Grace For The Journey

The Bible records God saying in Isaiah 43:1,

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;

I have summoned you by name; you are mine.”

Because we are created beings, we owe our existence to our Creator, whether we acknowledge this truth or not.

The unbeliever owes the exact same debt to God

That the believer does regarding our creation;

as Job said, “In His hand is the life of every creature

And the breath of all mankind” (Job 12:10).

But is there anything “more” that the Lord claims when it comes to the Christian?

Our Lord Jesus Christ

Has staked three claims

Upon every one of His children.

I want to take a look at the tremendous Bible truths . . . and give you reason to celebrate and supernaturally strengthened by the truth!

Claim #1 – Natural

First, God places His claim upon everyone from the natural (or creational) standpoint.  The Bible says in Exodus 20:11 we read, “For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them.”  Again, the Bible says in Psalm 100:3, “Know that the LORD, He is God; It is He who made us, and we ourselves.”  The Bible also tells us in Ezekiel 18:4, “Behold, all souls are Mine.  The soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine.””

Claim #2 – Legal

Second, God in Christ places His claim upon all those whom He has redeemed.  The Bible says in Isaiah 44:22, “I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions, and like a cloud, your sins.  Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.”  God led the apostle Paul to write to the Christians at Corinth, “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?  For you were bought at a price; therefore Glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

Claim #3 – Personal

Finally, Jesus now stakes His claim upon us because of the relationship that He, by His blood, has brought us into.  The Bible says in Romans 12:1, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God which is your reasonable service.”

Don’t miss this: Having made His rightful claim on us, both naturally and legally, our Lord Jesus still comes to us with the most intimate and personal appeal.

Jesus makes His third claim,

Not based on His natural and legal

Rights as Lord of lords,

But rather He makes His claim

For our surrender and submission

Based upon His sufferings on the cross.

As true and right as both His natural and legal claim are, they will only take relationship so far.  It is mercy that ministers to the mind and melts the heart.

Our Lord Jesus Christ has three claims on every Christian.  If you have acknowledged that you are a sinner, that you cannot save yourself, and have accepted what Jesus did on the cross and through the empty tomb, you are His, naturally, legally, and personally. As powerful as it is to know that we are His, for the Bible says in Daniel 5:23, He is “… the God who holds your breath in His hand and owns all your ways;” how powerfully encouraging it is to know that the Sovereign Lord of all the universe invites us into a personal relationship with Him!  Jesus, the loving Lamb of God, says to you:

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.   For MY yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

Now these truths ought to set our souls on fire

And encourage us to live exclusively for Jesus!

Let me close with these words from the Bible in Jeremiah 31:3, which reveal just how gracious and how glorious these three claims on you truly are: “The Lord appeared to of old to me, saying: ‘Yes I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.’”

This is God’s Word For Today … This Is Grace For The Journey

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”