“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.” Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:1-6
My dear readers, the Lord has put a strong word in my heart that I cannot ignore. He has impressed upon me a need to depart briefly from the study that we have been on in order to make an urgent plea to you – a plea for the salvation of your soul and the souls of your family members!
My friends, I am firmly convinced that times of great trouble are coming very soon. I believe that the very Lord and Creator of all creation is returning to His world, and that the time is very near. Those that are His will join Him in paradise for all eternity! Hallelujah! But those that are not His will suffer terribly, and if they do not turn to Him, they will be tormented throughout eternity. This is a destiny that I would never want any of you to bear!
The holy Scriptures tell us that man (Adam) was created and given a special relationship with both God and His creation.
And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. Genesis 2:7
They then go on to tell us of the creation of the woman, Eve, as a perfect help-mate for Adam.
And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.
And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.
And Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.” Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. Genesis 2:18-25
But the man and woman sinned against God, and broke the relationship that they had with the Living God.
Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.” Genesis 3:17-19
But God, knowing that His special creatures (man and woman) would sin, had already made a way to bring them back to a special relationship with Himself. If God gives us the time, we will study the sacrificial system in the coming posts. God set up an elaborate system of sacrifices that could only cover over sin; they could never remove it. But these sacrifices also served as a picture of the one Perfect Sacrifice that could completely remove our sin from us – the Man that would ultimately come into the world, live a perfect and sinless life, and give Himself a sacrifice for our sins. This is the Man Christ Jesus.
You see, we have ALL sinned:
But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Romans 3:21-23
But Jesus has given us salvation through his redeeming work as a perfect sacrifice that we should be given His righteousness leading to eternal life:
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. John 3:14-17
And what does it mean for the Son of Man to be lifted up as the serpent in the wilderness? He was crucified; hung on a cross for the sins of the world!
‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified…’ Luke 24:7
And through His sacrificial death, Jesus traded His righteousness for our sin!
For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21
My friends, do not miss this call! If you have read any of my posts, this is the most important of them all: salvation can come through no other means than the death of Jesus Christ Himself!
Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:8-12
And what is to become of those that hear Jesus’ call and do not believe?
“The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand. He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” John 3:35-36
My dear friends, I prayerfully urge you to think on these words! And accept the good gift that only God can give, that gift that comes only through the death of His own son – the gift of eternal life and salvation! Do not put your hope in vain things! The scripture tells us that it is appointed only ONCE to die – then the judgement. We do NOT have a second chance! Pleas do not bet your eternity on the possibility of reincarnation; you must choose to put your faith in Jesus today!
And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation. Hebrews 9:27-28
Jesus is coming back soon to gather His people to His side and give them an eternal reward. Will you be with me in that gathering? I beg that you accept His free gift!
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23
If you feel God reaching out to you and drawing you toward His free gift of salvation, you must respond! Simply acknowledge Him in your heart, and pray to Him in this way:
“Lord, I believe that I have not lived a life worthy of You. But I believe that You made a way for me to be redeemed, and given salvation through the voluntary gift of Your Son, Jesus Christ. I accept His payment for my sins, and am now choosing to give my life to You. Thank you for your mercy and kindness.”
For those of you that have accepted God’s gift of salvation through Jesus Christ, His only son, I beg you to pray for all that may read this post! Pray that they will join us in life eternal and avoid eternal judgement and suffering.
If you gave your life to Christ as a result of this post, I am incredibly happy to welcome you into the family of God! Please send me a comment and seek out other believers in Jesus to help you get started in your walk with Him. My prayers are for all of you – please do not delay, my friends; the time is short!
God’s holy blessings to you,
YouJi