He brings us
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, 1 Peter 3:18
This is it! The whole reason Jesus came, died, raised back up and ascended. To bring us to God! Jesus came to be born as a baby in this world. So many wonderful things God did through His life here. He not only had a miraculous birth, it was a miraculous conception. The celebration of His life began with the angels and the shepherds and still goes on today. Then He lived to be the greatest example of a man there ever was. He showed us how to live and how to be a disciple. The list is endless of His accomplishments and His sacrifices. From leaving His home in heaven to become a man, not just for 33 years, but for all eternity. (He is still a man that sits next to His Father in heaven. Eph.1:20) To laying down His earthly life to be brutally put to death in shame and humiliation, to become the first born of many brethren (men) (Romans 8:29) A new creation!
We know at one point Jesus struggled with this decision to lay down His life because in the garden before He was crucified, He prayed that this “cup” would pass. Yet, He surrendered His will to His Father saying, “Not My will but Yours be done!” (Luke 22:42) Why did He do all this? To bring us to God, to bring me to God my Heavenly Father! He brought us to His Father so that we could sit with Him in heavenly places! Glory to God! Ephesians 2:4-6 – But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
Today, Jesus looks back at that time as the greatest victory for all eternity. I know He doesn’t regret for one minute that He went through with the plan of God. As hard and as excruciating as it was at the time, the reality is that it was a very short span of time in light of eternity. Although His suffering was so great, His victory is even greater . . . for all of us!
Today I want to encourage you to consider your suffering to have great benefit for eternity. Think of how many lives you can bring to the Father with very little suffering. Through Christ Jesus and His suffering, we can bring many to Him and fulfill the plan of God for our lives at very little cost to us. I guarantee you in eternity, we will look back and wonder why we didn’t put it all out there no matter what the cost! We only get a little time to bring others with us. That’s what we are here for and that’s what will last forever!
Today’s scripture reading: 1 Peter 3:18-22
The Daily Dose 