Maintaining a Healthy Fear of God

Trust and Obey – Part 4

The Gospel of Christ Jesus  – Introduction

 

While we do His good will, He abides with us still,And with all who will trust and obey.

 “ Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received:THAT CHRIST DIED FOR OUR SINS ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES, AND THAT HE WAS BURIED, AND HE ROSE AGAIN THE THIRD DAY ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES, AND THAT HE WAS SEEN BY CEPHAS, THEN BY THE TWELVE. AFTER HE WAS SEEN BY OVER FIVE HUNDRED BRETHREN AT ONCE, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. 8 Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.” (1 Corinthians 15:3-8)

We are continuing with our look at the first stanza of the hymn, Trust and Obey by John Henry Sammis as part of our mini series “Maintaining a Healthy Fear of God” In our last post we started with our look at God’s good will, we stopped at the original plan of His eternal purpose Ultimately, PLAN A  – The Glory of God – We saw that it is safe to say that  His good will, His eternal purpose, is a plan to ultimately, bring us to His  Glory, with provision made for perceived blunders we will make along the way.

In this post we will have a look at this provision He has made for our blunders, Now in our mortal bodies:  PLAN A1- The Gospel of Christ. which we have in fact delved into already in the last post and also in    –Part 1 ALL HAVE SINNED 

Where we addressed the reason for plan A1 in answer to a very valid question asked about the use of the phrases Plan A or Plan A1 – “What Plan B!? Like I said then, it was always plan A from the get go!” (I Used Plan B before making it A1); maybe I had been watching too much of the confusing political debates – oh!! Modern day politics – the more you hear; the less you understand (abracadabra politics). We have also in the same post looked at His plan for us and how we have (through Adam) “temporarily deviated” from the path of this plan and the consequences of Adam’s original sin.

We also in  First Begotten Son is God Part 1  looked at the consequences of Adam’s choice to develop the functions of his will, intellect and emotions “APART FROM GOD” at the expense of developing the functions of his conscience, intuition and communion with God; this (now) being the state of the unregenerate man, who does not know God. (We will examine this further when we have a comprehensive look at Romans 5)

We will now continue with the first stanza of the hymn by looking at this presentation called: Gospel of Christ Jesus

The gospel of Christ Jesus is the singularly most important communication of God to man. In Jesus, who is God the Son, we have the revelation of God‘s love and sacrifice that saves us from Gods righteous judgment upon sinners.

                                          GOD‘S FULL SALVATION

REGENERATION•

God justifies us through propitiation by Christ Jesus and regenerates us in our spirit with His life by His Spirit. It involves: Redemption, Sanctification (positional 1 Pet. 1:2; 1Cor. 6:11), justification, reconciliation and regeneration

TRANSFORMATION•

This is the process of our freedom from the dominion of indwelling sin. It involves: Freedom from Sin, Sanctification (mainly dispositional Roman 6:19, 22), growth in life, transformation, building up and maturing.

CONSUMMATION•

Redemption of our corrupted body (Roman 8:23) and transfiguring into Christ’s glory (Phil. 3:21). This is the inheritance of God’s Kingdom and participation in Jesus’ Kingship.

 Gospel of Christ Jesus

    (Click here to view presentation)

In the next post we will be examining Regeneration when one believes in Jesus Christ.

You might say – “Why do I have to know and experience this God you are going on about” Here is why, when and how you can get to know Him.

Admit your spiritual need.

We all are sinners: nobody likes that title “SINNER”, but the bible says in Romans 3:23 that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”.

What is the result of sin?

In Romans 6:23 we read “The wages of sin is death…” in other words, every sin is another step towards death. One thing that we need to remember is that God never sends anyone to hell; one can send himself there by rejecting the truth.

Since we can never measure up to God’s standards by our own strength; God has reached out to mankind.
The Bible tells us in John 3:16-17. ”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. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” In Romans 5:8 we read, “God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”.

What must a person do to accept this gift?

Simply receive it! Matthew 11:28 states –“come to me, all you who labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me…for my yoke is easy and my burden is light”.

Revelation 3:20 says, “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with me” Jesus stands at the door of your heart and knocks, seeking entrance into your life to give you peace, change you for the best. John 1:12 says: “For as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become the children of God”.

If you haven’t already received Christ as your Saviour, don’t put it off another day! Take time right now to reflect on the state of your life, how does Romans 3:23 apply to you? Ask God to empower you to see the true state of your heart – “The heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9) then when enabled, invite Jesus into your life. Confess your sins. Receive His forgiveness and the gift of eternal life. You might pray something like this:

Dear Jesus, I know that I am a sinner in need of a Saviour. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. Thank You for giving me eternal life. Help me to live my life in a way that pleases You, for whatever time You give me here on earth. I look forward to living forever in Heaven with You. Amen.