Difference between the Victory Cry and the Resurrection

I am back and it is official.  The fire of the Gospel has been rekindled within my being.  It was a long two year layoff and I know why, but I just was not myself for two years.  Even in the midst of preparing and going to Uganda, I was not my true self.  I have not been my true self ever since July 2011 when I received the call that I would not be going to India.  It stung me like no other and in the midst of that I lost a part of myself.  I knew I lost something, but I couldn't figure out what.  So, days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, months turned into a year, a year turned into 2 years, and here we are on October 13th, 2013..... a little over 2 years.  People have been asking me why I stopped blogging.  And, I would answer them with a resounding..... I don't know.  Then something clicked tonight.  Not just tonight, but the clicking moved throughout the entire day.  

I took a walk this morning.  Pretty normal for me.  My parents and sisters went to church.  Let me preface something first.  At the church we go to, there are five services so I opted to go to the 7 pm service tonight because I am on the Prayer Academy.  I will talk about that later in a future post and go in depth on how God has been working in my life since not being called to go on the India team in July 2011, to making the Uganda team for April 2013, and to officially being accepted onto the Prayer Academy at the church I call home.  However, it began with a walk.  I was praying, listening to Christian music on my I-pod, praying, listening, praying, listening, praying about everything... whatever would come to my mind.  Lord, keep my future wife pure and give me eyes to know who she is.  Lord, I love you please rekindle and ignite a fire within me.  Yes, I did pray that prayer and I literally had no idea it would come true tonight.  

Now, fast forward to when I was washing my parent's car before church.  I was listening to a few songs on my I-pod that I had not listened to in about maybe a year.  And, they happened to be on the cross of Christ.  One of the songs was 'Before the Cross' by Sovereign Grace and the lyrics hit my hard like a ton of bricks because I have been going through a lot lately with God bringing different things to my attention that I have needed to take care of.  The lyrics that hit me were: No need, no want, no trial, no pain can compare to this.  That the wrath of God once meant for me was all spent on Him.  Then, it goes.... Your finished work captures my gaze.  You bore the wrath, I know the grace.  Pretty easy lyrics, but very weighty.  When I first heard those lyrics, I stood next to the car with goosebumps running all the way up and down my body.  I began to tear up and prayed that God would give me the grace and the strength to battle through these struggles I have been dealing with.  And, He is able because Christ knows what it is like.  He has been through the storms of dealing with our sin and being tempted like no other yet without sin.  He can sympathize with our weaknesses (Heb. 4:15).  We can lay everything upon Him because He cares for us.  How astounding is that!!

So, after that graceful tide, I headed off to church for pre-service prayer @ 6.  It was like no other time I have had before.  God brought the James verse to my attention where it says consider it pure joy my brothers when you encounter various trials of many kinds knowing that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.  I thought the Lord was teaching me to be joyful in the midst of my trials, but He was teaching me something more direct, something I needed to regain a firm grasp a hold.  And, it happened to be the Gospel of all things.  He gave me a quick new insight that I will share in a bit on the difference between the victory cry and the resurrection, which proves I am back and that the Gospel has been reignited within my being.  Though, it all started with going back through where the Gospels describe Jesus' death and His victory in doing so.  It was pretty amazing.  Then, it led into yours truly praying for someone and telling them that Jesus paid the ultimate price to set them free..... that they can bank on Jesus because He cares for you.... He loves you... He redeems you.  The Gospel is all they need to know to start living, the Gospel is all they need to know to continue living and growing in sanctification, and the Gospel is all they ever need to know when it is all said and done (1 Cor. 2:2).  Jesus is everything and more.  You need nothing else.  And, because of that, I want to continue what God has already accomplished in part of setting the world on fire based on His Son's atoning work on the cross for our sins.  Let's get this party started and proclaim this truth that is faithful, that is absolute, that is everlasting.  May God be glorified!!!  

Now, I will share what the Lord revealed to me about the difference between the victory cry and the resurrection.  When Jesus cried out, "It is finished!"  Light broke through the darkness and victory was secured.  The exclamation point was placed on the game, but the game was not over.  Hope is fully secured when the Father raised Jesus from the dead.  And, when Jesus rose from the dead, the game was officially over.  Game, set, match!!!  

Sola Deo Gloria!!!  

 

                         

   

Never Lose Sight of the Cross

 Today, I am humbled.  Words themselves cannot accurately describe how humbled I am.  I am more humbled as each day passes than you could ever know by what Jesus has done.  Whenever you hear of the mature mentality (what I mean is the prospects of a mature Christian straying away from the ultimate fundamental truth of the cross because they understand it) that goes through the minds of some Christians, I get irritated.  You will never get over the cross.  I don't care how mature you are in the faith.  Paul, who most definitely was a mature Christian back in his day when God transferred him from darkness to light, iterated in 1 Corinthians that he decided to know nothing among the brethren except Jesus Christ and him crucified.  Nothing...... except Christ and him crucified.  If Paul chose in his heart and in his mind to remain close to the cross with eyes fixated upon it, we must follow suit.  Do not give into the mature mentality.  Never lose sight of the cross of Christ Jesus our Lord.     

Seven Cries From The Cross: Introduction

I misjudged the amount of posts that it would take to complete this series because I forgot to add the introduction.  So, with what I just mentioned, we will knock out this Summer Sunday series in eight weeks rather than seven, which means this series will overlap two weeks into September.  Yeah, let's do it.  If any of you are bummed out that it is one week longer, sorry, but we need to get our feet wet before we dive hard into each cry that our Savior relayed upon the most horrible execution device known to man.  What brief key points do we need to know before we get this series underway?

First, we need to know what the seven cries from the cross are.  Most Christians know at least five off the top of their head, maybe six of them.  However, there is one cry though that most people have difficulty remembering off the top of their heads.  And, it is found in John 19:26-27.  I will not insert the verse right here, because I am about to reveal what each cry is.  But before I reveal each cry, you need to know that each cry will reveal the depth and the magnitude of Christ's passion in the midst of unfathomable suffering.  

If we look at the cry; My God, My God why have you forsaken me; we see a cry of desperate anguish over something so beautiful.  The glorious greatness of the majesty of the Most High God has severed His relationship with His Son for a mere three hours because the absolute impeccable purity of the Father is an impossibility when it comes to being in contact with the full vileness of impurities attributed with sin.  The glory of God the Father is so magnificently, brilliantly beautiful that even a small speck of sin would literally be a disastrous fall.  HE CANNOT LOOK UPON HIS SON WHEN THE FILTHINESS OF OUR SIN COMPLETELY CRUSHES HIS SON.  That is why Jesus screams in agony, MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?  This cry is not just a cry that Jesus screams because His Father has forsaken Him.  It is a scream that clearly displays the passion that Jesus exudes over losing something so dear, precious, and beautiful to Him.  

These are the types of points that we will be looking at in this series.  Hopefully, I have given you a glimpse of what is to come in this series and I pray that you are looking forward to this series.  Now, as I mentioned above, I will list the seven cries in order of how I will post them.  Next week, we will look at the first cry.  The following week we will look at the second cry, and so on so forth.

1) Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
2) Woman, behold, your Son! ..... Behold your Mother!
3) Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.
4) Eli, Eli lema sabachthani--- My God, My God why have you forsaken me.
5) I thirst.
6) It is finished.
7) Father, into your hands I commit my Spirit!

Those are the seven cries that we will be digging gold nuggets from.  My prayer is that we learn a lot from these seven cries that Jesus has conveyed from the cross to us as we continue to draw ever closer to Him.  May His glory be magnified in these upcoming posts.

Sola Deo Gloria!!!!!    

Forgiven, Accepted, Redeemed, Reconciled - Thank You Jesus!!

I am forgiven, because You were forsaken.
I am accepted, because You were abolished
I am called, because You were condemned
I am redeemed, because You were reviled.
I am reconciled, because You were run down into the ground.

May we never forget the repugnance of our sin, and what our sin did to Him.  May the cross be the never ending praise of our ultimate praise song.  May He be worthy of all our worship and praise from this time forth and forevermore.  

"Betrayed by Judas, denied by Peter, abandoned by the eleven, forsaken by God. Darkness, you get three hours. Then you die."

- John Piper 


 

Destroy Sin

Killing sin should be our ultimate pursuit.  We should not leave any remnant of sin to remain hidden within our mortal bodies.  Because, look at what our sin did to Jesus.  Look at His marred form.  Gaze upon it in deep reflection.  He was bruised, He was crushed, He was disfigured, He was trampled upon, He was pummeled with our sin.  If we truly love Him, we would make it a second by second pursuit to shove the very thought of sin from invading our minds.  Well, Josh, a second by second pursuit is too difficult.  It is near impossible.  Was it impossible for Him, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, to endure complete brutal suffering, the furious wrath of God, in being identified with our sin, becoming sin for us?  No.  He sacrificed everything to endure unfathomable pain and suffering caused by our sin.  Our sin problem was what moved Him from a place of unapproachable glory to become our substitute, and His substitution provoked the very intricacies of destruction that was invoked by our sin problem.  Therefore, demolish sin.  Do not let sin gain a foothold, because Jesus Christ means more to you than temporary pleasure.  Kill it!

Sola Deo Gloria!!!!!         

God's Power Made Perfect in Weakness Pt. 1

Before I dive into this post, I want to acknowledge my thanks to you all for praying for me as I underwent the magnanimous task of completing a two and a half hour long calculus exam.  Yeah, you heard it right..... two and a half hours.  I am glad it is over, but thankful that I was given the opportunity of glorifying God through studying well.  The results will be the cherry on top of the sundae.  Hopefully, it is a good grade, but I did the best I possibly could.  Thanks for your prayers.  

Now, my heart is rather tender right now partly because weakness is one of those topics that people like to shun away from.  Guys especially like to shun away from this topic, because they usually want to acknowledge to all that they can handle any situation.  Us guys have a built in pride mechanism.  We do not want people to know where or when we are weak.  We are macho.  We can do anything we set our gaze upon.  To not be labeled a chicken by our "so called" friends, we make out with the cute girl across the street or we do some other crazy thing.  On the other side of the spectrum, you may have some impediment that is holding you back from a life God has specifically, divinely planned for you, which would display His power and glory alone to unchartered lengths beyond your own comprehension.  You may even be going through a broken marriage, an ugly divorce proceeding, or you may have lost your job due to the economy.  Whatever it is, God wants to use your weaknesses, your trials, your tribulations, your calamities, your hardships solely for the purpose of displaying His power in your life.  He wants others to ask you how you are able to cope with your difficulties and are still able to carry your life on in a decent manner.  How are you able to remain joyful, most of the time, through your trials?  Why is God's power being made perfect in your weakness? 

Let's look at Christ's example.  Who did Christ minister to during his earthly life?  Sinners.  The lowest of the lows.  Tax collectors, prostitutes, orphans, widows, drunkards, drug dealers, adulterers, slanderers, lepers, the blind, the deaf, stutterers, the disabled, the openly shameful..... each and every people group of whom the world is not worthy.  But, why would the King of the universe parade through the dark streets of Jerusalem to show love, kindness, and compassion to others, instead of teaching some know-it-all Pharisees at the synagogue about the law of God with respect to following certain rituals?  Because, the broken sinners were more receptive to the Gospel than the so called know-it-all Pharisees.  The Pharisees believed that their strength in society was enough for them to be accepted into God's kingdom.  God ultimately sees their deeds over the atrocious beggar, who can't give anything for the cause of God's kingdom.  How wrong they were?  

1 Corinthians 1:26-29 sums up the wholeness of this post, "For consider your calling, brothers: not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.  But God chose what is foolish in this world to shame the wise;  God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God."  Ok, God chose what is foolish in this world to shame the wise.  He chose weak vessels, he chose despised vessels, he chose hated vessels, he chose broken vessels.  He chose broken vessels in order that He might restore what is broken, He chose hated vessels in order to completely change that person in love, He chose despised vessels because they desperately need to know that the Savior of the world was despised for them.  And, He chose you, because He loves you.  He chose you, so that you would see for all of eternity the nail scarred hands of the Savior, who was bruised for you, beaten for you, tormented for you.  

Why?  Because you were weak.  He came to save the lowly.  Those who don't think they have everything altogether.  Those who have no homes--- the orphans.  Those who have broken marriages---- the divorced.  Those who see they are arrogant and are in need of a Savior.  He died for people such as these.  Now, why is God's power made perfect in weakness?  God's power is made perfect in your weakness, because He knows you need to completely rely upon Him in your weak circumstances.  Whether you rely upon Him in sharing your bouts of anger with other people or in relying upon Him to help you through a specific period of pain caused by your cancer, His power is fervently displayed in you as you continue to abide in Him through your troubles.  He knows you desperately need Him.  You can do nothing apart from Him (John 15:5).  So, abide under the shadow of His wings especially when you are weak.  He will show Himself to be powerfully strong in your life.

Now, I have laid the groundwork for the examples that I am going to share with you in Parts 2 and 3.  Who is living this out despite a constant array of trials?  What is God doing in their life?  What are their weaknesses and what are they doing to overcome them?  Stay tuned.....

Sola Deo Gloria!!!!

                                       

A Familiar Yet Unusual Greeting Pt. 1 - Titus 1:1-4

For every Pauline epistle, a simple same old greeting bursts onto the forefront of the scene.  Is this the case with Titus?  Does the book of Titus cooperate with the strange familiarity of a Pauline greeting?  Yes, but with a different twist.  Let's dive headfirst into the verse and see what it consists of.  Titus 1:1 says, 'Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect, and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness."  Now, I do not want to start receiving hate mail.  I did not write the Bible.  Why is God's elect, (scary word - predestination) so boldly written in the first verse of Titus?  To be honest with you, I do not know. We will get to that in my next post. :) However, in this post, I am going to shed light on the first 11 words, which are as quoted, "Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ.".    

Now, the first word clearly shows us who authored this book.  We know God is the only influence behind all of Scripture, but Paul wrote it with his own pen (if you are ever concerned with the authenticity of Scripture, read 2 Peter 1:19-21.  Your fears will vanish :).  In verse 4, it tells us that Paul is writing the letter to Titus (Titus 1:4).  We will get there soon enough, but what is most interesting about these first 11 words is the word "servant".  Paul is a servant of God.  The Greek, most of you almost already know the significance of the Greek word servant, translates "servant" as doulos.  This one word carries an entire sermon in itself.  It carries the vast implications of being a "slave" to God, a bond-servant.  A bond-servant wholly devoted to the King of kings.  Romans 6:16 sheds further light on this word, "Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?"  You are either a slave of God (to righteousness) or a slave to sin.

Let's look deeper into Scripture.  1 Corinthians 7:22-24 says, "For he who was called in the Lord as a slave is a freedman of the Lord.  Likewise he who was free when called is a slave of Christ.  You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men.  So brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain in God."  So, if you are called as a slave of Christ, you are a freed man or woman.  Slavery, back in the days of the Romans, was much different than the slavery we are used to in regards to typical American nineteenth century slavery.  Slaves, in the Roman days, were given much more freedom.  In my ESV Study Bible, it says this, "Slaves generally were permitted to work for pay and to save enough to buy their freedom..... The released slave, once freed, was officially designated a 'freedman' and frequently continued to work for his former master." (1)   Now, the astounding mega fact about being a slave to Christ is that in 1 Corinthians 7:23 it says that we have been bought with a price.  We have been bought with a high price.

The price tag requires a perfect blood sacrifice.  In this state, we are chained to the ground held by the death grip of the enemy himself.  We are filing off the slave ships about to be sold.  As the auction begins, a marred figure beaten to a pulp comes up to you and quickly relays to the auctioneer that he wants you.  The man buys you, turns the corner, and hugs you with his bloody, torn up body.  He then says, "I love you" and instantly your chains fall off.  What is your response?  What is your reaction to the man who bought you?  You would want to serve this man for the rest of your life, right.  He bought you.  You had no right to even be freed at all, but He gave up His right to life in order to free you.  

Brothers and sisters, the reality is Christ has freed us from enslavement to sin.  We were once enslaved to the utter repugnance of sin itself.  But, we are now freed slaves of "God" under His direct authority.  He bought us, and now we serve Him faithfully through the act of obedience leading to sanctification.  Do we serve Him as robots?  No, of course not, which leads us onto the word "apostle".  Paul is a servant, yet He is an apostle.  An apostle of Jesus Christ was a title directly given as authoritative in order for Paul to emphasize that he has divine authority.  Divine authority has been given to him in order to carry out what is needed.  Since we are not apostles, are we left in the dust without divine authority?  Again, no, we are not.  Have you ever heard of the gifts of the Spirit?  Each person is apportioned with a gift (1 Corinthians 12:11).  This gift is to be used in order to build up the body of Christ, and it is the gift given to you by God to use authoritatively when called upon.  Though throughout 1 Corinthians 12-14, God shows you when, how, when, why, and where you are supposed to use your particular gift, but the main basis of having authority through Christ with your gift still stands firm.  

Next time, we will dig further into verse 1, which will evidently lead into the next two verses.  

Sola Deo Gloria!!!!!          

1- ESV Study Bible Footnote for 1 Corinthians 7:21 verse, pg. 2201.      

From Pristine Permanent Purity to Complete Convoluted Corruption In Order to Reconcile Us Pt. 2

As I was marching my way through Part 1, it completely slipped my mind to mention that the context of the 2 Corinthians 5:21 passage is reconciliation.  This is the process of God transferring to us through imputation His righteousness in exchange for our sin.  To get a better picture of what I am trying to portray here, let's jump back a couple verses.  2 Corinthians 5:18-19 says, "All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation."  So, we see that God, through Christ, reconciled us to Himself.  And in verse 19, it flips backwards by literally relaying the same information, but adding that God does not count their trespasses against them.  He does not count their trespasses against them because they have been wholly saturated with the precious, life-giving blood of the Lamb that was slain.  The ministry of reconciliation is the primary means of imputation, the essence of 2 Corinthians 5:21.  Righteousness is what we are after in this post.  

How does the process of reconciliation take place?  It begins with righteousness and ends with it.  First, God has to grant it.  If he grants it, then the end result is inevitably whatever he chooses from that first preconception.  In the case of reconciliation, God does not have to impute His righteousness on our behalf.  However, in His radical mercy, God chose to impute His tremendously beautiful perfection on us, while He took full responsibility for every sin we have ever committed.  He gave Himself.  He sacrificed his perfect, blameless body by becoming intimate with our sin in order that we might receive his blameless righteousness.  Since he granted, initiated, and accomplished this plan, the factor of us receiving the complete wholeness of His righteousness is inevitable.  He horrifically bore our sin, and we delicately inherit His righteousness.  That is why my former college pastor, Kevin, calls it the great switcharoo.  It is the greatest, most significant trade ever developed in the history of mankind.  

God, who by no means, has the right to interact with mankind period somehow takes on human flesh to interact with mankind.  He not only interacts with us.  He loves us.  HE SEES OUR POTENTIAL WHEN WE THINK WE HAVE NONE.  When all we can see is the guiltiness, the rottenness, and the shamefulness of our sin; He reveals to us the marred figure of His Son, and shows us that we are righteous, because of Christ's astounding sacrifice.  Brothers and sisters, HE HAS IMPUTED HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS ON US!!!!  :)  We are holy and blameless before His throne.  We have been transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the realm of His beloved Son, because He has forgiven us all our trespasses (Colossians 1:13-14).  He has reconciled us, redeemed us, revitalized us, forgiven us.  We should be leaping for joy at this amazing prospect.  He, who reconciled us, does not count our trespasses against us.  As the Psalmist says in Psalm 103:12, we can fully rest assured that God will never bring our sins to the table again.  They were crucified with Christ once and for all.  Therefore, our sin does not take center stage.  Instead, Christ's imputed righteousness, given to us, steals the spotlight.  All because He chose to reconcile us.     

Sola Deo Gloria!!!!!                 

         

From Pristine Permanent Purity to Complete Convoluted Corruption In Order to Reconcile Us Pt. 1

Like the long title.  It will fit in rather well as these two posts begin to unfold before your very eyes.  The passage is 2 Corinthians 5:21 and we will look at our Lord through the lenses of this specific verse.  This verse is one of those verses that has meant a lot to me personally in my Christian walk, because it signifies the vast measure of how far Christ was willing to tolerate the monstrosity of my sin in order to redeem me.  He tolerated all my sin.  The one who knew no sin became sin for me that I might become the righteousness of God in Him, that you might become the righteousness of God in Him.  The cruddy, disgusting, repugnant, vicious sin that characterizes our lives was ultimately the one crux that almost completely separated ourselves from God forever.  Thank God for redemption and reconciliation, which is found only in the Lamb of God that was slain.  Let's unearth the majestic realm of this verse.  

2 Corinthians 5:21 says, "For our sake he made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God."  This verse sounds sort of like a tongue twister---- a twister that unravels the verse conversely and theologically.  We are in a strange predicament.  Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit like it was meant for them.  Sin enters into the world and the clock begins to tick.  The clock that would eventually sound in the Messiah from His relatively comfortable setting in Heaven.  This Messiah, also known as Jesus Christ, knew God inside and out, because He is God.  He was with God in the beginning (John 1:2).  He is the very essence of God Himself.  He knew no sin, He had no part in sin, He never reveled in the very streams of sin, He never ever ever indulged in sin.  He is 100% holy, 100% pure, 100% just, 100% merciful, 100% gracious, 100% righteous, 100% sufficient, 100% sovereign, 100% love, 100% peaceful, 100% perfect.  He is the High King of all, the Creator of the whole universe.  Nothing is able to terminate His will or decrees ever.  But..........

He stripped Himself of His divinity to become like man.  He was born in a relatively cold and dreary cave to two parents He created.  He walked this earth beloved by few, but hated by many.   He taught mankind the intricacies of love through service.  He was tempted with constant abandon by the serpent who beguiled the likes of the first Adam.  He drearily experienced every human emotion known to man.  He faced the fearsome onslaught of trials and tribulations.  He earnestly prayed that the cup of torment, the fearsome cup of an eternal hell would be stripped from him.  But, it was not meant to be. 

"FATHER, ABBA, PLEASE REMOVE THIS CUP FROM ME."  Silence.  "PLEASE, THERE MUST BE AN ALTERNATIVE."  Silence.  Through all the pain, agony, and toil of that night, the Father was silent through every one of His Son's desperate pleas.  He would end up being entirely corrupted with our sin, He would become the very essence of sin itself, He would literally become sin.  The Father's plan was in full force and not even His own Son could demand its stoppage.  Hell was waiting in the near distance.  The full fury of our sin was encroaching the brim of the cup of staggering (Isaiah 51:17).  The fate of mankind rests on His very shoulders.  Will He persevere?  

We are drunkards.  Drunk in the revelry of our own sin.  And, what did Christ do?  Christ drunk the revelry of our sin.  He knew no sin.  He had nothing to do with sin before this.  As he is hanging suspended on a wicked, cruel device known as a cross, He becomes the very substance of sin itself.  The complete convoluted corruption of our sin---- every thought, word, and deed------- engulfed him.  Before our sin demolished Him, He lived in absolute pristine perfection.  And, now this......  Sisters and brothers, abstain from every form of evil (1 Thessalonians 5:22), because OUR SAVIOR WAS SLAPPED IN THE FACE WITH OUR SIN.  He was literally pummeled with our sin.  Think twice before you look at pornography, think twice before you slander your friend, think twice before you dishonor your mother, think twice before you cheat on a test.  I am pleading with you.  Stare at the dying, disfigured, marred appearance of our Lord and shun away from sin.  He miraculously laid down his life willingly in a horrific manner, so that we would be amazed at the cost it took to bring us home to His loving arms safely.

Sola Deo Gloria!!!!!!            
      
   
                 

Romans 5

Have you read Romans 5 lately? If you have not, I would advise you to pick up your Bible and read it. The verses that hit me hard when reading this particular passage were verses 6-8. Here it is:

Romans 5:6-8 says, "For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person---- though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die---- but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

When we were still weak, when we were still mired in the muck of our sin, when we were still living a disobedient lifestyle, when we were still diving into godless passions, when we were still sinners; Christ died at the right time for the ungodly. In the nick of time, God sent His Son to laid down His life for the guilty. FOR THE GUILTY. This passage clearly emphasizes that according to human wisdom, one would scarcely die for a righteous person, but truly, a righteous person laying down His life to save the guilty, vile, disobedient, and shameful. You have got to be absolutely kidding. Yet, God, to show His love, did that for us at just the right time. What amazing love that makes me want to yearn to know this God. To know and to comprehend this God, who would love me, and be willing to die for a guilty sinner like me. Revel in this glorious fact, the rest of the day that the God of the Universe..... The God that designed the intricacies of our innermost being, the God that displays His mighty power when you hear thunder, the God that places the stars in the sky and knows all of them by name; this same God loves you so much that He died in your place to redeem your soul back to Himself. Reflect on Romans 5 and be loved by our glorious, astounding, and majestic God.

Soli Deo Gloria!!!!

Attributes of God: The Love of God Pt. 3 - The Depth of God's Love Pt. 1

1 John 4:9-10
In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Verse 9 in this passage of Scripture has similarities to John 3:16. After looking back, I could have used this passage of Scripture to make my point in Part 2 of this series, but it was great to see the beauty of a familiar passage of Scripture like John 3:16. In this part, however, we will focus on verse 10 from this passage of Scripture which is, "In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." This verse dives into the heart of the Gospel. The love of God is wrapped up so delicately in this verse that it seems like God is whispering a special secret to us-- a secret that is found in the depth of God's magnificent love. Let's dive into this passage.

The first piece of this verse is telling us, "In this is love." This statement is primarily asking a question. What is love? What is the depth of God's love? Love is what. With the verse 1 John 4:10 being a compound sentence, the depth of God's love is easily found in two places. What is love? John directs us to the first answer by showing us that God loved us first rather than us loving Him. The other answer to this simple, but profound question is displayed in the the Father's offering up of His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. This is where the majestic depth of God's love is found.

Theme: This is love

1) God loved us first.
2) He sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

So, the love factors, in 1 John 4:10, are that God loved us first and that amazing reality of the Father's provision of sending His Son to step foot on this planet to satisfy God's terrible wrath through the propitiation of His blood. These two answers to the question, what is love, provides us with the basis of the dynamics of the depth of God's redeeming love.

The first answer, "not that we have loved God but that He loved us", teaches us that the ultimate source of our salvation is based on God loving us first, not us loving God first. Think about it. If God did not love us first, Jesus would not have even stepped on this earth to die a brutal death to save us from our sins. God would have justly punished all of mankind, in this case, based on their sins and sent every single person to hell. He would have been just in doing so. We could try to love Him all we want to, but our attempts would be futile. Why? Because He is God. He is the one who created us. He has every right to punish us because we have sinned against Him, but His loving (agape) us first is what separates His terrorizing justice from destroying us in a heartbeat. This incomprehensible, redeeming love for mankind is so astounding that a question is posed in relation to this verse based on this amazing love and terrifying justice. How could God love (agape) us first and still remain just?

The answer is found in the most beautiful word relating to the atonement. Propitiation.

We will finish the depth of God's love in my next post.

Sola Deo Gloria!!!!

Merry Christmas- The True Meaning of Christmas w/ the Winner of the Christmas Giveaway

Merry Christmas to everyone!!!!! The raffle is complete and the winner is about to be named. I made sure that I put everyone's name in the box, checked it twice, and my great sister Rachel reached her hand in the box to pick the winner. So with that said, the winner of the Christmas giveaway for the Don't Waste Your Life book is..............

Katie! Congratulations Katie. I will e-mail you to ask you for your address, so that I could send the book off to you, and I will post a comment on either one of your blogs. Thanks to everyone who entered into this giveaway.

Now, as I said, I will post a small post on the birth of our Savior. Without the birth of Christ, there would be no cross, no resurrection, no salvation for mankind, no New Testament, no hope. But, with the birth of Christ, the one, who humbly stepped down from heaven to take on the form of human flesh, the cross, as dark as it is, shines as the symbol of hope because of His birth. Thank you Lord Jesus for your birth and thank you for the cross. The reason for Jesus' birth is the cross. He came to willingly give up His life, and would I say humbly give up his life to save wicked, vile sinners. He did not come to die for righteous people. He came to die for sinful humanity. Is that an astounding thought? Jesus Christ, fully God and truly man, stripped Himself of His divinity to become like man in every way, shape, or form; so that He would become sin for us that we might know the righteousness of God through His death. Jesus' birth equals His death. The true meaning of the virgin birth is found in the brutality of the cross. The preview of the Gospel is found in the babe lying in a helpless state in a manger with two parents, which He came to save. So, when you celebrate Christmas this year, remember the cross. The true meaning of Jesus' birth is found solely in the cross for that is the reason why He came. He came to redeem humanity from living a life of sin and He came to redeem humanity from eternal damnation. That is the true meaning of Christmas. The cross = the birth of Christ.

Soli Deo Gloria Forever!!!!!~

Attributes of God: The Greatest Demonstration of God's Love - The Love of God Pt. 2

As promised yesterday, I am going to post Part 2 of the love part of the attributes of God series. Today's post is going to deal with the greatest demonstration of God's love and we will dive into the most familiar passage in all of Scripture. Can you guess? John. Ok, I don't have to go any further, because John 3:16 is the climax of the gospel in the New Testament. Pertaining to the ransom of lost, hopeless sinners, John 3:16 provides the greatest hope that anyone could ever experience. Let's delve deep into this passage of Scripture and hear what God has to say to us.

John 3:14-16 says,
"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."

First of all, I have read, heard, and repeated this passage of Scripture over and over and over again, specifically John 3:16. When I either read, hear, or repeat it again, I never give that much thought about it, but as I was studying this passage of Scripture for this post, God's truth unveiled John 3:16 to me like I have never seen it before. This passage of Scripture has become in the American church, a kind of evangelistic type motto that never really sinks deep into the Christian's heart, which is truly sad, because John 3:16 contains the beauty, the glory, and the majesty of the greatness of God's overwhelming love that no other Scripture can fully contribute. The love of God reflected in Christ's atoning work at Calvary is spread across the very words of this verse and I pray that by God's grace, he would show you what he has revealed to me.

Verse 14, for context purposes, goes on to explain the comparison between Jesus' death on the cross and the bronze serpent in the wilderness (Num. 21:9). The amazing thing about Numbers 21:9 is that Moses lifted up the bronze serpent, the Hebrew term translated "bronze" can also mean "copper", which would seem necessary because copper is red, and whoever was bitten by the serpent would live. The redness of the copper also symbolized the atonement, where Jesus intricately demonstrates the similarities between his death and this serpent that Moses lifted up in the wilderness, but the main connection here is found in verse 15 after "so must the Son of Man be lifted up." The purpose of the Son of Man's being lifted up to die is found in verse 15, "that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life." The ransom of lost sinners is determined by the saving work of Christ on the cross. He was lifted up, so you may have eternal life, which leads us to the pinnacle of the gospel, verse 16. Please pay close attention to this verse.

The word "For" at the beginning of verse 16 transfers us back into verse 15. Verse 15 says, " that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life." A question must be posed after verse 15, which is answered in verse 16. What happened to make it possible that someone may have eternal life? Can anyone guess? For God so "agape" the world. The verb "agape", love, made it possible for us to gain eternal life through the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross. The unboundable, incomprehensible, unfathomable, love of God. His selfless love made it possible for us to gain eternal life. HIS LOVE. Do I have to ring this through your minds over and over again? My soul is bursting with joy and passion that I want you all to see this. Love, the magnificent, majestic, miraculous love of God. His love that surpasses all understanding. Ask Him to show you that love, which leads us to the rest of the verse.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave......". He gave what? His only Son. The greatest demonstration of love that God could ever reveal to a hopeless outcast of guilty sinners is His only Son. We are talking about "only" here. Think about it. Pretend you were a parent. What would it be like if you had to sacrifice your son or daughter to save Adolf Hitler, Tiger Woods, or Richard Dawkins? Depraved, Insolent, Murderous, Vile, guilty people. I would never do it, but God with the great love that he showed us, not only crushed His Son, He crushed His ONLY SON, to save all of mankind, because of "agape" love. It all comes back to love. God's love is so mysterious, far beyond human comprehension or fathomability that I always wonder why He would give up His only Son to save me. It does not make sense. The total reversal of human thinking is displayed in the greatness and the glory of cross and I am eternally grateful that He would save a wretch like me. Thank you Lord Jesus!

He also died to give you eternal life. At the end of verse 16, in closing, Jesus clearly explains that He would give up His life so that we might gain Him. We get to see our Lord and Savior face to face. What a day that will be! I can't wait for that day when I see the culmination of the glory of Christ. How beautiful, gorgeous, awe-striking, awesome, majestic, and brilliant will our Lord be arrayed in splendor and majesty? The joys of heaven are ours, because of His love; the riches of heaven are ours, because of His love; and the brilliance of Christ is ours, because of His love; which he so freely gave to those He loves.

Soli Deo Gloria!!!!!~

Did you know....... #2

This is my second straight week doing this and I will definitely continue writing one concrete fact every Saturday. This week's fact comes straight from the Word of God. I find it mind-boggling and horrific; when taken literally.

Did you know....... that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was marred beyond human semblance and his form beyond that of the children of mankind? (Isaiah 52:14)

In Webster's 1828 Dictionary, the word "mar" literally means- to injure, to deform, or to disfigure. My ESV Study Bible's study notes puts it best, "Jesus was beaten into a shockingly inhuman mass of wounded flesh" (Ortlund Jr., 1337). Why? For my sinful, vile, irritable, murderous, lustful, repugnant, destructive soul. He took the full blame and guilt of our vile souls that we might see His grace in full beauty. He was beaten unmercifully with a leather bounded whip interwoven with bone and metal that I might see His wondrous mercy. He was pushed down and nailed to a terrible wooden cross that I might live with Him forever. He was spat upon and pushed around that we might see the awesome love of the Father. He was obedient to the Father and remained silent; so that we might bow before His very feet and worship HIM ALL OUR DAYS. Our Wonderful, Merciful, Saving, Righteous, Loving JESUS!!!! HE ALONE IS WORTHY!!!!!!

Follow in Christ's Footsteps

For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

1 Peter 2:21-24

I have been meditating and thinking about this passage the past couple of weeks and decided to share it with you guys. This passage is primarily a call to follow Christ's example, but it's also talking about the greatness of Christ's sacrifice for us on the cross. When you are suffering for the cause of the gospel, follow in Christ's footsteps. Christ was reviled, Christ was threatened, Christ was beaten, Christ was tormented, Christ was mocked at, Christ was spat at, Christ was horribly whipped, Christ was silent in the face of death, but even through all that, he entrusted himself to the Father's plan. That plan was to redeem our poor, lost, hopeless souls and transfer us into the Father's arms with hope, assurance, and eternal joy that could have only come from the sacrifice of our dearly, beloved Savior. He paid it all. All to Him I owe. Sin has left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow. Amazing.

Jesus Christ entrusted himself to the one who judges justly because he knew what was awaiting for him when he obeyed the Father. Hebrews 12:2 says, "looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God." The joy of bringing home the Father's hopeless, lost children, and the eternal joy and rewards of His obedience. That is why he continued in an utmost perseverance to face the utter torment and horrors that the cross brought. The cross brought the physical pain, the horrors of becoming identified with our sin, and the pain of being abandoned by the Father as the Father poured out His full, complete, furious, righteous wrath against His beloved Son. We will never begin to comprehend or even fathom what Jesus experienced on that horrific day. Good for us, but mightily horrific for Him. What amazing grace and mercy that he poured out upon us?

Finishing up the final part of the verse, Jesus Christ bore our sins in his body, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. This is the highest, difficult, most greatest calling that God could have ever given a Christian--- dying to sin and living to righteousness. Humans struggle everyday with this exact topic. A good way to look at it is to start with the first verse of Hebrews 12. "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith..." The great cloud of witnesses in verse 1 is talking about the saints in Ch.11, who persevered. Since they persevered, you can too. Lay aside every weight and sin that so easily clings to us and look to Jesus, who saved our lost souls from eternal damnation. Another way to look at it is to go back to Hebrews 4. Hebrews 4:13 says, "And no creature is hidden from His sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account." We will one day, stand before Him, and give account for everything that we have done. He knows all, sees all, and we will stand before him one day giving an account for all we have done--- good and bad. That should be enough to keep us from sinning. We will be giving an account to the God of the universe. I think dying to sin would be a better idea than continuing to sin in defiance of God. It is an excellent idea, but impossible to do it in perfection. If you are dying to sin and living to righteousness, you are on the right track. Keep it up. There are many people who have persevered before you. Continue and persevere in the grace of God. By His wounds we are healed.

Follow Christ in His Footsteps.

Christ's Sufferings

As we approach Good Friday, I am reminded of a black shirt that I wear often. On the front of the shirt it says, FOR YOU HE WAS.... Then it says on the back, Betrayed, Falsly Accused, Mocked, Judged, Condemned, Whipped, Punched, Slapped, Spit upon, Pushed Around, Humiliated, Stripped Down, Cursed At, Abused, Pierced, and Crucified. John 3:16 with a cross in the background.

Reflect on that throughout the day and throughout Good Friday in a couple days.

Soli Deo Gloria!

CJ Mahaney - The Cup of Christ

This is a great video by CJ Mahaney. He is a motivating speaker, who will motivate anyone to experience the power of the cross in a more deeper and intimate way. His passion for the gospel is definitely reflected in this video. Enjoy with an open heart.

The Cross of Christ Pt. 6 - The Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

One day, I was over at my Grandma's house and I was flipping through the channels of the television. I found one very interesting channel (PBS) of a party search in route of finding the body of Jesus. At that moment, you could hear me laughing a mile away. Who are these people? Don't they know that Jesus body is gone. It is gone. He tells us that in the Bible. I continued watching it, while shaking my head over and over again. They never found his body during the program and nobody will every find his body, because it has been raised up and eternally glorified.

Luke 24:4-7 sums it up, "While they were perpelexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, 'Why do you seek the living among the dead? HE IS NOT HERE, BUT HAS RISEN. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.'

He is not in the tomb. He has risen just as he said (Luke 9:21,22; Luke 18:31-34; Mark 8:31; Mark 9:30-32; Mark 10:32-34; Matthew 16:21; Matthew 17:22,23; Matthew 20:17-19). Those verses show Jesus' prophecy of his death and resurrection. Anyways, the point that I am trying to make is that JESUS HAS RISEN. He is ALIVE, not dead. He is alive in heaven preparing a place for those who believe in Him and hold fast to His words. This subject raises up another question. Since he is alive, what is the relationship between his death and resurrection. The answer lies within Jesus' perfection.

The one who knew no sin became sin on our behalf. He did not die for his sins. He was perfect. He died for the sins of those who reviled and despised Him. He became the sin-bearer, not the sin-sinner. Ezekial 18:20 says, "The soul who sins shall die." Jesus died because he became identified with our sin. With that being said, Jesus' death was not a result of His sins. He was sinless. He never ever sinned, not even once, but he was tempted like no man has or ever will be tempted; because Satan knew that if he could make Jesus slip one time. The whole human race would be lost forever. Think about that. We slip everyday and Jesus, throughout his 33 years of life, never slipped once. Amazing! Only God could ever do that and that partly proves Jesus' divinity. Jesus' divinity is proven all throughout Scripture from his birth, life, death, and resurrection; but not sinning once; proves something. He never told a lie, never cheated, never had an impure thought, never hurt anybody with a slanderous comment, never had a defilement type anger. He was perfect and holy throughout his tenure on earth. So, what is my point? Since Jesus died as the sin-bearer and not for His own sins, he must be alive. Reread the Ezekial passage again, "The soul who sins shall die." Jesus never sinned, so in fact, he must be alive. How is He alive? He rose from the dead. He is risen in victory over the grave, over death, and over the enemy. 1 Corinthians 15:54b says, "Death is swallowed up in victory." Why is that? Because of Jesus' death and resurrection. HE IS RISEN VICTORIOUSLY!!!! His perfect life paved the way for His resurrection and His ultimate glorification. Praise Him!!!

The resurrection of Jesus Christ, is by far, the most significant event in the history of the universe in proclaiming Jesus' divinity. The resurrection cries forth the divinity of Christ. He ultimately conquered death, demolished sin, destroyed fear from His future followers, and vanquished Satan. He, pretty much, carried the sins of the world upon His shoulders, died, and did not stay dead. Who wants to serve a dead God? I am serious. He rose again to prove to others that He is God. Death cannot hold Him, Satan does not have any control over Him, nothing can stop Him; He is God and that is final. End of story. HE IS RISEN, ALIVE, AND VICTORIOUS OVER EVERY CREATURE AND PIECE OF CREATION. Praise Him forever and ever. Astounding and Awesome is our God.

Before I finish, we cannot end the cross of Christ series without talking about Jesus' return. His first coming consisted of Him taking on the form of human flesh and Him being known as the humble servant. His second coming is going to be much more dramatic. He is coming as the KING OF KINGS AND THE LORD OF LORDS. He is coming to crush and destroy every evil force on this planet to set up His kingdom on a new earth. He will come to initiate justice and order on the new planet. He is coming soon. Repent and Believe for the Kingdom of heaven is near.

Soli Deo Gloria!!!!

The Cross of Christ Pt. 5 - What Christ has Done for Me Pt. 2 Main Point

Before I begin by writing today's passage, I want you guys (girls) to focus on the first two words of verse 4. It is a cry of excitement and joy following the forlorn and hopeless condition of the last three verses. What are the two words? But God. I will begin with the first three verses again to let God's Word speak.

Ephesians 2:1-7
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience--- among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. BUT GOD, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--- by grace you have been saved--- and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

The first three verses express a hopelessness that can only be found by walking the road of destruction. This broad path will lead us to the most horrific place ever created by God (reserved for the devil and his angels). We are following the road of the father of lies to our eternal destruction. Then, the two most glorious words ever written in the Bible seem to jump off its pages... BUT GOD. But God what. But God, being rich in mercy. What is mercy? Webster's 1828 dictionary records the best definition:

1. That benevolence, mildness or tenderness of heart which disposes a person to overlook injuries, or to treat an offender better than he deserves; the disposition that tempers justice, and induces an injured person to forgive trespasses and injuries, and to forbear punishment, or inflict less than law or justice will warrant. In this sense, there is perhaps no word in our language precisely synonymous with mercy. That which comes nearest to it is grace. It implies benevolence, tenderness, mildness, pity or compassion, and clemency, but exercised only towards offenders. Mercy is a distinguishing attribute of the Supreme Being.

Do you like that? To treat an offender better than he deserves. Mercy induces an injured person (in this case God because of our sin) to forgive trespasses and injuries (because of the cross). And to forbear punishment, or inflict less than law or justice will warrant (in this case, God does not inflict any punishment upon us. His Son took our punishment upon the cross, which we richly deserved). It is only exercised towards offenders (we having offended God in the first place). Finally, mercy is a distinguishing attribute of the Supreme Being (Amen. Praise Him for being merciful towards us, while we were dead in our sins.)

God, in being rich in mercy toward us, shows us how much he loves us by destroying His Son (Isaiah 53:10) on the cross for the redemption of our sins. His mercy, His grace, His lovingkindness toward us. It is all overflowing from His heart. He loves you and me that much. Let that sink in for a moment. HE is RICH IN MERCY. Rich in pure, clean, graceful, awesome mercy. His mercy is far from ever being comprehended or fathomed. He alone is to be praised forever and ever. Amen.

Verse 4 goes on to share His great love for us...because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.

With that great love with which he loves us, he has made us alive together with Christ. Alive, not dead, ALIVE. We were once dead in the trespasses of our own sins. Locked up, chained to the ground, bound to sin; but he raised us up out of that hopeless situation and made us ALIVE with Him. That is not all. He has raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places. We will be reigning with Jesus. We will be sharing, in a measure, his authority. Wow! I cannot even begin to imagine what that is like. It gets even better.

Verse 7 reads, "so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of His grace toward us in Christ Jesus." This verse answers a specific question. Why did God lavish such love upon his people? The answer is: So that we would marvel and be astoundingly amazed, for all eternity, over the incredible kindness and love that He has revealed to us through His Son. It will take all of eternity for us to fathom God's love for us, but even then, we would only hit the bear surface of His love for us. Is that absolutely awesome? HE IS WORTHY. I cannot even begin to express in human terms what he has done for me on the cross. He has done everything and even more than I could ever begin to imagine or comprehend. All by the blood of Jesus Christ.

Verses 8-10 sums up the climax of these divinely inspired verses, "For it is by grace that you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

We are saved by grace. That's it. His grace alone. It is not our own doing. It is a gift of God. The most precious gift that God could have ever given to mankind...His Son. It is not a result of works, so that no one may boast. If it were a result of works, we would acclaim all the glory. It's all about ME getting into heaven. MY works give ME MY ticket to heaven. That is pretty much what all other religions stand by. They stand by getting into heaven by works. Christianity is backwards. Christianity is different. It is all by grace. Grace alone through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. There is no other name under heaven by which man might be saved (Acts 4:12). Amen.

I will close with this question.

What has Christ done for us?
More than we could ever begin to imagine, fathom, or even comprehend.

The Cross of Christ Pt. 5 - What Christ has Done for Me Pt. 1 Main Point

I am really feeling lead by God to drive home the main point with Scripture. Hebrews 4:12 says that the Word of God is alive and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, while 2 Tim. 3:16 tells us that all scripture is inspired by God. When God is teaching us, we know that whatever comes out of it... it is going to be astounding, convincing, and convicting. God is God. We are not. He is able to bring us down to our knees in an awe-inspiring worship time and/or He is able to pick us up and carry us when we have fallen into sin. He alone is worthy to be praised and He alone is worthy of our worship. There is no other God under heaven by which man might be saved. This is what the gospel is all about. "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!" Revelation 5:12. Now that I am finished with the intro, we can delve into the text and see what God has for us. The full text is Ephesians 2:1-10, but I will refer to other passages as well.

Ephesians 2:1-3 is our human hopelessness without Christ, Ephesians 2:4-7 is our divine hope in Christ, and Ephesians 2:8-10, which are familiar passages of Scripture, is the debate between salvation by grace vs. salvation by works. I will try to break these down as best as I can in three parts.

The first part is Ephesians 2:1-3 which reads, "And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience--- among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind."

I briefly touched on these three verses in Part 1 of Part 5 of this series. The bottom line is that sin is sin. Sin will cost you more than you want to pay, keep you longer than you want to stay, and drive you further than you ever wanted to go. It is useless, but the bait is extremely enticing. Should I watch that movie rather than spending time with God? Should I give in to peer pressure so that I would make myself look good? Should I become impatient with my brother or sister because they are taking too much time on the computer and they won't let me take over at the helm? Life is full of choices. One choice is a sugar coated bag containing a hand grenade, while the other choice is a sugar coated bag of God's blessings. The hand grenade will blow up in your face in the end, while God's blessings will last forever. Which do you choose?

We still have not reached the point of the first three verses of Ephesians 2. I wanted to briefly talk about the doctrine of sin. I accomplished that. The main point of these three verses is that our condition is hopeless without God. Jeremiah 17:9 clearly portrays the human heart, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?" Without God, we could easily become the next Adolf Hitler, Marilyn Monroe, Richard Dawkins, Nero, etc. Our hearts are so disgusting and full of hatred that we don't know what else to do other than to sin, sin, and sin. Proverbs 6:16, another familiar passage, tells us something about God, "There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to Him....". Guess what abomination literally means in the Hebrew? Excrement, fecal matter, or manure. God hates sin with a righteous anger. He loathes sin with a hatred that cannot be expressed in human terms. Sin is so horrific in the eyes of God that he crushed Jesus on the cross to save us from our sins. That is the heart of the gospel. Our sin condemns us before a holy God leaving Him the opportunity to justify our sins upon His Son. He could have left us in our sins. He could have thrown every human being into hell and He would have been just in doing so. We rebelled against Him, we rejected Him, we despised Him. Even through all that, he loved us so much that he CRUSHED (slammed, beat, lacerated) His Son for us. Do you see His great love for you and me? Amazing, Astounding, Awesome. Praise Him and Acknowledge Him as your Lord.

End Part 1 Main Point. Tomorrow we will pick up with verses 4-7.