Well who is Christ anyway?
Most of us have heard the Christmas Story numerous times in our lives. But the important thing about the Christmas Story is express by passage:Well who is Christ anyway?
Luke 1:26-31
New International Version (NIV)
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee,27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.
See, Jesus was born from a virgin daughter of Israel. Virgin being defined as a girl that has never had sex.
In verse 34 Mary says: “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” (NIV)
Going further, Jesus died on a cross. The bible says cursed is anyone who dies upon a tree. Galations 3:13, Deuteronomy 21:23
It would be somewhat expected in those times for anyone committing crimes to be hanged but Jesus had done nothing wrong. See in Luke 23 both Pilate and Herod, both rulers in the areas at that time both stated that they found nothing worthy of death for Jesus. Pilate was going to release Jesus after beating him but the crowds, but by continual agitation by the chief priest, the crowds kept crying to crucify (to hang on a cross) him. So Pilate handed Jesus over to the Jews and that's what they did.
The crucifixion of Christ was prophesied in Isaiah 53. Note verses 5 and 6:
5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.
6 All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him.
29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.
See, Jesus was born from a virgin daughter of Israel. Virgin being defined as a girl that has never had sex.
In verse 34 Mary says: “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” (NIV)
Going further, Jesus died on a cross. The bible says cursed is anyone who dies upon a tree. Galations 3:13, Deuteronomy 21:23
It would be somewhat expected in those times for anyone committing crimes to be hanged but Jesus had done nothing wrong. See in Luke 23 both Pilate and Herod, both rulers in the areas at that time both stated that they found nothing worthy of death for Jesus. Pilate was going to release Jesus after beating him but the crowds, but by continual agitation by the chief priest, the crowds kept crying to crucify (to hang on a cross) him. So Pilate handed Jesus over to the Jews and that's what they did.
The crucifixion of Christ was prophesied in Isaiah 53. Note verses 5 and 6:
5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.
6 All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him.
He died for our sins, our transgressions. He became cursed for us so that our sins can be forgiven us. But don't be deceived, these don't just automatically apply to you. Please read on.
John 3:16-21
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
16 “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. 17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18 He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”
You see, this forgiveness is only for those who believe. Can you believe? Let me continue and expound further to see more clearly what you are being ask to believe.
A third very important thing happened that will round out who Jesus really is. Here we pick up the Easter story where Jesus rose up from the grave. See John 20. If you would like to read these scriptures for yourself I recommend going to http://www.biblegateway.com where I've found to be a valuable tool for bible searches and comparing text in different versions of the bible and forjust reading the bible. But in John 20, Jesus rose from the grave. In verse 28 Thomas declared Jesus as His Lord and His God. As chapter 20 presents it, Thomas did not come to accept this lightly, but was convinced by an appearing of Jesus in the flesh showing Thomas his scars. Now this is not a small thing for a Jewish man to accept a 'man' as God. Idolatry is strictly forbidden by the Old Testament scriptures and Thomas would be committing a gross sin if Jesus was not God in the flesh. Thomas was thoroughly convinced!
I want you to know that I believe this with all my heart. Jesus was born of God via a virgin girl, lived a sinless life in God's (the father) eyes and died on the cross for your and my sins. On the third day He rose from the grave demonstrating the power over death. Later in Acts (verse 1:9) Jesus ascended into the clouds where the angels said he would return in a like manner some day. Paul said that in 1 Corinthians 15:6 that Jesus appeared to over 500 brethren at one time before He ascended up into heaven.
So I ask you, can you become a believer?
So you ask what must I do to become a believer and be saved?
It is simple, you must believe. Believe what you ask: That Jesus was born from a virgin girl. That He lived a sinless life. That He died for your sins and on the third day He rose from the grave. And finally, that He is God.
You must give you life to Christ Jesus.
Now that you realize all the trouble you have caused by your actions. You must repent of those actions that caused God to go through this for you. And now that you see how much God loves you to die for you to save you. Are you going to continue on sinning? Surely not, at least not intentionally. God never wants us to sin. If you really believe, you will do your best to live a sinless life.
I know it's hard to live the 'sinless' life but I want you to understand that God has provided his grace and his power to help you. First God's grace forgives you of your sins. But God does not leave you there, He gives you his power to live right for him. Don't miss this point. God did not leave us hanging on our own abilities to please Him. But He gave us his Holy Spirit. Further, He revives our spirit to life for we were dead in spirit. Now that we are revived, God's Spirit can dwell in us and commune with us.
The final thing you must do to be saved:
You must pray to Jesus. But what should I pray you ask? Tell Jesus that you believe this that I've just written to you. Mainly that He is God and that He died for your sins. Ask Him to forgive you of your sins and to cleanse you of all your unrighteousness. Ask Him to revive your spirit. Ask Him to fill you with His Spirit and help you live your life for Him.
Why should I give my life to Christ? Because only through Him can we have eternal Life. John 14:6 says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father, but by me (Jesus)." In Genesis of the old testament God told Adam that he would surely die if he partake of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. That death God spake of was a immediate spiritual death and an eventual physical death. Well we inherited Adam's spiritual death and we need a spiritual salvation. Does any other prophet, teacher, religion promise to be able to revive our spirit? Only Christ can. You must believe on Christ alone for your salvation!
Maybe I became long winded for a blog. But this is the most important message of the Bible.
You see, this forgiveness is only for those who believe. Can you believe? Let me continue and expound further to see more clearly what you are being ask to believe.
A third very important thing happened that will round out who Jesus really is. Here we pick up the Easter story where Jesus rose up from the grave. See John 20. If you would like to read these scriptures for yourself I recommend going to http://www.biblegateway.com where I've found to be a valuable tool for bible searches and comparing text in different versions of the bible and forjust reading the bible. But in John 20, Jesus rose from the grave. In verse 28 Thomas declared Jesus as His Lord and His God. As chapter 20 presents it, Thomas did not come to accept this lightly, but was convinced by an appearing of Jesus in the flesh showing Thomas his scars. Now this is not a small thing for a Jewish man to accept a 'man' as God. Idolatry is strictly forbidden by the Old Testament scriptures and Thomas would be committing a gross sin if Jesus was not God in the flesh. Thomas was thoroughly convinced!
I want you to know that I believe this with all my heart. Jesus was born of God via a virgin girl, lived a sinless life in God's (the father) eyes and died on the cross for your and my sins. On the third day He rose from the grave demonstrating the power over death. Later in Acts (verse 1:9) Jesus ascended into the clouds where the angels said he would return in a like manner some day. Paul said that in 1 Corinthians 15:6 that Jesus appeared to over 500 brethren at one time before He ascended up into heaven.
So I ask you, can you become a believer?
So you ask what must I do to become a believer and be saved?
It is simple, you must believe. Believe what you ask: That Jesus was born from a virgin girl. That He lived a sinless life. That He died for your sins and on the third day He rose from the grave. And finally, that He is God.
You must give you life to Christ Jesus.
Now that you realize all the trouble you have caused by your actions. You must repent of those actions that caused God to go through this for you. And now that you see how much God loves you to die for you to save you. Are you going to continue on sinning? Surely not, at least not intentionally. God never wants us to sin. If you really believe, you will do your best to live a sinless life.
I know it's hard to live the 'sinless' life but I want you to understand that God has provided his grace and his power to help you. First God's grace forgives you of your sins. But God does not leave you there, He gives you his power to live right for him. Don't miss this point. God did not leave us hanging on our own abilities to please Him. But He gave us his Holy Spirit. Further, He revives our spirit to life for we were dead in spirit. Now that we are revived, God's Spirit can dwell in us and commune with us.
The final thing you must do to be saved:
You must pray to Jesus. But what should I pray you ask? Tell Jesus that you believe this that I've just written to you. Mainly that He is God and that He died for your sins. Ask Him to forgive you of your sins and to cleanse you of all your unrighteousness. Ask Him to revive your spirit. Ask Him to fill you with His Spirit and help you live your life for Him.
Why should I give my life to Christ? Because only through Him can we have eternal Life. John 14:6 says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father, but by me (Jesus)." In Genesis of the old testament God told Adam that he would surely die if he partake of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. That death God spake of was a immediate spiritual death and an eventual physical death. Well we inherited Adam's spiritual death and we need a spiritual salvation. Does any other prophet, teacher, religion promise to be able to revive our spirit? Only Christ can. You must believe on Christ alone for your salvation!
Maybe I became long winded for a blog. But this is the most important message of the Bible.
No comments:
Post a Comment