God's Word to You: A Summary of the Bible

From inside the cover of Lifeway's The Gospel Project Chronological: 

God's Word to You: A Summary of the Bible

In the beginning, the all-powerful, personal God created the universe. This God created human beings in His image to live joyfully in His presence, in humble submission to His gracious authority. But all of us have rebelled against God and, in consequence, must suffer the punishment of our rebellion: physical death and the wrath of God.

Thankfully, God initiated a rescue plan, which began with His choosing the nation of Israel to display His glory in a fallen world. The Bible describes how God acted mightily on Israel's behalf, rescuing His people from slavery and then giving them His holy law. But God's people - like all of us - failed to rightly reflect the glory of God.

Then, in the fullness of time, in the Person of Jesus Christ, God Himself came to renew the world and restore His people. Jesus perfectly obeyed the law given to Israel. Though innocent, He suffered the consequences of human rebellion by His death on a cross. But three days later, God raised Him from the dead.

Now the church of Jesus Christ has been commissioned by God to take the news of Christ's work to the world. Empowered by God's Spirit, the church calls all people everywhere to repent of sin and to trust in Christ alone for our forgiveness. Repentance and faith restores our relationship with God and results in a life of ongoing transformation.

The Bible promises that Jesus Christ will return to this earth as the conquering King. Only those who live in repentant faith in Christ will escape God's judgment and live joyfully in God's presence for all eternity. God's message is the same to all of us: repent and believe, before it is too late. Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, and you will be saved.

Happy b/c of Jesus,

Pastor James

Weaknesses

Weaknesses

O spirit of God,

Help my infirmities;
When I am pressed down with a load of sorrow,
perplexed and knowing not what to do,
slandered and persecuted,
made to feel the weight of the cross,
 help me, I pray thee.
If thou seest in me
any wrong thing encouraged,
any evil desire cherished,
any delight that is not thy delight,
any habit that grieves thee,
any nest of sin in my heart,
 then grant me the kiss of they forgiveness,
and teach my feet to walk the way of 
thy commandments. 
Deliver me from carking care,
 and make me a happy, holy person;
Help me to walk the separated life with
 firm and brave step,
and to wrestle successfully against weakness;
Teach me to laud, adore and magnify thee,
with the music of heaven,
And make me a perfume of praiseful gratitude 
to thee.
I do not crouch at they feet as a slave before a tyrant,
 but exult before thee as a son with a father.
Give me power to live as thy child in all my actions,
and to exercise sonship by conquering self.
Preserve me from the intoxication that comes
 of prosperity;
Sober me within I am glad with a joy that comes not from thee.
Lead me safely on to the eternal kingdom,
 not asking whether the road be rough or smooth.
I request only to see the face of him I love,
 to be content with bread to eat,
 with rainment to put on,
 if I can be brought to thy house in peace.


The Valley of Vision: Puritan Prayers and Devotions, p.188

Only Sinners have Faith and Understanding

     "Faith in the New Testament sense is the way by which the past phase of redemptive history becomes effectual for me.  In this connection it is, to be sure, necessary for me to believe that this entire process concerns me personally, me as the individual, as sinner and as redeemed in Christ.  This presupposes that the consciousness of sin and guilt is not only a 'general' thing which applies to 'mankind,' but that it is real, and it is real only when I am conscious of my own sin and my own guilt.
      The faith of Primitive Christianity in the redemptive process presupposes such a consciousness of sin and guilt.  Only on this basis can the redemptive history be related to the individual.  The entire redemptive history, indeed, is intelligible only on the basis of this consciousness of sin; for it is on account of the sin of man that this entire process is necessary.  Here is the reason why redemptive history not only can be related to the individual but must be so related.  Without this relation it cannot be understood at all."

-Oscar Cullmann, Christ and Time (London: SCM Press, 1946) p. 219 

 

Life is More than Politics

"Thanks for everything, Bernie!"

Politicians have words to thank for their positions. They are often long on promises and (somewhat short on delivery). This persistent human phenomenon leads people to think that somehow the solution to our problems is political. I mean, if the politicians would “get out of the way” then “we could really get things solved.” This is what creates the cheap theater that is politics (see photo).

I firmly believe that the root of human problems is sin. By sin I mean a broken relationship with God that one inherits because one is human. This sinful nature is a spiritual problem, meaning that one only addresses it in spiritual terms, in terms of intangible indescribable interaction with the Divine. And is there not One who is Divine?

Our counselors must point us to God, our money won't save us, our entertainment escape will fade quickly. Our relationships all ultimately drive us to the one relationship that matters, our relationship with the One who created us, and who calls us by name to return to Him.

The root of humanity's problem is sin. The solution to sin has been provided by God, who sent His only Son Jesus Christ to be the resolution for our sins. Jesus perfectly revealed the Father in heaven, the Lord of all of us. How can we hope to know our God if we won't know His Son who perfectly showed us what he is like?

One thing that Jesus showed us clearly is that He died for our sins, not for His own. Jesus was the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. He taught that whoever believed in Him would not perish, but would have everlasting life.  Why would we not embrace this gift that God gives to us by His grace?

It is part of our duty as citizens to be engaged in the political process. But we are foolish if we imagine this will solve ultimate problems. People are good in many ways, but we are all dead in our sins with respect to God.  We ultimately cannot even help one another until we truly repent and believe Jesus. We then enter the life of God, as our sins are taken away, and we receive a new heart, a transformed moral disposition, that inclines us ever more towards the God who made us.

It is then that life truly is more than politics, more than success,  more than scientific materialism, more than...

Don't wait until Sunday

"If I wait until Sunday to confess my sin, I may have given it time to overtake me" -Cindy in the Upper Room