You are invited to have a brief look at the reason why Jesus Christ came to Earth.
Many people believe that they have “been good and not sinned?and feel that this is sufficient to gain God’s favour. They have not understood that the major and initial problem came when Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, the direct contact between God and man was broken immediately, and man died in the spirit realm where God resides. From that point sin, as evil deeds, thoughts and intents, progressed into a sinful creation totally separated from God and His Holy nature. Thus, man’s sin is a combination of both inherited sin and personal sin and both need to be acknowledged and forgiven.
The following comments described the events of life :-
* God created Man in His image. We know that God is a Trinity of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, and He made Man a trinity of Soul, Body and Spirit. The Soul was created to live forever; the Body was created to "house" the Soul here on Earth, and the Spirit was included as a link between God the Creator and Man the Created. See Genesis 1:26-27
1:26-27 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.? So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
* Man sinned by disobeying God's commands and immediately the Spirit segment died and Man lost the intended connection between the Creator and Created. Adam was created in God's image, however when the Spirit segment died, Adam assumed his own image, now with a DNA minus God’s Holy Spirit, thus incomplete and contaminated by that initial/original sin.
See Genesis 3: 1-16, 21-24. Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden? The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”. “You will not certainly die,?the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.?When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?? He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.?And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from??. The man said, “The woman you put here with me?she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.? Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.?So the LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.?/em>
To the woman he said, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.? To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,?br />
“Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.? Adam nam ed his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.
The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. And the LORD God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.? So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.
* Adam and Eve had children in their own image, that is, without the Holy Spirit in the paternal DNA to link to God's domain - this continued with their children, and Adam had children in his own image - with a DNA contaminated by the original sin and without connection to God’s Spirit realm. This has continued throughout the ages since. See Genesis 5:3 When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth. After Seth was born, Adam lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Adam lived a total of 930 years, and then he died.
* God created Man to worship and glorify God - See Psalm 95:1-6. So it is a natural desire for us to "worship"; but whom do we choose to worship ? Sadly, there have been many God replacements in our natural worship ---money; football; pop-stars; sporting heroes; our-self. we have removed God from our life, society and thoughts and so worship ourselves.
Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD ;let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.
For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.. Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.
* God gave a set of laws and conditions around animal blood sacrifice as a substitute for human blood shedding as the penalty for sin, thus releasing his forgiveness for man’s sin. God said “The life of every creature is in its blood. That is why I have said to the people of Israel, “You must never eat or brink blood, for the life of any creature is in its blood.?without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. Hebrews 9:22.
See Leviticus 17:10-14.“‘I will set my face against any Israelite or any foreigner residing among them who eats blood, and I will cut them off from the people. For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life. Therefore I say to the Israelites, “None of you may eat blood, nor may any foreigner residing among you eat blood.? “‘Any Israelite or any foreigner residing among you who hunts any animal or bird that may be eaten must drain out the blood and cover it with earth, because the life of every creature is its blood. That is why I have said to the Israelites, “You must not eat the blood of any creature, because the life of every creature is its blood; anyone who eats it must be cut off.?/em>
From the beginning, God said that if we disobeyed His Laws/sinned, the penalty is that we pay for it with our life/blood and thus die eternally - that is eternal separation from God .
In Old Testament times, believers symbolically transferred their sins to an animal, which they then sacrificed. The animal died in their place to pay for their sin and to allow them to continue living in God’s favour. God graciously forgave them because of their faith in him and because they obeyed his commandments concerning the sacrifice. Those sacrifices anticipated the day when Christ would be the perfect sacrifice for sin.
* God made provision for forgiveness and restitution between man and Himself. That involved Jesus, God's Son being born into God's created world
.However, God is Spirit, and a spirit has no blood and a spiritual body, so for Jesus?death to be effective under God’s Law, God’s Son, Jesus, needed to get an earthly body, which was achieved by being born of M ary. The baby makes its?own blood independently of the mother’s blood, and so Jesus?blood was not “contaminated?by human blood but He had M ary’s DNA, with the paternal DNA being from God’s Holy Spirit, thus He could be classified as “truly divine?in origin, thus Jesus is truly God and man, living as a created man in a created world and teaching God's will, God's Love and God's Forgiveness. Jesus then was punished by created man and died, paying the penalty for man's sin. Because Jesus is without sin, only His blood was acceptable as a perfect sacrifice for the restoring relationship with God
* God included ALL people in His plan to allow His Son to be punished for man’s sin and separation from Him. This is shown in Luke 2:8-12 “And there were shepherds living out in the fields near by, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you. You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger’”. These were “ordinary?people The Lord wanted all to come to repentance 2 Peter 3:9
* Why does forgiveness require the shedding of blood? There is no greater symbol of life than blood, blood keeps us alive. Jesus shed his blood - gave his life - for our sins so that we wouldn’t have to experience spiritual death, eternal separation from God. Jesus is the source of life, not death. He gave his own life to pay our penalty for us so that we might live with Him eternally. After shedding his blood for us. Christ rose from the grave and proclaimed victory over sin and death.
“But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.?/p>
See 1 John 1:5-10. This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.(has no place in our lives).
* God had His Son, Jesus, sacrificed for our sins and separation from Him. Isaiah 1:18 states “Come now, let us reason together, “says the Lord? though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.?This is a reference to the custom, on the Day of Atonement, when the lamb was sacrificed for the sins of the nation. A scarlet cord/sash was placed around the lamb’s neck and the Chief Priest put it on the sacrificial lamb, took it into the Holy Sanctuary and there slaughtered the lamb. It was the custom that if God accepted the sin offering, the cord/sash would turn white - an act of God, and the priest would display the now white cord/sash to the people who would shout and cheer in relief and worship, that their sins had been forgiven. The priest was required to record this miraculous event each year. There were only a few years when this indication of forgiveness did not happen. On the destruction of the temple in 70AD, records were found stating that this cord/sash conversion “had not occurred for about 40 years? That is since the time of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ !!! Thus Jesus?death “is a full perfect and sufficient sacrifice for the sins of the whole world?past - present- and future. This is confirmed in the Talmud which says that “the cloth did not turn white for about 40 years before the temple was destroyed? - Tractate Yoma 39b. The old system of animal sacrifice was no longer needed.
* Jesus died painfully a wooden cross, satisfying the penalty for the sin of all created people. Those who recognise and believe that Jesus is God's Son and accept God's free gift of forgiveness, subsequently receive eternal life with God. It is a free gift to all who believe that Jesus is God's Son and has redeemed us and provided a way for created man to be re-united with God and His Spirit realm - for ever
* Even though we try to think and legislate God out of existence ---- He still loves each one of us on purpose.
Thus He sent His Son - Jesus the Christ, to Earth, to be born into the created humanity and to teach, demonstrate and finally take the punishment for our sin and to re-establish the Spirit component of the original creation - and so provide a way for those who accept that sacrifice made by Jesus, to have eternal communion with God the Father. See John 3:1-21 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.?/em>
Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.?/em>
“How can someone be born when they are old??Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!?/em>
Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.? The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.?/em>
9 “How can this be??Nicodem us asked. “You are Israel’s teacher,?said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things?
Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven?the Son of Man.. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.? For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
* God offers us --- free --- the gift of Eternal life with Him if we confess our sin, and ask forgiveness, and accept that Jesus Christ is Lord and Saviour, having taken our punishment for rejecting God, rising from the dead and ascending to heaven. See Romans 6:19-23 I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
* Jesus promises to send the Holy Spirit; "If you love me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth."
See John 14:15-21. “If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever? the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.?/em>
"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere - in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
See Acts 1: 7-11. He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.? After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,?they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.?/em>
* Jesus ascends into Heaven; "Then Jesus led them to Bethany, and lifting his hands to heaven, he blessed them. while he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up to heaven." See Luke 24:50-51........ "After saying this he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him. As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. 'Men of Galilee' they said, 'why are you standing here staring into heaven ? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go !"
See Acts 1:9-11. After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,?they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.?/em>
* The Holy Spirit comes. "On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place. Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability."
See Acts 2:1-4. When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
* There is, however, a problem related to “forgiveness?/strong>. Gospel preaching in the New Testament always begins with the command to repent, before the invitation to believe, shown both by Jesus himself and the apostles in Mark 1:15; Luke 24:47: Acts 3:19 and Acts 26:20. Forgiveness was always combined with repentance towards God rather than just faith in Jesus, in striking contrast to much current evangelism.
Mark 1 :14-15. After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,?he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!?/em>
Luke 24:45-48. Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.?/em>
Acts 3:17-23 “Now, fellow Israelites, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Messiah would suffer. Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you?even Jesus. Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets. For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from their people.?/em>
Acts 26:19-23 “So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds. That is why some Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me. But God has helped me to this very day; so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen? that the Messiah would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles.?/em>
The Lord’s Prayer in Luke 14 also highlights our need and should make us consider our attitude to forgiveness where it states “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.?/em> Do we really want God to give us equal forgiveness to that which we give to others ?
Matthew 18: 21-35 describes a situation where a king demands repayment of a massive debt owed by his chief administrator ( equivalent of $10,000,000). The administrator begs for time to pay, and the king is “touched?by his appeal and forgives the whole debt. The administrator, much relieved; goes from the king’s presence and finds a servant who owes him a small amount (equivalent of $1,000) The servant pleads for time to pay, but the administrator refuses and has the servant imprisoned until the debt is paid. The king finds out about this event, and calls the administrator to account for himself and, after learning that the administrator had refused the same forgiveness of a much smaller amount, then reimposes his massive debt and imprisonment. This indicates that if we do not forgive others, we face God treating us the same way and overturning His forgiveness of us.
Matthew 18:21-35 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?? Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
“Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,?he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.?The servant’s master took pity on him, cancelled the debt and let him go.
“But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!?he demanded. “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.?. “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.
When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened. “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,?he said, ‘I cancelled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?? In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.?/em>
Thus you can see that forgiveness is reversible !!!!! However, in Hebrews 8 God refers to a new covenant He intends to establish, and in verse 12, among other things says, ”For I will be merciful towards their iniquities, and I will remember their sin no more?/em>. God knows our true attitude/intent, and so depending on each individual’s sincerity in both repentance to God and forgiveness of others, God forgives and forgets or forgives in the same way we forgive others .
Hebrews 8: 6 -13. But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises. For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. But God found fault with the people and said:“The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them , declares the Lord. This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God ,and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbour, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,?because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.? By calling this covenant “new,?he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.
Something to think about, eh ?
How are you fitting into God's plan ?
What is your place in this movement ?
* Jesus is coming back to "judge" and collect those who have accepted Him as Lord and Saviour. We do not know when that will be, but for some of us that will be soon, as once we leave this life our opportunity to accept the free gift of salvation has passed
.See John 14: 1-7.“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.? Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?? Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one com es to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him .?/span>
"After saying this he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him. As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. 'Men of Galilee' they said, 'why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!"
See Acts 1:9-11 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,?they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.?/em>
Now we have progressed from Creation, Man's fall from God's Grace, Christmas, Easter, the Ascension and, Pentecost next will be God's Judgement of our Relationship with Him ------ so where do you stand now?
God's Word tells us that :-
In John 14:6, Jesus said "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one can com e to the Father except though me".
and in Romans 3:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." and in
Ephesians 2:8-10 "God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God's masterpiece. He created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago."
If you now believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that He paid the price of your redemption, then it is all a matter of FAITH that GOD WILL DO WHAT HE SAYS HE WILL DO.
Have you accepted Jesus as your Saviour and Lord ?
If yes --- good ---- why not share the celebration of God's love with others ?
If no ---- think seriously about the future --- eternity without God, our total and only support.
Whatever your personal response to this message, still share this message with your relatives, friends and associates because they might like to make their own positive decision to accept God's free offer, and you should not stand in the way of them receiving eternal life with God.
May God draw you to Him as you celebrate Jesus life with us, His return home to God the Father and the sending of God's Holy Spirit to be our life-giver and guide while He prepares to come back and collect His family.
Remember that when you come to God in prayer, it is sincerity that He is interested in. The words of Golden Bells 650 says it all
?I often say my prayers, but do I ever pray ?
For do the wishes of my heart, go with the words I say ?
I may as well kneel down and worship gods of stone
As offer to the living God, a prayer of words alone.
For words without a heart, the Lord will never hear,
Nor to those lips will He attend, whose words are not sincere.
Lord teach m e what I need, and teach m e how to pray,
Don’t let m e ask You for Your Grace, not m eaning what I say.
It is a personal relationship between you and God that is important. God is God and He never changes. If you seek forgiveness and restitution with God and accept the free gift of forgiveness and salvation that Jesus offers us all, then God the just is satisfied to look on Jesus and pardon you and me.
We must be careful that we have a relationship with God, not a legalistic approach where we hope to gain favour with God by only obeying laws. It is not enough to know about Him, we need to know Him personally..
By definition, I adhere to my Christian morality and principles not to become a Christian, but because I am a Christian. And those two concepts are worlds apart! One is a pagan mentality of serving a god-master to get off the hook. The other follows the relationship Abraham began when he looked up in unlimited obedience and said as it were “I read You loud and clear.? We must return to our Abrahamic roots of a relationship to a Friend, a kinship to a Daddy, an Abba to put His arms around us, rather than a paganistic and legalistic approach to just be doing enough to keep Him off our backs !
May God guide and bless you.
No matter how hard we try, we cannot think or legislate God out of existence.
To God alone, be all the glory - now and always.
Feb 2014