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Why you should be born again
by beatrice ofwona My nephew recently asked me to explain to him what the origin of salvation really is because he wanted to know this Christ whom we were always talking about. Over time, I have realized that it may seem overwhelming to know where to start from when confronted by the same. Other times we may just be unable to do it in a simplistic way. The wisdom however lies in being as uncomplicated and as truthful as ever in explaining the genesis of salvation. I therefore thought of writing this piece to help those who might encounter potential believers. There is, after all, an urgency to preach the Gospel even as we look at what is prophetically happening in the world today. In the book of Genesis, God created man and placed him in the Garden of Eden. During that time, He would come in the cool of the afternoon and have communion with man (Adam). They were great friends and things were grand. Then He gave him woman (Eve) and man was happier. He also gave them rules to adhere to if His relationship with them was to be maintained. One day, however, Adam and Eve listened to the serpent and sinned against God. The warm and cordial relationship that they had hitherto enjoyed with God was curtailed; this was the beginning of the fall of man. In Genesis 3:8-19 God cursed them all; henceforth, man would have to sweat to eat, woman would go through additional pain at child birth and the serpent would crawl on his belly, eat dust and his offspring and those of the woman would forever be enemies. As a result of this sin, there was a separation of God from man as explained in Isaiah 59:2. There was now to be eternal condemnation of man (Revelation 20:1-15) and he would be subjected to death as told in 1Corinthians 15:22. After Adam, sin continued to infiltrate the world through man's wicked deeds. Now even Cain struck down and killed his brother Abel. Our God is all knowing and all along He had had the fore knowledge that man would sin. Being who He is, all merciful and all loving, He had put everything in place for man's salvation; Jesus Christ was the solution that He had prepared for us. Although in Adam we die, in Christ we live. Christ came to redeem us and set us free from sin. His birth was foretold in the book of Isaiah 7:14 and 9:6-for unto us a child would be born through a virgin girl. Jesus Christ came to fulfill this prophecy as seen in John 1:15 and Mathew 1:18. His birth was a mission (Mathew 1:21) and it was supernatural (Mathew 1:23-25). He came to rescue the fallen man. This same Christ was to die in order for our sins to be completely forgiven and for the reconciliation of man to God to be complete. The book of John 3:16 conclusively depicts God's love and concern for us- that He gave us, not His angels, but His only begotten Son to save us through his death. Christ was to be the bridge we needed to get to God after the fall at the Garden of Eden, through Adam. Although Christ was to die, he was also to resurrect on the third day to show us that although we too may one day physically die, we will be resurrected (Romans 4: 23). His resurrection was also to give credence to our preaching as intimated in 1Corinthians 15:12-19. The only condition is that one must be saved (Acts 16:31) and know this Christ so that one can be considered his ambassador (2Corinthians 5:20). One cannot be a follower or a representative of a person whom one does not understand nor know. Resurrection is God's plan for mankind. Christ, although deity, became man in humility that we may be saved (Philippians 2:5-8). Salvation of man is only through Jesus Christ; there is no other way to God the Father except through him. For those that do not know how to go about it or have no one to lead them to Christ, just call on him because he will hear you and come to you. In Revelation 3:20 he tells us that he is continuously knocking that we may hear him and let him in. All you need to do is to ask that he may come into your heart and be Lord and Savior of your life. In John 3:1-14, Christ told the Pharisee Nicodemus that the only way to see the Kingdom is by being born again and that it is only in lifting up and believing in the Son of Man (Jesus) that we can have eternal life. Being born again is to believe in Christ and to accept him as your personal Savior and then consequently changing your life to be more like. This is achieved by obeying the commandments and loving others as much as you love yourself. It is also about renewing of your mind as told in Romans 12:2-that you may no longer conform to the patterns of this world but be transformed. You really should be born again if you intend to spend eternity with Jesus Christ who is your Priest to forgive you, your Prophet to teach you, your Shepherd to guide you and your King to rule over you when he finally comes for those that have received him and lived according to his word. These are the people he will spend eternity with. All the rest that have refused to believe in him nor proclaim him as King and Savior of their lives, will be thrown into the lake of fire where there will be tears and gnashing of teeth forever and ever. (Wordcount-964) May these words (sermons), from various men and women of God be a blessing to all. contact:[email protected] Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |