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The Good News is...
God did not intend for you to spend your eternity in Hell¹ which was made for the devil and his demons² and not man. However, God's righteous judgment on all sin is coming soon.
1. Hell is more correctly known as The Lake of Fire. See Revelation chapters 19 to 21.
2. Matthew 25:41
John 3:16-17
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
1st Timothy 2:5-6…
For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6who gave himself as a ransom for all men….
Acts 4:12
Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. |
And...
Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
Hebrews 9:28
Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
John 3:36
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him. |
Why did Jesus do this ?
It is because he is our Creator and he loves us and longs for us. We didn't create this God with our own hands out of wood or bronze, he created us, and because we have been separated from him by our sin we need to be reconciled to him in this life, before we die, if not then we can never be, not ever.
Here are three of the many hundreds of prophesies about Jesus hundreds of years before His birth:
Isaiah 7:14
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel (which means God with us)
Isaiah 9:6
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 53:5-6
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
A few of the other prophetic scriptures that Jesus fulfilled are found in Psalms 16:10, 22:12-18, 41:9, Micah 5:2
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God knows we can be blinded through the many devices of the devil so he did something about it. It's because he loves us that he stepped in where we were powerless to do anything.
Isaiah 59:15-16
Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey. The LORD looked and was displeased that there was no justice. 16He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm worked salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him.
Romans 5:8
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this; While we were still sinners, Christ died for us
2 Corinthians 5:18-19 & 21
All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. … 21God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. |
So what does God want from us ?
Isaiah 55:7
Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
Ezekiel 33:11
‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live.’
2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. |
A rebirth is needed !
John 3:3-6
In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” 4“How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!” 5Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.” |
When we truly repent and ask God’s forgiveness through Christ we die to our old self and are reborn (not figuratively but literally) in our spirit and so can live eternally as God intended us to. And as believers we receive the Holy Spirit that seals us and lives in us and without which God will not recognise us as belonging to him on Judgement Day.
We did not create ourselves in our mother's womb so that we were born in the flesh, into our natural bodies and neither are we able to create our spiritual birth. We came into the world spiritually dead along with all humanity and can do nothing on our own to change this, but God has made a way for us, his way, through his Son Jesus Christ and this gift is given freely to all who ask.
We cannot earn this gift and we surely don't deserve it !
Ephesians 2:8 & 9
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - 9not by works, so that no one can boast.
Titus 3:5-7
he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. |
“Grace” means “undeserved favour”
If we repent, which means to turn away from our sins and turn to God, and put our faith in his Son; Jesus Christ, then God will do an amazing thing. He will take all our sin and put it to death on the cross of Jesus’ sacrifice for us and then take the righteousness of him who was without sin and impute (attribute/credit) it to us. By this faith we are made righteous in God eyes not based on our own good deeds or righteousness (because we are not) but by Jesus Christ’s righteousness, sacrifice and resurrection on our behalf.
John 11:25
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies”
John 14:6
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” |
Redemption and eternal life is on God’s terms …not ours … just as it should be
1st Peter 5:5…
…“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” |
Sadly many people don’t accept God’s provision of salvation because of their pride, fear of being judged and the love of sin. It is these very things that formed part our separation from God at the beginning. A time for God’s judgement is coming, why not choose his grace and salvation now so that when you face God on Judgement Day he can dismiss your case because you have put your faith in his Son for your righteousness and not yourself.
Dear Reader if you hear his voice calling you to be reconciled to him please do not harden your heart but respond to him.
You ask “what should I do”
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Other scripture references
Isaiah 43:11, 49:6, Ezekiel 18:23, Matthew 11:28-30, John 1:1-14, 8:24, 10:30, 11:25, 12:44-50, Acts 2:22-36 & 13:38-39, 15:7-11, Romans 10:4, Hebrews 9:15, 1st John 5:11-13
Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ®. NIV®. COPYRIGHT © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved. |
