A young woman piled a load of expensive electronic equipment into a shopping cart and pushed it up to a cashier’s desk in a major department store. At first she attempted to pay for it using a credit card. When the store’s computer rejected her little piece of plastic, she searched in her purse and brought out a million-dollar bill. The cashier looked at it for a moment. It looked like genuine U.S. currency; it even had the feel of real money. However, the cashier was naturally suspicious. He called the store’s manager, and he at once contacted the police. They came quickly and, after a brief investigation, arrested the woman for trying to use counterfeit money.
To the cashier, it seemed too good to be true that a shopper whose credit card had just failed should have the means to pull a million-dollar bill out of her purse, and she was absolutely right. The million-dollar bill was a fake. Most of us have learned that when other people make offers too good to be true, we should be on our guard. Such offers are usually only attempts to take advantage of us.
Although men may sometimes seek to take advantage of us, God never will. He is making an incredible offer to you too. The offer is so great that it seems to our natural minds too good to be true. He is offering the gift of eternal life to all who will simply place their faith in His Son. “The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6:2323For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)).
We live in this world and are so used to dealing with other human beings who, just like ourselves, are full of shortcomings such as deceit and selfishness that we naturally suspect everything. We fail to recognize that God is far different from us. He has no shortcomings. He is perfect in knowledge, in goodness, in truth and in love. “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.”
The offer of eternal life doesn’t come from a human being like us. It comes from the supreme Being of the universe. Men may use deceit, but He never will. The offer to bring ruined sinners into His favor for all eternity is absolutely true. He can make this offer because in love He sent His Son into the world to give His life for sinners. “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)).
“Ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold...but with the precious blood of Christ.” To be “redeemed” means to be bought at a great price and delivered from the destruction that will inevitably overtake all people who remain in their sins. The Lord Jesus paid with His life’s blood so that all who believe on Him might be redeemed. What an incredible price God was willing to pay so that we might spend eternity with Him in heaven!
To all of mankind, who by their deeds deserve the darkness of a lost eternity, God is making this offer: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:3131And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (Acts 16:31)). God is supremely trustworthy, and He will never fail in keeping any of His promises. This offer is meant for you. He wants you to take it. He wants you to receive the gift of eternal life and be His child forever.
What holds you back from taking it? Men may have hurt you in the past by their deception, but God never will. Oh, come to the One who is faithful and true, who makes incredible promises and keeps them to the fullest! The gift of eternal life is the most astounding gift anyone could ever receive. So even if the offer at first seems almost too good to be true, won’t you believe on the Lord Jesus that this gift might be yours?