Selfish ReasonI am doing it for very selfish reasons.
On that great day of separation, when the wheat is separated from the chaff, how am I to respond to the question posed by those God placed around me during my earthly stay, especially my immediate loved ones:
"All this time that I was with you, why didn't you tell me about it?
Whhhhhhhhy?!?"What am I to say to them when they look me in the eye with the cry of intense pain and anguish?
Now that I am sharing, it is not that I would say "I told you so".
But at least I can say, "I tried", albeit not the best of approaches and eloquence, but I really tried.
My part is to share the Gospel. The convicting part rest with the blessed Holy Spirit.
The Gospel
We can REIGN in life RIGHT NOW and not have to wait till the sweet by and by.
This has been made possible by Jesus Christ Who precipitated the entire process of decay all the way to being tortured in hell for eternity. He was Resurrected because the divine Court of Justine has deemed all demands of justice satisfied in and by Him.
If Jesus did not come, I would have to go through all that decaying process and then kept in hell for all eternity to be tortured. But because Jesus Christ is God and lives outside time; beyond eternity, He has served the prison sentence of eternity, completely and beyond.
An example to illustrate this.
A man committed a series of heinous crimes and was found guilty. He was sentenced to imprisonment for 500 years. But he can only live up to 90 years. Hence, this man can NEVER serve the full sentence. Therefore, the just punishment for his crimes can NEVER be satisfied.
As a result of Adam's offense, mankind has been sentenced to imprisonment in torment for eternity. But as a man, we can never reach the end of eternity. But Jesus can. It is because Jesus lives beyond eternity; He created time! John 1:3 - All things were made and came into existence through Him; and without Him was not even one thing made that has come into being.
2 Corinthians 5:21 tells us that God made Jesus to be us.
"For our sake He made Christ [virtually] to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in and through Him we might become [endued with, viewed as being in, and examples of] the righteousness of God [what we ought to be, approved and acceptable and in right relationship with Him, by His goodness]."
So, in a nutshell, Jesus came to take our place of sufferings and punishment not only in this world right now but also for all eternity. Since He has already served the sentence for and as us and have been released from prison more than 2,000 years ago for and as us, we are FREE! Right Now!
Because He is our Representative, His release from prison WAS our release from prison! As He is, so am I!
We are free RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!Romans 5:15-21 gives a contrast between the effects of Adam's Fall and the Perfect Finished Work of Jesus Christ.
15But God's free gift is not at all to be compared to the trespass [His grace is out of all proportion to the fall of man]. For if many died through one man's falling away (his lapse, his offense), much more profusely did God's grace and the free gift [that comes] through the undeserved favor of the one Man Jesus Christ abound and overflow to and for [the benefit of] many.
16Nor is the free gift at all to be compared to the effect of that one [man's] sin. For the sentence [following the trespass] of one [man] brought condemnation, whereas the free gift [following] many transgressions brings justification (an act of righteousness).
17For if because of one man's trespass (lapse, offense) death reigned through that one, much more surely will those who receive [God's] overflowing grace (unmerited favor) and the free gift of righteousness [putting them into right standing with Himself] reign as kings in life through the one Man Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).
18Well then, as one man's trespass [one man's false step and falling away led] to condemnation for all men, so one Man's act of righteousness [leads] to acquittal and right standing with God and life for all men.
19For just as by one man's disobedience (failing to hear, heedlessness, and carelessness) the many were constituted sinners, so by one Man's obedience the many will be constituted righteous (made acceptable to God, brought into right standing with Him).
20But then Law came in, [only] to expand and increase the trespass [making it more apparent and exciting opposition]. But where sin increased and abounded, grace (God's unmerited favor) has surpassed it and increased the more and superabounded,
21So that, [just] as sin has reigned in death, [so] grace (His unearned and undeserved favor) might reign also through righteousness (right standing with God) which issues in eternal life through Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) our Lord.
His StoryHis story (history) as I understand It at this present stage of understanding is as follows.
When Adam, the representative of mankind, was conned by satan, all hell broke loose.
The immediate effect on mankind was having to sweat our brow to eat our bread and labor pain in child birth for women.
Genesis 3:16-1716To the woman He said, I will greatly multiply your grief and your suffering in pregnancy and the pangs of childbearing; with spasms of distress you will bring forth children. Yet your desire and craving will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.
17And to Adam He said, Because you have listened and given heed to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat of it, the ground is under a curse because of you; in sorrow and toil shall you eat [of the fruits] of it all the days of your life.
Because Adam yielded to satan, he handed over the dominion of the earth to satan. Then satan entered the world as it's ruler (
a crooked one). When Adam our representative became a captive of satan, we all became one too. We are powerless and without defense against this crooked ruler; subject to all his bidding. Satan also brought with him all his side-kicks of lack and
the ultimate big one: DEATH. Mankind was not created to die.
Romans 5:12 - Therefore, as sin came into the world through one man, and death as the result of sin, so death spread to all men, [no one being able to stop it or to escape its power] because all men sinned.
Hence, from the FALL of Adam onwards, mankind was doomed to suffer from condemnation, stress, worries, anxieties, disease, loneliness, etc...a decaying or aging process that leads to death.
We can be with a bunch of great friends and yet feel lonely. We can have all the wealth and yet feel poor. We can be ever wanting and getting but never satisfied. This is the effect of the FALL.
But immediately after Adam's FALL, God promised to give one Man to save the world from the clutches of satan. This Man will be equipped or Anointed by God to [Luke 4:18-19]:
- Preach the good news to the poor;
- Announce release to the captives;
- Recover sight to the blind;
- Deliver those who are oppressed, that is, down-trodden, bruised, crushed or broken down by calamity;
- Proclaim the accepted and acceptable year of the Lord the day when salvation and the free favors of God profusely abound.
Now, I don't profess to have understood what all that means but I am looking for understanding in the Bible and listening to sermons.
But what I do know is this:
God sent His only darling Son to be that Man.God gave the name Jesus (Savior) to His only darling Son Who gave up all His powers and privileges as God to become 100% human in flesh and blood (He was more man than man can ever be - very man). He is the Messiah (meaning the Anointed One in Hebrew) or the Christ (also meaning the Anointed One but in Greek).
Philippians 2:6-8 tell us how much God's only darling Son gave up to become.
"Who, although being essentially one with God and in the form of God [possessing the fullness of the attributes which make God God], did not think this equality with God was a thing to be eagerly grasped or retained, But stripped Himself [of all privileges and rightful dignity], so as to assume the guise of a servant (slave), in that He became like men and was born a human being. And after He had appeared in human form, He abased and humbled Himself [still further] and carried His obedience to the extreme of death, even the death of the cross!"
His job was to take the place of mankind to suffer the entire process of decay all the way until death, when mankind is to be tortured forever.
But as mentioned earlier, since Jesus lives beyond forever, He was able to serve the prison term of forever and was released. As He is our Representative, His release from prison WAS our release from prison.
Therefore, there is therefore NOW no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus [Romans 8:1]. For as He is, so am I [1 John 4:17]!
We do not have to suffer the effects of the FALL any longer!
We cannot be sentenced to imprisonment for eternity!
This is ONLY because Jesus Christ has taken my place and your place!
For us to go through all that again is a perversion of divine justice! A man cannot be punished for the same offense twice!
And there you have It, His story as I have come to understand It.
Food for Thought
Luke 16:19-31There was a certain rich man who [habitually] clothed himself in purple and fine linen and reveled and feasted and made merry in splendor every day. And at his gate there was [carelessly] dropped down and left a certain utterly destitute man named Lazarus, [reduced to begging alms and] covered with [ulcerated] sores. He [eagerly] desired to be satisfied with what fell from the rich man's table; moreover, the dogs even came and licked his sores.
And it occurred that the man [reduced to] begging died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried.
And in Hades (the realm of the dead), being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far away, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried out and said, Father Abraham, have pity and mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.
But Abraham said, Child, remember that you in your lifetime fully received [what is due you in] comforts and delights, and Lazarus in like manner the discomforts and distresses; but now he is comforted here and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who want to pass from this [place] to you may not be able, and no one may pass from there to us.
And [the man] said, Then, father, I beseech you to send him to my father's house--For I have five brothers--so that he may give [solemn] testimony and warn them, lest they too come into this place of torment.
But Abraham said, They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear and listen to them.
But he answered, No, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent (change their minds for the better and heartily amend their ways, with abhorrence of their past sins).
He said to him, If they do not hear and listen to Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded and convinced and believe [even] if someone should rise from the dead.
Romans 10:17The Scripture says, No man who believes in Him [who adheres to, relies on, and trusts in Him] will [ever] be put to shame or be disappointed. [No one] for there is no distinction between Jew and Greek. The same Lord is Lord over all [of us] and He generously bestows His riches upon all who call upon Him [in faith]. For everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord [invoking Him as Lord] will be saved.
But how are people to call upon Him Whom they have not believed [in Whom they have no faith, on Whom they have no reliance]? And how are they to believe in Him [adhere to, trust in, and rely upon Him] of Whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher?
And how can men [be expected to] preach unless they are sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those who bring glad tidings! [How welcome is the coming of those who preach the good news of His good things!]
But they have not all heeded the Gospel; for Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed (had faith in) what he has heard from us?
So faith comes by hearing [what is told], and what is heard comes by the preaching [of the message that came from the lips] of Christ (the Messiah Himself).
Radical Grace
God raised a man in our days to preach radical grace, radically.
God was most radical in sending His only darling Son to be the Man Jesus, The Messiah, The Christ; The Anointed One to save the world.
God has made a pastor out of this man and is speaking through him, among many others. I thank my Abba in Jesus' Name for leading me to His grace message by the blessed Holy Spirit through Pastor Joseph Prince.
1 Thessalonians 5:20-21 says: "Do not spurn the gifts and utterances of the prophets [do not depreciate prophetic revelations nor despise inspired instruction or exhortation or warning]. But test and prove all things [until you can recognize] what is good; [to that] hold fast.
By the grace of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, I am here to promote the Gospel message as inspired by the blessed Holy Spirit through Pastor Joseph Prince, in accordance with 1 Thessalonians 5:20-21.
May the grace and peace of my Lord Jesus Christ be multiplied in you by quantum leaps. In Jesus' Name. Amen!
