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The Gospel of Jesus
1. God is holy and created mankind in His image and for His glory (Genesis 1:26-28, Proverbs 16:4, Isaiah 43:7).
2. Mankind rebelled and broke relationship with God. Thus by our nature and individual choice we are rebellious sinners against our holy Creator (Genesis 3, Romans 3:23).
3. God so loved His creation that He became a man in Jesus, lived a perfect life and was sacrificed on the cross thus fulfilling the law and taking on the judgment and wrath of God for all those who turn from sin and acknowledge Him at their Savior (John 1:14, 3:16; Hebrews 7:26; Romans 3:21-26 &5:12-21).
4. Jesus physically rose from the dead displaying He was an acceptable sacrifice and the justice of God had been satisfied (Acts 2:24, Romans 4:25 & 5:10).
5. Therefore our only hope is repent of our sin and trust only in that finished work of Jesus Christ. If we repent and trusts in that work of God we are born again and can be called children of God (Acts 17:30, John 1:12 & 3:16).
6. God gathers His redeemed people for worship as a community and walk in good works (Matthew 16:15-19, Ephesians 2:10-19, Titus 2:14, 1 Peter 2:9).
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An Open Letter from Pastor Ed,
When moving around Nairobi I like to ask people, “Are you a Christian?” Because Christian has come to mean a lot of things to different people, I try to make my question open ended. I almost always get a positive answer, but it seems everyone knows the answers just a little too well.
Of course I can not judge, but “I have a personal relationship with Jesus” or “I’m saved” seems to come a little to quick off the lips of many people. It is almost like they have the words memorized. As I dig a little deeper and ask someone to explain their salvation experience I’m often told about a prayer and about something this person did so they now have a personal Savior. Again, I can not judge, but I wonder. Too often all I hear is about the person, not about God. Sometimes I hear how they accepted Jesus, but I seldom hear that they were unacceptable and Jesus full of grace and truth reached down accept and save them.
Please let me take a moment to tell you about God. The Bible clearly teaches God created mankind for his glory. In other places we learn God is love and He greatly loves us. God spoke to the first people and even walked with them. God loved them enough to give clear parameters to remain in relationship with Him. Unfortunately those first people rebelled against that love and the relationship was broken. God so loved the people that He sacrificed one of His animals, thus introducing the first death, to cover their shame with its skin. More importantly to us, God introduced that it takes death to cover sin.
At several times in succeeding generations God came to be with and speak with people. He called a mzee out of Mesopotamia to tell him all the tribes of the earth would receive God’s blessing by his offspring. Along with a couple angels God actually sat with the old man and his wife to eat. The descendants of the Mesopotamian became religious and political refugees to a cruel dictator in North Africa so God called another man to deliver them to a land flowing with milk and honey. God explained His love for His people and as He delivered them from the bondage of that slavery. In His great love God gave His own special people commandments how to relate to Him and live with each other. It came to a point that God told the people to build a tent in their midst so He could live among them. It is a powerful thing to consider God desired to be in the midst of His people.
God’s love and desire to be among people has been demonstrated throughout history, but the highest point came 2,000 years ago when Jesus Christ, the Son of God lowered Himself to become flesh and dwell among the very people that have rebelled against Him from the beginning. Possibly the most famous verse in the Bible explains how this expressed God’s great love for us, “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.” Through thousands of years and many generations God fulfilled the promise He told those first humans that rebelled. Again, because of God’s great love, He told mankind the conditions of relationship with Him. Eventually because of His love, the Son of God was sacrificed to remove the sin of rebellious people that would receive Him. To prove Jesus was who He said He was, he rose from the grave three days later so it can be said; “We were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life."
If we realize we are sinful and have rebelled against God and then believe Jesus Christ can save us we are restored to relationship with God. That is what is called passing from death to life, or being born again. If you can read this, then you are of course born a first time of the flesh. Being born again speaks of a second birth of the Spirit of God that saves. That is eternal life; restored relationship with God giving us life now and eternally. As if that is not enough, God will one day create a new heaven and earth and God will continue in His way of being with people, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.”
Thank you for reading this far. I hope you now understand why I say salvation is not about what we have done, but about what God has already done in His great love. If you desire more information or have any questions whatsoever, please feel free to contact us at Calvary Chapel. We, like God, love you and want to have relationship with you.
Shalom!
Ed.
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