I want to focus in on a couple of verses today. But first let me start off my asking a question. If man severed himself from God (when Adam and Eve decided to be "independent" of God and try to be "gods" rather than abiding in God Who IS Life and Who is Love, Joy, Rest, and Peace)..then how did the Gospel happen. Did man go and ask God to come and redeem Him?
NO! Every other world religion says "try as hard as you can, thru good works, and maybe you'll make god love you."
Only Christianity (that is true Christianity NOT the perverted religious countepart), only that says "God loves you and has provided a way back to Him." The world Gospel (evangelion) in Greek means "good news." It brings joy and peace!
It means this: The Gospel was initiated by God and not man. Why did God pursue man after man rejected God? The answer: God loves man unconditionally! God is love! Read the following verses from the NIV translation.
"God is love.
1Jn 4:9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
1Jn 4:10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
1Jn 4:11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
1Jn 4:12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us."
and also "1Jn 4:16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him."
Notice is says twice "God is love." He doesn't just have love or give love. He IS love!! That means He loves the vilest sinner. He loves the drug addict, the prostitute, He loves even the rapist and child molester. How can He do this? Because He is love!
How can He accept sinners without being unjust? The Answer lies in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. God does have to punish sin, but yet He loves man. He has to love man but He does this while maintaining justice, for He cannot be unjust.
The answer - Jesus took the punishment for the sins of the whole world. He makes us brand new so that we are not the same person anymore! The Apostle Paul was a terrorist who hated and killed christians but He was changed to a brand new person that loved Jesus Christ and who loved other christians.
More about this in my next post.
In Christ Who is my Life
Steve
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment