"The great authority of Christ"
How many of us think about real
purpose of life? The questions about the purpose and our destiny are in
so many of our minds. Most people are just satisfied in achieving
their own goals and enjoy only the present time. Did God have any
purpose in creating us if our goal was just to live that short life on
earth and then die and be forgotten? Are we all scrod up? The answer is
surely no.
The Bible tells us clearly more about much greater
things . It talks about our restoration, about the restoration of all
things.
The creative purpose of God to redeem the mankind was in the very beginning.
It
was all planned with wisdom before this present creation. Jesus as the
redeemer was God's plan and all things came into being through him.
He
is the ultimate expression of God and His love for us. His plan was
expressed in pieces and parts in history, as people acted and in
prophecy, as people spoke. The plan was being expressed as Abraham set
off to sacrifice Isaac, his only son, about which we read in the Old
Testament. In John 3;16 we read that "God so loved the world
that He gave His only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in him,
shall not perish but have everlasting life." Then as Moses
lifted up the serpent on the desert Old Testament) - so is the Son of
Man (Jesus) lifted up by God so whoever believes in Him has everlasting
life.
We read in the prophecy in the Isaiah that the Servant of God
would be pierced for our transgressions, we read in Psalms about all he
faced on the cross. No coincidence, coming of Jesus was planned by God
and He foretold him in so many ways throughout Old Testament
scriptures. God wasn't to surprise anybody with sending the savior
as if He made up His mind to redeem us from our sin in the middle of
our life' history. He clearly foretold him to us. Christ is a real
person with a real meaning. We can understand this important meaning
in our lives by studying the scriptures about the authority given him
by God both in heaven and on earth.
He said " all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth" Matthew 28;18
"The
Father judges no one but has given all judgement to the Son. So that
all many honor the Son just as they honor the Father who sent him."
John5;22-23
"The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand." John 3;35
In the above verse "He has given all judgement to the Son"
, we see that it will be Jesus Christ who will judge all men and that
thereby all men will honor the Son even as they honor the Father.
That is what we saw in Philippians 2;10-11
"Every knee will bow down and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord , to the glory of God the Father."
Jesus
Christ the one who was judged, condemned and executed by men, raised
from the dead seated at the right hand of God-will be the one to
finally judge all men.
.Every person who has ever lived will be
judged by him. But there are 2 different 'finals'. Believers in Christ
will be judged for what they have done in the body, but they are not
the subject to God's condemnation.
"For we must all appear
before judgement seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things
done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad." 2
Cor 5;10
For those who trusted Jesus, the judgement is not for death and condemnation;
"Very
truly I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes Him who sent
me has eternal life, and will not be condemned, he has crossed over from
death to life." John 5;24
Those who listen to Him and trusted him, those who are born again are justified.
God didn't sent Jesus to die on the cross just in vain. He offered you and me the way out, to avoid God's wrath.
So all unrepentant people, all who don't want to know him, who rejected Him,they will be subject to God's wrath.
"(...) he who does not believe the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abides on him. " John 3;36
John
12;48 " He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that
which judges him- the word that I have spoken will judge him in the
last day."
More about Jesus as the judge we read in John 5;27-29;
v.25."
I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead
will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live."
We see that it is Jesus Christ who will call people to new and everlasting life.
v.26." For as the father has life in himself , so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself."
v.27 " And He has given Him authority to execute judgement , because He is the Son of Man."
It
will be Jesus Christ's voice all people will hear in their graves and
it will be Him to decide who is to live and who is to die;
v.21."
For just as the father raises the dead and gives them life , even so
the Son gives life to whom He is pleased to give it."
v.28 " Do not be astonished at this, for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice."
v.29 " and will come out -those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation."
This
is what is commonly known as the resurrections of "the just" and "the
unjust". The Bible clearly says that all people who have ever lived will
get up from the dead.
We can be sure His judgement is just as He is always doing God's will;
John
5;30 " I can do nothing on my own, as I hear I judge, and my judgement
is just, because I seek to do not my own will but the will of Him who
sent me."
Because Jesus Christ works in perfect harmony with his heavenly Father, there will be justice for all.
v.19."
Jesus said to them;'Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on
His own, but only what He sees the Father doing, for what ever the
Father does, the Son does likewise."
"Who do you say I am"?
Jesus
of Nazareth put this question to His followers nearly 2000 years ago,
and the question still hangs in the air, requesting the answer from
every person living now. But is it not just to know who He is in general
but who He is for you. Your time on earth, your life now is to accept
Him as your Lord and savior. This the the only way out given by God to
avoid His judgement and not to be condemned but have new life.
It is not the life of limitations but the life of abundance. " I have come that they may have life,, and that they may have it more abundantly." John 10;10
Friday, October 26, 2012
Saturday, October 6, 2012
" I was found by those who did not seek Me"
"I was found by those who did not seek Me"
This time I thought it would be good to write down my testimony. How did I came to know the Lord?
It all started about 18 years ago. All my high school I was mainly interested in sport and science that was my favorite thing to do, jogging, javelin throwing and all that fun that had to do with light athletics. At that time no interest for God, besides knowing that some God exists but I wasn't really thinking about Him. So I did athletics in my free time and I decided I will be PE teacher. Physics seemed to hard to study but doing sport all your life seemed fun. But when it came to applying to the college in that specific area of sport- I wasn't accepted because I did not do to well in swimming and gymnastics. I remember I got C in that while there were people who got A in all the parts of the exam. I had to find somebody to blame for that...I wondered why God wouldn't let me do something I really liked. I wasn't happy at all at that time I thought I would have to wait one more year to apply again to that school, but meanwhile a friend told me about a new German college to which exams were in September.Then a thought came to me; let's study German for a year - to 'kill' the waiting time-and then I will go back to my sport!
And my journey started. On the first day at the new college we were all waiting to take the German exam.
You would see the nervous students reading their notes and a girl next to me reading the Bible...! Well, I was reading my notes all stressed up, while that girl completely relaxed reading her book...I asked her
'Does it help?' Then I heard all the lecture about Jesus. I though I had never met in my life a person that religious! All her story didn't seem to be interesting to me- I even thought she was really weird- crazy religious! Then she shared with me two Bible verses, I have never heard before.
They completely disturbed my peace!
"Not everyone who says to Me;Lord Lord shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven but he who does the will of my Father in heaven." Matthew 7;21
First of all I realized I might be one of those people since I had no clue whether I was doing the will of the Father in heaven or not.
I heard the right words to notice that a Christian is not about only attending a church once a while.
It is about doing God's will which is believing in the One He sent ( Jesus) and trusting His words. But because God seemed so unknown to me at that time I thought that living for Him was good when you are old but not as a student who has completely different things on mind ..'How do you know when you will die?' I heard the question. Then it will be too late. I imagined myself when God is recalling that day when I could hear His words from the Bible and I was rejecting them, I was rejecting Him and the life!
Then we read the following verse;"He who rejects Me, and does not receive my words, has that which judges him,the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day." John 12;48
I realized the words were telling the truth and if God says something it must be true.
How shocking it was for me to hear all these words, that I had to change my life, that Christian is a follower of Christ. It didn't seem easy 'jumping' into ' following Christ' right away.
I didn't want to. I had some other dreams and thinking too much about God didn't seem too comfortable. I thought God was too distant like in church, with lots of pictures, statues, you pray but they never speak to you. Because I imagined God like that, I didn't have interest in thinking about Him
What was left it was struggling with the thoughts 'I have to do God's will to be saved'
'Is reading the Bible for 15 minutes a day quite enough"? I wandered. I was struggling like that for half of the year, those 2 Bible verses were following me everywhere.... my mind couldn't get rid of them. The only 'relief ' was giving lessons to the kids when I had to focus on teaching the language, but as soon as the lesson was over, the words from the Bible came back and the question' Have you made up your mind?"
This became a really heavy burden on my heart; how much is it enough to be a Christian? What is His will every day? How can I be sure I am saved? How much of reading the Bible is enough to be called a Christian? Then I spontaneously prayed to God simply saying that I was tired of that burden that I didn't know what His will was but I wanted to do it and that and that I wanted Him to be my Lord!
That was very unusual because after that simple prayer at home I started to have peace in my heart that I haven't had for a long time. Such a relief as if somebody took of a big load of something from my heart. It seemed to me like Somebody there above heard me!
I started testing myself, even saying that I was not interested in reading ' boring Bible' didn't take away my peace. Then I realized I actually have an interest to read it. As I read that day I came across these words; John 14;27 " Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." Wow, that's exactly as if I was reading about myself; I just experienced that peace! I knew the Bible is true, the words are telling the truth! God is real!
I felt like being born again, seeing everything in a new light, God didn't seem distant and unknown any more. My heart wasn't accusing me .Each time I read the Bible it was confirming everything what I experienced. Jesus said;" You search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they that testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life." John 5;39-40
So it was the same with me, reading the Bible without coming to God didn't mean anything, I thought that just by reading I would be a real believer but that wasn't giving me any peace until I prayed. I decided to come to God like the above verse says. That is when God responded and I knew I was saved. My favorite verse became John 5;24 " Most assuredly I say to you , he who hears my word and and believes in Him who sent Me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgement, but has passed from death into life." We have forgiveness of sin in Jesus, that's why by trusting Him we can have peace in our heart.
Now it is hard to imagine living without God. "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." John 10;10 That is what it means to live with God and have Him as your Lord. Second you have promise that you have eternal life. " I am the resurrection and the life, he who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live." John 11;25
The Bible is full of so many great promises but if we don't have any access to them or we decide to ignore them,we choose to live a hopeless life. As it is said;" Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."
I finished my German college, I didn't care too much about coming back to sport, my interests changed and I went to the Bible school in Hungary for 2 years. I remember my friends saying' I would find no job if I didn't finish my German degree( because I went to the Bible school) and then after I finished my Bible school - the job 'called me' offering the job as a teacher in one of the private language schools. So meanwhile I also finished my last 2 years of German to get my final degree. My worries weren't needed, God was in control;
" Seek first the Kingdom of God, and all the things shall be added unto you." I 'experience' it all the time.
This time I thought it would be good to write down my testimony. How did I came to know the Lord?
It all started about 18 years ago. All my high school I was mainly interested in sport and science that was my favorite thing to do, jogging, javelin throwing and all that fun that had to do with light athletics. At that time no interest for God, besides knowing that some God exists but I wasn't really thinking about Him. So I did athletics in my free time and I decided I will be PE teacher. Physics seemed to hard to study but doing sport all your life seemed fun. But when it came to applying to the college in that specific area of sport- I wasn't accepted because I did not do to well in swimming and gymnastics. I remember I got C in that while there were people who got A in all the parts of the exam. I had to find somebody to blame for that...I wondered why God wouldn't let me do something I really liked. I wasn't happy at all at that time I thought I would have to wait one more year to apply again to that school, but meanwhile a friend told me about a new German college to which exams were in September.Then a thought came to me; let's study German for a year - to 'kill' the waiting time-and then I will go back to my sport!
And my journey started. On the first day at the new college we were all waiting to take the German exam.
You would see the nervous students reading their notes and a girl next to me reading the Bible...! Well, I was reading my notes all stressed up, while that girl completely relaxed reading her book...I asked her
'Does it help?' Then I heard all the lecture about Jesus. I though I had never met in my life a person that religious! All her story didn't seem to be interesting to me- I even thought she was really weird- crazy religious! Then she shared with me two Bible verses, I have never heard before.
They completely disturbed my peace!
"Not everyone who says to Me;Lord Lord shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven but he who does the will of my Father in heaven." Matthew 7;21
First of all I realized I might be one of those people since I had no clue whether I was doing the will of the Father in heaven or not.
I heard the right words to notice that a Christian is not about only attending a church once a while.
It is about doing God's will which is believing in the One He sent ( Jesus) and trusting His words. But because God seemed so unknown to me at that time I thought that living for Him was good when you are old but not as a student who has completely different things on mind ..'How do you know when you will die?' I heard the question. Then it will be too late. I imagined myself when God is recalling that day when I could hear His words from the Bible and I was rejecting them, I was rejecting Him and the life!
Then we read the following verse;"He who rejects Me, and does not receive my words, has that which judges him,the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day." John 12;48
I realized the words were telling the truth and if God says something it must be true.
How shocking it was for me to hear all these words, that I had to change my life, that Christian is a follower of Christ. It didn't seem easy 'jumping' into ' following Christ' right away.
I didn't want to. I had some other dreams and thinking too much about God didn't seem too comfortable. I thought God was too distant like in church, with lots of pictures, statues, you pray but they never speak to you. Because I imagined God like that, I didn't have interest in thinking about Him
What was left it was struggling with the thoughts 'I have to do God's will to be saved'
'Is reading the Bible for 15 minutes a day quite enough"? I wandered. I was struggling like that for half of the year, those 2 Bible verses were following me everywhere.... my mind couldn't get rid of them. The only 'relief ' was giving lessons to the kids when I had to focus on teaching the language, but as soon as the lesson was over, the words from the Bible came back and the question' Have you made up your mind?"
This became a really heavy burden on my heart; how much is it enough to be a Christian? What is His will every day? How can I be sure I am saved? How much of reading the Bible is enough to be called a Christian? Then I spontaneously prayed to God simply saying that I was tired of that burden that I didn't know what His will was but I wanted to do it and that and that I wanted Him to be my Lord!
That was very unusual because after that simple prayer at home I started to have peace in my heart that I haven't had for a long time. Such a relief as if somebody took of a big load of something from my heart. It seemed to me like Somebody there above heard me!
I started testing myself, even saying that I was not interested in reading ' boring Bible' didn't take away my peace. Then I realized I actually have an interest to read it. As I read that day I came across these words; John 14;27 " Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." Wow, that's exactly as if I was reading about myself; I just experienced that peace! I knew the Bible is true, the words are telling the truth! God is real!
I felt like being born again, seeing everything in a new light, God didn't seem distant and unknown any more. My heart wasn't accusing me .Each time I read the Bible it was confirming everything what I experienced. Jesus said;" You search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they that testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life." John 5;39-40
So it was the same with me, reading the Bible without coming to God didn't mean anything, I thought that just by reading I would be a real believer but that wasn't giving me any peace until I prayed. I decided to come to God like the above verse says. That is when God responded and I knew I was saved. My favorite verse became John 5;24 " Most assuredly I say to you , he who hears my word and and believes in Him who sent Me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgement, but has passed from death into life." We have forgiveness of sin in Jesus, that's why by trusting Him we can have peace in our heart.
Now it is hard to imagine living without God. "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." John 10;10 That is what it means to live with God and have Him as your Lord. Second you have promise that you have eternal life. " I am the resurrection and the life, he who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live." John 11;25
The Bible is full of so many great promises but if we don't have any access to them or we decide to ignore them,we choose to live a hopeless life. As it is said;" Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."
I finished my German college, I didn't care too much about coming back to sport, my interests changed and I went to the Bible school in Hungary for 2 years. I remember my friends saying' I would find no job if I didn't finish my German degree( because I went to the Bible school) and then after I finished my Bible school - the job 'called me' offering the job as a teacher in one of the private language schools. So meanwhile I also finished my last 2 years of German to get my final degree. My worries weren't needed, God was in control;
" Seek first the Kingdom of God, and all the things shall be added unto you." I 'experience' it all the time.
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Christ- the One in charge
- “Christ- the One in charge”
As` we study the Bible we read that Jesus Christ is the subject of this book from Genesis 3;15 to Revelation 22;21
This Jesus of Nazareth has been the object of more speculation than any other person in the history of man. The name of Jesus Christ springs spontaneously from the lips of all kind of people, from the priest to the any upset person that is using His name to curse. “Even when Jesus is rejected as an object of faith, he is chosen as an object of derision.”
Why it is like that?
The battle is truly spiritual – it is about discovering or suppressing His true identity. The battle with high stakes for mankind. Finding His true identity allows us to come to Him and trust Him and acknowledge Him as our Lord, which results in being saved from God’s judgement. Having His false identity -will keep us away from Him and His word and from trusting Him It will keep us away from receiving His forgiveness and the truth that we can be saved. ” Most assuredly I say to you , he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgement , but has passed from death into life.”
It is a great promise but by many Jesus is still under appreciated. A man that died on the cross and that is the end of the story. No power no meaning for your life. But He is much more than this. We will find out in this study- what the Bible says He is and what does it mean to know His true identity. How much do we know Him and realize all the greatness? Are you able to see Him for whom he is? Let your knowledge about Jesus Christ not limit itself only to His earthly life. We should also be aware of His glorious exaltation by God and the authority over all things that Father gave Him.
Let’s have a quick Bible’s overlook;
Jesus Christ as the One in charge over everything;
“Jesus came and spoke to them; All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” Matthew 28;18
The Bible says that Father put Jesus in charge over everything. That means all what the Father would be doing, Jesus is in charge doing.
He gave Him authority as a judge;
John 5;22 ” For the Father judges no one but committed all judgement to the Son.” v.27 “ And has given Him authority to execute judgement also because He is the Son of Man.”
The only mediator to God, the way of communication with God; ultimate representative of God;
Hebrews 1;1-2a “God spoke at various times and in various ways to the fathers by the prophets, has in the last days spoken to us by His Son.”
People wish they would see God, but it is not about seeing how He looks like, the same way it is not enough to know somebody by seeing only his/her picture. God wants us to know His character, His heart and nature, and that nature was manifested all in His Son. God’s heart and will was manifested in his Son’s life in everything that He said and did. He was saying and doing what God himself would be saying or doing, that way ( when one of his disciples said; ‘show us the Father’) Jesus could say; ‘ Whoever has seen me, has seen the Father.” John 14;9
He could also say the following;
” The Father who dwells in Me does His works” John 14;10
” All that the Father has is mine” John 12;45
” Most assuredly I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself , but what He sees the Father doing, for whatever He does, the Son also does in likewise.” John 5;19
He has the authority to be honored as the Father; John 5;23
” That all should honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son, does not honor the Father.”
The One who has the power to raise the dead ones; John 5; 21
“For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.”
v.28 ” (…) for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice.”
John 6.44 “No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.”
John 6;47″ Most assuredly I say to you, he who believes in Me, has everlasting life.”
The only way to God: John 6;45
“It is written in the prophets ‘ And they shall all be taught by God’ . Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me.”
John 14;6 ” I am the way, the true and the life, no one comes to the Father except through Me.”
The One with the authority to forgive sin; Luke 5;24
“But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins, He said to the man who was paralyzed ; ‘ I say to you , arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”
The One as the image of the invisible God; Colossians 1;15
Hebrews 1;3a ” The Son is reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being and He sustains all things by his powerful word.”
Exalted above all name;
Philippians 2;9 “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name.”
Authority to be worshiped ” That at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of those in heaven and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.”
Heir of all things, all things created through Him and for Him;
(..) whom He has appointed as heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds.” Hebrews 1;2
“For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.
All things were created through Him and for Him.” Colossians1;16
Jesus wanted people to find His true identity by coming to God. He wasn’t yelling out; Do you know who I am? I am a Son of God! This was not the way to know Him. To truly know Him always depended on coming to God, so that God Himself would reveal Jesus to us.
One time Jesus asked His disciples; “And who do believe I am?” and Peter said ” You are the Son of the living God.” Not only was it a correct answer but Jesus also said that it is the Father in heaven who revealed it to Peter.”
And who is Jesus for you?
And if you think that people can use His name as a curse and keep rejecting Him and get away with it; the Bible has the answer to that.
John 12;48 ” He who rejects Me, and does nor receive my words, has that which judges him, the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.”
You can choose to serve the great Lord and have everlasting life in Him. The battle is spiritual, you can win it- by accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior! He doesn’t have to be an unknown historical hero but your real mighty Lord.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Off guilt
"Off guilt"
Imagine yourself having somebody who payed off all your debt. That mainly includes your high house credit and whatever we bought on credit and owe to the seller every month. Imagine a person sending you a note that everything has been paid off and you don't owe anything to anybody, nothing you need to pay back, nothing to worry about. How great that would be? That sounds like a fairy tale if it ever happened to somebody. A reach dad may be paying off his son's or daughter's debt but that is not all.
There is some other debt no human can ever pay off. The real debt we all have is present in our spiritual life. It relates to our life with God before whom we all are guilty of sin ( smaller or bigger) for which we are awaiting high payment which is death. And the Bible says no human can pay God any price to pay off our sinful and ignorant life except Son of God who paid for us with His own blood. How is that important? That means with accepting Jesus as our savior we are free of guilt before God, but rejecting Jesus we are under God's wrath.
Doesn't it sound foolish to not to accept that great payment? It is available to us while we are alive and if somebody thinks they don't need Jesus they are loosing their 'rescue plan'. There is nothing else that can save us, no good deeds, no religious life, no other person, no communion, no rituals- it is only one Person Jesus Christ that God sent us for that reason. But some people still struggle with accepting Him, why? Problems in believing the gospel is true? Jesus said, you can believe Him even for the sake of the works He was doing, because nobody has ever done any works like He did. They testify that He is the Son of God. You could worry and say, oh, we all will die no matter what, but let's look at Jesus. Was anything impossible for Him to do? Can't you trust the one who was able to raise Lazarus from the dead after 4 days being in the grave? The one who rose again after being crucified?
Is anything difficult for God to do? Jesus said that eternal life is only in Him, that He is the one who can wipe off any of your sin, that He is the light of the world, He is the way, the truth and the life, the only way to God. The only mediator, the only bread of life the only living water. Coming to Him your life gets the new meaning and by understanding that He died for you, you know you have eternal life and forgiveness of sin. Your debt is paid off! What a great thing! Don't pick up a misery by rejecting Him!
Try Him out, He said
"I am the bread of life . He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst." John 6;35, v. 47 " Most assuredly I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life."
Imagine yourself having somebody who payed off all your debt. That mainly includes your high house credit and whatever we bought on credit and owe to the seller every month. Imagine a person sending you a note that everything has been paid off and you don't owe anything to anybody, nothing you need to pay back, nothing to worry about. How great that would be? That sounds like a fairy tale if it ever happened to somebody. A reach dad may be paying off his son's or daughter's debt but that is not all.
There is some other debt no human can ever pay off. The real debt we all have is present in our spiritual life. It relates to our life with God before whom we all are guilty of sin ( smaller or bigger) for which we are awaiting high payment which is death. And the Bible says no human can pay God any price to pay off our sinful and ignorant life except Son of God who paid for us with His own blood. How is that important? That means with accepting Jesus as our savior we are free of guilt before God, but rejecting Jesus we are under God's wrath.
Doesn't it sound foolish to not to accept that great payment? It is available to us while we are alive and if somebody thinks they don't need Jesus they are loosing their 'rescue plan'. There is nothing else that can save us, no good deeds, no religious life, no other person, no communion, no rituals- it is only one Person Jesus Christ that God sent us for that reason. But some people still struggle with accepting Him, why? Problems in believing the gospel is true? Jesus said, you can believe Him even for the sake of the works He was doing, because nobody has ever done any works like He did. They testify that He is the Son of God. You could worry and say, oh, we all will die no matter what, but let's look at Jesus. Was anything impossible for Him to do? Can't you trust the one who was able to raise Lazarus from the dead after 4 days being in the grave? The one who rose again after being crucified?
Is anything difficult for God to do? Jesus said that eternal life is only in Him, that He is the one who can wipe off any of your sin, that He is the light of the world, He is the way, the truth and the life, the only way to God. The only mediator, the only bread of life the only living water. Coming to Him your life gets the new meaning and by understanding that He died for you, you know you have eternal life and forgiveness of sin. Your debt is paid off! What a great thing! Don't pick up a misery by rejecting Him!
Try Him out, He said
"I am the bread of life . He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst." John 6;35, v. 47 " Most assuredly I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life."
Friday, August 31, 2012
Creation contra evolution
Creation contra evolution
Someone once said' " If you believe in the evolution , you have to accept that your great , great , great.......grandpa was a ...ROCK!! or a piece of DUST"- that is based on the belief that everything came out of dust. You would say that it is weird, but that is what evolution actually allows to believe!
According to evolutionary theory, all matter came into existence by itself. At a later time on our planet' living creatures quite literally " made themselves". Such views sound like Greek myths. And nobody is asking the question where did all the laws of nature come from? There are variety of very complicated natural laws.How did these come into existence? People assume that they too just sprung up spontaneously.Common sense combined with scientific
facts will always tear the theory of evolution to pieces.
Evolutionary theory is built on two foundational pillars. But there are two laws that crush those pillars to powder.
Evolution teaches that matter is not conservative but self- originating, it can arise from nothing and increase. The First Law of Thermodynamics annihilates this error.
Evolution teaches that matter and living things keep becoming more complex and continually evolve toward greater perfection. The Second Law of Thermodynamics devastates this theory..
In our civilizations, we find that it is highly intelligent people who design the machinery and make laws that govern the nation. Because of our limitations, we spend so much time and research to improve man-made mechanical designs and rewriting human laws. But in nature we find the perfection in design
and laws which human cannot achieve! How is that possible? Every bird and animal is perfectly designed and fossil evidence indicates that each one has had the same design all the way back to its first appearance in the fossil record. The laws of nature are perfect also. If we need evidence about the perfection of natural laws, now and in the past, all we need do is gaze upon the planets , moons, stars, and galactic systems. The perfect balancing of their rotations on their axes and orbits around still larger spheres or star complexes is astounding.The laws are operating with total precision.
We don't realize that any aberration of those laws in the past would have brought the suns and the stars and systems- and our own world- crashing in upon each other. The evidence is clear that, from the most distant past, the laws of nature have operated accurately.
There is no way that universe would just come into existence and found a complete system of physical laws waiting to be obeyed.
We`all can agree with the saying that every product has to have a maker. Imagine I am leading you into my room with lots of robots and computers sitting around. You ask me where did you get it from ? I would say, from nowhere. They all just evolved. The room was had been closed here for billions of years with all the metal scrapes, a bit of water, some explosives and just decided so organize itself. It took them billions of years and here we have perfectly working computers and robots. You would say that' s
nonsense. You would never believe the scrapes of metal would get together to make an use of themselves even over a billion of years. But you would believe the whole universe with all the living creatures did?
It is so obvious that every product needs a makes and a designer. And designer and the maker has to be more intelligent than a product and far more intelligent than the production methods used to make it.
Let's look now at the two main laws that are completely in contradiction with what the evolution is teaching.
The First Law of Thermodynamics says that 'the energy cannot by itself be created nor destroyed. Energy may be changed from one form into another, but the total amount remains unchanged.'
Einstein showed that matter is but another form of energy, as expressed in the equation ;
E= MC{ square}
This is the most important and best proved laws in science. Countless experiments have verified this. A corollary of the First Law is that natural processes cannot create energy. Consequently energy must have been created in the past by some power outside of and independent of the natural universe.. Furthermore, if natural processes cannot produce the relatively simple inorganic portion of the universe
(cannot produce energy) then it is even less likely that natural processes can explain the much more complex living portion of the universe and its.
perfection that testify about a very advanced mathematics and intelligence in order to come into being.
Now, let's see the Second Law of Thermodynamics. It predicts that a system left to itself will, in the course of time, go toward greater disorder, become totally random and disorganized.
All science ' bows low' before the Second Law which points mankind to its Creator.
The Second Law testifies that to the fact that there was a beginning to everything, and therefore the Beginner.
You would see that the evolution is actually a variant form of atheism. It doesn't want to acknowledge the Creator as a Beginner, it would rather acknowledge Nothing as a Beginner, the Big Bang out of Nothing.Big explosion out of Nothing!
It would believe that energy or matter is self-originating ( contradicting First and Second Law of physics).
The belief that cannot accept God because it has no explanation how is God originating, but instead of would accept self-originating matter, self organizing perfection of the laws and all the life!
It does not want to accept the One who stands above and beyond all of this. One who made it all, who is thoughtful of the needs of the universe and cares for His own.
If you are looking for the truth, you will surely find it. Don't be satisfied with what others say or claim that they know unless you have a close look into it yourself. If you open a typical science book on astronomy, you will be bombarded with paintings of gas clouds and protostars, here you will find theories about the origin of the universe and stars stated with great certainty.
But if you attend a closed -door conference, such as the Nice-Symposium, you will find worried men, desperate theories, scientific facts which condemn those theories, a lack of alternative explanations, an atmosphere of hopeless despair in the face of unproven and unprovable ideas, and no solutions or scientific experiments able to alleviate the situation.
Just to list all the things the evolutionists have no answer to, would fill many books.
How it is that Uranus and Venus are rotating backwards? How to explain origin of such complex DNA working as a computer? How to explain the perfect balance in forces keeping the atoms together, or the fact that our world would not be 'visible' to us if our brain would not know how to 'read' the specific light frequencies. You can amaze at the thing how is the whole world seen in colors- which are the different frequencies of light that the object is reflecting and then that specific frequency is going through our eye and is 'red' by your brain as a specific color? Could that all just simply happen????? How did our brain 'learn' to 'translate' it as a red or green color?
Look at all the tropical fish' variety and see how they are colorful. Lots of them have a specific patters like stripes along the edges of their fins as if somebody colored them. No chaos of colors, the light is not reflected in a chaos so we don't see a mixture of colors as if a kid took all paints and messed it up. Instead of we see perfectly designed patterns. Would the fish just decide 'let me have my fins striped at the edges so that I look nice so these human beings who are watching me in an aquarium would be amazed by my beauty?'
Even though you might reject that there is a Creator and still believe that all the world just happened, you are giving the 'nature' the attributes of a person or creator. People would rather say;" nature made it so perfectly".. instead of saying God made it, they would say; "nature has got some intelligence and wisdom in creating this" instead of saying it needed God with all the wisdom and high intelligence to create such thing.
All the 'universe perfection' should point us to the one living God who made it all so we could learn to trust Him by seeing that all His works are so excellent
It should point you to the Bible so that you could read about His plan for you. It should point you to the Savior in Jesus Christ in which you have forgiveness of sin and promise of eternal life rather than dying in your sin.
John 6;47 Jesus said ; " Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, has everlasting life."
Someone once said' " If you believe in the evolution , you have to accept that your great , great , great.......grandpa was a ...ROCK!! or a piece of DUST"- that is based on the belief that everything came out of dust. You would say that it is weird, but that is what evolution actually allows to believe!
According to evolutionary theory, all matter came into existence by itself. At a later time on our planet' living creatures quite literally " made themselves". Such views sound like Greek myths. And nobody is asking the question where did all the laws of nature come from? There are variety of very complicated natural laws.How did these come into existence? People assume that they too just sprung up spontaneously.Common sense combined with scientific
facts will always tear the theory of evolution to pieces.
Evolutionary theory is built on two foundational pillars. But there are two laws that crush those pillars to powder.
Evolution teaches that matter is not conservative but self- originating, it can arise from nothing and increase. The First Law of Thermodynamics annihilates this error.
Evolution teaches that matter and living things keep becoming more complex and continually evolve toward greater perfection. The Second Law of Thermodynamics devastates this theory..
In our civilizations, we find that it is highly intelligent people who design the machinery and make laws that govern the nation. Because of our limitations, we spend so much time and research to improve man-made mechanical designs and rewriting human laws. But in nature we find the perfection in design
and laws which human cannot achieve! How is that possible? Every bird and animal is perfectly designed and fossil evidence indicates that each one has had the same design all the way back to its first appearance in the fossil record. The laws of nature are perfect also. If we need evidence about the perfection of natural laws, now and in the past, all we need do is gaze upon the planets , moons, stars, and galactic systems. The perfect balancing of their rotations on their axes and orbits around still larger spheres or star complexes is astounding.The laws are operating with total precision.
We don't realize that any aberration of those laws in the past would have brought the suns and the stars and systems- and our own world- crashing in upon each other. The evidence is clear that, from the most distant past, the laws of nature have operated accurately.
There is no way that universe would just come into existence and found a complete system of physical laws waiting to be obeyed.
We`all can agree with the saying that every product has to have a maker. Imagine I am leading you into my room with lots of robots and computers sitting around. You ask me where did you get it from ? I would say, from nowhere. They all just evolved. The room was had been closed here for billions of years with all the metal scrapes, a bit of water, some explosives and just decided so organize itself. It took them billions of years and here we have perfectly working computers and robots. You would say that' s
nonsense. You would never believe the scrapes of metal would get together to make an use of themselves even over a billion of years. But you would believe the whole universe with all the living creatures did?
It is so obvious that every product needs a makes and a designer. And designer and the maker has to be more intelligent than a product and far more intelligent than the production methods used to make it.
Let's look now at the two main laws that are completely in contradiction with what the evolution is teaching.
The First Law of Thermodynamics says that 'the energy cannot by itself be created nor destroyed. Energy may be changed from one form into another, but the total amount remains unchanged.'
Einstein showed that matter is but another form of energy, as expressed in the equation ;
E= MC{ square}
This is the most important and best proved laws in science. Countless experiments have verified this. A corollary of the First Law is that natural processes cannot create energy. Consequently energy must have been created in the past by some power outside of and independent of the natural universe.. Furthermore, if natural processes cannot produce the relatively simple inorganic portion of the universe
(cannot produce energy) then it is even less likely that natural processes can explain the much more complex living portion of the universe and its.
perfection that testify about a very advanced mathematics and intelligence in order to come into being.
Now, let's see the Second Law of Thermodynamics. It predicts that a system left to itself will, in the course of time, go toward greater disorder, become totally random and disorganized.
All science ' bows low' before the Second Law which points mankind to its Creator.
The Second Law testifies that to the fact that there was a beginning to everything, and therefore the Beginner.
You would see that the evolution is actually a variant form of atheism. It doesn't want to acknowledge the Creator as a Beginner, it would rather acknowledge Nothing as a Beginner, the Big Bang out of Nothing.Big explosion out of Nothing!
It would believe that energy or matter is self-originating ( contradicting First and Second Law of physics).
The belief that cannot accept God because it has no explanation how is God originating, but instead of would accept self-originating matter, self organizing perfection of the laws and all the life!
It does not want to accept the One who stands above and beyond all of this. One who made it all, who is thoughtful of the needs of the universe and cares for His own.
If you are looking for the truth, you will surely find it. Don't be satisfied with what others say or claim that they know unless you have a close look into it yourself. If you open a typical science book on astronomy, you will be bombarded with paintings of gas clouds and protostars, here you will find theories about the origin of the universe and stars stated with great certainty.
But if you attend a closed -door conference, such as the Nice-Symposium, you will find worried men, desperate theories, scientific facts which condemn those theories, a lack of alternative explanations, an atmosphere of hopeless despair in the face of unproven and unprovable ideas, and no solutions or scientific experiments able to alleviate the situation.
Just to list all the things the evolutionists have no answer to, would fill many books.
How it is that Uranus and Venus are rotating backwards? How to explain origin of such complex DNA working as a computer? How to explain the perfect balance in forces keeping the atoms together, or the fact that our world would not be 'visible' to us if our brain would not know how to 'read' the specific light frequencies. You can amaze at the thing how is the whole world seen in colors- which are the different frequencies of light that the object is reflecting and then that specific frequency is going through our eye and is 'red' by your brain as a specific color? Could that all just simply happen????? How did our brain 'learn' to 'translate' it as a red or green color?
Look at all the tropical fish' variety and see how they are colorful. Lots of them have a specific patters like stripes along the edges of their fins as if somebody colored them. No chaos of colors, the light is not reflected in a chaos so we don't see a mixture of colors as if a kid took all paints and messed it up. Instead of we see perfectly designed patterns. Would the fish just decide 'let me have my fins striped at the edges so that I look nice so these human beings who are watching me in an aquarium would be amazed by my beauty?'
Even though you might reject that there is a Creator and still believe that all the world just happened, you are giving the 'nature' the attributes of a person or creator. People would rather say;" nature made it so perfectly".. instead of saying God made it, they would say; "nature has got some intelligence and wisdom in creating this" instead of saying it needed God with all the wisdom and high intelligence to create such thing.
All the 'universe perfection' should point us to the one living God who made it all so we could learn to trust Him by seeing that all His works are so excellent
It should point you to the Bible so that you could read about His plan for you. It should point you to the Savior in Jesus Christ in which you have forgiveness of sin and promise of eternal life rather than dying in your sin.
John 6;47 Jesus said ; " Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, has everlasting life."
Friday, August 24, 2012
" A better way to live"
"A better way to live"
Our TV news became a series of bad accidents and if we are feeding only on them it is easy to feel hopeless.
How many times we hear about somebody's death ? There isn't even one day of a tragic accident happening somewhere in which a person or group of people gets killed. When we hear about natural disasters like an earthquake. or a flood which can kill thousands of people at once we are terrified by the number of deaths. But imagine how many people live around the world today. The number is estimated for 7 billions of people and, if we heard on the news that one billion died one day- these news would be terribly shocking to everybody. But do we realize that in 100 years every person that is alive today will be dead? That means the number of 7 billions of people. There is nothing surprising that everybody will die one day. Can we change anything about that? Yes we can when we realize that we are not created to live for ourselves but that there is a Creator we are accountable to. God gave everything in His Son's hands and even the immortality is available to us in Him. There is no miracle pill for escaping death but everlasting life with God. The choice belongs to us by whether we want to come to Him or not. Why not to trust Jesus who is promising the way out?
Reading about Jesus' life we are witnessing great works God only is able to do. By Jesus' word everything was happening what He wanted to happen. Like God who created the world by saying 'let it be the sun' and the sun appeared. The miracles of creating things by the power of His word are manifestation of Jesus' divine nature. Who can bring the dead person to life if not God Himself? Jesus was the one who could say to the dead Lazarus -come out! - and the Lazarus would come alive. By Jesus' word water turned into vine, bread and fish was multiplied, the sea and the wind would calm down, the fig tree would dry out immediately, demons would run away, the paralyzed person would walk again, the blind one would regain his sight, the sick would be healed. Here we can see how easy God could create this world by the power of His word. The same way whatever is He promising in Jesus Christ to us, is real.
The things that God has for us are far above the things we can imagine in this world.. We are not created to just finish our life and die in our sin without any purpose of our earthly existence. You would say, ok, but I don't see God , I know nothing about Him.
First of all the thing is that we can't 'sense' God unless we are born again spiritually.
Jesus said; " Most assuredly I say to you,unless one is born again, he can not see the Kingdom of God."
John 3;3
Our spiritual death is caused by our sinful nature that destroyed the connection with him. But God is more present in our lives than you can imagine. He provided the new way to Himself through Jesus Christ.
The Son of God was sent to us to restore our lost relationship with God. If we believe in Him that He was sent by God and trust His words our spiritual eyes get open . Then we can call upon His name He will hear us and answer.
Jesus was sent by God to die in your place so that we might have eternal life with Him.
He made Himself a sacrifice to God so that we would have the access to Him. His words are full of promises so that we could hold on to them and have hope.
Jesus said; John 6;47
"Most assuredly I say to you, he who believes in Me, has everlasting life." Jesus becomes our 'bread from heaven' v.48-51. " This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever and the bread that I shall give is my flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world."
If you believe Jesus died for you, that's how He becomes the bread that feeds your spirit. All His words are becoming spiritual food to you and fill you with peace and new hope. Then you realize that life is more that you think, it is not only what you see with your eyes but also what you can 'see' with your spirit.
Jesus said; " I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." John 10;10
In Jesus we have eternal life because we have forgiveness of our sin. And the result of that we won't come into judgement.
Jesus said;" Most assuredly I say to you; he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me, has everlasting life and shall not come into judgement, but has passed from death to life."
There is another promise;
In John 4;14 Jesus talks about that your soul finds complete fulfillment;
" Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him, will never thirst."
Walking with Jesus you start understanding what is the truth.
"For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice." John 18;37
You can choose to believe and trust Jesus words and all His promises will become real in your life. Or you may choose to reject Him and by that you are rejecting His forgiveness and everlasting life available for you . By rejecting Jesus you choose death and judgement.
God gave up everything to save you through His Son, who suffered for you so that you wouldn't have to go to hell. That is a great work to be ignored.
Our TV news became a series of bad accidents and if we are feeding only on them it is easy to feel hopeless.
How many times we hear about somebody's death ? There isn't even one day of a tragic accident happening somewhere in which a person or group of people gets killed. When we hear about natural disasters like an earthquake. or a flood which can kill thousands of people at once we are terrified by the number of deaths. But imagine how many people live around the world today. The number is estimated for 7 billions of people and, if we heard on the news that one billion died one day- these news would be terribly shocking to everybody. But do we realize that in 100 years every person that is alive today will be dead? That means the number of 7 billions of people. There is nothing surprising that everybody will die one day. Can we change anything about that? Yes we can when we realize that we are not created to live for ourselves but that there is a Creator we are accountable to. God gave everything in His Son's hands and even the immortality is available to us in Him. There is no miracle pill for escaping death but everlasting life with God. The choice belongs to us by whether we want to come to Him or not. Why not to trust Jesus who is promising the way out?
Reading about Jesus' life we are witnessing great works God only is able to do. By Jesus' word everything was happening what He wanted to happen. Like God who created the world by saying 'let it be the sun' and the sun appeared. The miracles of creating things by the power of His word are manifestation of Jesus' divine nature. Who can bring the dead person to life if not God Himself? Jesus was the one who could say to the dead Lazarus -come out! - and the Lazarus would come alive. By Jesus' word water turned into vine, bread and fish was multiplied, the sea and the wind would calm down, the fig tree would dry out immediately, demons would run away, the paralyzed person would walk again, the blind one would regain his sight, the sick would be healed. Here we can see how easy God could create this world by the power of His word. The same way whatever is He promising in Jesus Christ to us, is real.
The things that God has for us are far above the things we can imagine in this world.. We are not created to just finish our life and die in our sin without any purpose of our earthly existence. You would say, ok, but I don't see God , I know nothing about Him.
First of all the thing is that we can't 'sense' God unless we are born again spiritually.
Jesus said; " Most assuredly I say to you,unless one is born again, he can not see the Kingdom of God."
John 3;3
Our spiritual death is caused by our sinful nature that destroyed the connection with him. But God is more present in our lives than you can imagine. He provided the new way to Himself through Jesus Christ.
The Son of God was sent to us to restore our lost relationship with God. If we believe in Him that He was sent by God and trust His words our spiritual eyes get open . Then we can call upon His name He will hear us and answer.
Jesus was sent by God to die in your place so that we might have eternal life with Him.
He made Himself a sacrifice to God so that we would have the access to Him. His words are full of promises so that we could hold on to them and have hope.
Jesus said; John 6;47
"Most assuredly I say to you, he who believes in Me, has everlasting life." Jesus becomes our 'bread from heaven' v.48-51. " This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever and the bread that I shall give is my flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world."
If you believe Jesus died for you, that's how He becomes the bread that feeds your spirit. All His words are becoming spiritual food to you and fill you with peace and new hope. Then you realize that life is more that you think, it is not only what you see with your eyes but also what you can 'see' with your spirit.
Jesus said; " I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." John 10;10
In Jesus we have eternal life because we have forgiveness of our sin. And the result of that we won't come into judgement.
Jesus said;" Most assuredly I say to you; he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me, has everlasting life and shall not come into judgement, but has passed from death to life."
There is another promise;
In John 4;14 Jesus talks about that your soul finds complete fulfillment;
" Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him, will never thirst."
Walking with Jesus you start understanding what is the truth.
"For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice." John 18;37
You can choose to believe and trust Jesus words and all His promises will become real in your life. Or you may choose to reject Him and by that you are rejecting His forgiveness and everlasting life available for you . By rejecting Jesus you choose death and judgement.
God gave up everything to save you through His Son, who suffered for you so that you wouldn't have to go to hell. That is a great work to be ignored.
Saturday, August 18, 2012
How much are you worth?
“How much are you worth?”
based on the book ” Discover His character’ by Bill Bright
Can you imagine the magnificent knowledge of God who already knew you before you were born? Do you ever wonder when did you show up in his mind?
You might think it started some time in your life or it will start one day but the truth is that
God saw us already in eternity past as well as His sacrifice planned for our salvation! He knew from the beginning of times that we would ‘cost’ Him everything and yet He never gave up with us.
” He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ”
There was never a moment when God did not purpose in His love to make the ultimate sacrifice for us. You and I, who are not even worthy to call His name, are so loved that we were always on His mind.
Just before His betrayal, Jesus enjoyed the Passover meal with His disciples. They were about to experience incredible trauma when they saw their Master led away by soldiers, put on trial and crucified. The book of John explains lots of facts during that Last Supper.
”Jesus knew that the time had come for Him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.”
First Jesus had a meal of fellowship, then He washed his disciples’ feet. We can learn something important from that.
When He approached Peter, this one said; “You shall never wash my feet! “ That was too intimidating to Peter. But what did Jesus answer?
” If I do not wash you, you have no part with me.”
One important thing comes to our mind, that it doesn’t matter how long you have been watching Jesus, or you have known about Him
” you have no part with him, if you don’t allow Him to be washed from your sin. It’s not about knowing about Jesus but believing in Him and being ‘washed’ from all our guilt. No fellowship with God unless you are clean. There is no way we could enter God’s holy place with sin. Peter didn’t understand what was that washing all about , Jesus said; ” What I am doing now, you don’t understand , but you will know after this.” Eventually Peter allowed himself to be washed. Now we know it was all referring to what Jesus did for us on the cross. Only those who want to be washed by his blood, have forgiveness and are free from sin and can have fellowship with God.
What else happened at that time?
As`the Lord washed Peters’ feet, Peter proclaimed ; ” I will lay down my life for you.”
Jesus responded: ” Will you really lay down your life for Me? I tell you the truth, before the rooster crows, you will disown Me three times.”
That is exactly what Peter did. During Christ darkest hours, Peter turned his back on his Lord. Did Jesus reject Peter because of his betrayal? As`the soldiers bound and dragged Jesus through the crowd, Jesus caught Peter’s eye. The look of forgiveness in the Lord’s eyes made the difference. Peter was feeling broken deep in his heart but he knew from Jesus’ look that His Master still loved him and was able to forgive him.
God’s everlasting love was expressed at that time so much. Knowing that soon He would be betrayed and handed over to those who hated Him, He wasn’t focusing on Himself nor showing any self pity. Instead of that He was telling His discpiles about what great things they should expect in his promise.
” When everything is ready I will come and get you so that you will always be with Me where I am.” Then, just before Him being handed over to the soldiers He prayed
” Father I desire that they also whom you gave me, may be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory which you have given me, for you loved me before the foundation of the world.” John 17;24
What a great promise for those who trust Jesus! We know that His promise about everlasting life with Him is as real as He was real Himself. And if you think your life on earth is so hard and meaningless, you can trust Jesus’ words as He is giving you hope about something better to come. That’s the whole reason he came to die for us. If you believe that there is nothing after you die, then His death was completely useless. But we read in the Bible that it was the highest price God payed for us. If He was willing to give for us something the most precious to Him, we can imagine how much is He concerned about us. At the same time we know that His justice is the most perfect and regardless of the person He will execute it.
The truth about it is deeply manifested in what Jesus experienced on the cross; Matthew 27;46
Crying out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
As he took on all our sin upon Himself, He experienced death as a sinner- when God is turning away from a sinful person, when your soul is crying for God but He ‘doesn’t hear, He is not there for you. Jesus who was in a form of God himself ( Philippians 2;6) coming in the likeness of men, went through separation from God He came from.
That fact is considered for the deepest display of his love toward men!
If that great love of God is rejected by you, there is nothing else He can pay for you to ‘buy you out’ from your sin.
We`are reminded to call upon His name before is not to late so that we don’t die as sinners but as children of God with the hope of new life.
If we are not interested in finding relationship with God in this life, He won’t be interested in having it with us after we died.
Matthew 10;33 ” Whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before my Father who is in heaven.”
based on the book ” Discover His character’ by Bill Bright
Can you imagine the magnificent knowledge of God who already knew you before you were born? Do you ever wonder when did you show up in his mind?
You might think it started some time in your life or it will start one day but the truth is that
God saw us already in eternity past as well as His sacrifice planned for our salvation! He knew from the beginning of times that we would ‘cost’ Him everything and yet He never gave up with us.
” He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ”
There was never a moment when God did not purpose in His love to make the ultimate sacrifice for us. You and I, who are not even worthy to call His name, are so loved that we were always on His mind.
Just before His betrayal, Jesus enjoyed the Passover meal with His disciples. They were about to experience incredible trauma when they saw their Master led away by soldiers, put on trial and crucified. The book of John explains lots of facts during that Last Supper.
”Jesus knew that the time had come for Him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.”
First Jesus had a meal of fellowship, then He washed his disciples’ feet. We can learn something important from that.
When He approached Peter, this one said; “You shall never wash my feet! “ That was too intimidating to Peter. But what did Jesus answer?
” If I do not wash you, you have no part with me.”
One important thing comes to our mind, that it doesn’t matter how long you have been watching Jesus, or you have known about Him
” you have no part with him, if you don’t allow Him to be washed from your sin. It’s not about knowing about Jesus but believing in Him and being ‘washed’ from all our guilt. No fellowship with God unless you are clean. There is no way we could enter God’s holy place with sin. Peter didn’t understand what was that washing all about , Jesus said; ” What I am doing now, you don’t understand , but you will know after this.” Eventually Peter allowed himself to be washed. Now we know it was all referring to what Jesus did for us on the cross. Only those who want to be washed by his blood, have forgiveness and are free from sin and can have fellowship with God.
What else happened at that time?
As`the Lord washed Peters’ feet, Peter proclaimed ; ” I will lay down my life for you.”
Jesus responded: ” Will you really lay down your life for Me? I tell you the truth, before the rooster crows, you will disown Me three times.”
That is exactly what Peter did. During Christ darkest hours, Peter turned his back on his Lord. Did Jesus reject Peter because of his betrayal? As`the soldiers bound and dragged Jesus through the crowd, Jesus caught Peter’s eye. The look of forgiveness in the Lord’s eyes made the difference. Peter was feeling broken deep in his heart but he knew from Jesus’ look that His Master still loved him and was able to forgive him.
God’s everlasting love was expressed at that time so much. Knowing that soon He would be betrayed and handed over to those who hated Him, He wasn’t focusing on Himself nor showing any self pity. Instead of that He was telling His discpiles about what great things they should expect in his promise.
” When everything is ready I will come and get you so that you will always be with Me where I am.” Then, just before Him being handed over to the soldiers He prayed
” Father I desire that they also whom you gave me, may be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory which you have given me, for you loved me before the foundation of the world.” John 17;24
What a great promise for those who trust Jesus! We know that His promise about everlasting life with Him is as real as He was real Himself. And if you think your life on earth is so hard and meaningless, you can trust Jesus’ words as He is giving you hope about something better to come. That’s the whole reason he came to die for us. If you believe that there is nothing after you die, then His death was completely useless. But we read in the Bible that it was the highest price God payed for us. If He was willing to give for us something the most precious to Him, we can imagine how much is He concerned about us. At the same time we know that His justice is the most perfect and regardless of the person He will execute it.
The truth about it is deeply manifested in what Jesus experienced on the cross; Matthew 27;46
Crying out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
As he took on all our sin upon Himself, He experienced death as a sinner- when God is turning away from a sinful person, when your soul is crying for God but He ‘doesn’t hear, He is not there for you. Jesus who was in a form of God himself ( Philippians 2;6) coming in the likeness of men, went through separation from God He came from.
That fact is considered for the deepest display of his love toward men!
If that great love of God is rejected by you, there is nothing else He can pay for you to ‘buy you out’ from your sin.
We`are reminded to call upon His name before is not to late so that we don’t die as sinners but as children of God with the hope of new life.
If we are not interested in finding relationship with God in this life, He won’t be interested in having it with us after we died.
Matthew 10;33 ” Whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before my Father who is in heaven.”
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