"FOR GOD SO LOVED" You must be born again
GREETINGS IN THE NAME OF JESUS:
Until now we have studied the methods of prayer and communication from Jesus which are some of the very basics in developing a relationship with God the Father, but I want to get even more basic with the subject matter today. John 2:24-25 What does it mean to be born again?
The idea of "Born again" really means being transformed from old to new. We are being changed from the old person that you have always known yourself as to a new creature that actually fits into God's Kingdom. Interestingly enough, this does not just happen overnight or without any effort on our part at all. It all starts with our realization that we need salvation from the ensnarement of this world and the sin that we have lived in. This means that we have to take steps beyond just being a good person or trying to compare our life to someone who lives down the street but actually getting serious about looking at our life through the eyes of God.
When we compare our life to what Jesus taught us we can see many things that are not up to snuff, but why should we change who we are? While there are several areas we could consider LOVE is among the first that comes to my mind. It is literally God's actions taken for me personally and for you, that should make us feel that we should change. This whole thing is called repentance.
Matthew 3:2 " Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand" "Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight" These are the words that John the Baptist was using when Jesus first started His ministry to us. In Matthew 5:20 Jesus in His first sermon sat things pretty straight when He said "UNLESS your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven" this should help us to RE-THINK some of the things that we may have taken for granted about God's love and what it takes to actually be a spiritual child of God. God's whole intent was to give us all a chance to fit into His Kingdom as His own children, but we cannot fit in any way the way we are right now. God created us to love and be loved by Him. God wants us to be in His family. That is why the passage in John 3:16 " For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son" If you really think about that you can't help but also understand how important you are to God.
You see that whole concept of sending your most beloved member of your family; someone who is literally a part of you to die as a sacrifice so that someone else might get the chance to accept your offer of love is off the charts! When we look at the reasons why Jesus was sent by the Father we very often miss interpret it from the beginning. We read and hear that Jesus " Died for the sins of the world" but mostly we don't know what that really means.
A. He died to take away the power that sin has over our lives. That power is death and separation from God for all time, but Jesus's sacrifice took away the ability of Satan to keep us from God.
B. When Jesus died He took away this power from death for all time, past, present, and future so that sin can no longer send us to hell. He gave us the opportunity of salvation through the plan of salvation. C. Jesus died so that you can have a full restoration of your relationship with God the Father again, and He came to show us how to do that. As we continue in this series of discussions I want for you to think of when the last time anyone sat down with you and explained all of what this sacrifice really has meant for us? We are going to look at some of those things as we continue this series of discussions. May you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
Until now we have studied the methods of prayer and communication from Jesus which are some of the very basics in developing a relationship with God the Father, but I want to get even more basic with the subject matter today. John 2:24-25 What does it mean to be born again?
The idea of "Born again" really means being transformed from old to new. We are being changed from the old person that you have always known yourself as to a new creature that actually fits into God's Kingdom. Interestingly enough, this does not just happen overnight or without any effort on our part at all. It all starts with our realization that we need salvation from the ensnarement of this world and the sin that we have lived in. This means that we have to take steps beyond just being a good person or trying to compare our life to someone who lives down the street but actually getting serious about looking at our life through the eyes of God.
When we compare our life to what Jesus taught us we can see many things that are not up to snuff, but why should we change who we are? While there are several areas we could consider LOVE is among the first that comes to my mind. It is literally God's actions taken for me personally and for you, that should make us feel that we should change. This whole thing is called repentance.
Matthew 3:2 " Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand" "Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight" These are the words that John the Baptist was using when Jesus first started His ministry to us. In Matthew 5:20 Jesus in His first sermon sat things pretty straight when He said "UNLESS your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven" this should help us to RE-THINK some of the things that we may have taken for granted about God's love and what it takes to actually be a spiritual child of God. God's whole intent was to give us all a chance to fit into His Kingdom as His own children, but we cannot fit in any way the way we are right now. God created us to love and be loved by Him. God wants us to be in His family. That is why the passage in John 3:16 " For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son" If you really think about that you can't help but also understand how important you are to God.
You see that whole concept of sending your most beloved member of your family; someone who is literally a part of you to die as a sacrifice so that someone else might get the chance to accept your offer of love is off the charts! When we look at the reasons why Jesus was sent by the Father we very often miss interpret it from the beginning. We read and hear that Jesus " Died for the sins of the world" but mostly we don't know what that really means.A. He died to take away the power that sin has over our lives. That power is death and separation from God for all time, but Jesus's sacrifice took away the ability of Satan to keep us from God.
B. When Jesus died He took away this power from death for all time, past, present, and future so that sin can no longer send us to hell. He gave us the opportunity of salvation through the plan of salvation. C. Jesus died so that you can have a full restoration of your relationship with God the Father again, and He came to show us how to do that. As we continue in this series of discussions I want for you to think of when the last time anyone sat down with you and explained all of what this sacrifice really has meant for us? We are going to look at some of those things as we continue this series of discussions. May you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
Comments
Post a Comment