Our God – Abundantly, Extravagantly Generous posted by jwatson on Jan 16, 2012

In the Evangelism Explosion gospel presentation we speak of heaven, offered to us as a free gift.

When we understand just how precious that gift is, that understanding will come across when we speak with passion to those who have not yet received the Lord Jesus Christ.

From the year ‘dot,’ when God created the world, the land and sea were filled with His creatures, the skies were filled with light, with stars, moon, planets and galaxies, and he told us to “be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and replenish it…” Genesis 1:28.

God just loves to pour His blessings without measure on His creation.

Many false religions seek to achieve emptiness, to empty the mind in meditation, to strive for Nirvana, the ultimate oneness with the void, when one’s identity dissolves into nothing more than a ripple on the vast sea of the universe. Horrors!

Not our God!

“my cup runneth over,” Psalm 23

“of His fulness have we all received, and grace upon grace,” John 1:16

“… for He will abundantly pardon,” Isaiah 55:7

“delight thyself in fatness” (right on, King James!), Isaiah 55:2

“pressed down, shaken together, running over,” Luke 6:38

“cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness,” 1 John 1:19

“His glory filled the temple,” 2 Chronicles 7:2-3

“Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.” John 13:1

I’ve seen people share the gospel with others as if they were trying to persuade them to have a root canal.

Don’t they understand what the gift of eternal life means?

How could anyone in his right mind refuse such a beautiful, overwhelming gift? Are you convinced of God’s powerful desire to bless you to the uttermost? If you are, then show it!

If a sinner can catch a glimpse of what the free gift of eternal life is like, the cost of following our Lord Jesus Christ will be as nothing to him.

There is no place where God’s extravagant generosity was more clearly shown than on the cross of Christ, where He “poured out His soul unto death.” Isaiah 53:12

How much am I prepared to give for the sake of Him who loved me? When I sing“ All to Jesus I surrender,” what exactly do I have in mind to surrender to Him? My family, my health, my money, my possessions, my reputation, my job, my ambitions, my friends, my sport, my hobbies … ?

Or is it just a pretty song?

The widow gave all she had to live on. Mark 12:44

Paul was “poured out as a drink offering for (their) faith.” Philippians 2:17

Am I selfishly keeping the gospel under wraps because taking it to others might cost me something?

“Freely ye have received, freely give.” Matthew 10:8

When I have led someone to Christ, I am in the habit of telling them the story of the “sower (that) went out to sow.” Luke 8:5. I tell them that it is my prayer that they will prove to be good soil, soil that brings forth much fruit; some thirty-, some sixty-, some a hundredfold, and that they will be true children of our heavenly Father, generous “to a fault,” giving until it hurts, giving ALL for His glory.

“Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.” When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, Isaac Watts, 1707.

Yes, we need to warn people to count the cost. But the cost is easier to bear when the reward is greater than we could ever imagine. That is why we tell them of the God who provides our every need from His vast resources of love and compassion, demonstrated in the life, death and resurrection of His dear Son, our blessed Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.