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3rd June: The Way (6) -- The Open Gate

Jesus said: I have come that you might have life -- life in all its fullness. John 10:10 (GNB)

When the diagnosis of a serious disease or disability has been made, and effective treatment is available, it would seem crazy to refuse or ignore that treatment. Yet some people do just that, for reasons that may be clear or unclear. Others accept the treatment at first and then give it up, gradually or suddenly. This is sad when it happens in the physical or mental sphere. It is even sadder when it happens in the spiritual realm.

The Way to true spiritual life, to life in all its fullness, to eternal life, is wide open to those who will enter it. It remains wide open to those who will continue in it. The mission of Jesus was to open the gate and to hold it wide open in gracious welcome to all who are willing to enter. This is the offer of salvation -- his offer. To pass it by or to opt out is surely crazy -- and ungrateful.

The gate to the Way was flung wide open when the Lord Jesus by his death on the cross broke down the barrier of sin between God and man. This had begun in the eternal councils of God as a living plan to meet the desperate soul-sickness of mankind. 'God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life' (Jn 3:16).

So the Son of God came among us, shared not only our life but our very humanity (Jn 1:14) and in due time gave his life as 'a ransom for many' (Mk 10:45). 'He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree', writes the apostle Peter (1 Pet 2:24). There he took the load of our death-dealing sins, as our Representative and our Substitute. Only because he was man could he represent mankind. Only because he was God could his death atone for the sins of the whole world.

On the cross not only was the power of sin and death and the devil broken, but the love of God was supremely revealed. 'God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself' (2 Cor 5:19 AV). Paul sums up a great deal in a few words: 'God our Saviour...wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men' (1 Tim 2:3-5 NIV). We cannot add to that. But the least we can do is to say 'Thank you' as we enter the open gate and to go on saying 'Thank you' in practical terms every step of the Way.

Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

Isaac Watts

Further reading: Jn 10:7-18. 2 Cor 5:16-21. Heb 2:14-18.

RRW