Salvation Is More Than

A Ticket To Heaven

“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” 2 Corinthians 5:17

Jim Stovall’s powerful novel, The Ultimate Gift, describes the journey of the young, self-centered, irresponsible Jason Stevens, nephew of oil and gas tycoon, Red Stevens.  Expecting to inherit some of Red’s wealth after his death, Jason was disappointed to discover that he would first be required to complete twelve assignments his uncle had planned before his death to be overseen by his old friend and attorney, Theodore Hamilton. Red knew that simply giving Jason wealth would not help him understand the real purpose of the “ultimate gift” he would receive later – a gift the author describes as “life lived to its fullest”.

The gift of salvation offered to us through Christ could be likened to this “ultimate gift” Red Stevens wanted his nephew to discover.  God has guaranteed a great reward of eternal life for those who are in Christ, but the real gift he wants us to have is more than an inheritance that has been prepared for us at the end of this life.  It is the gift of an abundant life beginning now as “new creations” in Christ.  In Christ we have been made alive when once we were dead, in order that we might truly live now, not just in eternity.

That means that as “new creations” something is fundamentally changed in us now.  Conversion used to be the common terminology employed to describe that process of the old being replaced by the new.  Perhaps it is a word we need to revive as a description of a true follower of Christ.  Salvation is not merely a ticket that get us into heaven without any evidence of change in this life.  Salvation is a new birth in which we are awakened to the realities of both life in the already and life in the not yet.

FANNING THE FLAME

The Advent Wreath is a great way to symbolize the meaning of Christmas for grandchildren and to remind them of why Christ came.  The first candle of Advent, representing Jesus as the Light of the World (Jn. 8:12), is a powerful way to illustrate this conversion of a life from darkness into light that changes the way we see all of life.  Make it a teaching tradition in your home if it is not already.

GRANDPAUSE: “Thou hast made us for Thyself and our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee.” – Peter Kreeft