Tuesday, November 07, 2006

God's Love! The Free Gift Of Life In Jesus!

Have you ever just sat down and reflected on how much God love us? We think we know what love is, but do we really? We love our family and we love those who love us, or at least we say we love them. But I don't really think we understand what real unconditional love is. I looked up love in the Webster Dictionary and most of the definitions, I don't think fit. Here are some that I think might get close to how God love us.

Love: (A)unselfish concern that freely accepted another in loyality and seeks his good. (1)the fatherly concern of God for man.
John;3:14-17("As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, That whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.")

We are told many places in the Scriptures just how much God loves us. He loved us so much that He sent us a Savior. We had no hope of ever making it to heaven, we were dead in our sins. We needed a new life, and the life was in Jesus. We needed to be born again of the Spirit.
John;3:3(Jesus answered and said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God".) Here we are being told that we have to be born again. What exactly is being born again and why do we have to do it. Jesus explains why in the next few verses.
John;3:5-6(Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.")
1Corinthians;15:50(Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.)

We have a another explaination of what God is talking about in Corinthians.
Corinthians;15:40(There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one , and the glory of the earthly is another.) What are we talking about here? This will help explain the difference between the earthly body and the heavenly body.
Corinthians;15:42-49(So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So also it is written, "The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL, The last Adam became a life giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven. As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are the heavenly. Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.)

Our present bodies are sinful, prone to decay and sickness. Our heavenly bodies will be made to last for eternity. They will not get sick or tired, or die. We will have a heavenly body and it will be a spiritual body. God will give us this new body. Have you ever thought about eternity? Our feeble minds cannot comprehend forever, because we live in time. Everything we do is measured in the amount of time it takes to do it. We can think we know what forever is and we believe what God says, but it is still hard to comprehend. Millions and millions of years from now, we will still be in heaven worshipping God.

Now how are we going to get to heaven? It's not going to be by our works. God has explained that clearly in the Scriptures.
John;14:6(Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.")
Romans;5:8(But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.)
Romans;5:1(Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.)
Ephesians;2:4-6(But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ(by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.)

So now we see that our good works won't get us to heaven. It is all about Jesus and the blood He shed for you and me on the cross.
Romans;3:23(For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.)
Romans;3:28(For we maintain that man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.)
Ephesians;2:8-9(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, so that no one may boast.)
Aren't we glad that it is a free gift from God? I know that I would never have been good enough, and neither would you. We are all sinners, and that is why Jesus came to earth to save us. He loved us so much that He was willing to die for us.
John;15:13-14(Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.)
Jesus laid down His life for you and me. We didn't deserve to live. We can demonstrate our love for Him by accepting Him as our savior, and obeying His commandments.

If you haven't already accepted Christ as your Savior, today is the day.
Romans;10:9-10(that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;)
It's as simple as that. Jesus has already paid the price for our sins, there is nothing more that we need to do. I pray that you will give your life to Jesus today.

God Bless You!

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