After
the Earth was created man sinned and had lost his ability to sit in the garden and just
"talk" to God. He (God) had a way that He could again have man be close to Him
because God could not stand to be around Sin. He had a plan...
There was a virgin named Mary, who bore a Son. She never had sex with any man but became
pregnant by the Holy Spirit. This way He could truly be called THE Son of God. She named
him Jesus. As He was growing up He KNEW as He walked past the shadow of a Roman cross that
one day He too... would give His body over to death...
When Jesus was 30 years old He was baptized in the Jordan River by a man who ate locusts
and honey, named John. In the bible it says: "Jesus also was baptized and while He
prayed, the heaven was opened. The Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon
Him and a voice came from heaven which said, 'You are my beloved Son; in You I am well
pleased'".
After Jesus was baptized, he was lead into the desert by the Holy Spirit to be tempted by
Satan. Satan said things like, if Jesus would bow down and worship Satan, he would give
Jesus dominion over all the earth; or that Jesus should turn rocks into bread; or jump off
a high place, telling Him that God promised that all Jesus had to do was ask the Father
and He would be protected. Well, Jesus didn't fall for any of that stuff. He knew that if
He just spoke the word of God He would put Satan to shame. (Which by the way He did, He
just used scripture against all of Satan's attempts and this is what caused Satan to loose
this battle.) Satan then left Jesus for a while, and Jesus was ministered to by angels.
Jesus knew that someday He would offer the world (us) another chance. His time of testing
was to help Him become more dependent on the Father and to show us that we must be
dependent on the Father for our strength. He knew that He had a very important job ahead
of him. While he was in the desert, he did a lot of praying; you see, Jesus had only 31/2
years to get as much "training" into His disciples as He could.
After His time in the desert, Jesus had to get back to the city so he could start finding
some very close friends whom He could trust, teach, and show what He was here for. They
one day would be the beginning of what we now call the Christian Church.
"Christian" means followers of Christ. He chose 12 men to be His disciples.
Jesus would go to the mountains early in the mornings to pray to the Father and gather
strength and wisdom for the day.
Ever since the creation of time God has been in control of everything-- even down to the
last blade of grass in the field, or hair on your head, and every little thing that has
been going on... even after Adam and Eve blew it in the garden. You see, God knew that
they would and He had a perfect way for us to reunite ourselves with Him since we were
separated from Him because of the original sin of Adam and Eve.
He would provide an offering, a blameless Lamb (in the old testament it was blood that was
required to pay for our sins-- the Jews sacrificed animals once a year for atonement of
sins) to be killed once and for all for our sins. God requires blood to forgive sin, but
ours is not good enough, and animals were only good for a short while. God Himself came
down out of heaven and took human form, as a baby named Jesus.
This is how He would provide you, and all of us, a way back to Him... You have no doubt
heard the story many times, but it is a fact. Jesus Christ died on the Cross as a final
sin offering for you and me. The only "religion", or belief system, in the world
that has this fact is Christianity.
He suffered a death we could never imagine... the whipping of his back, shoulders, and
legs with a whip with iron balls in the ends so that they would rip the skin and muscle
until it was nothing but shreds of flesh, the placing of a crown of thorns, with LONG
needles on them, smashed onto His head, then while all the wounds were still fresh, He was
forced to carry the heavy wooden cross until He could go no more... taken to Golgotha,
slammed down onto that rough, hard wooden cross. A long spike was hammered through each of
His wrists, to hold His arms across, then through His Feet. He was then hoisted up, with
the weight of His body pulling His arms against the iron spikes, having to push against
the nail through his feet so that He could breathe... this lasted for three hours. When He
finally died, they thrust a spear into his side between his ribs; water and blood came
out-- a positive sign of death (the water is serum, something that is only present when
something isn't alive anymore).
But that is NOT the end of the story! Guess what? He was placed in a tomb, and 3 days
later He was not there!! He came out of the tomb alive!, and He is coming back!... once to
gather up His Church (those who have accepted Him as a Savior and have a personal
relationship with Him), and once for JUDGMENT on earth for those who have not accepted Him
as Savior.
He is KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF L0RDS, no matter what you or anyone else thinks or tells
you. He loves you and wants to have a personal relationship with you... no matter what
you've done in your life-- nothing is bad enough for Christ to reject you. He loves you
unconditionally. His mercy and grace, although we don't deserve them, are given freely to
you and me. "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast.
(Eph 2:8-9)
Well now it's up to you; there is a choice to be made. Will you come to Him today
and start your life with a fresh, clean slate? This is all that is required of
us...
1.
Admit your a sinner (Romans 3:10)
2. Realize that Jesus Christ's atoning death on the cross for your sins is a FREE
gift to you from God. (Romans 6:23)
3. Ask Jesus to come into your heart and take control of your life, and that you
want a personal relationship with Him. (Revelations 3:20)
4. Then tell (confess with your mouth) another person that you have accepted Jesus
Christ as your Savior and Lord. ( Romans 10:9-19)
Find yourself a well balanced church and join in the fun of being a child of a King!! He
promises us that "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart
will flow rivers of living water." When you have truly accepted and believed in Him,
there is a change within you that some notice right away, and you will know in your heart
if you truly believe.. .there will be a change.
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