"All special offers quoted are limited and subject to availability. The terms and conditions compiled in this document are subject to change without notice. It is the responsibility of the any person seeking to rely on the information by visiting our website or by contacting our phone number. "
How many times have we heard this spiel following an advertisement?
Any special offer has terms and conditions. If you don't check these, you may get caught out by something you weren't aware of. God has a special offer for all of us. Our God has his own terms and conditions in his official documents. However, there is no misleading information or limiting of availability. God's special offer is open to anyone who wants it.
Ex 3 is all about Moses coming to meet God. It is the story of the burning bush. When Moses approaches the bush, he learns about God's terms and conditions for freeing his people from slavery. He was freeing Israel because he wanted to.
God didn't have to forgive our sins. He wants to!
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
God is a god of promises. Even during hard times, we can rely on him to fulfil his promises. He isn’t going to have a ‘get out clause’ or let us down at the end. John makes his promise clear, ‘whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life’.
God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? (Num 23:19)
We’ve all been let down by people before, politicians who lie, family that promises and forgets and friends who use words but not actions. Thankfully, our salvation is based on God's promises. It is not based on whether we feel 'saved' or not. Sometimes we feel unworthy, unholy….like God wouldn’t want us as our children, or that his promises wouldn’t apply to me because I am such a sinner. Martin Luther wrote a lovely poem on this:
“Feelings come and feelings go,
And feelings are deceiving;
My warrant is the Word of God--
Naught else is worth believing.
Though all my heart should feel condemned
For want of some sweet token,
There is One greater than my heart
Whose Word cannot be broken.
I'll trust in God's unchanging Word
Till soul and body sever,
For, though all things shall pass away,
HIS WORD SHALL STAND FOREVER!”
We might not feel we deserve God’s love or the eternal life he promises, but thankfully it is not up to us. His terms and conditions ask us to believe in Him and his son and He will give us life.