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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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