1 Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every sickness.
2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew; and James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, the one who also betrayed Him.
TODAY'S TAKEAWAY
For His disciples, Jesus called men from all walks of life, from the savvy and shady tax collector to the gruff and hardworking fishermen, from the zealous and the steadfast in nature to the dangerous imposture. In the same way, Jesus calls everyone in this world to follow Him and obey. It is up to each individual to accept Jesus into their hearts and lives, and then it is up to each individual who becomes a believer to strive in obedience.
As for Judas Iscariot, Jesus knew what he would do and what it would all lead to, and still gave him full opportunity to hear and see the Lord God's love in action. This demonstrates just how much the Lord Jesus loves us! Imagine having someone in your fold, knowing that they were willing to help your enemies in their attempts to kill you, but you still showed them the same level of love.
Of course, Jesus is the sovereign Lord God and Creator, and with that He is omniscient (all-knowing). Since the fall of man, (in Genesis 3:15) the Lord foretold mankind that He would one day come in flesh to pay the price for all sin and death. Even before He created everything, He knew He would have to humble Himself, to suffer and die on a cross, but He still created mankind anyway! And, He knew that there would be many people who would reject Him, hate Him, and mock Him, and He still died for every person and every sin. This is how much love He has for us!!!
While Jesus allowed Judas Iscariot to be included in the body of disciples, if Judas never chose to repent and believe in Jesus as his personal Lord and Savior, then the Lord Jesus would not allow Judas into heaven. It's very simple. God is holy and cannot have a relationship with sin. Only through our repentance and His forgiveness can one be set free from our sin, in order to be given eternal life in heaven. and enter into a personal relationship with the Lord. Since He created us with a free will, it only makes sense that it is up to us to decide if we want to reject Him, or to love Him back and want Him in our lives forever!
No comments:
Post a Comment