Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
This verse is so good and such a beautiful reminder of the implications of giving your life over to the way of Jesus. This idea of salvation—now, it might sound like I'm being very elementary in what I'm saying, but what's so interesting is if we're not careful in our Christian life following Jesus, we sadly move beyond the truth of the gospel in our memory. It's almost like if you had a set of keys, and on that key ring you have one key that you have no idea what it goes to.
Has that ever happened to you before? I remember one time pulling out of my pocket, my key ring and looking at the keys that are there, and there's this one that just stands out. I'm thinking at some point I thought it was important enough to put this key on my key ring, but now I have no idea what it goes to. I don't even know what it unlocks. Isn't it interesting that I would be holding onto it because it had some sense of importance at some point?
Sadly, I think this is what happens when it comes to the truth of the gospel—that we, as followers of Jesus, were rescued from sin and death. There was no hope for our lives apart from Jesus, but we who were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ, that we were rescued from hopelessness and brought into marvelous light because of the work of Jesus.
The message of salvation is like the key on our key ring that unlocks hope for eternity. If we're not careful, we find ourselves moving beyond the simplicity in our minds of that beginning story and think we need to graduate to something more deep or serious or more important. What could be more important than the rescue from death being brought into life? What could be more important than the message of salvation?
Sharing in His Glory
What I love about this verse is that there's a reminder here that you get to share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Not only do we revel in the truth of what we've been rescued from, what it means for us to know a new life in Christ, as it says in 2 Cor. chapter 5, but we get to share in the glory of Christ Himself.
Now, to our human minds, I'll be honest, that feels incomprehensible. How could we share anything with Jesus, our Savior? It's interesting because the gospels tell us that there is a new life that comes as a result of the work of Jesus. We also see in the writing of Paul that we are, when baptized, buried in our old self and raised in new life in Christ. It says that when Christ died, we died with Him. These are things that are beyond comprehension, but they are true. These things inform the way that we live.
What I love is that it says we share in His glory not because of what we've done, but because of His grace and kindness. He has brought us into the fold.
Invitation, Not Just Information
What I think is most important about this verse, when it says that He calls us to this good news sharing, is that we can't share this good news if we've not experienced it for ourselves. It's not information, it's invitation. It's us reminding the world of what we've been reminded of—that because of Christ, we have new life.
We want to invite people into the story of God so that they can see the beauty of that key on the key ring that unlocks everything. We will never forget what that key does, and how important it is to our everyday life.
