| “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace…” |
| —Ephesians 1:7 |
Nearly forty-six years ago, I had the privilege of anchoring a call-in program during the annual Share-a-thon to help raise the yearly operating budget for a Christian radio station. The purpose of this program was to answer Bible questions that people might have. We received a significant number of calls during the four hours of this program’s duration. Please let me narrate an experience that occurred during this broadcast:
One caller wanted to know why we Christians placed such importance on Jesus. My co-host seemed a bit startled by the caller’s question. He looked at me. We muted our microphones and he said: “Don’t most people realize that Christians are ‘Christ’s-ones’ and that Jesus is what Christianity is all about?”
I was not as surprised as my co-host. I had grown up in a very tightly knit Evangelical Christian church. We were taught, from my earliest recollection, that most people in the world do not understand how important Jesus is.
In trying to answer this caller’s question, I asked her if she happened to have a Bible. Surprisingly she did. I helped her find Ephesians 1. I then explained to her that this was a letter written by the Apostle Paul to the new Christians who had gathered in a house church in the city of Ephesus. I told her that Paul intended to write a letter of encouragement and also to do a bit of teaching through this particular correspondence. I asked her to read me the first few verses of Ephesians 1. We talked a bit about each verse. Then we got to what Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:7:
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace…After the caller had read the verse, without any prompting from me, she said, “Oh! I see it now! Jesus is so important because He’s the Savior.” And, she was right.
As we begin another new day, let’s not forget to whom we belong—that is to say “whose we are.” We belong to Jesus. He is our Savior and the Savior of all mankind. The shedding of His blood redeemed us. We need to keep our thoughts about Him in the most central place of our minds and hearts. After all, He died for us, He rose for us, He ascended for us, and He intercedes for us. Jesus is, indeed, the most important person in our lives.
Based on a blog originally posted on Monday, July 31, 2017
