“Once And For All” Devotional

By Lindsay Williams

 

>Read: Matthew 5:13

You are the light of the world -- like a city on a mountain, glowing in the night for all to see. (v.14)

 

Oftentimes the metaphor of light is used to describe the way Christ-followers reflect their Creator. The point is that we are to look so different from the rest of the world when we model Christ, that the world wants what we have. In essence, we should be so dazzling that people ask us why we shine. The problem is we’re not that different from everyone else. It’s easy to blend in, to follow the crowd. It’s much harder and takes a lot more courage to walk the road less traveled. But we have His light in us. We are light because He is light.

 

“Now this is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in Him. If we say, ‘We have fellowship with Him,’ yet we walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing truth. But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:5, HCSB).

 

The good news of the Gospel is not that we come to God, but that God came to us. God sent Himself into the world. He wrapped Himself in flesh and took on every emotion and feeling we could ever experience as a human. He cried when he was hungry. He learned to walk on two wobbly legs. He practiced how to be a friend. He studied the trade of his earthly father, and sought the will of his heavenly Father. He felt the sting of betrayal and the ache of loneliness. He experienced the depths of love and the dark shadows of hate. And then He did the unthinkable. He took our guilt, our shame and our sin and nailed it to a cross.

 

We believe our God is Jesus / We believe that He is Lord / We believe that He has saved us / From sin and death / Once and for all

Once and for all / Our debt is paid / There on the cross it is finished / The Lamb of God for us was slain

 

Thankfully, the story doesn’t end there. Three days later, He rose to life again, reigning victorious. And His resurrection makes all the difference. Gratefully, we serve a living, breathing God. Three in one. Our Savior. The Light of the World.

 

Up from the grave He is risen / Jesus, Jesus / God from God / Light from Light / You are our salvation / Jesus, Jesus / God from God / Light from Light / Your Kingdom is forever

 

passion once and for all (feat. chris tomlin) [lyrics] from chris-tomlin on godtube.