"If you DECLARE the gospel and don't LIVE IT - you will confuse people.
If you LIVE the gospel and don't DECLARE IT - you will condemn people."
-- Steve Wilson

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The Ultimate Gift Exchange

But then again…there isn't any real exchanging going on because God is doing all the giving. It works like this…

God gives everything + we give nothing = we get everything

Most of us think of the gift of salvation as our escape from God's judgment, and it is. But it's more than just the gift we GET…it's also about the one we ARE.

Let's back up to the very first covenant of the Bible. This one was made before time began; it spans all of eternity and the one all covenants are born out of…the Covenant of Redemption.

The Covenant of Redemption, however, has little to do with the redeemed…and everything to do with the One who made it. In eternity God the Father made a covenant with God the Son. "I have chosen a people that I will give You; who will worship and glorify You forever…but first You must die for them."

"...just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him…"(Eph 1:4)

Jesus Christ, our Savior did just that. He came to earth, lived a perfect life, was crucified, buried, and rose 3 days later to secure the salvation of those the Father gave Him. Thus, God fulfills the covenant with Himself and the redeemed become a "love gift" from the Father to the Son.

“Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. (John 17:24)

What a great motivation to live the gospel…to actually be a part of the gift! When we understand that our salvation is not really about us at all...but all about God, it humbles us. It creates within us a gratitude that can never be described, a driving force to declare the gospel to others so they can be a part of this awesome gift to the Lord of creation.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." (John 3:16)