems, climate, weather, and conditions of humanity, and so on. But despite all these, the covenant sons of Jacob will not be consumed. Others may be consumed, but not the sons of Jacob, because they have the Lord who is unchanging. The Lord brought grace and truth which brings about redemption, salvation, forgiveness and life eternal. This unchanging Graceis Jesus. If you accept Him, He will give you life and peace eternal. It is only through the grace of God that the filthiest and vilest sinner can be saved; His Blood shed on the Cross can cleanse anyone of his sinfulness. This grace has been establishedbefore the foundations of the world. We can onlymake Heaven through the Grace of Jesus Christ.Through Him, sins are cleansed and forgiven:whosoever accepts His Grace will be forgiven allhis sins-John 15:3. Every liar is still dead in sin,every gambler is dead in sin, every sinner is dead insin, every evildoer is dead in sin. What can washaway this deadly nature? The Blood of Jesus. Andit can wash/take away whatever sin and bondage ofany kind- Colossians 1:13-14; Matthew 4:12-13,23-25.
There is an opportunity for the unsaved to receivethe grace of Jesus, because this grace is abundantfor all. Grace brings us into God's divine family.Only by new birth are we born again again- Ephesians 1:8-10. How can one receive this grace?It is free. It is a gift from God-Ephesians 2:4-10.Being born-again is a necessity to seeing God, andeven entering His Kingdom. Only after one is trulyborn-again and converted, can he live a life of trueholiness. Any holiness without root from a born-again experience is fake. There are many who arenaturally kind, thoughtful, helpful and nice; but nomatter how good and religious you are, you cannotenter Heaven. You cannot enter Heaven by merelyjoining a Church. You cannot enter Heaven withoutbeing born into God's family. To enter God's familyyou must be born again by spiritual birth. Just as noone can just walk into a family house and claim tobe a child of that family without being born there,or adopted into the household, so also no one can be a member of God's family because he is good orhardworking or nice; he can only be a member bybirth or adoption. You can't get into God's familyby being good or by working for it, but by simply'believing in Jesus.' How can we become part ofGod's family? Through believing in God, His Sonwho died for us, and the Holy Spirit; and byreceiving the unchanging Grace-1 Peter 1:18-19.
Have you found Him? Have you given your life to Him? If no, this is the best time to do so. When the Spirit of God enters a life, He will quicken, transform, change and remould that life into God's kind of life. One may wonder, how it is possible for a mere human to become a child of God? That is a great mystery. God made it all possible when He was manifest in flesh and dwelt amongst us; and during which He was justified by the Spirit of Godthat He is the Saviour and Son of God. Afterfulfilling the work the Father had assigned Him (till the Cross),He was then buried, and He ascended into Heaven, where He was seen of angels. AfterHe left the earth, He was preached of by His disciples to the Gentiles and believed upon by the world- 1 Timothy 3:16. He's coming back again,'Do you want to follow Him?' Then you must prepare yourself. You must be born-again, sanctified, Holy Ghost filled, water baptized, holyand perfect before the Lord. Jesus came to redeemman from ALL his sins, not some. This is why you ought to run to Him for help and total cleansing. Anyone who does not practice righteousness is notof God, be it a pastor, Church coordinator, worker,etc. Anything that is not holy, will not see theKingdom of God- 1 John 3:4-11.
No man ever decided to walk with God by 'themselves.' It wasn't a decision they just came up with. It was the Grace of God that called them out of their sins, and into a covenant with God. The Lord encountered Abraham and changed hislifestyle from that of an idol worshipper to a friend of His, just so He could produce a righteous lineage out of him- Genesis 12:1-3. Then he changed his name also from Abram to Abraham- Genesis 17:1-9. There is no one who ever came in contact with this unchanging God, and remained the same. Have you met Him? Have you encountered His unchanging Grace? Grace has been before the law, for Abraham wasn't justified by the law but by Grace-Romans 4:1-7. The law hadn't been made then. And if you believe the Lord like Abraham, the Lord's righteousness will be accredited to you. How can one be born again? Romans 10:13.
Again, God's gift of Grace is Free. If a man works, and goes to his employer for his pay, and his employer says, "I just wan dash you...", the man's response will be, "I worked for it." But when that man didn't work, but was given money freely, his response would be, "Thank you." Abraham never worked for salvation, neither did you and I, yet the Lord gave it to us. Our response ought to be in the form of living a life filled with gratitude to Him. He desreves it. And remember, He didn't just give us salvation, He also gave us legs, hands, eyes, ears, money, good health and so much more. Hence we ought to live in gratitude. David didn't choose to be king over Israel, the Lord chose and anointed him- 1 Samuel 16:6-13, Psalms 89:3-4. And because of the Lord's anointing, he could kill a lion, bear and Goliath. Without it, he could do nothing. Your limitations and failures don't matter,for when the Grace of the Lord comes into your life, He will take away ALL those bad habits/addictions and use you for His glory. You may be a 'nobody', yet the Grace of God can make you 'somebody.' No matter your weaknesses and human incapabilities, the Grace of God can turn your life around and use you in ways you never expected.
Grace is 'unmerited favour'. Mary wasn't the only virgin in the land. She was just one amongst many. And when the angel Gabriel came to her, his words were, "Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women."She never worked for this favour, but she received it. 'When the Grace of God finds you, His salvation also will come; and thus, miracles take place.'Another man who experienced God's favour was Naaman- 2 Kings 5:1-14. In Luke 4:27, Jesus saidthere were many lepers in Israel, yet this stranger, Naaman, was the one who was cleansed. This Grace brought the Light of God to men. Jesus is that Light which darkness cannot comprehend. He is that True Light, which lightens every man that comes into this world. Except this Light enlightens you, you remain in darkness- John 1:1-7, 8:12.
What is God's mind towards you? Salvation- John3:16-18. He desires that you be saved. God never came to judge, condemn or consume the world, but to save the world- John 3:17, Malachi 3:16. No one who follows Jesus will walk in the darkness if this world anymore. Such will only become a Light, showing the world the way of purity, righteousness, holiness, salvation and redemption- Matthew 5:14-16; 1 John 1:5, 2:8-11.
REMAIN BLESSED.
Pst Ig Nwabuo