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His Story
After
the Earth was created man sinned and had lost his ability to sit
in the garden and just "talk" to God. He (God) had a way
that He could again have man be close to Him because God could not
stand to be around Sin. He had a plan...
There was a virgin named Mary, who bore a Son. She never had sex
with any man but became pregnant by the Holy Spirit. This way He could truly
be called THE Son of God. She named him Jesus. As He was growing up He KNEW
as He walked past the shadow of a Roman cross that one day He too... would give
His body over to death...
When Jesus was 30 years old He was baptized in the Jordan River
by a man who ate locusts and honey, named John. In the bible it says: "Jesus
also was baptized and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. The Holy Spirit
descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him and a voice came from heaven which
said, 'You are my beloved Son; in You I am well pleased'".
After Jesus was baptized, he was lead into the desert by the Holy
Spirit to be tempted by Satan. Satan said things like, if Jesus would bow down
and worship Satan, he would give Jesus dominion over all the earth; or that
Jesus should turn rocks into bread; or jump off a high place, telling Him that
God promised that all Jesus had to do was ask the Father and He would be protected.
Well, Jesus didn't fall for any of that stuff. He knew that if He just spoke
the word of God He would put Satan to shame. (Which by the way He did, He just
used scripture against all of Satan's attempts and this is what caused Satan
to loose this battle.) Satan then left Jesus for a while, and Jesus was ministered
to by angels.
Jesus knew that someday He would offer the world (us) another
chance. His time of testing was to help Him become more dependent on the Father
and to show us that we must be dependent on the Father for our strength. He
knew that He had a very important job ahead of him. While he was in the desert,
he did a lot of praying; you see, Jesus had only 31/2 years to get as much "training"
into His disciples as He could.
After His time in the desert, Jesus had to get back to the city
so he could start finding some very close friends whom He could trust, teach,
and show what He was here for. They one day would be the beginning of what we
now call the Christian Church. "Christian" means followers of Christ.
He chose 12 men to be His disciples.
Jesus would go to the mountains early in the mornings to pray
to the Father and gather strength and wisdom for the day.
Ever since the creation of time God has been in control of everything--
even down to the last blade of grass in the field, or hair on your head, and
every little thing that has been going on... even after Adam and Eve blew it
in the garden. You see, God knew that they would and He had a perfect way for
us to reunite ourselves with Him since we were separated from Him because of
the original sin of Adam and Eve.
He would provide an offering, a blameless Lamb (in the old testament
it was blood that was required to pay for our sins-- the Jews sacrificed animals
once a year for atonement of sins) to be killed once and for all for our sins.
God requires blood to forgive sin, but ours is not good enough, and animals
were only good for a short while. God Himself came down out of heaven and took
human form, as a baby named Jesus.
This is how He would provide you, and all of us, a way back to
Him... You have no doubt heard the story many times, but it is a fact. Jesus
Christ died on the Cross as a final sin offering for you and me. The only "religion",
or belief system, in the world that has this fact is Christianity.
He suffered a death we could never imagine... the whipping of
his back, shoulders, and legs with a whip with iron balls in the ends so that
they would rip the skin and muscle until it was nothing but shreds of flesh,
the placing of a crown of thorns, with LONG needles on them, smashed onto His
head, then while all the wounds were still fresh, He was forced to carry the
heavy wooden cross until He could go no more... taken to Golgotha, slammed down
onto that rough, hard wooden cross. A long spike was hammered through each of
His wrists, to hold His arms across, then through His Feet. He was then hoisted
up, with the weight of His body pulling His arms against the iron spikes, having
to push against the nail through his feet so that He could breathe... this lasted
for three hours. When He finally died, they thrust a spear into his side between
his ribs; water and blood came out-- a positive sign of death (the water is
serum, something that is only present when something isn't alive anymore).
But that is NOT the end of the story! Guess what? He was placed
in a tomb, and 3 days later He was not there!! He came out of the tomb alive!,
and He is coming back!... once to gather up His Church (those who have accepted
Him as a Savior and have a personal relationship with Him), and once for JUDGMENT
on earth for those who have not accepted Him as Savior.
He is KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF L0RDS, no matter what you or anyone
else thinks or tells you. He loves you and wants to have a personal relationship
with you... no matter what you've done in your life-- nothing is bad enough
for Christ to reject you. He loves you unconditionally. His mercy and grace,
although we don't deserve them, are given freely to you and me. "For by
grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the
gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast. (Eph 2:8-9)
Well now it's up to you; there is a choice to be made. Will you
come to Him today and start your life with a fresh, clean slate? This is all
that is required of us...
1. Admit your a sinner (Romans 3:10)
2. Realize that Jesus Christ's atoning death on the cross for your sins
is a FREE gift to you from God. (Romans 6:23)
3. Ask Jesus to come into your heart and take control of your life, and
that you want a personal relationship with Him. (Revelations 3:20)
4. Then tell (confess with your mouth) another person that you have accepted
Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord. ( Romans 10:9-19)
Find yourself a well balanced church and join in the fun of being
a child of a King!! He promises us that "He who believes in Me, as the
Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."
When you have truly accepted and believed in Him, there is a change within you
that some notice right away, and you will know in your heart if you truly believe..
.there will be a change.
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