God forbid, but if for some reason you were
to die tonight, are you absolutely certain you would go to heaven? We have all done wrong in God's eye who is perfect.
In other words we have all sinned and fall far short of what God wants. We are all born into sin
naturally rebelling against God by choosing to do things our own way rather
than to rely on God.
What is man?... Is man good or
bad?... Are we naturally good, with good intentions, and thoughts? Look at a
child, do we have to teach them how to lie? Or steal from another child? Do we
have to teach a kid to be a bully? In other
words we have all sinned and fall far short of what God wants.
God is holy and perfectly righteous and cannot tolerate
sin. God is
good and because He is good, He is just. By that I mean that He has to punish
sin. If He did not, then He would not be good. If we have fallen short with people and relationships,
then how much more have we fallen short against a holy and just God? And one
day you and I will be judged by Him for the things that we have done in this
life. In fact,
if we are honest with ourselves, we are guilty of not only murder, but theft,
adultery, blasphemy and so on! We are all sinners.
Therefore, because we are sinners we cannot be in God’s
presence in our natural state.
That is not good news for us because that means we are under
judgment and we will be punished. The simple fact is when we stand before God when we die, we
will have to give an account for all those "bad" things we have done. I have
good news for you! The Bible tells us that "we can know that we have
eternal life." He loves
us too much to not give us a way to be reconciled back to Him. My friend, the love of God
for you, could not have been expressed any better, than in sending His Son,
Jesus Christ to die on a cross for your sin and my sin. God is
good and because He is good, He is just. By that I mean that He has to punish
sin. If He did not, then He would not be good. But Jesus, who had no sin, took upon Himself our sin. He sent His Son Jesus to us
for this reason.
He (God) sacrificed His only
begotten son, Jesus the Christ to redeem us. I
will tell you that Jesus came fully man, but did not sin! He never told a lie,
stole, bullied, etc... He was perfect. He spoke the truth, and the showed the
way that one must be saved. He said that "The only way to the Father is
through Me.... I am the way, the truth, and the life..." Because Jesus is perfect
having never sinned and being worth so much more than all of His creation, His life
was more than worthy as a sacrifice to redeem ours
How can this be?
In love, God had His son, Jesus
Christ pay the price for our sin! Because out of love for you and me, Jesus was accused of
crimes He never committed. He was sentenced to death, carried His cross, was
nailed to it and began to die!
He was crucified! God's Son, took our punishment on
the cross.
God began to poor out His
wrath on Jesus, wave after wave! Jesus had become our sin to the point that God
could not even look at Him, and Jesus cried out "My God, My God why
have you forsaken Me?" God had His son Jesus Christ, pay
the price for our sin!
And paying the penalty that we
rightfully deserved. When
God was done pouring out His wrath on Him, Jesus knew it was done, and said
"It is finished." Then He died! He
paid the full price for our sin, and not for ours only, but for everyone’s,
which was and is DEATH! Jesus
Christ had to die for our sins, to give us that gift of eternal life. He
humbled Himself and died for us. He
died, and was buried. He went into the depths of
Hell, and remained there for three days, then He rose again from the dead! 3 days later He rose from
death conquering death once and for all. Jesus rose again from the grave. God was completely satisfied with
what His Son did on the cross.
Jesus came to life!
The power of sin was no match against the power of God, for
Jesus Christ arose from the grave and was seen by over 500 people. He ascended back into Heaven
with God! Where He now sits at God's right hand, as our appropriation for sins!
What must we do to be saved?
The Bible tells us that if we will
confess our sins to God, and sincerely surrender our life to Him. Because of this, if we are willing to entrust
ourselves to Jesus Christ and accept the price that Jesus paid for us on the
cross, then we no longer are going to be punished. Thankfully, the shed blood of
Jesus Christ is so powerful, that it atones for our sin, thereby freeing us
from the penalty of sin.
Jesus said that we must
confess, and repent of our sins. Meaning turn from our old, and bad ways, and
turn to Him. We must believe that He did what the bible says He did, by taking
our sins, our judgment, our punishment, dying for us, and being raise again on
the 3rd day. That
He came to the earth in human form, born of a virgin to live among us as a man,
subject to the same temptations and suffering that a human is subject to. If we
trust and acknowledge Jesus as our Lord and Savior then are made right before
God. Sincerely surrender our life to Him by asking Him
to come into our heart to be our Lord and Savior, then we can be saved. Jesus had promised to also
send the Holy Spirit to live in all those who confess Jesus as their savior.
Then we must take up our own cross daily, and follow Him.
He said that if anyone should desire to come after Him they must do that, for
one cannot live in his own way of the old life, but must be made new. Jesus
said no one can enter into the kingdom of God unless He is born again. The Holy Spirit living in us
a "Christian" can be transformed from a natural sinner to a person
who can reject sin and be filled with the love that God has for us.
Can you buy eternal life? No. Can you work to
gain eternal life? No. It is a free gift of God being offered to
you right now by God’s grace. May I encourage you to receive this
amazing gift of eternal life today! What that entails is this: (1) Placing your trust in
Jesus Christ to save you, (2) Confess your sins to God and repent (which means
to turn away from them) and follow Jesus Christ. If
you are feeling the guilt and shame of the bad things you have done, and
realize your need of a savior, let me encourage you to: find a quiet place
where you can pray to God, coming to Him in need of Jesus the savior. Confess
your sins, admitting that you have not only wronged people, but God too. Call
out to Him to save you, believe that Jesus did die for you, and ask that Jesus
make you new. Then let me encourage you to get a bible, and begin reading from
the book John. Then make your way to a church, and tell them that you gave your
life to Jesus, and begin talking with them. Become His child. The Holy Spirit convicts us of
sin and provides us with the desire and strength to obey God.
Our time in short so please
do not wait! Go to God today seek forgiveness for your sins, through Jesus
Christ!
Now that is good news!
+++
I am so excited right now! I asked 5 men to write in their own words
the Gospel of Jesus Christ. To do it in the moment and put what was in their
heart. They did it! What I shared with you is what I got from the men. Each
color represents a different man speaking. Imagine 5 men standing and preaching
the good news of Jesus to the lost (even to the “church”). When one finishes a
breath, another picks up without hesitation… This goes to show that when we
come together under the banner of Christ and Him crucified (1 Cor 2:2) and
preach that, that we can be of one mind, and in unity! Thank you for taking the
time to read this and share any thoughts, or questions you might have.
Your Brother in Christ
Grace and Peace be with you
Nate Cook, Setting Captives Free Team
Member
And Jesus said to me:
Eze 3:10b-11a "...Receive into your heart all My words
that I speak to you, and hear with your ears, and go, get
to the captives..."
No comments:
Post a Comment