Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. (1 Cor 1:20-25)
The Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Good-News....The greek word (language the NT was written in) εὐαγγέλιον pronounced (yoo-ang-ghel'-ee-on) means just that. It's Good-News. That Good News is that there is a blessed hope that God has sent down from heaven to this tainted, sin-cursed world. To a world of heartache...a world of confusion...a world of death and destruction. A world lost in the throes of it's own evil which is devouring in its rapidity unmercifully all those who inhabit its sphere.
It all began with the first man and first women. They wanted to be like God. They believed the lie, disobeyed their creator, their Lord, their God and all of creation was subjected to futility. (meaning worthlessness, pointlessness, uselessness, meaningless, emptiness, hopelessness.)
That emptiness must be compensated for, must be filled with something to give meaning to this short life each of us have. If the God of all creation, the God of Scripture does not inhabit ones inner being, the heart, something must compensate for that. Yes even atheists believe in something. A striving for the betterment of humankind or the pursuit to disprove the existence of a divine creator and spiritual realm.
The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (2 Cor 4:4)
Every single human being born into this world isn't born into this world a child of God. But a child of God's wrath. (Eph. 2:1-3)
It isn't long before that innocent little baby commits it's first lie or deception, it's first disobedience and needs correction from a loving parent. Yes we are not sinners because we sin. We sin because we are sinners. We are born that way. David, King and prophet in Israel proclaimed in Psalm 51:5
"Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me."
Apostle Paul the new testament tells us "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God....There is no one righteous, no not one....You are dead in trespasses and sin....
We not only commit sin, it is our nature to sin. It has tainted every single fiber of our being, making us prone to what the apostle Paul calls the lust of the flesh.
adultery, fornication, (*any sexual immorality outside the marriage bond of a man and woman*) uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery (pharmakeia-druging enchantment), hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Gasl. 5:19-21)
Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators,(those sexually immoral*) nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Cor. 6:9-10)
Peter reiterates saying we should "no longer should live the rest of your time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles (pagans, unbelievers) when we walked in lewdness, lusts, (This word stresses the longing, craving, or desire for what is forbidden or evil.) drunkenness, revelries (a nocturnal and riotous procession of half drunken and frolicsome fellows who after supper parade through the streets with torches and music in honour of Bacchus or some other deity), drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. (worshipping false gods and goddesses and anything you put before the God of Scripture...all other gods so called are idols to be shunned for souls sake) 1 Peter 4:1-3)
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (the boasting of what we have and do) —comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever. (1 John 2:15-17)
There is much going against us in this world. The draw of the evil one, tempts, distorts, perverts, deceives, tricks, and lies with the same words spoken to our first parents, the federal head of the human race, with the beguiling deceptive enunciation, "has God said"? His promise "we will be like god." And so humans are led down a path to everlasting punishment, from the presence of God and from the glory of His power.
You have heard it said, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)
You must be born again....born of the spirit...God comes to live in you. "As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving." (Col. 2:6-7)
Have you been changed by the power of God? Have you cried out to God "have mercy on me a sinner!" Or did you say a so called sinners prayer and nothing changed. You have continued in your sinful lifestyle. Loving and embracing the things of this world rather that God?
"Remember Lot's wife."
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (2 Cor 5:17)
One day we all, Christians included, will stand before the judgement seat of Christ. For God will judge the world in righteousness.....Jesus said, "you must be perfect as the father in heaven is perfect to have a place in the Kingdom of God, the new heavens and new earth where righteousness dwells..... by the man he has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead. (Acts 17:31)
In the Gospel of John chapter 11 Jesus said to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.” (John 11:25-27)
In Acts chapter 4 verse 12 Peter said, there is no other name under heaven by which we can be saved. Saved from what you might ask...."the wrath of God that is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them. " (Col. 3:1-10)
I can truly say "been there done that" amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me....Now I think most everyone has heard and sang this song, played many times at funerals. And you may have thought "wretch?" What is a wretch? Can you say, scoundrel · villain · criminal · (imagine having broken His law; just one lie will make you a criminal before God) a good-for-nothing · a reprobate...a despicable (deserving hatred and contempt) a contemptible (revolting, loathsome, offensive, shameful, unworthy) person.
ALL HAVE SINNED and fall short of the glory of God. (Rom. 3:23)
His judgement should not be taken lightly. What he has written through the Holy Prophets and Apostles in Scripture will happen. In the fullness of time. God will not tarry forever. The Lord will return and mete out His judgement on the world.
Do you mock or doubt this? Heed this warning from the Apostle Peter "scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. (2 Peter 3:1-7)
With the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. Time is of no consequence to the creator God. The new heavens and earth are coming...."when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,"
And the wicked will be turned into hell....and ALL THE NATIONS that forget about God. (Ps. 9:17-20)
See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” Now this, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire. (Heb 12:25-29)
But for those of us who are born again, "as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.(John 1:12-13)
Many believe the time is nigh. The nations have embraced the idols of false deities. Islam has become the second most prodigious religion and could soon pass the first largest religion Christanity. Judgement day is near. Whether the Lord returns soon or you close your eyes in death. You will stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
For the Father has committed all judgement to the Son, so that all may honor the Son as they honor the Father. For all judgement has been committed to Jesus the Christ. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. And No one comes to the Father except through Him.
Those who have the Son have life (eternal) Those who do not have the Son, do not have life (eternal) but the wrath of God abides on them. And it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Heb. 10:31)
Your life is a vapor, a mist. You are here for a little while then vanish away. Where will you spend eternity? As the Lord Jesus Christ Himself said in Matthew 7:13 and 14 " “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."
Come to Him all you who labor and are heavy laden and Jesus the Messiah will give you rest. He is the Lord of your Sabbath rest. For when you stand before his judgement seat you will have no excuses. If you proclaim "God you didn't give me any proof you existed." Your mouth will be shut. The die cast. Your fate sealed.
For the words of the Holy Apostle will ring forth from the Book... "The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all the ungodliness and unrighteous of men, who suppress the truth in unrightousness. For what can be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things which are made, even his eternal power and divine nature— so that people are without excuse." (*Romans 1:18-20)
Fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. (Proverbs 1:7)
God is love yes, he sent Jesus, God the Son, His One and Only, as the perfect lamb of God to take away the sin of the world. But God is a just God. And God has appointed a day when He will judge the world in righteousness, by the man he has ordained. And has given assurance of this to all by raising him from the dead." It was a cost for us beyond our comprehension. Of Jesus and Only Jesus could God the Father say "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him."
You hear him in His word. If you haven't partaken of this salvation treasure in the bible, please, I implore you, don't delay.
Eternal life is a gift of God, not of works less anyone should boast. Jesus is the only name under heaven by which anyone can enter into the Kingdom of God. You must be perfect as the Father in heaven is perfect. Jesus the Christ was tempted in every way as we are yet without sin. No one else is or ever was. He paid the cost by his perfect obedience, the cost that you otherwise will have to pay when you stand before God's judgement seat. Without Christ's atoning sacrifice accredited to your account. Without His blood covering. He will say "depart from me, I never knew you."
But if God the Holy Spirit is, has or will convince you of this truth "confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead and you will be saved." Then you will have a citizenship in heaven and will eagerly await our savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly bodies to be like his glorious body. Now is the accepted time. behold now is the day of salvation!
(Ro. 10:9;Phil 3:20; 2 Cor 6:9)
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