That is one very powerful verse! I am not ashamed of Jesus Christ! He saved my soul and redeemed me! He defeated very real darkness and evil in my life! I gave my life to Him in 1996 and have served Him ever since. Have I been perfect at it? No way! I’m human just like you. I have always walked in the Victory of Christ though, and I keep marching forward unashamed!
Read that verse again please. The Gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes! That is good news! It is not just for a select few. It is for every single person on this earth, and that includes you!
It doesn’t matter where you live, or what your skin color is, or what culture you are from. Jesus died for everybody! Jesus wasn’t a religion invented by Europeans. Jesus grew up in Nazareth. Christianity started in the Middle East near Jerusalem! He started His ministry of preaching the Good News, healing the sick, driving out demons, and raising the dead when He was 30 years old. History records that His ministry lasted three and a half years, and when He was 33 years old the Romans crucified Him. These are historical facts.
After His resurrection and ascension into Heaven, his followers went out into all the world to preach the Good News that Jesus Christ died for the sins of all people on earth. For example, it was the Apostle Thomas (yes, the doubting one), one of the original twelve disciples, who took the Gospel message to India. They did this because Jesus commanded them to do it before He ascended into Heaven. At the end of the Book of Matthew, Jesus and the remaining eleven disciples (because Judas was dead, so minus one) gather at a mountain in Galilee. There Jesus gives them a powerful command and authority to preach the Gospel to the world.
“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Matthew 28:18-20
It is pretty clear that the Gospel message (which is that Jesus came to die to forgive your sins and through Him and through Him alone you can be saved and given eternal life) is to be preached worldwide. It is not a white thing or a black thing or any other color or culture’s thing. It’s a Jesus thing! It’s for all of us! Are you feelin’ me on this?
Jesus died for everyone no matter where you live.
“You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
Galatians 3:26-29
That means when you receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you become part of the family of God! Paul says it this way in his letter to the church at Ephesus:
“Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”
Ephesians 2:19-22
God lives in His people through the power of the Holy Spirit that He gives to each person when they accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Check out my post on “Who is the Holy Spirit?” to learn more about Him. When Paul talks about the whole building being joined together in Jesus and rising to become a holy temple in the Lord, he is talking about all the believers together filled with God’s Holy Spirit.
So no matter where you are in the world right now, or what culture you grew up in, Jesus died for you too. I want to shout out to all my brothers and sisters who I have met through this blog in the U.S., the U.K., Russia, India, France, Italy, Ireland, the Philippines, Turkey, Australia, South Africa, Kenya, Canada, the Caribbean Islands, and Vietnam! Thank you all for visiting and following my blog! I appreciate all of you and my prayers are with you all! I hope that someday that list will include every country in the world! You are all my brothers and sisters!
Jesus loves you and you can be part of God’s family today! All you have to do is accept the invitation! Come join the 116 family and rest in the love of your Father in Heaven!
“That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Romans 10:9
Grace and peace to you!
P.S.
Shout out to Lecrae and the whole 116 crew!
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