God's Awesome Mercy

Romans 5:6-8

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

It occurred to me once again just how much God has done for us and just how much we don't deserve it. I know these things in my head, but they often don't reach my heart as easily, and the depths of them are easily forgotten. But God just reminded me of how much he has done for me and how little I deserve it - so I thought I'd explore that a bit.

Romans 3:23 tells us that we are all sinners. Romans 5 says we are powerless and ungodly. We disobey God's law - which is the reflection of his character. God is good and holy and perfect, thus he demands us to be perfect. He is good, sin is evil - rebellion to his good standard. He is love, sin is about hate. He is just, sin is corrupt. Sin is a personal rejection of God and attack on his character.

But we can't hurt God. Our rejection of him doesn't hurt him. It doesn't make him depressed. No, God reigns over the universe. Our personal rebellion against him cannot hurt him and cannot undo his plan. He laughs at our puny attempts to defy him and he still works everything for his glory (Psalm 2). Because of our sin we deserve God's wrath. We have rejected our creator, the one who has blessed us with countless gifts: with life and everything good we have. Yet we rebel against him and try to live our own way.

Therefore God would be entirely just and right to send us all to hell. It would be good for him to do that - God isn't the bad guy. We're the bad guys, and we deserve the punishment.

Yet instead of just destroying us he decided to give us a second chance. He sent Jesus, his son, into the world. Jesus lived among us and did not sin even though he was surrounded by sin. He gave up the eternal glory that he had as part of the trinity from before time began so that he could become a man and save us. He gave up that glory and was willing even to die in our place: on the cross Jesus took God's wrath - the wrath we deserved for our sin. He was betrayed, forsaken and murdered so that he could save us. Jesus took the wrath that we would all personally suffer eternity in hell for. That was the plan from Genesis, and Jesus is the fulfilment of all those prophecies.

But that's not the end of the story. Jesus rose again. The wages of sin is death - death entered the world when Adam and Eve sinned the first time. Jesus took the punishment for sin in full, and as a result death could not hold him. He rose again, proving that he truly is God, proving that he really did and can save us, and calling us to put our faith in him. Jesus takes our sin when we repent of them and put our faith in him.

God/Jesus could have rightly just condemned us to hell. Instead the God of the universe, the one who directs everything that happens, the creator and sustainer of all life, gave up his life for us. It cost God a lot to save us.

So why did he do it?

There are two reasons intertwined:

• The one we first think of is love. God loved us, and as a result he died for us.
• The second seems more selfish, but isn't: to glorify himself.

God is glorified by loving us. God is glorified by showing us his mercy and grace (and he is glorified in justly judging all those who continue to reject him). God created the universe for his glory. Everything is about God - it's not about us, it's not about how good we are. It is all about him. It's about how awesome he is. He doesn't choose to save us because we are worth saving. We aren't worth saving. We aren't worth loving - we reject him daily, we sin and rebel against him, we are powerless. Yet he chose to save us and love us to show the depths of his grace and mercy which we did not deserve to see.

God truly is awesome, and he has done awesome things for us.

Have you given your life to him?

Soli Deo Gloria!

Nat.

Every knee will bow.

Romans 14:11 (Paul quotes from Isaiah 45:23)

It is written:“‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.’”

Here's a simple, but hard truth. Every knee will bow before Jesus. Every person will submit to him as the one true God who reigns over the whole universe.

Note: Jesus is God, along with God the father and God the Holy Spirit. They are all the same one true God, but in three persons with three different roles. That idea is hard to fathom and work through, but just keep in mind that God is immeasurably wiser than us and he can do what he wants (even if we can't quite grasp it)

The thing is, these people will come in two categories.

Those who bow the knee now and willingly.
Christians are the people who will submit to God here and now. We are the ones who (by the Holy Spirit working in our lives and God's grace) have recognised that we are sinful and that we deserve God's wrath. We realise that disobedience to God means that we fall short of his standard (perfection), and therefore we deserve his justice, which means hell eternally.

But, Christians also know that God is merciful and gracious. Instead of just allowing us to face his wrath he made a way for us to be forgiven. He sent Jesus into the world, his one and only son. Jesus came to earth and lived a perfect life. He did not disobey God at all. Therefore he alone did not deserve to face God's punishment (death and then hell). Yet Jesus came to earth to die in our place and take God's wrath for us.

On the cross Jesus took the punishment that we should have suffered for eternity in hell. He did not do it because of anything desirable in us, because where is nothing good or worthwhile in us (we are wretched, horrible sinners) - he did it entirely out of his awesome mercy, grace and love. It hurts to hear that. But that is what Christians believe.

As a result we repent of our sins - we say sorry for them and try to obey God, and we trust that Jesus has truly dealt with our sin and God's perfect just wrath against them. As a result we bow the knee willingly. We submit to God in our lives here and will rejoice when he (Jesus/God) returns to judge the living and the dead, because we will know that through Jesus alone we are completely forgiven and will go to be with him forever in heaven. We will rejoice and should rejoice now to submit to Jesus.

Those who will be forced to bow the knee at judgement.
But there is another category. Jesus has promised that he will return to judge all people. The thing is that all people deserve his punishment (hell) because all people have sinned.

When Jesus returns it will be awful for those who have not given there lives to him, for those who have tried to liv their best life now on tis earth. Jesus will return, and there will be no more time to repent and turn to him - there will only be his justice. And Justice means hell for all those who refused to give up their sins and be forgiven by Jesus.

On the last day these people will bow the knee to Jesus, but it won't be with rejoicing. It will be with much crying and wailing and terror. It will be terrible. They will stand before God's throne condemned, like we all should have been, because they don't stand there with Jesus interceding with God for them.

The challenge.

• First up: Are you a Christian? Are you submitting to God now? Or are you continuing to reject him and live your own way? We are all sinners and we all deserve hell. It's only those who put their faith in Jesus who will be saved. If you aren't then talk to people about it! Ask the questions you have and keep asking until someone gives you and answer that makes sense. If you want then send me a message or an email - I'm more than happy to chat! Read the bible, look into what this is all about and be honest with yourself.

• If you are a Christian then you should love those around you enough to tell them the gospel. If their continued rejection of God will lead them to his punishment in hell eternally and we love them, that should terrify us. I don't want my friends, my grandpa, or even my enemies to suffer that wrath. We need to tell people about God and Jesus! In saying that, this is one of the areas of my life that I fall short in all the time. I am constantly chickening out and not sharing the gospel with people who I should be telling it to. I am always making excuses. I fail at it miserably. Thankfully God is forgiving and merciful. But that's something I've got to change - maybe you do to.

• Keep in mind that God is not the evil one in this scenario. We are the evil ones. He is the good one. He judges because he is just, god and right, and because we are evil, wretched and sinful. He shows his mercy entirely out of his grace and who he is - not based on anything in us. God isn't the bad guy. We're the bad guys.

Soli Deo Gloria!
God Bless!
Nat.


Philippians 2:5b-11

have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

Treasure in Heaven

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Luke 18:18-25

 A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’”
 “All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said.
 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
 When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy. Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!  Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

This passage again brings us back to the question of what we love. What is most important in your life? What would you give up anything else for? What do you run t for comfort? for meaning in life? What do you spend most of your time and effort in?

There is no point having God second in your life. He demands and deserves first place, and we need to put him in his rightful place as Lord of our lives. When we put God second, we are really just being proud and selfish, saying we know better then him, but holding onto the hope that he will still save us and give us the benefits without us taking any of the responsibility.

The rich man in the passage claimed that he had obeyed God all his life - I don't know who that man was, perhaps he did physically obey all of God's commands. But regardless of that, Jesus wasn't first in his life. He wanted eternal life, but he also wanted wealth and luxury in this life. The question came down to if he was wiling to give up his good life here and trust Jesus that there was a better life eternally with God.

That question still resounds in the world for us today. Am I willing to be hated, to be persecuted, to lose friends, to give away what I have? Am I willing even just to be laughed at for Christ? Do I trust him that he will save, and that his salvation is far better than anything in this world? Do you trust him in that?

It's a hard question to answer, because if we've grown up as Christians it's easy to just know intellectually the right answer and give a yes to all those questions. It's easy to say "I am not ashamed of the gospel", but is that really the truth? Have you ever had to prove those words?

Perhaps what we need to do is think deeply, decide on our answers and then act. Decide to put God first and then live it - telling people the gospel, loving those who it is socially unacceptable to love, giving up wealth, health and prosperity for Christ. Maybe instead of just saying "yes Jesus, you are first in my life" we should go and show it.

In saying all this, I want to point out once more that our actions do not save us.

The only thing our actions can do is condemn us because we are all sinful. Jesus told this man to give up all his wealth to show him how sinful he was and to smash his facade of righteousness. Our problem is one of the heart, and we cannot change that. Only Jesus can.

It isn't about what we do, it's about what Jesus did. He, who is God, came to earth and lived perfectly. He suffered and died on the cross, taking the sin of his people and God's wrath for it. He paid the price in full that we would spend eternity in hell for because we can never pay it. He then rose again, proving that he had paid entirely for sin, since death is the result of sin (No sin = death cannot contain him. Rose again = proof that he has defeated sin.)

It isn't about what we do. But we are called to repent and believe, putting our faith in Jesus as the only one who can save. The consequence of that for our lives is that we will also give up sin - you can't be genuinely sorry for sin and then keep doing it. But we aren't condemned when we stuff up after that point - Jesus paid it all.

Yet the question remains: if you are a Christian, if Jesus has died for your sins and paid the ultimate sacrifice for you, how will you respond? Will you be willing to give your life as a living sacrifice for him (Romans 12)?

Are you willing to give up every benefit you have for the sake of knowing Jesus?

Light.

As I was reading through John 3 yesterday afternoon I spent a bit of time considering the significance of the themes of light and dark in the bible. These are just a few connections that I've made - I'm certain there are many more cool, interesting and helpful ones that could be made, but it was good to think through a little.

When is light first mentioned in the bible?
At creation in Genesis 1:3-5

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

Light was the first thing God created. It was the start of his glorious creation, the first step in his plan to bring us to life and eventually to show forth his glory through saving us. It was his first blessing for us and the first thing he created to glorify himself.

And it was also good. The first thing that God spoke into existence (as far as it is recorded).

In John 3:19-21, Jesus says:

This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God. 

So when we hate the light because of our sin, we are actually hating God's plan, his blessings and his glory. We are hating his first words, and therefore we hate his whole word and Jesus who is the word (John 1).

God created everything and it was good. When we rejected him through sin we began to hate what is good and love what is evil. Instead of loving the light, which God made to symbolise his good creation, we loved the dark - the absence of God and his plan. We wanted to be in control and we rejected him. Instead of his eternal blessing we chose his wrath - hell - the absence of his blessing.

But if we turn to God in repentance there is salvation - we can live by the truth and rejoice in being part of God's plan, bringing glory to him - "so that it may be seen plainly that what [we] have done has been done in the sight of God."

How do we turn back to God's blessings and his plan?
We need to follow and trust in the light of the world.

'When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."' (John 8:12)

So the question for you is this: Have you put your faith in Jesus? Have you given up your sin and repented of it? Or are you still living in darkness, treasuring your sin instead of God's measureless grace and mercy and blessing? Are you rejecting God's good gifts and clinging to worthless things that will lead only to his wrath?

Are you a Christian?

God Bless
Nat.

Our Glorious, Awesome God.

Romans 11:33

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!

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Oh the depths of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How wonderful He is! How unfathomable, how awesome, how powerful! How perfect and holy!

We should be thrilled at who God is. We should be entirely overawed. His wisdom, His plans and ideas, His works are deeper and richer then we could ever fathom. They bring glory to Him and they work for the good, of all those who love Him - revealing His mercy, grace, love, patience, kindness, justice, holiness, perfection and peace to us. God has done more then we could even imagine or measure!

We should simply be over-awed at who God is. We should just stand and appreciate His work, His character, His love. We should just stop and enjoy it, glorying in it and glorifying him for it.

Yet so often we are disinterested. We shrug our shoulders and go back to work or to study or to our meaningless wealth or to our friendships. I do that constantly, in fact it is the rare occasion that I just bask in God's glory - it is very rare. But it is so precious.

The wisdom of God. God's wisdom is wiser then anything we can imagine, "the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength." (1 Corinthians 1:25). What did He decide to do? He sent Jesus, who was and is eternally God as a man, to suffer and die. To live among us, and to be murdered by us. Why? So He could save us, so He could forgive us for our sins, so He could reveal to us God's full character and so that He could love us. No, it isn't about us - it's about Him, but He did do it for us as well. What an awesome God!

What does this mean for us? 

• We can trust God! His wisdom and knowledge are unsearchable because we are so frail and ignorant. Therefore when things don't make sense, when we can't see how God is working, trust him! He knows infinitely more than us! We don't have to fret because He has promised to work everything for His glory and for the good of His people (Romans 8:28)
• We can "Rejoice in the Lord always" (Phil 4:4) because He has shown us His character and it is wonderful. Because He is infinite and unsearchable, yet has revealed himself to us, offering to save us even though we are ignorant and foolish. If we never lose sight of the awesome God we serve, then we never have reason to stop rejoicing, because we should simply be rejoicing in who He is, and that remains constant regardless of what is happening in our lives
• We need to be humble. God is infinite, His plans are so full, so deep, so rich, so perfect that they are unsearchable by us. Who are we to think we know better? Who are we to live in sin and rebellion to him? Who are we to ask why He does what He does? Who are we even to be noticed and loved by Him? Yet he cares for us (1 Peter 5:7) and in His mercy and grace He does call us to know Him and to ask questions. But we do that humbly, knowing that God is unfathomably more awesome then we can understand.
• Just enjoy God. Know His character and bask in the light of who He is. Pray for His help to do that, read His word so that you can understand it further. Just enjoy God for who He is!

God is in control and He works out everything to bring glory to Him in ways that we do not understand. His paths are more wonderful then we can understand, deeper and more glorious then we can search. We cannot comprehend all He does in the world around us, in our lives and the lives of others. But God knows what He does, and we can glorify Him that He is working through everything to bring about His good and perfect purpose. We can glorify Him for who He is, and we should do that.

Where is the Joy in your walk with God? Are you basking in who He is? Are you simply enjoying the God who created, sustains and saved us? Are you enjoying His creation, which sings his praises (Psalm 19)?

To God be the glory! Great things He has done!

Soli Deo Gloria!

Nat.

The Remnant

Romans 11:5

So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.

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God always preserves a remnant of his people. That is a truth that is evident throughout the bible - there are always Christians in the world, God always has his people in the world.

When you think about it, that's pretty amazing. Since Adam and Eve, God has always kept some people who love and serve him in the world. He has sustained them and provided enough for them to remain trusting in him and to stay alive.

In this passage in Romans, Paul is speaking specifically about a Jewish remnant, and he gives the example of Elijah from 1 Kings 19:10-18. Elijah says to God that he is the only one left who truly follows God in Israel. God proves him wrong, promising that there were 7000 who had not bowed the knee to Baal.

Likewise, we never know who is one of God's people. When you feel like you're the only Christian out there, then pray, ask for God's help. Yes, it's possible that you are - in that case then you can know that God will sustain you and provide for you as he always has for his people in the past and as he always will in the future. But don't lose hope! God has people serving him who we don't know about - we don't know it all and we need to trust in him.

Paul says that this remnant is chosen by grace. That means that God has saved us entirely by his grace - not by anything we have done. What a wonderful thing that is! We don't have to fear losing our salvation because we have it for free - Jesus died and his death covers all our sin. If we turn to him in repentance and faith then we will be saved, and we will be totally forgiven, even though we still stuff it up. Jesus' sacrifice was big enough to cover all our sin if we are his people. We don't have to fear that we will be 'un-saved'. No one who is truly chosen by God will turn away from him - only those who are faking it or who don't truly understand it will turn away, because they have not been saved by grace.

An interesting parallel to this is found in Genesis 18 when Abraham asks God if he would preserve Sodom and Gomorrah if only 10 righteous people were in it (v32). God removed Lot from that city and destroyed it. God won't destroy the world while his people are in it - I think that means that before God destroys the world he will take his people to be with him. Maybe I'm wrong there - I haven't researched it much at all, but it's an interesting thought.

God preserves a remnant, are you in it?

"The Sternness of God"

Romans 11:22

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Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off.

As I explained in the previous post, the context of this verse is the rejection of the Jews and the acceptance of the Gentiles as God's people. The Jews as a nation had rejected Jesus, murdering him on the cross. As a result God (as he had always planned) opened up the gospel for the gentiles as well - everyone who puts their faith in Christ who will be saved, regardless of heritage or outward signs.

Though he talks about God's kindness in this passage (explored here), Paul also talks about God's "sternness". I like writing about God's mercy and grace - those things are what we like to hear. But the truth is that God is good, and that means his justice, perfection and righteousness are good as well. That means we need to praise him for those attributes just as much as we do for his kindness toward us.

The sternness of God is not Injustice.

When Paul talks about God's sternness he is talking about his pure an righteous judgement on all who reject him. We are sinners, God is pure. As a result we deserve his wrath and we can do nothing to change that. In Jesus God's kindness is displayed - we can be shown mercy because if we put our faith in him, he takes our sins and God's punishment and we take his perfection. If we reject Christ then we will get what we deserve.

What exactly is it that we deserve?

Hell. God's eternal condemnation and wrath against our sin. If we reject God and his means of saving us, then we will be rejected by him eternally. But what is hell?

• Hell is Eternal - Revelation 14:11 "And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name."

• Hell is physical Torment - Luke 16:24 "And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame."

• Hell is separation from God's presence and is God's wrath against sin - 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9 "when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might"

• Hell will be just and God's punishment varies - Matthew 11:22 "I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you."

It's safe to say that hell will be a terrible, horrible place. Yet that is what we deserve because of our sin. We all deserve God's eternal wrath. Yet there is salvation, full and complete forgiveness and adoption as God's children through Jesus.

How do you turn to him?

"Repent and Believe for the Kingdom of God is at hand" (Mark 1:15)

Repentance is the act of turning around. Instead of rejecting God and living sinfully, we need to say sorry for our rebellion an to fight to obey God. It isn't our obedience that saves us, but true repentance will result in obedience.

Belief, or faith is trust in God. Trust that Jesus did truly come, that he is truly God and he is fully man. That he did die and that he paid for our sins. It is also belief that he rose literally, physically rose again and that we will be with him eternally in heaven.

We deserve God's sternness, his justice, because we reject him and live sinfully. Yet he has held out the free offer of complete salvation in Jesus. Will you repent and put your faith in him?

If you want to discuss this more then feel free to email me at only.in.christ25@gmail.com.

I hope this was helpful.
Soli Deo Gloria!
Nat.


Further reading: http://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/bible-verses-about-hell-21-eye-opening-scriptures/#ixzz2dujQtXpA

"The Kindness of God"

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Romans 11:22

Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off.

"Consider therefore the Kindness of God". 

What has come before these verses is Paul's explanation of the Jews rejection of Christ and therefore the removal from their place as God's people, and the acceptance of the Gentiles and all who repent and believe in Jesus into God's family through Him. Well, Paul tells us to consider God's kindness. In what ways has God been kind to us?

Well the first, biggest, most obvious way (and the one that is most suitable to the context) is that he has saved us through Jesus. We sin, we disobey God. We hate him, we hate his creation. We hurt, we lie, we steal, we are selfish and self-glorifying (proud). We live constantly in disobedience to God's commands. His commands, which are a direct reflection of his character. We, like Adam and Eve who first sinned, are by nature sinners and therefore enemies of God's perfection. 

Yet, in his grace, God sent Jesus into the world as a man. He sent his only son who was eternally with him in perfect fellowship for all eternity. Jesus, who is God, willingly came to earth and became a man. he lived among sinful people, he suffered and he died. He was murdered by those he came to save. Why? To glorify God by showing his kindness, mercy, patience and love to us. We deserved God's justice, his judgement and his wrath for all eternity. Instead Jesus came to the earth and took that wrath on the cross. We cannot comprehend that, I cannot understand it. But it is beyond words to describe God's kindness and mercy to us in doing that for us.

Yet Jesus didn't only die for sin. He rose again, proving that he had truly dealt with all our sin and proving that he is God. He rose again, and everyone who puts their faith in him will be forgiven. When we turn to Christ our sin is put on him and we are forgiven.

What's more is that we, christians are accepted into God's family. We are adopted as his children. We are "co-heirs with Christ" (Read Romans 8). We are his people and we will be with him for all eternity in heaven, enjoying his presence and glorifying him forever. God is certainly kind to us, and we need to praise him for that. We need to glorify him for his character - for his kindness, mercy and grace, and for his justice, holiness and righteousness. 

What other ways does God show his kindness for us? Life every morning, light from the sun every day, grass, trees, birds, mountains, rivers, lakes, water, family, friendships, warmness, coolness, even sickness and hardship can show forth God's kindness. There are countless examples - come up with your own as well and praise God for them.

We rejected him, even though he created us. We rejected him who directs the stars and the water molecules. We rejected him who holds all of creation together, who gives light to the sun and power to the waves. We rejected him. Yet he came and died in our place on the cross. "Hand that flung stars into space, To cruel nails surrendered" for our sakes.

Will you continue to reject his kindness?

All Roads Don't Lead to Heaven (Part 2)

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John 14:6

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

In the previous post, we looked at why the general belief most people have about getting to heaven is wrong. We so often think that all people, or at least all "good" people will get to heaven. The truth is, no one is good - we all stuff up. That's why Jesus is the only way to heaven. Because he is both God and man, he is the only one who could pay for our sins and make us right with God. Jesus is the only way.

The Truth

Not only is Jesus the only way to God, he is also the truth. Our world is obsessed with relative truth: "You believe what you want to, I'll believe what I want too", "Everyone's right (well, everyone besides Christians that is...)".

The fact is, Jesus is the only truth. He is the only one who can truly save. Therefore all other methods of getting to heaven, all other teachings about different "ways" to heaven, are false. They're lies. Jesus is the true way to God.

The Life 

Jesus is the life. He is the only one who can give us life. In Romans 6 we learn that because we all sin, we are "dead in sin". We deserve death (and hell eternally), and we are dead in our relationship with God.

Through Jesus there is life. He takes our sin if we put our faith in him, and he makes us alive with him. Romans 6 continues by telling us that we, when we became christians, died with Christ and rose to life with him. We died to sin, and we rose again. We are New creations (2 Corinthians 5:17). Through Jesus we are forgiven, the wages of sin are taken away and we are granted God's grace - eternal life with Him in heaven after we die.

Jesus truly is the life.

The Only way to God

Another thought on this is that heaven is where we will be with God, enjoying his presence forever. The whole sentiment that all roads lead to heaven is based on the idea that heaven will be a great place to be. That's absolutely true, but it'll be great because we will be with God eternally. Therefore if people are living lives where they are rejecting God here, then in a sense they will get what they want (and deserve) when God judges - they will be separated from all the benefits of his character - his grace, mercy, love, and they will face his wrath, justice and purity for eternity.

The point of heaven is not to enjoy having whatever we want, it's to enjoy God and glorify him forever - and in heaven we will be transformed and made pure so that worshipping God does give us the perfect Joy. If you're living a life that rejects God, seeking only enjoyment from this life, how can you expect to enjoy him forever? You're not following Jesus who is the only way, the only truth and the only way to life.

All Roads Don't Lead to Heaven (Part 1)

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One message our culture, and therefore we as people, love to hear is that "all roads lead to heaven". "You'll be al
right as long as you're not a murderer or rapist". "Live how you want to as long as it doesn't hurt others or force your values on them". The problem with this message is that it's from us, humans, not from God. It's us trying to make ourselves feel better and have some sense of security. Well, lets see what God says about this.

John 14:6

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Wait a second. God (i.e. Jesus) is telling us clearly here that what our culture says, and what we so often want to believe is wrong. All roads don't lead to heaven - only Jesus does. Heaven is where God is, and "No one comes to the father except through [Jesus]" because he is the way, he is the truth and he is the life.

The way
Jesus is the only way to get to heaven. God is perfect, holy and entirely righteous. In him there is no darkness (1 John 1:5). In contrast, we are all sinful. We have all stuffed up. We all reject God. We all disobey him. Obviously that means there's a problem. God demands and requires perfect obedience. No human can achieve that because "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).

Yet, instead of just judging us as we deserve and sending us all to hell to suffer his wrath eternally, God sent Jesus (who is also God) into the world as a man. Jesus came and did not sin. He preached the gospel: That he would die for our sins, and that all who repent and believe (turn from sin and trust in him) will be saved. He then was crucified, taking God's wrath for all the sin of those who put their faith in him. he then rose again, proving that he had truly paid for our sin, since death is the result of sin.

You see, without payment for sin, God would justly have to condemn us. But because Jesus took that punishment and our sin on the cross if we're christians, we can be forgiven. Because he was perfect he could swap, taking our sin so we could take his perfection in God's sight. Because he was a man he could have our sin and live among sinful people. Because he is God he could pay the price that we never could. Jesus is the only way to God because he is the only way that we can be forgiven.

The question then has to be asked: Have you turned to Jesus as the only way to God? Have you given your life to him? Is this shown by how you live? Jesus is the only way to God - Mohammed isn't, nor is Buddha. Money can't get you to heaven, and your friends can't take you there because they're sinful too. God works won't even get you there, because no matter how much good you do, you're still guilty. A murderer doesn't suddenly become innocent by giving money to charity - that wouldn't be justice (I mean, I could go steal money and then give most it to charity: that wouldn't make me innocent). So many 'christians' don't truly follow Christ, they instead try to rely on their good works. This method will always fail because we cannot be good enough since we have sinned.

Jesus is truly the only way.

Can you say with Peter: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."

Why we couldn't do it, and why that's a good thing (Part 2).

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Yesterday we looked at two reasons why it is better that we are saved entirely by grace than by our own effort. Firstly, we are counted as righteous with Jesus' righteousness. He takes our sin and we are forgiven based on his work. Secondly, if we were saved by what we did, we would constantly be worried about stuffing up, because one slip up would mean eternity in hell with no hope for forgiveness. Today we'll look at two more reasons: It displays God's character and it means anyone can be saved.

• God displays his character through Jesus

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God is just. We sin and therefore we deserve hell. That's the spot we're in without Jesus. Yet God is not simply just, holy and perfect, but also merciful, gracious, loving and compassionate. 

Therefore he sent his only son into the world. Jesus, who is God, became a man. He willingly came and he died for us (Christians), taking our sin and God's wrath and just penalty for that. In Jesus God displays his justice - sin is dealt with. In Jesus God also shows his love and mercy - providing a way for us to be saved "while we were still powerless" (Romans 5:6-8) and at great personal cost.

We couldn't save ourselves, but God made a way for us to be saved. Therefore he has shown for his character and his glory, bringing us to eternal salvation in him if we put our faith in him.

• Salvation isn't just for the Elite.

If we could have managed to be perfect and save ourselves. then that would mean that only the best people could be saved (that certainly wouldn't be me and probably wouldn't be you). Only the people who were completely self-controlled, completely humble, completely gentle, completely pure could be saved. Even as Christians, free from slavery to sin, we still stuff up. If we had been freed all along, we would still have sinned.

That would be bad for us - we would deserve and would get eternal destruction in hell. Jesus didn't come to save those who were well, he came to save the sick (Matthew 9:11-13) - he didn't come to save the 'good' people (since no one is good. and those who think they are are self-righteous and proud), he came to save the 'sinners' - us. Those who cannot help themselves. That's good news. In fact, thats what the gospel is all about - God saving us for his glory even though we do not deserve it one bit.

Conclusion

We don't deserve the salvation that we have. We couldn't achieve it ourselves and nothing we could ever have done could have made us right in God's sight.

We don't deserve it, and that's why we can count on it. 

It was given freely to those who didn't deserve it, and therefore nothing that we do can make it be taken off us. If we truly love God we will serve and obey him, but we don't have to fear losing our salvation because it is entirely by grace.

Therefore, since we are saved by grace, we are free to obey God out of love, not duty. If we had to obey to get to heaven, and we lived in constant fear of stuffing it up then we wouldn't obey out of love. This way we can obey God out of love.

We couldn't do it, and that's a good thing because of Grace.

Why we couldn't do it, and why that's a good thing (Part 1).

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Grace: God's Riches at Christ's Expense.
God's undeserved favour on his people which we have through Jesus because he died for us and took the wrath we deserved for our sin. Romans 11:6 says that if we are saved by grace, "then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace." The fact is that we cannot help ourselves - we sin and we cannot undo that (Romans 3:23). We can only be saved by Grace. We couldn't do it, and that's a good thing.

You see, if we were saved by anything we could do then we would have our own righteousness. That's it. We would be good people, end of story. Sure, we'd be good enough to get to heaven on our own merit, but what we have in Jesus is far, far better.

• We have Christ's Righteousness.

2 Corinthains 5:21 says

For our sake he made him [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God

Jesus took our sins and we take his righteousness. We are holy in God's sight, not based on what we've done. When God looks at us, he knows that we are still sinful, but he sees Jesus and Jesus' righteousness instead of our sin. Jesus took our sin, we took his righteousness. We died to sin with him, and we rose to new life with him (Romans 6)

Isn't it far better to have Jesus' righteousness, God's holiness instead of our own works? We have God's grace and mercy - his righteousness becomes accounted to us through faith. That's truly awesome.

• We wouldn't be free of worry

If we had to count on ourselves and our own works, then we would have to constantly worry and be careful. Since one sin is enough for us to be justly and eternally condemned to hell, we would have to watch every word, thought and deed. We would have to constantly worry and fret over everything - making sure we didn't stuff it up. One stuff up could mean eternity in hell without any hope for forgiveness.

We would truly be slaves to good works. 

Through Christ we know that there is complete forgiveness. We need to hate sin and we need to fight it, but we know that we will stuff up, and we know that he has paid the price. Every true Christian is (and will be) forgiven for their sins. It isn't an excuse to sin more, but it is a reason to praise God for what he has done. It is far better that we are forgiven then that we are slaves to doing good.

God Deserves all Glory

This is only part one of the series, but here's a concluding point. We cannot make it ourselves, and that means God deserves all the glory. We sin, we stuff it up and we cannot save ourselves. God reigns and he has shown forth his goodness in offering us salvation.

We don't deserve any of the praise. God deserves it all. So praise him for all he has done!

Are you trusting in your own effort or in Christ? Only Jesus can save.

Who can come before God?

Psalm 24:3-4

Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord?
Who may stand in his holy place?
The one who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not trust in an idol
or swear by a false god.

 Who can come before God? Who can enter his presence? Who can stand before him? The short answer is that none of us can. Our hands are filthy, our hearts certainly aren't pure and we constantly put ourselves before God.

We are sinful, we disobey God and therefore we deserve his wrath. We cannot come before him asking for salvation while we're in this state, and we don't deserve anything except God's wrath. Yet he has made a way for us to be saved. He has provided someone who can enter his presence.

Jesus is God, he is perfect. He has clean hands, he is pure. He did not trust in himself or worship anything other than God (even though Satan tempted him to in Luke 4). He is God and he came to earth as a man, he lived perfectly and he died in our place.

Jesus, the creator of the universe, God the son, equally God along with the Holy Spirit and God the father from all eternity came to earth for our sakes and died in our place. Why? To take our sin, so that whoever turns to him can be entirely forgiven by him. He suffered the wrath that we deserve because he took our sin on himself. He was punished by God even though he was perfect so that he could save us.

So Repent and Believe! Turn to him! Jesus saves, put your faith in him, turn from sin and obey him. Jesus not only died, but he rose again. The wages of sin is death, and he suffered that, but he rose again proving that he had dealt with our sin in full, he had paid the price that we would spend eternity in hell paying. He rose again from the dead and ascended to heaven, and he is with God preparing a place for us.

Jesus has ascended the "mountain of the Lord" and he will return to judge the living and the dead. Everyone who puts their faith in him will be entirely forgiven and will be saved from his wrath. We will spend eternity with him in heaven, enjoying his presence. Anyone ho rejects him will be rejected by him and thrown into hell to suffer God's wrath on that day.

Jesus alone can save. He is the only true God: we need to worship him. He is the one who makes our hands and hearts clean, washing them in his blood so that we are righteous in God's sight. Nothing we can do can add to that or take away from it. Trust in him! Repent and Believe and be encouraged! Stand firm!

Jesus saves. This is love.

Soli Deo Gloria
Nat.

Why do we exist?

1 Corinthians 6:20

You were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your bodies.

God created the universe for his glory. Every rock, every tree, every molecule of oxygen gas, every electron in every atom. Everything that exists was created by God to glorify him and to express his glory.

And yet we see in Genesis 3 that we sinned. We rebelled against God and stuffed it up. Adam and Eve ate the fruit when he told us not to, and every single human being since then has also rebelled against God. We no longer give him the glory, instead we try to take it all ourselves.

But instead of destroying us like we deserved, God made a promise to Adam and Eve. Genesis 3:15 -

And I will put enmitybetween you and the woman,and between your offspring and hers;he will crush your head,and you will strike his heel.”

God promised from the beginning to save us, to provide someone to crush Satan, sin and death. That's what Paul means when he says we were brought with a price. Jesus, who was eternally God, became a man. He lived among us, yet he did not sin, and he suffered and died in our place. He took God's wrath for those who turn to him - the punishment that we deserve because we sin against him and he paid for it in full. As a result we can be saved, and we can fulfil our purpose: we can glorify God again.

Why do we exist? Isn't that one of the biggest questions asked? We exist to glorify God, and we do that best by being satisfied in him, by being thankful and by praising him for his goodness.

If you are a Christian then you have been brought at a price - God (Jesus) became a man and died in your place. Then he rose again and now he sits at God's (God the Father's) right hand, interceding for us, still God and still retaining his humanity. We have been brought with a price that we cannot even begin to fathom. If that's true then the only response should be thankfulness which leads to obedience - glorifying God with your body.

Do you Glorify God in all you do?

Soli Deo Gloria.
Nat.

The link between Forgiveness and Love.

Luke 7:40-43, 47

Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”
“Tell me, teacher,” he said. 

“Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”
Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”
“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said. 

Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”
Want to love God more? Understand the gravity of sin and how much he has forgiven us.

This whole passage is absolutely beautiful. Jesus is invited to the house of a Pharisee to eat, and while he is there a 'sinner' (perhaps a prostitute) comes, weeps on his feet, dries them with her hair, kisses them and pours perfume on them. That sounds a bit weird in our culture, but it is beautiful.

The point of the passage is that she realises her sin, and she repents of it. She turns to Jesus even though she is a wretched sinner and she knows it). She seeks mercy from him and he grants it freely. This is juxtaposed to the pharisee who is 'righteous' by the standards of the time and looks down on her. Ultimately it links our recognition of how sinful we really are with how much we love God.

God forgives us even though we could never ever repay the debt we owe him. We sin and we deserve his wrath eternally, yet in Jesus there is forgiveness: Jesus is God, he lives perfectly and when we put our faith in him he takes our sin. On the cross he died and paid the penalty for our sin, suffering God's wrath in our place. He is the link between love and forgiveness. We need to love him more and more and we can do this by realising how sinful we are more and more and reflecting on how much we have been forgiven. In honesty it is those who have sinned more who realise more how much they have been forgiven and it makes sense that they would have a greater love for God because of it. Obviously this is not an excuse to sin more though - if we love God we will do what he says and we will stop sinning. We can;t use the excuse of sinning more so we will be forgiven more and love God more. It doesn't work like that.
There is complete forgiveness in Jesus. No matter what you've done, no matter who you are, God is willing to forgive anyone who turns to him. We cannot have sinned so badly that God won't forgive us. He is God, he is powerful enough and merciful enough to forgive us completely. To doubt if he would be able to forgive you is to doubt that he is God, because God is the most powerful and merciful being in the universe, and he is certainly more powerful and merciful then our sin. Repent and Believe! Put your faith in him! Only Jesus can save, and he does so freely. Turn to him, he will forgive. Love and obey him. Praise Him!

How much do you owe the moneylender? How much have you been forgiven? How much do you love God as a response to that?

God's Power and Humility

Today in devotions with the year 8 kids, we looked at a number of different verses, exploring God's power, humility, mercy and grace. In Genesis 1 we read:

Genesis 1:1-5

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

God created the universe, and he did it simply by speaking. He is all powerful, he is worthy of all praise and he is the creator. The rest of Genesis 1 explains how God created the rest of creation. He spoke, it happened, and it was good. He is all powerful.

We then turned to Psalm 18:6-15, which details God's might and power. David called to God for help and he describes God as the almighty rescuer. He also mentions that God scatters his enemies. The verse displays God's power more vividly.

After this we turned to Luke 2:1-7

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register.
So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

We know that Jesus is God. He created the universe. He is all powerful. Yet he was born as a human. Not only that, he was born as a poor human, in a stable because no one would make room for him to be born in the inn. He was rejected from birth, and he was rejected throughout his life. This wasn't by accident, it was prophesied many times in the Old Testament (See Isaiah 53). Jesus came to suffer and die in our place, so that everyone who puts their faith in him and repents of their sin will be saved. Jesus, who was there at creation, Jesus who is all powerful, all-knowing. Jesus who reigns over all fo creation hung dying, bleeding on a cross for our sakes. He did it willingly.

We then turned to Philippians 2:6-11

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 

Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross! 

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

Jesus humbled himself to save us, even though we don't deserve it one bit. He then rose again, and he is now in heaven interceding for us even though we still don't deserve it. He gave up his power and eternal glory, becoming a man so that he could save us and glorify God. He died in our place. He rose again and he reigns. He will return to judge. So the question is, do you know Jesus? Have you put your faith in him? If no, then you need to consider this because you are sinful and you (like me) deserve hell. Jesus offers forgiveness, but if you reject him then you will face Gods wrath.

If you are a Christian then look at v6 of Philippians 2. We need to act like Jesus. We need to be humble. Jesus is God, yet he humbled himself to die for us. We are humans, we need to be humble enough to help and love each other, and to serve and glorify God in all we do.

I hope that was helpful, challenging and encouraging.
Nat.

Jesus' Genealogy

The Passage I'm going to be referring to can be found in Luke 3:23-38. I haven't copied it out here because it would probably be unhelpful.

Jesus' Genealogy is full of grace. It shows forth God's faithfulness, his promises and how he has fulfilled them. I used to find it extremely boring to read through lists of names like these, but there s so much that can be learnt here.

Before we come to the promises though, there's something I want to discuss. This Genealogy, and the one in Matthew 1 are both of Jesus. Yet they are very different. Some have suggested that this is just because in those times people sometimes had more than one name. That's definitely possible, and the genealogies do meet up and match each other eventually.

Another suggestion that I have looked into a little is that the Genealogy is actually from Mary's line. Matthew was establishing to the Jews that Jesus was a descendant of David and the fulfilment of God's promises, and by legality that had to be through the Male line. Luke isn't writing to the Jews, so he establishes it through Mary's line.

"...the son of Zerubbabel"

In the book of Haggai, God promised Zerubbabel a number of things, and there are links to his promise of the Messiah coming from Zerubbabel's line. The promise isn't explicit, but it is there, and God kept it. Either way, Zerubbabel was faithful to God and God honoured him by making him part of Jesus' family line.

"...the son of David"

2 Samuel 7:11b-16 is a double promise for David. First it points to Solomon, who would build God's temple. Secondly it points to Jesus, who was the promised king. Jesus came and he reigns eternally, therefore David's line is established forever. God Keeps his promises!

"...the son of Boaz"

This isn't a promise as such, but it is God's grace and plan in action. Who was Boaz Married to? Ruth. A Moabite. She left her people and went home with Naomi, accepting God as her God. As a result fo her faithfulness God, God was faithful to her, not only allowing her to be accepted into Israel but also to be in the Messiah's line. God always planned to save the Gentiles if they would put their faith in him. His mercy and grace is free to us all. Trust him, Repent and Believe. He saves!

"...the son of Judah, the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham"

God also fulfilled his promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He promised Abraham Land, Offspring and Blessing. He fulfilled that with Israel, taking them to the promised land, making them plentiful and blessing them with his law. He also fulfilled it in Jesus, making both Gentiles and Jews who put their faith in him part of his family, who have an eternal home in heaven. Through Jesus all nations are blessed. God never forgets his promises, he even remembered those he made to Abraham thousands of years before Jesus' birth. God has a plan, he does that plan, and we can trust him to do it fully. (See Genesis 12:1-3)

"...the son of Shem, the son of Noah"

Firstly Shem: Noah mentions in Genesis 9:26-27 that Shem worshipped God. God honoured that and Jesus came from his line. Noah also trusted God and built the ark even though he only had God's word to go on. In fact the Ark is a foreshadow of Jesus - he saves and protects us from God's wrath. God keeps his promises. He preserved Noah from his wrath on sin, and he saves us also through faith in Jesus, his son.

"...the son of Adam"

God gave Adam and Eve children even though they had rejected God. He gave them the promise of salvation even when pronouncing his just judgement on them in genesis three, saying in Genesis 3:15  

"And I will put enmity between you [the snake] and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel.”

Even in just judgement, God is merciful. He provided a way to be saved, as was always his plan.  Jesus is that salvation. He defeats Satan. What's more he is...

"the son of God."