Christian's Soap

We have this menatality that Christ died for all our sins up until now, but from this point on we're gonna get our act together. WRONG! That's just an invitation to take a big spill. That's not a license to sin, it's just an incorrect thought. You need to ask yourself, how many of your sins were future when Christ hung on the cross? The answer is ALL of them were. Christ died for ALL your sins - past, present, and future. What you do when you sin (and the time will occur), is say - Praise God, the flesh is just what you said it was and you quoted it. Then you get on your knees and grab the Christian's bar of soap (Chuck Missler said this in one of his recent podcasts and I thought it was pretty great).

If you abide in Him you can clean up your life when you muck it up with sin. I John 1:9 is the Christian's bar of soap. It reads, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness." That's not a figure of speech, that's a promise. Being cleansed from all unrighteous makes you righteous in God's eyes once again. Randy Alcorn made a statement in his book titled Heaven, that "God is in the restoration business." He will do just that.

There will be consequences for your sin, but we can and should be thankful for those consequences because His discipline is yet more proof that He loves us.

A New Leaf

He came to my desk with a quivering lip,
The lesson was done.
"Have you a new sheet for me, dear teacher?
I've spoiled this one."
I took his sheet, all soiled and blotted
And gave him a new one all unspotted.
And into his tired heart I cried,
"Do better now, my child."

I went to the throne with a trembling heart;
The day was done.
"Have you a new day for me, dear Master?
I've spoiled this one."He took my day, all soiled and blotted
And gave me a new one all unspotted.
And into my tired heart he cried,
"Do better now, my child."

(Anonymous, “A New Leaf,” James G. Lawson, compiler, The Best Loved Religious Poems (Grand Rapids: Fleming H. Revell, 1961).)

Former Atheist Quotes a Former Agnostic

As another put it, this is a quote from a former agnostic writer (Malcolm Muggeridge), quoted by a former atheist turned Christian apologist (Ravi Zacharias). I hadn't ever put those two together before. That makes this quote all the more powerful to me.

"We look back upon history and what do we see? Empires rising and falling, revolutions and counter-revolutions, wealth accumulated and wealth dispersed. Shakespeare has spoken of the rise and fall of great ones that ebb and flow over the moon.

I look back upon my own fellow countrymen of England, once upon a time dominating a quarter of the world. Most of them convinced in the words of what is still a popular song that the God who made the mighty, shall make them mightier yet. I’ve heard a crazed, cracked Austrian announce to the world the establishment of a German Reich that would last a thousand years. I’ve seen an Italian clown saying he was going to stop and restart the calendar with his own ascension to power. I’ve seen a murderous Georgian brigand in the Kremlin acclaimed by the intellectual elite of the world as wiser than Solomon, more humane than Marcus Aurelius, more enlightened than a shokah. I have seen America more wealthy and in terms of military weaponry more powerful than the rest of the world put together. So that had the American people so desired, they could have outdone a Caesar or an Alexander in the range and scale of their conquest.

All in one lifetime. All in one lifetime. All gone - gone with the wind.

England, part of a tiny island off the coast of Europe threatened with dismemberment and even bankruptcy. Hitler and Mussolini dead, remembered only in infamy. Stalin is a forbidden name in the regime he helped form and dominate for over 3 decades. America is haunted by fears of running out of the precious fluids that keep her motorways roaring and the smog settling, and the victory of the Don Quixotes of the media as they charge the windmills of Watergate.

All in one lifetime. All in one lifetime. All gone - gone with the wind.

Behind the debris of the fallings of our solemn supermen and imperial diplomatists, lies the gigantic figure of one person; because of Whom, by Whom, in Whom, and through Whom mankind may still survive. The person of Jesus Christ.

The nature of sin… the nature of suffering… the nature of salvation… the nature of reality…
The person of Jesus Christ.

I have bent my knee to Him and I found in Him, everything."

The American's Creed

This quote is from Steve Turner who brilliantly summarizes North America's position on Religion. I originally heard this quoted by Ravi Zacharias in his Podcasts ("Let My People Think" and "Just Thinking"). Ravi also uses this quote in his book entitled, "Can Man Live Without God?"

Creed
by Steve Turner

This is the creed I have written on behalf of all us.

We believe in Marx, Freud, and Darwin.
We believe everything is OK
As long as you don't hurt anyone,
To the best of your definition of hurt,
And to the best of your knowledge.

We believe in sex before, during, and after marriage.
We believe in the therapy of sin.
We believe that adultery is fun.
We believe that sodomy is OK.
We believe that taboos are taboo.

We believe that everything is getting better,
Despite evidence to the contrary.
The evidence must be investigated
And you can prove anything with evidence.

We believe there's something in
Horoscopes, UFOs and bent spoons;
Jesus was a good man
Just like Buddha, Mohamed, and ourselves.
He was a good moral teacher.
Although we think His good morals were bad.

We believe that all religions are basically the same
At least the one that we read was.
They all believe in love and goodness.
They only differ on matters of
Creation, sin, heaven, hell, God, and salvation.

We believe that after death comes the Nothing
Because when you ask the dead what happens, they say nothing.
If death is not the end, if the dead have lied,
Then it's compulsory heaven for all
Excepting perhaps Hitler, Stalin, and Genghis Khan.

We believe in Masters and Johnson.
What's selected is average.
What's average is normal.
What's normal is good.

We believe in total disarmament.
We believe there are direct links between warfare and bloodshed.
Americans should beat their guns into tractors
And the Russians would be sure to follow.

We believe that man is essentially good.
It's only his behavior that lets him down.
This is the fault of society.
Society is the fault of conditions.
Conditions are the fault of society.

We believe that each man must find the truth that is right for him.
Reality will adapt accordingly.
The universe will readjust.
History will alter.

We believe that there is no absolute truth
Excepting the truth that there is no absolute truth.
We believe in the rejection of creeds,
And the flowering of individual thought.

P.S.
If chance be the Father of all flesh,
Disaster is his rainbow in the sky.
And when you hear:

"State of Emergency!"
"Sniper Kills Ten!"
"Troops on Rampage!"
"Whites go Looting!"
"Bomb Blasts School!"

It is but the sound of man worshiping his maker.

The News is Both Bad and Good

The Bad News - We're All Sick
When God created the world one specification of His design was that all living things reproduce each after their own kind. Before the fall of man if Adam & Eve had reproduced they would have produced sinless children. However, they didn't have children until after they sinned and were cursed. Therefore, since they had a sin nature prior to reproducing, Adam & Eve's "own kind" was a human with a sin nature - a sinner.

The bible says that if anyone says they are without sin, the truth is not in him. Since God is just and cannot dwell with us due to our sin, He must deal with us justly and hand down the punishment for sin. The bible says that the wages of sin is death... This is speaking not only of a physical death, but also a spiritual death - or to be eternally removed from God. The absence of God exists only in Hell.
Fortunately for all of us, it doesn't end there. That same verse goes on to say ...BUT, the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Eternal life is living forever with God (just as He intended when He created us). This is the exact opposite of eternal death (the absence of God in Hell).
So if you now find yourself asking "What gift is the bible talking about?" The answer is simple. We have established that God is a just judge and therefore must deal with our sin justly by handing down the punishment for sin. We deserve Hell, as we choose to reject God and continue to be "Children of Wrath" who are at war with God. The required price (eternal death) is impossible for us to pay.

The Good News - There's a Cure
God's free gift to us is that He sent his son who knew no sin to step down off his throne in Heaven, come down to Earth as a man, live a sinless life and therefore not being deserving of Hell as we are, and then to pay our fine for us. Jesus did that for us. The bible says that God loved the world so much that He sent his only Son to die in our place and pay the required price for our sin, so that WHOEVER believes in Him will not have eternal death, but will have eternal life (Paraphrased by FP - Ref. John 3:16). This act of Jesus paying our price satisfied the just nature of the God in that the price required to be paid for our sin was paid in full at the death of God's son.
But Jesus didn't just die. He went on and overcame the power of death once for all by not allowing death to be his end. Just as He said he would before He died, He rose again on the 3rd day. The price for our sin was paid in full by His Son's undeserved death and acceptable by God as proper and complete payment for our sin. All we have to do is to receive Him (accept His free gift) and He comes into us and makes us a new creature. At the split second that this happens, we are justified, and all of Heaven begins to rejoice as the new Christian's name is written down in the Book of Life.
The bible says, it says to as many as receive Him, to them He gave the power to be called the sons of God. Once we have received Him, we are joint heirs with Christ. That makes us sons of God. When each of us dies, we will face God (the just judge) on judgement day. God will look at the Christian, and He will see His Son in us, because we have been justified which means God looks at us "just-as-if-I'd" never sinned at all. He will open the Book of Life and find the Christian's name written in it.

"Well done, thou good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."

Sin and Consequences

Sin is the opposite of righteousness, just as evil is the opposite of good, just as darkness is the opposite of light. Without sin, one wouldn't know what righteousness was. An example of this is the handicapped child who doesn't know they're handicapped until they see someone who isn't handicapped. Before they see someone who isn't handicapped they see being handicapped as being normal. To put it simply, the existence of sin & evil allow mankind to recognize it as such by contrasting it against the righteousness and goodness of God. Does this mean that we should try to sin as much as possible so that God is shown as all the more righteous? The Apostle Paul would say, "May it never be!" One reason is because light and darkness (evil and righteousness) cannot occupy the same place at the same time. God cannot abide where sin is present which is why he created a place to send the sinful so as to be separate from God. That place is called Hell.

A Child Was Born, But The Son Was Given

Who was Jesus Christ?
People often wonder why the Bible presents the life of Christ four separate times in the gospel books of the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John). If you ask this same question I want to challenge you to re-read them with the following in mind:
1. Matthew was a Jewish tax collector for the Romans prior to becoming a follower of Christ. Tax collectors weren't liked by the Jews, because they would over-tax the people and keep the extra money in order to become wealthy and live like Kings. God inspired the author to write the book of Matthew in such a way as to portray Jesus as a King.
2. John Mark served with his cousin Barnabas & the Apostle Paul for the first part of Paul's missionary journey. God inspired John Mark (probably through Paul) to write the book of Mark in such a way as to portray Jesus as a servant. Personally, I think John Mark saw Jesus as a servant because John Mark would have been striving to see those attributes that he had in common with Jesus.
3. Luke was a physician. God inspired Luke to see Jesus as a man. From His birth, through His life, to His death Dr. Luke was given the ability to give a completely new perspective on the life of Jesus, based on his profession.
4. John was self-titled "the disciple that Jesus loved". John was inspired to see Jesus as God.

Who is Jesus Christ?
The prophet Isaiah said, "unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given..." Look at that closely. The child wasn't given, nor was the son born. The Son of God wasn't a created being that needed to be born to exist. A child needs to be born to exist. Isaiah was saying that the Messiah would be fully God and at the same time, fully man.
Who is He? He is the King of the Jews, He is the King of Israel, He is the King of righteousness, He is the King of the ages, He is the King of Heaven, He is the King of glory, He is the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. He is the single most powerful being that has ever existed, or will ever exist. He is my King, my Savior, my Redeemer, my Rock, my Shelter, my Father, and my Friend.

Why do I care?
Because Jesus took the punishment I rightly deserve, which satisfied His Father who is just, and then beat it by overcoming it, the bible says I am now joint heirs with Jesus. His righteousness is accounted to me & therefore my sins are not counted against me. On judgement day, there won't be any charges brought up against me. It will be just as if I'd never sinned because when God looks at me, He will see His Son in me. He will see that His Son has already paid in full the consequence for my sin back at Calvary. He will see His Son's redeeming blood on the lentils and doorposts of my heart, soul, mind, & strength and His judgement will pass over me. Therefore, I don't need to fear death. I don't need to worry about my earthly reputation or what other people think about me. I don't need to worry about trying to become successful. My reward is that one day, I will get to meet Jesus Christ face to face and I'll have all of eternity to fall at His feet and thank Him for what He did for me. There is NOTHING that this world has to offer that makes me more successful than that.