"...For God so loved the World that he gave His Only Begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but shall have everlasting life" (John 3:16).
Many people, born into this world, tend to go through life with various notions as to what life is and what their version means for them. How, we as humans' take advantage of our existence, also affects, not only how we live and die, but also how others that we influence, live and die too.
We take 'life' for granted, in the same way as we take each other for granted.
The most common human concept that we have developed is the one that says: "I'm alright Jack so you must be too". This has been transliterated egocentrically to mean "If I'm OK, Your OK".
The reality though, is often far different from what we come to believe, or imagine.
Often, we will find that people do not always fit into this thought mould, and the reasons for this may be as many as the multitude of stars in the night sky. People are, as the Bible puts it: "...sat in darkness..." People are overcome with many issues of life such as loneliness, rejection, humilitation, degradation, upheaval, war, depravity, starvation, sickness and even death. These are just a few of the conditions of 'life' that we face not to mention also bullying, harrassment, poverty, homelessness, grief, anguish, deep anxiety, mental illness, disease, disability and loss.
The whole world is suffering, but not everyone experiences all these things, and some people only seem to experience a little of these things in their lifetime. Some people are more comfortable with the life they lead, than others. The strong do not always support the weak. I am not always my brothers keeper. The hardships of life are cruel and harsh and debilitating, even crippling.
Somehow, in the midst of all these things, we manage to maintain our sense of dignity. Somehow, we manage to perpetuate our humanity and to pass on our sense of hope. Hope, that one day, life will not always be like this. That somehow, life will get better for us. Thus we grow up with a sense of inadequacy that despite all our efforts to the contrary, we still somehow cannot get things quite right for ourselves, and for each other.
Even more so, we feel isolation as a person, as a nation and even as a planet. We come to believe that we are all alone in this myriad of stars and if there is even the remotest chance that there is a God, working somewhere in the universe, that we have somehow become distant and separated.
This is just the place that the Bible describes as the true condition of mankind. The bible says that our sins have separated us from God. Our relationships with one another are fraught with inadequacies, yet we continue to believe we are 'ok'.
Even if we believe in God or not, it is a common fact that because of the way we go through life, our perceptions of God are distorted and often completely inadequate too. We feel that love is inadequate, that we are undeserving and that if God exists, then he cannot truly love us either, otherwise we would not be suffering the way we do. We blame each other for the state of our world and we even blame God too.
Nevertheless, the Bible says that there is a God "...One who inclines his ear toward us " (Psalms 4, 5, 10:17, 13:3, 17:6-15, 20:1, 38:15, 55:1-2, and Psalm 116 ), and that there is a God that loves us: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him, shall not perish, but shall have everlasting life.
Jesus said: "...I am not come into this world to destroy it, but that the world, through me, might have everlasting life". Jesus also said: "I am come that you might have life and have it more abundantly".
The Bible declares that there is a way that seems right to man, but the ways of man are the ways of death. However, if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ you shall be saved(Acts 16 : 31). Jesus also says: "Verily, verily I say unto you that whosever believes in me hath everlasting life" (John 6:47).
The Bible also says that: "... he that believeth not the Son, shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him" (John 3:36). The scriptures reveal that mankind has been born in a state of sin since the time of Adam and that God has, since that time, sought to make amends for mankind to be saved fromthe ultimate consequences of sin.
Sin not only does harm personally and individually, but also does harm collectively and involves the whole ecology of life on earth and in our atmosphere. Ultimately, sin affects the whole equilibrium of the universe that God has created. God knows this and cannot abide the presence of sin, for He is also Holy. Yet, despite the fact that man's sins have separated us from almighty God, He still Loves us as the scripture shows, and he has made a way for us to be reconciled to Himself and that way is through God's only begotten Son: The Lord Jesus Christ.
God demands blood sacrifice as the means of Atonement for sin but God hates the idea that mankind commits sacrifices on a daily basis which have no solid foundation of righteousness attached to it. This type of sacrifice is no more than meaningless ritualism and does not work. Men still sin. It is only the pure and righteous sacrifice of God's Son as the perfect Lamb of God, that makes the perfect, one time only sacrifice, that satisfies the demand of God as the price of Sin. No other sacrifice will do.
Jesus came that we might have Life and in Him is the light of men and if we turn to Him and pray to Him and seek his face, His Righteousness, then he will do what he says: He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from All unrighteousness and He will accept us as His Children. he will save us. Therefore do as the scriptures command: Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
No comments:
Post a Comment