THE REFUGE DEVOTIONAL

“This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ.”

John 17:3 NASBS

The scriptures tell us, “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” How glorious it is to understand that as Christians we have the unmerited favor of God. Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.” Jesus said concerning Himself, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” Understand, “since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.” “Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” “And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” Reader, this grace, that is only found in Jesus Christ, reaches beyond infinity into heaven and is procured in the scars of this eternal King, Who is seated upon the heavenly throne. He is the Great “I Am” Who laid His life down for all who come to Him in Faith and repentance. Isaiah gave a graphic description of Jesus’s death over seven hundred years before He was even born, “He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.” Therefore repent, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. Turn unto God and call upon His name that you might be saved, for there is no other name given under heaven among men that can save you. For Jesus, “Who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” God did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over to death for us all. Understand, Jesus was sent “in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us.” Because of this one act of mercy, salvation is made possible, for where there is no law, there is no violation. So Who the Son sets free, is free indeed. May God grant you the understanding to call upon His Son, Jesus, to be saved.