"The Greatest Opportunity Ever Offered!" Series

On television or radio, it is not uncommon to hear a pitchman tell you that the particular opportunity to purchase whatever product he is promoting is "the greatest opportunity ever offered!" You know that isn*t the case, however, because the next week you will see the same product offered with new packaging and at a new price, but still with the promise, "This is the greatest opportunity ever offered!" As the old saying goes, "If it seems too good to be true, it probably is!"

But such is not the case with God*s offer of eternal life through faith in Christ. God*s offer is as good as it seems. Eternal life is a free gift, through faith in Christ. His offer has never changed, and His price is still the same. Indeed, God’s offer of eternal life through Christ is the greatest opportunity ever offered!

1. It Is An Opportunity For All Who Lose!

This opportunity is for all who lose, which is each of us! For the Bible makes it clear that all of us, apart from Christ, are losers. Jesus made that clear when He said, "apart from me you can do nothing," (John 15:5)! Thank God, this offer is for "whoever." No one is excluded, no matter how big a loser in life they may be.

Apart from Christ we are all losers! We are all condemned, for example, to experience loss with respect to knowing freedom from the burden of sin.

The Bible tells us that each of us is guilty of sin. The Bible tells us that, "No one is good - not even one," (Romans 3:10). Though some may try to deny it, what the Bible says is, nevertheless, true.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the famous creator of Sherlock Holmes, reportedly played a practical joke on twelve of his friends who were highly respected and considered by society to be quite virtuous. Doyle sent every one of them the same telegram: "Flee at once, all is discovered." Within twenty-four hours, each of them had taken a trip out of the country.

The point is that no matter how noble our reputation is, we each have things in our lives (whether in our past or present) that we would rather not have anyone else discover.

When people are honest about it, they have to admit to the fact that sin has left them with a burden of guilt. And their guilt is something from which they cannot run away!

Apart from Christ, you will never know freedom from the burden of your sin, and, as a result, you will never know freedom from the bondage of Satan.

Satan is out to deceive all who do not know Jesus. In Ephesians 2:2, Paul describes the bondage under which a person lives apart from Christ, when he tells us that without Christ in one*s life, he follows "The ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient."

In a large city some very creative crooks broke into a department store. They entered the store unnoticed and stayed long enough to accomplish their mission. What was their mission? They switched the price tags on everything in the store. $400 price tags were swapped with price tags that read $3.95, and so on. When the store opened the next morning you would have expected total chaos. Surprisingly, though, for four hours, the store operated just as it normally did. Some customers literally got some steals while others thought the merchandise was significantly overpriced. Incredibly, four hours slipped by before the hoax was discovered.

In the department store of life, Satan has deceptively switched the price tags, and too many people have not yet caught on. He has deceived them into thinking that things which are only temporary and passing are worthy of having one’s life given completely to them, while matters of eternal consequence (like making sure you are right with God) are things that can be left to take care of on "another day."

One of Satan’s chief strategies is to convince people that when it comes to making sure of your eternal destiny and whether or not you are right with God, there is no hurry. He has been very successful at this strategy. Consequently, countless thousands upon thousands of people who think they are in control of their lives are really living under the bondage and influence of the evil one.

Please understand, Satan is out to destroy all who do not know Jesus. Concerning the work of the Devil, Jesus said, "The thief comes only to kill, to steal, and to destroy . . ." (John 10:10a).

Once upon a time a wolf, a fox, and a bear went hunting. As luck would have it, fortune smiled on them and each got a deer. After the hunt, they sat down to discuss how the spoils should be divided.