6/6/2013
2:17:47 PM
Jesus,
Son of the living God
Many
thousands of years ago, in a land not yet created by the creator, God, began a
true story. God, who existed from before time as we know it, created all things
that exist. He saw that His creation was good and beautiful. It was perfect, in
fact.
God
then created a man to care for His perfect world, all the animals, birds,
trees, flowers, and all that existed in His perfect garden, called Eden. Man
lived alone for a period of time and walked with God. God saw that man needed a
soul mate or helper to walk beside him and love him, so God created a mate for
man. God created woman from the man. God created them in His own image. He gave
them a soul, body, and spirit. He also gave them free will to make their own
decisions in life.
Man
and woman walked with God in this perfect garden, enjoying the fruits of the
beautiful trees, basking in the sunshine and smelling the sweet fragrance of
flowers.
God
knew beforehand that man would eventually choose to disobey Him, so He had a
plan to restore man back to fellowship one day. God told the man that he could
eat of any tree in the garden except the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
Evil is sin and sin is disobedience to God, our creator.
One
day the woman was walking through the garden and saw a serpent. The serpent
appeared very wise and said to the woman, “Did God tell you that you could eat
of any of the fruit?”
The
woman replied, “God said that we may eat of any of the fruit except the fruit
from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.”
The
serpent then tempted the woman, who saw the fruit was beautiful. She wanted to
be wise like God, so she ate and gave to her husband to eat the fruit.
That
evening while walking through the garden in the cool evening mist, God called
to the man and woman and said, “Where are you?”
The
man and woman hid themselves in the bushes and said to God, “LORD, we hid
because we are naked!”
God
knew that they had disobeyed Him. He had given them everything. They had a
perfect world, but they disobeyed the one thing God had commanded, and so they
were sent out of the garden forever.
God
has a Son. This Son existed from the beginning of time as we know it. He was
always. He was with God in the beginning, and He is God. God planned for His
Son to make an atonement for the sin of all mankind, the sin that came through
disobedience. Jesus would be a pure, obedient, final sacrifice for the sin of
all.
Many
years passed after the man and woman left the perfect garden. They had sons and
daughters and multiplied upon the earth. The earth is what God called the world
where he created man and woman. The earth was filled with people. The people
began to sin more and more as they multiplied. It seemed that they had completely
forgotten the very God who had created them. All they cared about was their own
pleasures, no matter how self-destructive these pleasure.
Man
began to curse God and even to blame Him for their troubles, sicknesses, and
death.
God
looked down upon the earth and was filled with sorrow toward His creation. He
decided to destroy the evil, rebellious, and wicked men from off the earth. Yet
he found one man who was worthy of saving. This man was called Noah. Noah found
grace in the eyes of God, so God saved Noah and his entire family. God had Noah
build an ark for his family and some creatures chosen to re-populate the earth.
God was sending a deluge of water upon the earth. The great flood would cover
the earth and take about one year to abate, so great was the depth of waters
covering the earth.
Noah
obeyed God amidst laughter and mockery by the sin-filled people. The day the
flood waters came, they begged Noah to let them come into the ark, but it was
too late.
The
earth began to be populated again, and many years later, God called another man
to follow Him. His name was Abram. Abram had a wife named Sarah. Abram and
Sarah, along with many others followed God’s call to a strange new land that
God would give them and their descendants. God promised their descendants would
be more than the stars.
God
promised Abram, who God now called Abraham, a son by his wife Sarah, who was
now too old to have children, that she would have a son in due time. Sarah did
not conceive a child as soon as she hoped. She wanted to hurry things along and
told Abraham to sleep with her maid, Hagar. Abraham listened to Sarah and slept
with Hagar. Hagar conceived right away and gave birth to a boy called Ishmael.
Ishmael would be the father of many nations, but he was also an illegitimate
son, because Abraham was not married to Hagar.
Later
Sarah conceived a son as God had told Abraham that she would. Sarah and Abraham
named their legitimate son Isaac. Isaac would be the father of many nations
also. This son would be the legal son because Abraham and Sarah were husband
and wife.
Many
sons and daughters were born over the years. There were many tribes, many
different languages, and many different opinions and beliefs. Wars broke out
among brothers. Many were killed. Tribes began to form allies against their
brothers, scattering people all over the earth, into faraway lands. People began to build cities, great beautiful
cities filled with false gods, rather than the one true God.
God
saw the worship of idols and His heart was broken. He looked down at His
creation and mourned for His children. He chose one people group from among the
nations to be His representatives for the nations. He chose a descendant of
Abraham. God had told Abraham many years before that His people would be slaves
in a foreign land for over four hundred years and they were. God always tells
His creation what He plans from the beginning and He keeps His word. God is the
creator, so He can not lie. He is perfect and He makes the rules. He is judge
of good and evil. His promise to Abraham was being fulfilled.
God
called Moses, a Hebrew, out of Egypt, to lead His chosen out of the bondage of
slavery to Egypt. God chose the Hebrews as His vessel to teach the world about
His great love. He wanted them to teach about His commandments, and about sin,
sacrifice, and salvation. He had great work for them to do, so He promised them
a land called Israel. Israel was a land flowing with milk and honey. It was
also a protected land, surrounded by mountains and water, so that they could see
any enemies coming from afar.
The
Israelites were winning every battle they fought. This created jealousy among
the nations and they began to hate them. The Jews are people of Israel, God’s
chosen nation to be priests and ambassadors for His kingdom. God blessed the
Israelites at every turn. He gave them all their heart’s desires, yet they
chose to disobey Him and follow after the pagan gods from the lands they had
conquered.
God
became very angry with the Israelites. Here he had given them everything, blessed
them and chose them above all other nations and peoples, yet they rejected Him!
God
sent many prophets to Israel to warn them, and they did. Israel still chose to
reject God and His commands. They wanted to worship a god they could see and
touch. They set up idols and killed God’s prophets.
Oh
this earth, so filled with wickedness all through the land! God knew it was
nearing the time to send His Son, Jesus, to restore the people back into a
relationship with Himself.
How
much more evil could He endure? God was silent for about four hundred years. He
had warned and warned His people that the day would come when they would cry
out to Him and He would refuse to hear them, just as they had rejected Him. That
time had come.
Silence!
Then one day, God sent an angel to a young virgin named Mary. The angel told
Mary that she had found favor with God and that she would conceive a child by
the Holy Spirit. This child would be called Jesus. He would be called the Mighty God, Counselor, Prince of Peace, and the world would be on His
shoulders. He would redeem God’s children back to Himself by becoming a man
among men. He, God in the flesh, would give Himself up as the perfect and final
sacrifice, once for all mankind. He would walk among men one day, but for now,
He would be born in a manger, in a stable.
Mary
was obedient to God. She listened to the angel and said that she was God’s
servant and be it according to what was told her. Mary was to be married to
Joseph. Joseph was a very kind man and accepted Mary’s story. In his heart, he
was afraid for Mary. God sent an angel to speak with Joseph in a dream, to
confirm to Joseph that Mary was truly with child by the power of the Holy
Spirit. Joseph and Mary were married but did not consummate the marriage until
after the Son of God was born. Jesus, the Son of God, or God in human flesh,
was born in Bethlehem, as foretold by the prophet Micah.
There
are many true stories surrounding the birth of Jesus, the Son of God. One is of
his cousin, John, called the baptizer. John baptized people who heard his
message of salvation through the coming Lamb of God. Jesus, the Messiah of the
world, would baptize with fire from the Holy Spirit. John told those he preached to that the
Messiah was coming and that he would teach them about the kingdom of God.
The
earthly rulers of that day were just as today, filled with every kind of
rebellion and evil doings. They did not want to lose their positions of power
and wealth. They wanted to kill John, the baptizer, and Jesus, the Messiah.
They spread rumors and lies. They devised a plan to ‘murder’ Jesus. Jesus told
the people that he lay His life down willingly for the sins of the people. He
told them that no one could take His life from Him. He told them that He came
to the earth to do God’s will, and that was to die for the people so that they
could have salvation through His blood on the cross. This atonement for sin
would allow mankind to choose. They could choose eternal life with Him or they
could choose, yet again, to reject His free gift of salvation. God would never
take away the gift of free will.
He
told His people many times throughout history they could choose life and
blessings or choose death and cursing. Most love the darkness and choose to
reject this so great love.
God
also told His people that He has a plan for them, a plan that will prosper them
and never harm them. Yet they choose to reject His wonderful plans for them.
Jesus,
the Son of the one true and living God, will forgive any and every sin. All we
have to do for this free gift, that cost
God beyond measure, is to accept the truth that Jesus came in the flesh, was
born of a virgin, died on the cross, arose the third day from death, and
ascended back to the Father in heaven, and that He sent the Holy Spirit of God
to be our guide, teacher, convictor, and comforter.
One
day Jesus, the Son of the living God, God in the flesh, will return to remove
His church, His chosen children, Hid bride, to live with Him in eternity. How
are we chosen? We’re chosen by repenting of our sin. Repenting means to turn
away completely and go the other way. The Holy Spirit will come to live in your
heart and show you the way. Living for the Jesus who willing died through
crucifixion, is the only way to have eternal life with your creator, God.
Remember God’s plan from the beginning? He planned a way for us to be back in
fellowship with Him after the original sin (disobedience) in the Garden of
Eden. His plan was that Jesus, His Son, would be the perfect atonement for our
disobedience.
When
Jesus chose to die for us, it wasn’t a normal death. He suffered more than any
human ever suffered. He was beaten beyond recognition before being hanged
ruthlessly on a cross. The God of all creation was beaten, spit upon, laughed
at, mocked, ridiculed, and scourged. Imagine the love! The God of all creation
was willing to leave His home in the vast heavens, His throne, His kingdom, His
father, His glory….all to die for you and me.
Salvation
is free to us, but it cost God untold sorrow. Who can imagine the pain suffered
that day in history? Who can begin to think how God must have cried….and oh
yes, the God of all creation cries! Jesus was there at the creation of the
world and mankind. The Word of God says that everything was created by Him and
for Him!
Salvation
is not just a prayer of repentance. Salvation is living a life for Christ with
Him as your example. But you don’t have to worry about how! The Holy Spirit
will immediately come into the heart of every true believer and teach
you-little by little, day by day.
You
are being sanctified (made holy) a little each day. Every sin you ever
committed was wiped clean the moment you truly repented! But each day of your
new life is a journey-an exciting journey with Jesus, the Son of the one true
and living God. Each day is a new experience. Some days may be so joy-filled
you will want to dance and shout-then do!
Some
days you may feel downtrodden and discouraged. Talk with your live-in guide,
the Holy Spirit. He will lead, teach, and comfort you. If you don’t know how to
pray, or what to say, just get alone and ask Him to intercede with God for you.
He will intercede on your behalf even when you don’t ask, because He always
knows what is in your heart.
God
will never leave you-so don’t ever leave Him! If you find that you are weary
and confused, need answers, need wisdom, ask God. He will lead you every step
of the way.
Share
your new faith with others! Jesus, the Son of God, commands us to go and tell
the world about His free gift of salvation. It’s our duty and honor to share
His love. In this world we will have trouble. The world is overwhelmed with
hunger, starvation, pestilence, poverty, sin and evil on every corner. The
world is spinning out of control. Satan, that evil serpent that deceived the
woman in the Garden of Eden, is working his evil and rebellious ways on
mankind. His goal is to deceive all that he can and turn them away from God and
eternal life. He wants to destroy man, steal their joy, and kill them. He is
called the father of lies and that he is. The only way to defeat him is through
salvation in Jesus, the Son of God. Jesus is not just a man or a good teacher
or prophet. He is the Son of the living God, the creator of the universe and everything
in it. He is the only way. He is the mediator between God and man. He is fully
God and fully man. He is the divine savior of the world and there is salvation
in none other but Jesus the Christ.
Seek
God today and you will find Him. Do not wait until tomorrow. Tomorrow may never
come for you. Only God knows when we will breathe our very last breath. I have
seen many people die. In one split second the breath goes out, never to breathe
in again! One split second and you are in eternity….heaven or hell. Which one
will you choose? The choice is always yours alone. Choose life. Choose
blessings. Choose Jesus, the Son of God! Only you can choose for yourself.
