A Unique Offer - Lift Up My Eyes

As a card-carrying member of the Grammar Police, one word that is frequently misused bugs the daylights out of me. That word is “unique.” The Oxford Dictionary defines it as “being the only one of its kind.” Herein lies my objection. I often hear people describe something as more unique or most unique. If something is truly unique there can be nothing to compare it to, so those adjectives are useless. Something is unique or it is not, no modifiers.

For example, the Van Gogh painting “Starry Night” is unique. There are copies and reproductions but only one “Starry Night.” In another context you might describe a vacation as a unique experience. Suppose you were on a cruise ship with 4,000 other passengers, your experience was different from the others, so that could be described as unique. If however, you stray across my line in the sand and claim your cruise experience was most unique, you’ll get a visit from the Grammar Police. It could legitimately be said that there were 4,000 unique cruise experiences on the ship, as each differed in some way.

Stay with me. This blog is not just the ramblings of a senile old man. I would like to introduce two truly unique facts.

First, God is unique. Yahweh, the God of the Israelites is the one true God. There is no other. Our “gods” of wealth or fame are false gods. So-called beings worshipped by others are only pretenders, not gods. In Deuteronomy 6:4 Moses proclaimed “ Hear, Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!” In I Corinthians 8:5-6 Paul proclaimed “For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, yet for us there is only one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.”

In Mark 12:28 a scribe questioned Jesus “‘What commandment is the foremost of all?” In the following verses Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘Hear, Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’” Not only is He unique, we have been commanded to reciprocate the love God has for us. This should belie any claims that there are multiple true gods. We are to love Him with our entire being.

Second, the path to salvation is unique. Acts 4:12 explicitly states that God is the exclusive source and authority for our salvation. “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among mankind by which we must be saved.” Jesus uniquely gave up His heavenly position to dwell on earth. He uniquely took our sins, reconciling us to God. Salvation is a gift, something we cannot earn. He uniquely rose from the dead, uniquely offering us new life and eternal salvation.

The gift is offered, but we must accept that gift. We do that when we have a personal internal faith and externally declare that Jesus is our Lord. That involves repentance – the act of acknowledging that we have sinned, repent, and turn toward God. When we genuinely do this, we are transformed into new life and are renewed spiritually. Receiving Jesus’ salvation is not just performing rituals. There is nothing more to do than to say “yes” to Jesus as Lord and Savior. The uniqueness of salvation means that we accept it on God’s terms.

Acceptance means we have a new family as Jesus said in John 1:12 “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.” Repent, receive, renew. A unique offer that can be made by no other.

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To learn more about a new life in Christ, click here.

All scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible unless otherwise indicated.