Daily Bible Verses for 7/1/2016

Bible Verse
Looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.

Reading Notes
There are so many wonderful blessings for believers spoken of in these short passages. First is our hope, the hope we have because of the joy of eternal life given to us by our faith in Christ. A hope that causes us to look forward to the glorious appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. Those alive at this time will be raptured and caught up to meet Him in the air and receive their glorified bodies. After which we all will return with Him when He returns in glory and great power. Second, we have been redeemed! We were held captive because of the guilt of sin, brought about because of our fallen state. We were without hope because we had no way of redeeming ourselves back to a holy God.

However, because of His immense love for us, God did what was impossible for us to do on our own. He paid the ransom price for our redemption by the blood of Jesus shed for us on the Cross of Calvary. And our salvation brings with it the purifying effect of our regeneration, by which we are made a new creation in Christ. In addition, because of the gift of salvation, we have the continual process of sanctification. Sanctification is a process of spiritual growth carried out by the Holy Spirit who works in us to make us more Christ-like each and every day. By the blood of Jesus shed for us, we have been released from the captivity of sin, and set aside for His work with a God-given joy and love that now fills our hearts. All these things working together make us zealous for His good works as we grow in love and in the knowledge of Jesus, who He is and what He has done for us, through the study of His word, the Bible.