The Formula

Who doesn’t love a good and simple recipe!  I have quite a collection although that’s really just what they are – a collection, since I rarely try anything new.  The things I make best aren’t even written down.  Cornbread, for example; I watched Mama make cornbread so much I just know what ingredients to combine and how much.  That works fine until someone asks, “how much cornmeal … oil … milk”?  Uh …

 

Do you remember the first Scripture verse you memorized?  Most of us would answer John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”  Late evangelist Angel Martinez memorized the entire New Testament, and often referred to John 3:16 as “salvation’s formula.”  It really is the Gospel in a nutshell!  Within this precious sentence is redemption’s cause, cost, condition, and consequence.  While all are important, we tend to rest in the consequence of salvation because it’s what we feel is our greatest benefit.  While true, what made it happen, the price and condition precede the reward.  These also reveal attributes of The Father, which we are commanded to mirror in our own Christian lives.  Mr. Bill loves hot buttered cornbread with homemade vegetable soup, but it doesn’t just happen – much has been done before the first bite.  Let us never take for granted God’s great love, sacrifice, and prerequisite to the redemption of our souls, fully understanding Divine Love poured into the formula.  Praise the LORD!