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1)
God is the source of a satisfying, worthwhile life
"Thou
wilt show me the path of life:
in
thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are
pleasures for evermore." Psalm 16.11
This
kind of life is the result of a close relationship with God.
"In
thy presence . . . . at thy right hand" speaks of a personal
relationship which can be as intimate
as
the one between Abraham and God:
"Abraham my friend". Isaiah 41:8
DEEP
DOWN, JUST ABOUT EVERYONE
WANTS
A LIFE AND RELATIONSHIP LIKE THIS.
AS
A JEWISH SCIENTIST PUT IT:
"The
Jewish nature and soul needs to know God. This is its purpose on
earth.
Our souls are looking for God and we are trying to know God."
Why,
then, aren't most people experiencing this life and relationship?
2)
Man
has separated himself from God.
GOD'S
CHARACTER IS THE STANDARD BY WHICH MAN IS TO LIVE.
"Ye
shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy." -- Leviticus
19:2
Anytime
man deviates from God's holiness, he violates God's standard,
and this is called sin. Obviously, then,
all of us have sinned.
"For
there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth
not."
--
Ecclesiastes (Qohelet) 7:20 (compare Psalm 53:3-4)
Since
God is holy and just, He will not establish a personal
relationship with
anyone until his sin is dealt with because He cannot allow sin in
His presence.
"Thou
art of purer eyes than to behold evil,
and canst not look on iniquity". -- Habakkuk 1:13
Because
sin is a violation of His standard and character, God must judge
man's sin and reject it.
This is why sin causes spiritual death and results in separation
from God.
"But
everyone shall die for his own iniquity (sin)."-- Jeremiah
31:30
"Your
iniquities have ever made a separation between you and your God,
and your sins have caused Him to hide His face from you." --
Isaiah 59:2
As
long as sin separates us from God, we can't enjoy the life
and relationship God wants us to have with Him.
Do
you consider yourself to be a good person?
Most
people do. However, most of us differ as to the definition of
"good." The Bible says that God is
good, and the Ten
Commandments are His standard of goodness. So, we will look at
God's Law to
see if you are truly good! With a tender conscience,
ask yourself if you have obeyed the following...
| 1
You shall have no other gods before Me.
Have you always loved God above all else? |
| 2.
You shall not make yourself an idol.
Have you made a god in your mind that you're more
comfortable with, a god to suit yourself? |
| 3.
You shall note take God's name in vain.
Have you ever used God's holy name as a cuss word? |
| 4.
Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy.
Have you given at least 1 day in seven to the God who
created you? |
| 5.
Honor your Father and Mother.
Have you always done what was pleasing in the site of your
parents, always obeying them and honoring them? |
| 6.
You shall not murder.
Did you know God considers hatred the same as murder? He
judges the heart. |
| 7.
You shall not commit adultery.
Jesus said, "Whoever looks upon a woman to lust after
her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.
This also includes sex before marriage. |
| 8.
You shall not steal.
Have you ever stolen anything? The value of the item and
how many is irrelevant in God's eyes. |
| 9.
You shall not lie.
Have you lied even once? Including answering these
questions? |
| 10
You shall not covet.
Have you ever jealously desired what belongs to others? |
| Breaking
one of these Commandments in God's eyes is like breaking
them all. It looks like when we look at the 10
Commandments we are ALL in BIG TROUBLE! The Bible says
that all liars shall have their part in the Lake of Fire
(Rev 21:8) and that no thief, fornicator or adulterer will
inherit the kingdom of God (1 Corn. 6:9-10). The price for
our sin must be paid; death is the wages of our sins (Rom.
6:23). If we are truly honest with ourselves...we are
guilty and the place we will go is Hell for
eternity. |
| Perhaps
you think that God is good, and will therefore overlook
your sins. But it is His goodness that will make sure that
murderers, rapist, thieves, liars, etc. receive justice.
He would be a corrupt Judge if He turned a blind eye to
injustice. The Scriptures says that the Law is perfect. It
commands you to be perfect (Matt. 5:48). Are you perfect
(in thought, word, and deed)? Will you make it to Heaven?
You may say that you are still good, but God says you're
not (see Psalm 14:2-3). So one of you is lying, and the
Scriptures tell us that it is impossible for God to lie. |
But
can't man solve the problem
by
living properly, by prayer, repentance and good deeds?
No,
man cannot remove the sin barrier by his own effort.
"And
enter not into judgment with thy servant; for no living man
can
be regarded righteous before thee." -- Psalm 143:2 (cf.
Ezekiel 33:13)
Human
effort is not adequate because, in God's sight,
"We
are all as an unclean thing and all our righteousness (good
deeds)
are
as a filthy garment." Isaiah 64:5
Human
effort is not adequate because man cannot do enough to solve the
problem.
"No one can in any wise redeem his brother, not can he give
to God redemption
for himself; for the ransom of their soul is too costly."
Psalm 49:8-9
But,
then how can this problem of spiritual death and separation from
God be solved?
GOD
MUST TAKE THE INITIATIVE;
HE MUST PROVIDE THE SOLUTION.
"But
God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave." Psalm
49:16
3)
The
sin barrier can be removed by repentance & believing faith.
God's
Word (faith) and by having the blood of the atonement.
Abraham
was an example of how the sin barrier can be removed.
"And
he believed in the Lord; and He (God) counted it to him for
righteousness." Genesis 15:6
We
must follow the same pattern.
"Thou
wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee:
because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in
the Lord forever." Isaiah 26:3-4 (cf. Habakkuk 2:4)
But
Moses said that one more thing is essential, the blood of the
atonement.
"For
the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you
upon the altar
to make an atonement for your souls;
for it is the blood that maketh an atonement
for the soul."
--Leviticus
17:11 (cf. Leviticus 10:17;4:35)
But
why would God want man to go through the awful procedure
of
killing an animal?
When
the offerer saw the sacrifice suffering and bleeding for the sins
which he had committed,
he was impressed with the awfulness of sin and the
penalty of death
(Ezekiel 18:4, 20) the sinner deserved.
THE
SACRIFICE SHOWED HIM GOD'S:
*
HOLINESS because of His hatred of all evil,
* JUSTICE because He does not leave sin
unpunished,
* MERCY because of His readiness to pardon the
truly repentant and believing by providing
a substitute for him.
THE
ANIMAL SACRIFICE THUS PROVIDED THE BLOOD OF
ATONEMENT AND WAS AN ACT OF FAITH ACCEPTABLE TO
GOD.
But
without a priesthood and without a temple, there can be no
sacrifices. How can we have the blood of
atonement today?
4)
God has provided the blood of the atonement for today.
"All
we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his
own way;
and the Lord hath caused the iniquity of
us all to fall on him." Isaiah 53.6
"For
he was cut out of the land of the living; for the transgressions
of my
people
was he stricken." Isaiah 53:8
"And
he took off the sin of many." Isaiah 53:12
IN
THE PROLOGUE TO ISAIAH 53 (ISAIAH 52:13-15)
THE AUTHOR IDENTIFIES THE "HE" OF
THESE PASSAGES.
He
is described as God's servant who will be exalted.
In other parts of his work, Isaiah equates this
servant of God with Messiah. (e.g. Isaiah 42:1)
God's
provision of the blood of atonement through the Messiah follows
the
same principles God set up in the sacrifice system.
SIN-OFFERING:
atonement for a man by means of a sacrifice.
PESACH:
atonement for a family by means of a sacrifice.
YOM
KIPPUR:
atonement for a nation by means of a sacrifice.
MESSIAH:
atonement for all by means of a sacrifice.
As
we have seen, under the sacrifice system personal faith was
necessary along with
the blood of atonement. So also repentance
& faith is necessary with the sacrifice of Messiah.
He should be the object of our faith
today.
So
we broke the Law (personally sinned against a Holy, Just and
Righteous God), but the
Messiah
became a man to pay the fine for us. This is called the Gospel?
The word "gospel"
comes
from the Greek word
euangelion which
is properly translated "good news." In ancient
history,
the word was given to any message of great joy. In the Scriptures,
the Gospel is the
"good
news: that through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus
Christ, the penalty of sin
has
been paid and sinful men may be saved!
So
what is the Gospel?
In
accordance with the Father’s good pleasure (Gods Glory), the
eternal Son, who is equal
with the Father and the exact
representation of His nature, willingly left the glory of heaven,
was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of a virgin, and was
born the God-man – Jesus
of Nazareth. As a man, he walked on
this earth in perfect obedience to the Law of God (a
sinless man,
a perfect sacrifice). In the fullness of time, he was rejected by
men and
crucified. On the cross, he bore man’s sin (personal
sins against God), suffered God’s wrath
(punishment we
deserved), and died in man’s place. On the third day, he was
raised from the
dead. This resurrection is the divine declaration
that the Father has accepted His Son’s death
as a sacrifice for
sin, that the penalty for man’s disobedience has been paid, the
demands of
justice satisfied, and the wrath of God appeased. Forty
days after the resurrection, the Son of
God ascended into the
heavens, sat down at the right hand of the Father and was given
Glory, honor and dominion over all. There in the presence of God,
he represents His people
and makes requests to God on their
behalf. All who acknowledge their sinful, helpless,
estate,
repent, and throw themselves upon Jesus Christ will be fully
pardoned, declared
righteous, and be reconciled to God.
This
is the Gospel (in short) of God and of Jesus Christ His Son!
God’s
plan is to save his people from their sins – and to bring His
people fully and finally to
Himself for His Glory sake (Matt.
1:21; 2 Tim. 2:10). Followers of Yeshua (Jesus) experience
salvation in this life in both a past and present sense, and we
anticipate salvation in a future
sense. Followers of Yeshua
(Jesus) have been saved from the penalty of
our sins; we are
currently being saved from the power
of sin; and one day, when God’s plan of salvation is
complete
and we are with Christ, we shall be like him, and we shall be
saved even from the
very presence of sin.
So
if God has done this in Christ, what are we to do to be saved? We
must turn to God in
Christ, which entails turning back from sin?
If we repent (decide to forsake and turn
from) our
sin (as best we understand it) and trust
in (believe) Christ as a living person, we will be saved
from
God’s righteous wrath against our sins.
Turning
to God necessarily implies our turning away from sin. The whole
Bible OT & NT
clearly teaches that to repent is to
"acknowledge [God’s] name and turn from [our] sins"
(1Kings 8:35; 2 Corn 7:14; Jer 36:3, Ezek 14:6 Acts 3:19, 8:22,
26:18; Rev.2:21-22; 9:20-21;
16:11). We cannot start to pursue God
and sin at the same time. Followers in this life still
sin, but
against our deepest desires and better judgment; our lives are not
guided and
directed by sin as before. We are no longer enslaved to
sin. Though we still struggle with it
(Gal 5:17), God has given us
the gift of repentance (Acts 11:18), and we have been freed from
sin’s dominating power.
Our
response to the "good news" of the gospel is to believe
and trust God’s promise in the
Messiah, and to commit ourselves
to the Messiah, the living Lord, and his disciples (follower).
Among Jesus’ first words in Mark’s Gospel are "repent and
believe in the gospel (Mark 1:15).
The obedience beginning with
repentance, is to result from the faith and trust we have in him
and his word (Jos. 22:16, acts 27:25). Thus sins are sometimes
called breaking faith with
God. (Ezra 10:2). Having faith in
Yeshua (Jesus), which seals our union with him through the
Holy
Spirit, is the means by which God accounts Christ’s
righteousness our own (Rom.
3:21-26; 5:17-21; Gal. 2:16). Such
saving faith is something that we exercise, but even so it
is a
gift from God (Eph. 2:8-9). God’s gift
of salvation has been given to those who
follow
Yeshua, but the evidence of that salvation is lived
out in the continual work of God’s
Spirit.
We can deceive ourselves, and so Paul encourages his
readers to "Examine yourself, to see
whether you are in
the faith Test yourselves." (2 Corn.13:5). Peter
encourages followers of
Yeshua (Jesus) to grow in godliness and so
become more confident of their election (2 Peter
1). We don’t
create our own salvation by our actions, but we reflect and
express it and so
grown in our certainty of it. Because we
followers are liable to deceive ourselves, we should
give
ourselves to the study of God’s Word to be instructed and
encouraged in our salvation,
and to learn what is inconsistent
with it. Jesus’ descriptions of his followers (Matt. 5-7), or
Paul’s list of the fruit of the Spirit’s work in us (see Gal.
5:22-23), act as spiritual maps that
help us locate ourselves to
see if we are on the path of salvation.
But how can we know that Yeshua is the Messiah?
God
made sure we could recognize Messiah by certain specific
identifying marks.
These are described by the prophets of Israel.
His
ancestry was from the family of David (Jeremiah 23:5-6).
The city of his birth was Bethlehem (Micah
5:1).
He had a supernatural nature (Jeremiah 23:5-6;
Micah 5:1; Isaiah 9:5-6).
The manner of his execution was crucifixion
(Psalm 22:14-17).
He rose from the dead (Psalm 16:10; Isaiah
53:10).
The time of his coming was before the
destruction of Herod's Temple in 70 CE (Daniel 9:26)
Do you have any idea if anyone has
fulfilled these prophecies, or has even come
close?
HISTORY
TELLS US THAT YESHUA (JESUS OF NAZARETH)
FULFILLED THESE AND MANY OTHER PROPHECIES.
(Click
Here
for more Fulfilled Prophecies)
There
are at least 48 specific prophecies concerning Messiah which
Yeshua (Jesus) fulfilled.
The probability that one person could fulfill all 48 prophecies is
1 out of 10 with 157 zeros after it!
During
his lifetime many people called him Messiah ("Christ" is
the Greek translation)
and believed in him (Matthew 16:16; John 1:45-51; Acts 6:7)
Many
people since that time, both Jews and Gentiles, have had their
sins forgiven
and have gained a personal relationship with the God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob through
Messiah
Jesus. Through him one becomes a completed person; e.g., a Jewish
person becomes a
completed Jew.
Since
the blood of atonement has been provided
through Messiah Jesus, there is only one thing left for you to do.
5)
You must by Faith Repent of your sins and Trust in Yeshua (Jesus)
the Messiah to save you and to restore your relationship with Him.
Some
people think that receiving Messiah Jesus by Repentance &
Faith
means
you're no longer Jewish.
THAT'S
NOT TRUE! AS JESUS PUT IT:
"Do
not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I
have
not
come to abolish them but to fulfill them." Matthew 5:17
THE
APOSTLE PAUL FELT THE SAME WAY
"It
is because of the hope of Israel that I am bound with this
chain" (in jail). Acts 28:20
| SO
WHAT DO YOU DO WITH ALL OF THIS INFORMATION? |
|
Realize
that God Himself made a way where His justice and His
goodness could meet. We broke the Law, but He became the
God/Man to pay the fine. Yeshua (Jesus) suffered and dies
on the cross to satisfy and atone for the Law you and I
broke. Then He rose from the dead, defeating death
forever. Therefore God can forgive us and grant us the
gift of everlasting life! But you may still think that you
can keep the Commandments. But isn't it true that the best
of us have lied, stolen, lusted, hated, failed to love God
above all else, and failed to love our neighbor as
ourselves? How can we then live a "good" life if
we have already sinned against God? At best we are
reformed liars and thieves...but still Lawbreakers. Think
of it this way - would you sell one of your eyes for a
million dollars? Would you sell both for $100 million? I'm
sure you wouldn't. Your eyes are priceless, yet they are
merely the window of your soul. What then must your life
(soul) be worth? With these thoughts in mind, what would
be a fair price to pay for everlasting life? It is utterly
without a price. Yet, if we trust in our own goodness to
enter Heaven, we are saying to God, "I should enter
Heaven because I have done good -- I have earned my way
in."
Imagine
if you wanted to give me a brand new (very expensive) car,
but I said, "I can't take it! I feel embarrassed
receiving such an expensive gift...here is 10 cents for
it." I am sure you would be very insulted by such a
pathetic offer of payment. Besides, if I pay for it, it is
no longer a gift, it's a purchase - it's mine by right.
When
we talk of entering Heaven by being good, by trying to
keep the Law etc., we are tossing God 10 cents of
"self-righteousness," which is a terrible insult
to Him, in light of His sacrifice. The only thing we can
do is humble ourselves, repent (turn away from our sin,
not just confess it) of our sins, and receive the gift by
trusting (not just believing) in Jesus Christ alone!
Almighty God demonstrated how much He loves you when
Yeshua (Jesus) suffered for your sins on the cross. If you
want to trust in your own goodness, then you are saying
His agonizing death on the cross was in vain. The Bible
says, "For by grace you saved through faith, and that
not of yourselves, it is the gift of God." You
cannot earn a gift. When Jesus said to "believe"
on Him, He was saying we should have faith in Him, in the
same way you would trust a parachute to save you when you
jump from a plane. You don't merely believe in the
parachute - you put it on.
Any
troubles you have at present are dwarfed by the trouble
you are in with your Creator. The Bible says, His wrath
abides upon you (John 3:36). God doesn't want you to
go to Hell. Neither do you want to go there, so confess
your sins (repent of them) to God right now, put your
trust in Messiah Jesus to save you, and you will pass from
death to life. The read the whole Bible (Old and New
Testaments) daily and obey what you read. Your obedience
to God is the proof of your love. Have faith in God , He
will never fail you.
If
you are unsure of what to say to God, how to pray...may we
recommend going
to Psalm 51 and make it your personal
"Repentant Prayer" to God. |
Messiah
Jesus
always
keeps his promises.
DID
YOU RECEIVE HIM BY FAITH JUST NOW?
DO
YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS?
It
means that the following promises are now true in your life:
1.
Messiah Jesus came into your life, and he's there permanently.
(Revelation 3:20; Hebrews 13:5)
2.
All your sins are forgiven. (Colossians 2:13).
3.
You have a brand new relationship with God - you're His child!
(John 1:12)
4.
You've become a completely new person inside, and you've got a
great new life!
(2
Corinthians 5:17; 1 John 5:11-13)
5.
You've been set free from yourself to help others. (John 8:31-35;
Galatians 5:13).
So,
what now?
CONTINUE
TO TRUST MESSIAH JESUS.
The
way you began is the way to keep going (Colossians 2-6; Hebrews
11:6).
If
you keep trusting Him, you'll grow in your new relationship.
Here
are a few suggestions:
1.
Let him communicate to you, read his words (1 Peter 2:2).
2.
Talk to him about everything (Philippians 4:6-7; 1 Peter 5:7).
3.
Get together with others who have received him (Hebrew 10:24-25).
4.
Tell other people about him (Acts 1:8). Remember to be tactful and
kind.
"From
all your filthiness will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I
give you,
and
I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my
statutes" Ezekiel 36:25-27.
Don't
forget, keep trusting Him alone!
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