If there is anything believers tend to do more than any other, it is to forget Jesus. That may seem implausible, but why is there not more Bible reading and study each week than watching TV, reading various printed material, listening to popular music, or spending time on a hobby? Why is there not more prayer than conversation about everyday events? Why is more effort not spent in setting each day’s priorities around Jesus instead of ourselves? Why is there often a lack of trust placed in God’s loving sovereignty? Why are peace, joy, and love sometimes noticeably absent in the lives of believers?
The following study reviews some of the benefits that Jesus has provided for God’s children. If we would grasp the significance of these matchless gifts of grace, our daily lives would be changed forever.
- Jesus provides pardon from sin to those who believe in Him.
Ephesians 1:7-8, In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight.
Acts 10:43, To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name. - Jesus provides peace to those who have been granted redemption.
John 16:33, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
Romans 5:1, Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. - Jesus provides a purpose for living to those who remain focused on Him.
Galatians 2:20, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Galatians 6:14, But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
Philippians 1:20-21, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. - Jesus provides power to those who depend on Him to do His will.
2 Corinthians 12:9-10, But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Philippians 4:13, I can do all things through him who strengthens me. - Jesus provides answers to prayer to those who trust and abide in Him.
Luke 11:9-10, “And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”
John 14:13-14, “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”John 15:7, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”
1 John 5:14-15, And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. - Jesus provides a promise to believers that they will spend eternity with Him.
John 11:25-26, Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
John 14:3, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”
Colossians 3:4, When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
Application
Your understanding of who Jesus is and of what He has done and continues to do for you will be demonstrated in your response of love to Him and others each day. The Christ-likeness that is to be developed within you begins with your devotion to Jesus. What does He mean to you?
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What Does Jesus Mean to You? © 2008 WordTruth, Inc—http://www.wordtruth.net
Verses from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version © 2001Version by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers