Set Before You

Q: What does Jesus "set" before everybody?

A: In Jeremiah 21:8, it says, "Furthermore, tell the people, 'This is what the LORD says: See, I am setting before you the way of life and the way of death.'" Jeremiah was offering the people, under the rule of Zedekiah, an opportunity to save... their lives. They could either stay in the city and be slaughtered by the Babylonians or surrender to them and escape with their lives. This offers a picture of the eternal salvation God has offered the world through faith in Jesus Christ. An unbeliever has a similar choice. One choice is to stay in their present condition, dead to God in sin, and face eternal separation from God in hell. The second choice is they can choose to "surrender" to God by accepting His offer of the gift of life, in Christ Jesus, and live with God forever. This is a theme repeated throughout the Bible. God is always offering a choice between remaining dead or choosing life. That is the crux of the Gospel message; life or death.

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy (death); I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full (life)." John 10:10

"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" John 11:25-26

"When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins." Colossians 2:13

Do people want to remain dead in sin or have the very life of God restored to them through faith in Jesus Christ? It is that simple. The Apostle Paul, when speaking about his trip to Jerusalem, said, "I went in response to a revelation and set before them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles (Galatians 2:2)." It is the Gospel of Jesus Christ that has been "set before everybody." It is a choice between life or death. Adam sinned. God removed His life from Adam. Jesus died. He paid the penalty of death our sins deserved. Jesus rose from the dead. He offers that life of God, lost in Adam, back to everybody as a free gift. If you accept it, you will never spiritually die again because all your sins have been forgiven. The choice has been set before you. What is your decision?