Jesus gives Himself as a ransom.
Jesus forgives our trespasses.
Jesus erases our debt.
Jesus liberates us from sin.
Jesus frees us from our futile ways.
Jesus reconciles us to God.
Jesus reconciles enmity between people.
Jesus reconciles all things on heaven and earth to Himself.
Jesus pays our penalty and removes our guilt.
Jesus appeases God’s wrath and justice.
Jesus upholds God’s righteousness.
Jesus secures our redemption for eternity.
Jesus models the ultimate denial of self.
Jesus displays God’s power for our salvation
Called to Live
"These who have turned the world upside down have come here too." Acts 17:6
Peter: crucified upside down.
James: beheaded.
John: natural causes.
Andrew: crucified on X-shaped cross.
Philip: crucified.
Bartholomew: skinned alive, beheaded.
Matthew: stabbed to death.
Thomas: speared to death.
James: stoned, crucified, beaten to death.
Jude: crucified.
Simon: crucified.
Matthias (replacement for Judas Iscariot): stoned and beheaded.
Paul: beheaded.
Jesus warned His original disciples before He was killed, "If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you" (John 15:20b). And when their faith was finally tested, when Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, "...they all forsook Him and fled" (Mark 14:50).
What happened to turn a group of cowards into a core of courageous couriers of the Gospel who turned the world upside down and were willing to die for their beliefs?
One thing: they witnessed the Resurrection.
This event had a transforming effect on the disciples, transforming them into apostles--"sent ones." When they saw the risen Christ (1 Corinthians 15:3-8), they were no longer afraid.
You may not be called to die for Christ, but you are called to live for Him--the resurrected Lord.
WB “Turning Point” Journal
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