An Amazing Offer! Too good to be true?
By Dr. Dan Reinhardt
When I get “an amazing offer” in my inbox, quite frankly I’m skeptical. There’s so much hype out there these days. A good bit of common sense is, “If it’s too good to be true, then it’s probably not true.”
But this presents a problem when you really do have good news.
Like what Jesus offers. It’s such good news that we may instinctively doubt it. Here it is in three translations:
- I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (NIV)
- My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. (NLT)
- I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of. (Msg)
Wow, now that’s an amazing offer.
So I dug deeper, into the Greek. What is this life Jesus is talking about?
- life, both of physical (present) and of spiritual (particularly future) existence.
My upbringing in faith always interpreted this offer of Jesus in the second aspect, of future spiritual life in heaven. While that is true, the offer from Jesus has to do with the present, with the current physical realities in which we live.
But immediately I am cautious
– are we talking about the “health, wealth, and prosperity Gospel”? Or the “name it and claim it” teaching?
I think we’ve all been rightly skeptical of these perversions of the offer from Jesus. So I recoil from the “physical, present life” that the Greek word points to.
But just a minute … am I reacting too much?
Perhaps I need to control my reactions and take a look again.
Jesus is not just talking about the future, he’s talking about life here and now. In Matthew 5 Jesus explains it further, describing it as a blessed life:
- happy, blessed, to be envied, fortunate, well off
I am stunned.
A rich and satisfying life? An enviable life?
God loves us this well? This is at the centre of the universe?!
God is totally committed to this, the ultimate proof is Jesus coming, living, dying and rising from the dead. God is all in, there’s no turning back. And it is more than just “being saved and going to heaven.”
I want in on this offer! And I want to bring as many people with me as I can. This really is Good News!
You are invited
In fact, I invite you to come to a breakfast seminar in Alberta where we will look at this question, and how God works with us over our lifetime. Come, get in on this amazing offer.
Details here: http://crestleadership.ca/events/
Here for mid-life leaders,
Dr. Dan
P.S. Join us for a seminar to look at this amazing offer from Jesus.