The young mother stood at the cash register. You could almost hear the
laughter in her eyes. Her grocery cart had been full. Item after item was
unloaded and tabulated. Her grocery bill
came to over $70. She, though, paid less than
$18. Why? COUPONS!
The woman simply offered coupons. She had collected these little slips of paper
from various sources and gave them to the clerk. The slips lowered her bill by
over 75%. Can mere paper slips do that?
NO!
All these coupons did was offer a promise.
Companies offered the coupons and thus promised the grocery store that the debt
for the purchased items would be paid by them rather than the customer. This
young mother believed what the coupons said. She thought those offering the
coupons were truthful. She believed that she would receive all that the coupons
promised. She had faith in those coupons.
CHRIST’S
PROMISE
“He that believeth on the Son hath
everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the
wrath of God abideth on him” John 3:36. As I stood behind this lady in line, I
saw her delight by trusting the coupons. Her happiness came from her savings.
She got a lot, but she paid so little. Me?
I had to pay full price. I had no coupons.
Why will some people get into heaven while
others go into hell? It is simple. Some use the promise Jesus made, and others
do not. As I watched the lady, I certainly believed in the coupons she had. I
believed they were valuable, but I had no coupons of my own. I had seen the
coupons in the newspaper and knew their promise was reliable. What I failed to
do was to take the coupons and personally use them.
Many people sincerely believe in Jesus on
many levels. What they fail to do is personally use His promise to pay their
sin debt. They know about His offer to forgive sin. They even believe in heaven
and hell and desire to go to heaven.
Yet, they have failed to take advantage of Jesus’ promise to give them
eternal life. Why?
1 - Many do not
believe God will punish sinners or that they deserve punishment. Yet the Bible
says, “All have sinned” and “The wages of sin is death.” It also says, “The
soul that sinneth, it shall die.”
2 -
Some think that just knowing the story about Jesus dying on the cross is belief
enough, but it is not. The Bible says that “even the demons believe,” but they
will not be in heaven. So many people fail to accept Jesus to be the Son of God
- God in flesh.
3
- Many people want forgiveness, but they
want it without repentance. They do not want to turn from their sin practices to
belong to Jesus Christ.
Jesus described His message of salvation this way. “To open their eyes, and turn them from
darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive
forgiveness of sins, and inheritance . . . by faith that is in Me” Acts 26:18.
There is only one promissory coupon offering salvation from sin, and
Jesus offers it. His salvation is powerful enough to forgive you of sin, to
turn you from darkness, and to free you from Satan’s power. That is why He died
and shed His blood on Calvary’s cross. That is why He arose from the dead. The
Son of God did this to purchase for you, freedom from the hold and punishment
of sin. He offers you this promise. “He that believeth on the Son hath
everlasting life.” You must personally
use His promise. You must see what your
sin has done to you. You are in
spiritual darkness and under Satan’s power. You are under God’s wrath. “...he that believeth not the Son, shall not
see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him” John 3:36.
BUT, you can receive forgiveness and a heavenly inheritance right now.
This turning away from your sin and believing in Jesus Christ is done “by
faith.” You place your faith (trust, reliance) in what God’s Son did for you
when He died and rose from the dead.
“God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us” Romans 5:8.
“His own self (Jesus) bare our sins in His own body on the tree” 1
Peter 2: 24.
All you need to do by simple faith is trust His loving promise to give
you eternal life. A guarantee offered not by a major company but by the eternal
God of heaven.
Both heaven and hell are eternal places.
Once you arrive at either one, your destiny is set forever. That is why
the Bible says, “Now is the day of
salvation.” It asks, “How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?”
Right now, use that great salvation promise Jesus offers you. Do not
neglect it. Receive by faith what the Lord Jesus did for you in dying on the cross.
Admit, you need to be forgiven of your sins.
It is what will take you out of spiritual darkness and place you into
the family of God. “As many as received Him, to them gave He power (the right)
to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on His name” John 1:12.
