–He came into the world to save sinners. This is the very first the christ and most basic expression of acknowledgment and gratitude that I will make. For I was a sinner, and still do sin. (although not by plan or intent) Therefore I was lost, and I full well remember the time when I knew that the coarse of my life was leading straight to hell fire. For I understood that God was holy, and I was corrupt, and that He would not allow that which is unholy into His heaven. Therefore, this is the most basic and most appreciated aspect of all in regards to what Christ has done for me. He has forgiven my sin. Hallelujah! This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinner…(1 Tim. 1:15 KJV)
–He sought me out! Oh yes, I seek Him today, and I have sought Him since I was teenager, but it was He who first sought me! I can honestly say that the conviction and drawing of the Holy Spirit in my life was some of my earliest childhood memories. He was there all the time. Convicting me of His reality, His goodness, His holiness, and my need for a Savior. He wooed me, much like a man might woo a woman to Himself. He had His eye on me, and never gave up drawing me to Himself, until finally all my arguments against coming to Him were gone, and in my heart I concluded to serve Him was good and wise, and to not serve Him was the height of stupidity and loss. I say again. It was He who first sought me out, and it was He who never gave up until I said Yes to Him. Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain:…(John 15:16a KJV) No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. (John 6:44 KJV)
–He made me one of His children. Not only has Christ our Lord offered to me forgiveness of sin, but He did not then leave me on my own, but welcomed me heartily into His family as an adopted son. It is impossible for me to express to you what this knowledge has meant to me in my life. For this knowledge has given me worth. For I am a child of the Eternal King! May He ever be praised for this! For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba Father. (Romans 8:14-15 KJV)
–He caused me to be born again (born from above). This has total complete and extreme importance because even if He had forgiven me, and welcomed me into His household, what good would that be if in the core of my being I had not been changed from the vile creator that I was. For He has caused me to become a new man in Christ Jesus, the old man of corruption has been put away forever! I have experienced what the Scripture refers to as regeneration. In my spirit man, I’m a brand new man. Hallelujah! Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (2 Cor. 5:17 KJV)
–He gave me a voice, and gave me something to say. How well I remember as a youth, after which I had come to Him and began to discover His wonders, how full of the fear of people I was, and how that in that fear, how “clammed up” I was. Yet, how I desired, and cried out to Him that I might be granted the ability and the opportunity to speak of Him and of His wonders. And although I still often find myself, to one degree or another falling victim to that same old fear, none the less He has wrought tremendous change and victory for me in this area of my life, and has brought His word to me, that I might perceive it, and share it with others who are both near and far, even as the Apostle Paul said: Unto me, who am less than the lest of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. (Eph. 3:8 KJV)
–He caused me to be baptized into Christ. This means when I chose to by faith cry out to Him, He placed me in Himself. Thereby opening up to me all the riches of His grace that are available to any soul of man who abides in Christ. Since that time it has been my pursuit, as it should be the pursuit of all Believers to add understanding to this, and then to act it out in every aspect of our lives, so that in all our actions we behave according to the spiritual truth that our lives are hid in Christ. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. (Col. 3:3 KJV)
–He caused me to be baptized into His body. This means that Christ placed me as a member in His body, which is the Church. This means that I am among His family in the world, and not on my own. This has immeasurable worth to me, as I believe it should to all Believers. Not that I have perfect fellowship in His body, for I wish I did have more perfect fellowship, but I find our fellowship is disrupted by the sins and confusions that are so very common place within His church in this generation. For by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body—and—But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another….(1 Cor. 12:13 & 1 John 1:7a KJV)