“For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” And they went to another village. Luke 9:56
Jesus is entering the final phase of His mission on earth; to die for the sins of all mankind, so He sets out for Jerusalem. Some of His followers went before Him to make preparations for His arrival and in one of the Samaritan villages the residents were not willing to accommodate Jesus’ stay there. It would be hard to imagine that a town would not welcome Jesus with open arms but, alas, it is all too common even in our day.
But, back to Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem. When James and John, the two brothers who are known as “the sons of thunder” see how the people in this Samaritan town are treating Jesus, they want to call down fire from heaven to burn them all up! They even convince themselves (but not Jesus) that their plan is the equivalent of what the Lord did in Elijah’s day when he stood against the false prophets of Baal.
This suggestion brought a rebuke from Jesus. But, why not destroy them, since they made themselves enemies of God by rejecting Jesus? Because they are already condemned and, unless they repent, they will perish one day — their destruction is awaiting them in that day. Their life is already destroyed because of the choices they have made.
There would have been no reason for Jesus to come to the earth as a man and live among men and eventually die on a cross if it were only to condemn mankind for, we are all born under sin and have the sentence of death upon us, since sin’s eventual result is death. Jesus could have just stayed in heaven with the Father and let everyone on earth die in their sins and face destruction.
The Father had a different plan when He created man, His plan was good; it was a plan that involved life and not death, good and not evil. Through sin, man is separated from God, but Jesus came to reconcile mankind back to God. Jesus’ mission was one of salvation and not destruction. There is much destruction going on in the world today and in people’s lives all around you, but none of it is the work of the Lord — it is the devil who comes to steal, kill and destroy. Only good things come from God.
The choices people make in their life (for everyone is created with a free will) determine whether they follow a path of destruction or salvation. The good news is, even if someone has been on the wrong path for all of their life, Jesus is still there for them if they choose to get turned around (repent) and start following Him.
If Jesus had come to destroy those who had ever wandered down a destructive path, there wouldn’t be very many people left to be saved! Even if Jesus just left us to our own devices, we would, sooner or later self-destruct, for salvation only comes from the Lord, life only comes from the Lord. No matter how destructive a person’s life has been or even is now, you can still believe for their salvation, that their life will be turned around, and everything that once seemed hopeless will come to pass, for Jesus came to save!
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