Category: Death of Jesus Christ

Monday 3/5 ~ God took care of the hard part

On By In Death of Jesus Christ, faith, Saved from hell, sinLeave a comment

The scripture for today, March 5 (3/5), is Titus 3:5 in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-BK 7-ShadowOfDeath-Cover-new-Thumbnail“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.”

God is perfectly good and cannot dwell with imperfection. How, then, could we ever live with him in his heaven?  After all, as hard as we tried, we could not be perfect. Mankind was held hostage by Satan.

God loved us so much that he solved our dilemma. He sent his Son to live that perfect life that is impossible for us to live. Then, his perfect “Lamb of God” took our punishment for our sins by paying the ransom to get us out of the clutches of Satan.

Romans 3:23 says the earnings of sin is death ~ physical death (separation from this world) and spiritual death (separation from God). Jesus took it all for us. And that included being completely separated from God. At the worst of it, Jesus cried out to God, “Why have your FORSAKEN me?” That’s when Jesus died spiritually for a while. It was we who deserved to be forsaken by God.

Sin and its power now destroyed, God said if we go “through the washing of rebirth” we will be renewed by the Holy Spirit.  

But how? God did not leave us guessing, for in Acts 22:16 he said through Peter, “Arise and be baptized and wash away your sins” and in Romans 6:4 he said through Paul, “We were therefore buried with him through baptism in order that…we too may live a new life [rebirth].”  Then we could start over pure and washed.

God took care of the hard part. He gave us the easy part. And so we worship him.

Saturday 2/24 ~ I don’t do big sins, so I’m going to heaven

On By In death, Death of Jesus Christ, forgiveness, Heaven, sacrifice, Saved from hellLeave a comment

The scripture for today, February 24 (2/24), is 1st Peter 2:24 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-BK 7-ShadowOfDeath-Cover-new-Thumbnail“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.”

Many people do not understand what Jesus dying on the cross has to do with us going to heaven. After all, if we don’t murder, steal, abuse others and only lie a little, God has no choice but to take us into heaven.  But God is perfect, so cannot co-exist with imperfection ~ even one tiny sin.

Romans 3:23 says all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And Romans 6:23 says the wages of sin is death. So, all through the Old Testament era, whenever we sinned, God allowed us to kill/sacrifice a perfect animal and spill its blood to collect the death wages in our place. Notice, the animal had to be perfect and this was a temporary fix.

Eventually, God sent his own Son to come to earth and live in a human body and be tempted in every way that we are (see Hebrews 4:15). Jesus resisted all temptations and lived his entire life sinless. He was perfect morally, just as the sacrificial animals were perfect physically.

Then as the perfect Lamb of God (John 1:29), Jesus became the final sacrifice. He took the blame for all our sins and died in our place. He took the terrible wages of death for our sins. On the cross, he died spiritually (forsaken by God) and physically with blood dripping from the wounds in his hands and feet. Then God basically told the world, “I will consider you perfect too; all you have to do is believe in and follow my Son.”

It is explained further in Romans 6:3-4. Just as Jesus died bearing our sins, we die to our sinful nature ~ the part of us that sins and doesn’t care. Then just as Jesus was buried in his tomb, we are buried in the watery tomb of baptism. And finally, just as Jesus rose up out of his tomb the Savior, we rise up out of our watery tomb the saved ~ born again to a new life.

He left heaven to do all this for you and me. Indeed, by Jesus’ wounds you and I can be healed. We fall at his feet and say, “I am a sinner and so unworthy. Thank you.”

 

Wednesday 2/14 ~ Thank God for the Old Testament

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The scripture for today, February 14, is Colossians 2:14 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

00- Worship Changes KC COVER-thumbnail“[God] having canceled the written code with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.”

It is beyond my comprehension why anyone would want the Law of Moses unless they don’t want to obey ALL 600 commands and want an excuse to justify the one they do want.

They want the part that says to tithe so they can get people’s money. (Actually, the good Jew gave one-third, not one-tenth.) Or they want a separate priesthood so they can feel important.  Or they want showy things in worship like candles, incense, musical instruments (though they were only allowed the harp, lyre, and cymbal) so they can enjoy themselves more. 

Hold on! If we obey one command we are required to keep the entire Law of Moses ~ all 600 commands. Galatians 5:3 and James 2:10 say so. Are you up to it?

Our verse for today says the Law was against us; that is, it was impossible for us to keep perfectly. Try wading through Leviticus in the Old Testament. That’s where most of the old Law (“the written code with its regulations”) is.

It’s tedious. It regulated nearly every part of everyone’s daily life. It involved what we could and couldn’t eat, having to kill animals to die in our place whenever we sinned, stoning adulterers to death, having a separate Levite priesthood, giving a third of our income, reporting to priests if we had an open sore, use of candles, having to go to the Temple in Jerusalem three times a year, spreading blood on our doorposts, and on and on.

The book of Hebrews in the New Testament was written to help us understand that God’s new Law of Grace is much more spiritual. Read especially chapters 8 & 9. We have to make a choice: Old or New.

Hebrews was written about the time the Temple in Jerusalem was permanently destroyed, thus making it impossible to obey several things in the old Law. And a little time later the Jewish genealogies were destroyed, thus making it impossible to prove who was a Levite and eligible to be a priest.

But wait!  The Old Testament of the Bible is not the same as the Law of Moses. The Law is a small part of the Old Testament. The rest of it is wonderful praise, amazing wisdom, accounts of people who did or did not try to follow God, and those astounding prophecies of Jesus all through them.

Let us not neglect the Old Testament as so many people do. Thank God for the Old Testament.

 

Monday 2/5 ~ …all while the world raged at him

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The scripture for today, February 5 (2/5), is Ephesians 2:5 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-BK 7-ShadowOfDeath-Cover-new-Thumbnail“[God] made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions ~ it is by grace you have been saved.”

Every time we sin, our spirit ~ our soul ~ dies a little more. Every time we steal, cheat, torture, murder. We say we don’t do such things. Well, how about every time we stretch the truth (lie), go over the speed limit (disobey the laws of the land), close our eyes to someone we know is in need (selfishness), lose our temper, indulge in coarse talk, call someone names, refuse to forgive?

It is true that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) and our wages every time we sin is death (Romans 6:23). That is what we earn. That is what we deserve. We certainly do not deserve to live with a sinless God. Nor can we. But by his grace, he made a way possible to consider us sinless.

In Old Testament times, people killed a perfect animal to die in their place, but it was only a temporary fix. Then God sent his perfect Son who never sinned ~ the Lamb of God ~ to lie down on the altar of the world at the cross. There he died spiritually and physically in our place for the things we in the world did wrong, all while the world raged at him.

Yes, while we were still enemies of God by sinning, while we were spiritually dead, Jesus died for us. That was his amazing part.  He can also make you spiritually alive. If you will actively seek and do what he asked you to do. That is your part  ~ the easy part.

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Link to ebook & discount paper: http://bit.ly/TheyMetJesus

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#wages, #earnings, #sin, #death

Tuesday 1/30 ~ Me, Lord? Sinful me?

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0-BK 8-ComeFlyWithMe-Cover-Thumbnail-NewThe scripture for today, January 30 (1/30), is 1st Corinthians 1:30 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us “wisdom” from God ~ that is, our…

  • …righteousness,
  • …holiness and,
  • …redemption.”


Me? Sinful me? Considered right and holy?  But I’m not right and holy. How can that be?

Let’s look at these words of reassurance backward. When we are redeemed (bought back from Satan, our accuser and punisher), we gain God’s holiness and God’s rightness. But I am not holy and right.  God, don’t you understand this?

“Yes, my child,” God answers. “But My Son knew how, and so became sinless for you.”

I cannot let what He did for me drift by. Jesus traded.  He took my sinfulness and gave me his sinlessness.  He took my punishment and gave me redemption. Now, at least in the eyes of God, I am holy.

I think on this and the more I do, the more amazed I become.  Me, Lord? Unworthy, sinful me? I am awed into silence and worship.

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link to ebook & discount paper:  http://bit.ly/TheyMetJesus

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#sin, #perfection, #crucifixion, #holy

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Monday 1/22 ~ Me radiant, Lord? Me?

On By In church, Death of Jesus Christ, forgiveness, Inspirational, weaknessLeave a comment

The scripture for today, January 22 (1/22), is Ephesians 1:22 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-BK 7-ShadowOfDeath-Cover-new-Thumbnail“And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”

What makes this so interesting is that…

  • the church is the body of Christ. What else is the church? Colossians 1:18 says…
  • the church has only one head on earth and in heaven ~ Jesus.   Matthew 16:17-18 says…
  • the church is the kingdom of heaven. Ephesians 5:25 & 32 says…
  • the church is his bride. Revelation 21:2, 9-10 says…
  • the church bride is the new Holy City Jerusalem.

And what does Jesus think of the church? Oh, you already know this one.  Ephesians 5:25-27 says he loved the church so much that he gave himself up for her, to make her radiant ~ no stains, no wrinkles, no blemishes.

Oh, that last part: I must have missed it before.  Me, radiant? Human, sinful me, radiant? And no stains, Lord?  No stains, too?

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link to ebook & discount paperback:  http://bit.ly/TheyMetJesus

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#sinner, #forgiveness, #namesOFchurch, #sinner

Saturday 1/13 ~ What an amazing plan

On By In Death of Jesus Christ, forgiveness, Heaven, InspirationalLeave a comment

The scripture for today, January 13 (1/13), is Habakkuk 1:13 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

“Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong.”

This pretty much explains why none of us deserves heaven. Going to heaven has little to do with performing so many good works God will feel obligated to admit us.  

0-BK 7-ShadowOfDeath-Cover-new-ThumbnailIt’s all about sin.  Only sinless people can be in heaven, for God cannot coexist with sin and still be God. Of course, we cannot be sinless. If nothing else, all of us have sins of attitude and neglect.

For thousands of years, God let mankind try any way we could to be perfect. Some people he gave the Law of Moses to, and some people he continued to let try on their own. Neither worked. No matter how hard we tried, we couldn’t get it right.

The wages we earn for sinning is death (Romans 6:23). Remember in the Garden of Eden God warned, “The moment you sin, you die.” He was talking about our souls dying and eventually our bodies dying. Satan causes death, so we are collecting the wages Satan pays for following him.

But, God intervened.  God gave us a temporary fix: We could kill an animal to die in our place and offer it as a sacrifice to take onto itself Satan’s reward.

But Galatians 4:4 says, “When the time was come, God sent his son.” Finally, when mankind understood we needed outside help, God sent Jesus. Hebrews 4:15 says Jesus lived the perfect life that was impossible for us to live; he was completely free of sin. Then God offered his son as the final sacrifice to die in our place ~ to be “falsely” accused of all the sins that WE had committed, to take onto himself Satan’s payment for OUR sins.

Since Jesus was sinless, Satan had no power over him. He just came back to life. That done, God ~ who can only dwell with sinlessness ~ is now able to allow obedient, faithful believers in Jesus into his home, heaven. For, through Jesus, we become sinless.

What an amazing plan.

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link to ebook and discount paperback:  http://bit.ly/TheyMetJesus

Scripture for Tuesday 11/28 ~ The Lord’s Supper

On By In Death of Jesus Christ, Inspirational, worshipLeave a comment

The scripture for today, November 28 (11/28, is 1st Corinthians 11:28,31 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-BK 7-ShadowOfDeath-Cover-new-Medium“A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup [of the Lord’s Supper]….But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment.”

“When they met on THE first day of the week to break bread” (Acts 20:7), these first-century Christians were meeting to keep the Lord’s Supper. The word (“met”) in the original Greek of the New Testament meant a religious meeting. Interestingly, the word “the” in the original Greek meant each and every without exception perpetually.

Even if we did not know the Greek, look at how the Jews (and we) interpreted “Remember THE Sabbath Day to keep it holy”. They did not remember the Sabbath day monthly, quarterly or yearly, but weekly. Therefore, the first-century Christians realized that “When they met on THE first day of the week to break bread [Lord’s Supper]” (Acts 20:7), it meant every Sunday.

We can sing, pray, teach and read the Bible any day of the week. What makes Sunday special is that is the day we are to meet to take the Lord’s Supper, the Communion ~ the bread representing his body dying in our place, the wine representing his blood shed in our place.

During the Communion, we consider Jesus’ terrible sacrifice in order to save us from hell. And we consider our sins that made his sacrifice necessary to save us from hell. During our weekly partaking of the Lord’s Supper, we should be examining ourselves, comparing ourselves to Jesus. It is kind of like taking weekly exams so we will be ready for the big final exam on the Day of Judgment.

God thought of everything ~ weekly remembering the sacrifice of our Lord so that we never take him for granted, and weekly remembering our sins. And so, we fall at his feet and whisper “Thank you.”

Scripture for Wednesday, October 25 (10/25)

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn church, Death of Jesus Christ, Heaven, Inspirational, Saved from hell, Thanksgiving, worshipLeave a comment

The scripture for today, October 25 (10/25), is Hebrews 10:25 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-BK 7-ShadowOfDeath-Cover-new-Medium“Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another ~ and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

Some people declare, “I can walk through nature ~ the temple of God ~ and feel God is closer there than in a church building.” Well, do they really do it? How often? The purpose of the church meeting is not so much to encourage ourselves as to encourage others along with worshiping God.

Look at the context. Verse 23 says “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess” and verse 24 says, “Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” How do we do these things? A lot of it is done during our congregation’s worship and encouragement service.

And what comes after our verse for today? Verse 26 says, “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left.” Meeting together with other congregational members is one of the major things that keeps us from falling.

Should we meet once a week? This scripture says to meet “all the more as you see the Day [of Judgment] approaching. Many say, “But that’s too inconvenient.”

It was inconvenient for Jesus to leave a perfect heaven for an imperfect earth. It was inconvenient for him to leave the company of angels for the company of sinners. It was inconvenient for him to do this for 33 long years. Inconvenient taking the blame for our sins, and then taking our punishment. Inconvenient experiencing agonizing spiritual death when God left him on the cross, and then that agonizing physical death.

Do we really know inconvenience?

 

Scripture for Wednesday, October 4 (10/4)

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn Bible, Death of Jesus Christ, forgiveness, Inspirational, Life of Christ, Satan, Saved from hell, Scripture, truth, worshipLeave a comment

The scripture for today, October 4 (10/4), is Romans 10:4 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-BK 5-FloodGates-Cover-Medium-New“Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.”

When Jesus replaced the old Law of Moses Testament, it came to an end (Hebrews 8:13; 9:1f; 9:15-18). Thank God. There were over 600 commandments in the Law of Moses, not just the “Ten Commandments.” They were tedious. Try reading Leviticus and see if you can keep every commandment in it.

Jesus was the only one who ever kept the Law perfectly (Hebrews 4:15). Once that occurred, he could be the Perfect Lamb of God without blemish, and he could be sacrificed on the altar of the world (the cross) in our place ~ take the punishment for our sins. He had said the Law of Moses would last until it was fulfilled.  On the cross, one of the last things he said was, “It is fulfilled.”

And with his death came the introduction of a New Law covered in the New Testament. Read the New Testament in its entirety. It is not tedious. It is beautiful. Let us not try to dip back into the Old Law and bring back showy worship practices done back them. He put it to death and gave us a new and wonderful and simple law of grace and love.