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Salvation made clear Life is real-and relatively short. Each day decisions must be made. These decisions however simply mark our humanity. The ability to reason separates us from animals. But what about the real questions of life? While we live we will eventually ask such questions as: Why was I born? Why am I here? What is life all about? What happens when I die? Who is God? Can I know him? How do I get to know him, etc. Every good and perfect thing comes from God, and God is love! All evil comes from Satan who is an adversary of God. He is the father of lies. He was a murderer from the begining. He is a deceiver (Revelation 19) and a destroyer (Hebrews 2:14), as well as the one who attemps to keep us from joy and peace. Scripture teaches us that in the begining there was just God. He created the heavens with the sun, moon stars, and angels and the earth with its sea life, animals and vegetation. Everything was perfect and God declared that it was good (Genesis 1). After he created and prepared the earth He said, Let Us (Father, son and Holy Spirit) make man in our own image (exact likeness). So, man was made. However, Satan, who was the head angel in Heaven (Lucifer) was kicked out of heaven because he wanted to be like God. He was jealous that God was now favoring Adam, the first man, and so enticed Eve and Adam to disobey and to actually defy God. God made it clear that if Adam or Eve ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil they would die (Genesis 3). Adam and Eve decided to disobey God and death occurred immediately. Not physical death , but spiritual death (Romans 5:12,18,19) says through one man's offence (sin) judgement came upon all people. This perpetual sin destroys our relationship with God. We sin becauses we are sinners and born in sin nature. God knows that given the same circumstances we would all make the same choice as Adam and Eve. Even a child learns evil,selfishness,lying,anger etc. easily. Jesus taught a clear principle, "Its not what goes into the body that kills it, but it is the evil heart of sin within us." Jesus tells us where sin originated from in Matthew 15:10-20 Romans 3:23 verifies that all have sinned, and fallen short of God's glory. The words "fall short," mean to miss the mark. God is pure holiness and perfection. Man is sinful and unholy (selfish). We fall short of God's standards. The obvious problem is that we have forfeited God's plan for our life because of our sins. How can a holy God and sinful man be reconciled or brought together? Humanly speaking there is no way. In I Timothy 2:5 we are told that there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus who gave Himself a ransom for all. Christmas we celebrate a time when God took on a human body, but yet kept His devine nature. Jesus is called the son of God as well as the son of man. The name Jesus means "Savior". The name Christ means "Sent One". John 1:14 says "the word became flesh and dwelt among us." We are told that Jesus did not come into the world to condemn us, but that the world might be saved through Him. The coming to earth of Jesus Christ was an amazing miracle. It's called the Incarnation, God taking on human body. Why was this necessary? Because there was no perfect human among men. God himself had to become that perfect human. Why was a perfect human required? To satisfy God's perfect or just (holy sinless) requirement. Scripture states that Jesus was both Just and the Justifier. Even though Adam and Eve sinned and there sinful nature has been passed on to us, God still loves us with great love. That's why John 3:16 is so meaningful, "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son". God is not willing that anyone should perish. This is God's plan of salvation. You have to trespass over God's love to go to hell. Hell is a real place. The Bible tells us that it was originally created for Satan and his angels, but because of man's rebellion and disobedience, those who reject God's salvation through Jesus Christ will go to hell when they die. Just as jails are necessary to deal with those who reject authoroty and man's laws, so those who ignore God's word with Jesus Christ as the Savior and Deliverer will ultimately spend eternity with Satan in Hell. If you are ignorong this issue you are actually choosing to continue following the path that leads to Hell. The big question is, "How can we experience full forgiveness of sin and be assured of going to heaven when we die?" The Awesome News Romans 10:8,9,10 has some wonderful news. Salvation is within reach if we believe in our heart, (not just a mental concept) and confess with our mouth then Christ will save us. "Confess" means to fully believe that we are sinners but acknowledge that Christ takes away our sin. When Christ died on the cross, He paid for ALL our sins, from birth till present. There is nothing more God can do for us. He allows us the will to decide for ourselves. Salvation is not what we do, but what Jesus did. It is however our conscious decision. Our job is to believe that he loves us, even as a sinner. If we could save ourselves, the death of Christ was unnecessary, in fact foolish. If we could earn our salvation then God had His son murdered for nothing. We are told if we believe in Christ we will not be put to shame. Calling on Christ to forgive us means He will save us (Romans 10:11, 13). This matter of salvation is most amazing experience. There is a human aspect and a divine aspect. In Romans 8:9 we are told that God, the Holy Spirit, draws us to Christ and confirms to our human spirit that we are God's childern. It's overwhelming to realize that God not only gave his Son, but also His Spirit. He's a Great God, and as God almighty He has unlimited power, and yet has a personal concern for you. After deciding to follow His path His Holy Spirit will guide and protect you as you ask Him daily. Nothing is to hard for Him. He forgives the deepest sins, if you believe in Him and ask for forgivenes. Praise the Lord!!! |
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