Monday, August 7, 2006
It was one of those unforgettable, milestone moments for our family. Our firstborn child was holding her firstborn child. What a moment! And we got to join them in the delivery room only moments after the little guy's arrival. And I knew this presented a shocking development. My wife was a grandmother! Can you believe it? Me, living with a grandmother! Yes, I was living in denial. And now that she's been a grandmother more than once, I'm finally going to have to accept the disturbing reality. I - I am a grandfather!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Why God Will Never Be a Grandfather."
All through the Bible, God introduces Himself to us as our Father in heaven, but never as our grandfather. God never has been and never will be anyone's grandfather. He only has children and no grandchildren.
That may be very important information for you to consider - eternally important - because you might be one of the many people who are counting on the faith of their family to qualify them for heaven. If you've got a Christian mom or dad, that might help you know about Jesus. It won't do a thing for you when it comes to knowing Jesus personally. You can't "osmote" a relationship with Jesus from your Christian parents or your Christian husband or wife - or from all the Christians you've been with your whole life. Unless there's been a personal transaction between you and Jesus to have your sins forgiven, you've never been born into God's family, and you'll never see heaven. God has no grandchildren.
Jesus described the essential qualification for going to heaven when He said, "No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again" ( John 3:3). A couple of chapters earlier, the Bible describes just how that birthing into God's family takes place. It's in John 1:12, our word for today from the Word of God. Speaking of Jesus, it says, "To all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God."
What does it mean to "receive" Christ? It's consciously opening the door of your heart and welcoming Jesus in. Has there ever been a time when you did that for yourself? This verse also talks about "believing in His name." What's that about? When you check out "believe" in the original language of the New Testament, it's clear that it's a lot more than just agreeing with the facts about Jesus dying for your sin. It's all about total trust in Jesus as your only hope. "His name" literally means, "Jehovah rescues." That's what He died for - to pay for your sin so you don't have to. You've got to grab onto Jesus like a rescuer would desperately hold onto the one who had come to save them. Has there ever been a time when you did that with Jesus? If you don't know you have, you probably haven't. When you've grown up in a Christian home, spent a lot of time in a Christian environment, it's easy to feel like you must have picked up Jesus somewhere. Not unless there's been a time when you consciously put all your trust in Him for yourself. That's when your sins are erased from God's records. That's when you're born into God's family.
It may be that God is whispering to your heart today, "Take care of this now. You've known a lot about Me all these years, but you've never known Me. Don't wait another day to begin your personal relationship with Me." You could do that by telling Jesus, "Lord, I've never really pinned all my hopes on You and what You did for me on the cross, but I am today. Beginning today, Jesus, I am Yours."
God's waiting to welcome you into His family this very day. And we're standing by to help you make sure that you belong to Him. That's what our website's all about. I hope you'll visit us there today and let me share with you just exactly how to begin your personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Just go to yoursforlife.net. Or, if you'd like to receive my little booklet about this, it's called "Yours For Life." Just call us toll free at 877-741-1200.
From now on, this date can be your new birthday - your second birthday. The day you got God as your Father and Jesus as your Savior - your personal Savior!