The Gift

A section devoted to the thoughts, experiences, and hopes of young people, coordinated by Bro. Ben Brinkerhoff Please send contributions for this section to Bro. Ben at thechristadelphian@hotmail. corn

He Other Day we had a question about eternal life in our young people’s Bible study class. The questioner stated he found it hard to follow Christ because he did not know that he would be in the Kingdom.

At first glance, the questioner seems to be fearing failure, or the unknown – the “what if it doesn’t work out” that pops into everyone’s head before any big decision. Then it struck me as I was driving home tonight. It wasn’t about the certainty of receiving eternal life or the fear of the unknown, the terrors of the journey ahead. It was a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of the gift of eternal life.

I emphasize gift because of the nature of a gift. Think about it. Can you earn your gift? Are you entitled to it? The gift is from the giver, and it is given without strings or attachments. As the letter to the Romans says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” That is the key. Eternal life is the free gift of God. No amount of works can earn it. Birth, nor life, nor death, nor riches, nor power entitles us to the greatest and most precious gift of all, life itself. It is God who gives this as Romans says again in chapter 3 (3:23­26 RSV):

Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as an expia­tion by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righ­teousness, because in his divine for­ bearance he had passed over former sins; it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies him who has faith in Jesus.

As an answer to the one who questions his place in the book of life, think of it this way. It is the good pleasure of our Father who is in heaven to give us this gift. An example often provides greater under­standing.

Think of someone in your family whom you love very dearly. The per­son you love, also would love you. Imagine that you offer him/her a gift. The gift is precious and rare. It is beautiful to behold. That person, seeing your love expressed in this form would give a gift back to you. Now imagine that you were in God’s place – giving the free gift of eternal life because you loved that world. As the apostle John says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Now imagine that the person in your family whom you love dearly is you. God only asks that you love Him back, with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength; the same love with which you would love your friends and your family.

We cannot justify ourselves and make ourselves righteous. The call of the Lord is not to the reward of eternal life (in the sense of compensation), it is to the gift of eternal life. It is God who loves us and justifies us, forgiving our sins.

So step boldly to the throne of grace, listen to the call of the Lord, and love above all things. The gift will be freely given to those who love God and His ways.