What Will You Do About Jesus?
Dec 24, 2023 15:24:20 GMT -5
Post by PrisonerOfHope on Dec 24, 2023 15:24:20 GMT -5
WHAT WILL YOU DO ABOUT JESUS?
People all over the world are celebrating Christmas, which is all about the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Messiah. Sadly, this holy day has turned largely worldly, with things like Santa Claus, flying reindeer, wild partying, and frenetic shopping detracting from the sacredness of the season. But...none of that can change the fact that about 2,000 years ago a baby was born in Bethlehem, a baby who was both man and God, and who came to Earth for one purpose: to die.
Today we hear that God is all about love, and love is love, and somehow along the way people have lost sight of the fact that the angels don't sing "Love, love, love" around His throne; rather, they sing, "Holy, holy, holy." Yes, God is love - but above all, He is holy, and even the slightest sin - the smallest white lie, the most worthless item stolen - is so repugnant in His sight, so much an affront to His holiness, that His divine justice demands that the offender pay the penalty for that sin: DEATH! (Romans 6:23) Yes, mankind was in big, big trouble...but God...
He so loved the world that He sent His only Son - the perfect, sinless God/man - to die in our place, to fulfil God's sense of justice. What a wonderful, priceless, unimaginable gift! But there's just one slight catch: you have to receive it. God doesn't offer blanket forgiveness (that's a heresy called Universalism); no, we need to repent, turn our backs on the world's way of doing things, and put our trust in Him as our Lord and Savior: that's it! Sounds almost too simple, doesn't it? No good works can save you, no church membership can save you, no rituals can save you, Mary and "saints" can't save you (the Bible says all who are genuinely born again are saints), not all the money in the world can save you from the eternal torment of hell, which is the payment for your sin - only the shed blood of Jesus washes us clean so that we may stand pure and spotless before a holy and righteous God. The theological term is "imputed righteousness." We need the righteousness of Christ imputed to us because we have no righteousness of our own. We are sinners by nature, and we cannot make ourselves righteous—we cannot place ourselves in right standing with God. We need Christ’s righteousness imputed to us—meaning, we need His holiness before God credited to our account.
Maybe you're thinking, "Well, that's nice, but I want to enjoy the pleasure of this world for a time longer; I'll accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior when I'm older." How's that working out for Laura Lynch, the founder of the Dixie Chicks who was killed in a head-on crash yesterday? I'm sure she never dreamed when she woke up that day that it would be her last day on Earth! Fact is, no one is promised even their next breath, there are no second chances after death, and purgatory is a myth and an insult to Jesus, who paid the price for ALL our sins. His last word on the cross was "tetelestai" - it's an accounting term which means "The debt has been paid IN FULL!"
That brings me to the next part of the topic: the world is steeped in unprecedented evil: Thousands upon thousands of unborn babies are torn from limb to limb each and every day; theft is rampant; sexual immorality has reached a level that would probably make the residents of Sodom & Gomorrah blush; earthquakes are increasing in number and intensity; Christians are being tortured and killed for their faith; anti-Semitism is at an all-time high; any number of hotspots around the world threaten to turn into WW III any day now. The One World Government is rapidly falling into place, along with the One World Religion. So what? Well, those are all things that Jesus told us would happen shortly before He returned to Earth to redeem it once and for all. The scoffers out there will say, "Oh, but those things have always happened!" Aside from the fact that they never occurred to the degree we see today, there's the issue of convergence: never before in history have all these events come together in such frequency and intensity all at the same time. In fact, the Bible tells us that a man will arise who will have all the answers to the problems of the world; all people will have to do is swear their allegiance to him and everything will be just fine! Don't be fooled: he'll be the Man of Sin, the Son of Perdition...or as you may have heard him called, the Antichrist. His appearance on the world stage will come shortly after a covenant is confirmed, one that promises peace and safety to Israel and the world, and it will be followed by seven years of hell on Earth as God pours out His wrath on an unbelieving world in a time called the Tribulation. I laugh when I read about the "elites" of the world building elaborate doomsday bunkers; the Bible told us that would happen too:
"And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, 'Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!'" - Revelation 6:15-16
Jesus is the Lamb of God, sacrificed for our sins; the Passover lambs were only a foreshadowing of His ultimate sacrifice, His death on the cross, which took place at the same time as the Passover lambs were being sacrificed. And no...no one can hide from the One God who sees all.
So...what will you do about Jesus? You can scoff, you can laugh, you can ignore what I'm telling you out of love...but there is only one way to escape the horrific period of time that's coming upon the world: that is to put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ ALONE, who has promised to remove His own from the Earth before His wrath falls upon it.
Yes, Jesus came to Earth as a baby two millennia ago, and He's returning soon - not as an infant but as a conquering king who will crush His enemies - those who reject Him and refuse His immeasurable sacrifice. So...what will you do about Jesus? Will you join Him in His Kingdom, where "as it is written: 'Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man
the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.'" - 1 Corinthians 2:9, or will you reject Him, "and (be) cast into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” - Matthew 13:50
What will you do about Jesus? Choose wisely, but don't wait: no one is promised tomorrow...and you certainly don't want to be left behind when He raptures His church. If you take the Mark of the Beast you will be forever damned; if you refuse it, you will probably be put to death.
I'll leave you with this song. For years people have thought it's about Christmas, but it isn't at all. If you'll pay attention to the lyrics you'll see that it's about the Second Coming - the return of King Jesus in indescribable power and glory! Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
People all over the world are celebrating Christmas, which is all about the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Messiah. Sadly, this holy day has turned largely worldly, with things like Santa Claus, flying reindeer, wild partying, and frenetic shopping detracting from the sacredness of the season. But...none of that can change the fact that about 2,000 years ago a baby was born in Bethlehem, a baby who was both man and God, and who came to Earth for one purpose: to die.
Today we hear that God is all about love, and love is love, and somehow along the way people have lost sight of the fact that the angels don't sing "Love, love, love" around His throne; rather, they sing, "Holy, holy, holy." Yes, God is love - but above all, He is holy, and even the slightest sin - the smallest white lie, the most worthless item stolen - is so repugnant in His sight, so much an affront to His holiness, that His divine justice demands that the offender pay the penalty for that sin: DEATH! (Romans 6:23) Yes, mankind was in big, big trouble...but God...
He so loved the world that He sent His only Son - the perfect, sinless God/man - to die in our place, to fulfil God's sense of justice. What a wonderful, priceless, unimaginable gift! But there's just one slight catch: you have to receive it. God doesn't offer blanket forgiveness (that's a heresy called Universalism); no, we need to repent, turn our backs on the world's way of doing things, and put our trust in Him as our Lord and Savior: that's it! Sounds almost too simple, doesn't it? No good works can save you, no church membership can save you, no rituals can save you, Mary and "saints" can't save you (the Bible says all who are genuinely born again are saints), not all the money in the world can save you from the eternal torment of hell, which is the payment for your sin - only the shed blood of Jesus washes us clean so that we may stand pure and spotless before a holy and righteous God. The theological term is "imputed righteousness." We need the righteousness of Christ imputed to us because we have no righteousness of our own. We are sinners by nature, and we cannot make ourselves righteous—we cannot place ourselves in right standing with God. We need Christ’s righteousness imputed to us—meaning, we need His holiness before God credited to our account.
Maybe you're thinking, "Well, that's nice, but I want to enjoy the pleasure of this world for a time longer; I'll accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior when I'm older." How's that working out for Laura Lynch, the founder of the Dixie Chicks who was killed in a head-on crash yesterday? I'm sure she never dreamed when she woke up that day that it would be her last day on Earth! Fact is, no one is promised even their next breath, there are no second chances after death, and purgatory is a myth and an insult to Jesus, who paid the price for ALL our sins. His last word on the cross was "tetelestai" - it's an accounting term which means "The debt has been paid IN FULL!"
That brings me to the next part of the topic: the world is steeped in unprecedented evil: Thousands upon thousands of unborn babies are torn from limb to limb each and every day; theft is rampant; sexual immorality has reached a level that would probably make the residents of Sodom & Gomorrah blush; earthquakes are increasing in number and intensity; Christians are being tortured and killed for their faith; anti-Semitism is at an all-time high; any number of hotspots around the world threaten to turn into WW III any day now. The One World Government is rapidly falling into place, along with the One World Religion. So what? Well, those are all things that Jesus told us would happen shortly before He returned to Earth to redeem it once and for all. The scoffers out there will say, "Oh, but those things have always happened!" Aside from the fact that they never occurred to the degree we see today, there's the issue of convergence: never before in history have all these events come together in such frequency and intensity all at the same time. In fact, the Bible tells us that a man will arise who will have all the answers to the problems of the world; all people will have to do is swear their allegiance to him and everything will be just fine! Don't be fooled: he'll be the Man of Sin, the Son of Perdition...or as you may have heard him called, the Antichrist. His appearance on the world stage will come shortly after a covenant is confirmed, one that promises peace and safety to Israel and the world, and it will be followed by seven years of hell on Earth as God pours out His wrath on an unbelieving world in a time called the Tribulation. I laugh when I read about the "elites" of the world building elaborate doomsday bunkers; the Bible told us that would happen too:
"And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, 'Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!'" - Revelation 6:15-16
Jesus is the Lamb of God, sacrificed for our sins; the Passover lambs were only a foreshadowing of His ultimate sacrifice, His death on the cross, which took place at the same time as the Passover lambs were being sacrificed. And no...no one can hide from the One God who sees all.
So...what will you do about Jesus? You can scoff, you can laugh, you can ignore what I'm telling you out of love...but there is only one way to escape the horrific period of time that's coming upon the world: that is to put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ ALONE, who has promised to remove His own from the Earth before His wrath falls upon it.
Yes, Jesus came to Earth as a baby two millennia ago, and He's returning soon - not as an infant but as a conquering king who will crush His enemies - those who reject Him and refuse His immeasurable sacrifice. So...what will you do about Jesus? Will you join Him in His Kingdom, where "as it is written: 'Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man
the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.'" - 1 Corinthians 2:9, or will you reject Him, "and (be) cast into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” - Matthew 13:50
What will you do about Jesus? Choose wisely, but don't wait: no one is promised tomorrow...and you certainly don't want to be left behind when He raptures His church. If you take the Mark of the Beast you will be forever damned; if you refuse it, you will probably be put to death.
I'll leave you with this song. For years people have thought it's about Christmas, but it isn't at all. If you'll pay attention to the lyrics you'll see that it's about the Second Coming - the return of King Jesus in indescribable power and glory! Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
