Thursday 31 December 2009

Why do people have to die?

That is a very awesome question! And, to find the answer, we have to go all the way back to the first book of the Old Testament, the Book of Genesis. Here’s the deal, when God first created the earth and created Adam and Eve, they were in a perfect relationship with God and they had no fear of dying. Life was fairly simple back then with very few rules…except one BIG rule:

“And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." (Genesis 2:16-17)

Well, we all know what happened. Eve was tempted by the serpent and took a bite of the apple and then Adam took a bite of the apple and sin entered the world. And God was not happy about it. In fact, God puts a curse on the serpent and on Adam and Eve. To mankind God says this, “By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you are returned to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” (Genesis 3:19)

Our perfect relationship with God was broken and we were condemned to die. Even the New Testament reaffirms this curse in Romans 6:23 when it states, “For the wages of sin is death…” BUT, and here’s the good news!!! The rest of that verse says, “…but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus.”

Even though our physical bodies will eventually die, we are promised eternal life in Heaven WITH JESUS by accepting God’s gift of grace and accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Probably one of the most quoted and well-known Bible verses is John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son and whoever shall believe in Him shall not perish (die) but have eternal life.” But don’t forget the next line, which to me is just as important, “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.”

Even though every person will eventually die a physical death based on the sin that came into the world, those of us who are saved will have eternal life with Jesus in Heaven. While no one wants to die and we don’t want to see loved ones die, I want you to know that I am not scared of dying because I know where I am going. I just want to be able to stick around for a little while longer so that I can see my kids grow up, get married and maybe become a grandpa someday.

I want to tell you a funny story. A friend of mine’s grandmother loved Jesus so much and she knew, without a doubt, what awaited her when she died. So, when she was on her deathbed she was so happy that she was going to see Jesus soon that that’s all she could talk about. The she fell asleep, a little catnap so-to-speak, and then woke up. Here’s the funny part: She looked around the room, looked at my friend and actually said, “Oh, darn! Still here!” Can you believe that???

You know, even though he was sad when she eventually died, he knew that she was in heaven with his grandfather and with Jesus and it made him happy and gave him great comfort to know that she was there.

Thursday 10 December 2009

What if you are in Hell and you pray about your sins? Will God take you to heaven from hell?

Wow, dude, that is an awesome question! Sadly, though, the Bible is quite clear on that and the truth is, no. Once you are in Hell, it is for all eternity.

Jesus actually talks more about Hell than He does about Heaven and the reason is because He does not want any of us to ever go there. Hell was not created by God for you and me. It is a place that was created for Satan and his demons. In Matthew 25:41, Jesus tells those who never came to Him, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”

It is a terrible place…the Holy Bible can’t even adequately describe it. We do know that it is a place where even Satan is tormented day and night forever (Revelation 20:10). It is a place of total darkness, where you are completely alone and where you are in constant anguish from the searing flame with a thirst that cannot be quenched and where there will be a constant weeping and gnashing of teeth (Revelation 14:11, Mark 9:4, Jude 7, Matthew 22:13). If that scares you, that’s okay…it scares me too.

There are people, who are non-believers, who will say, “How can a loving God send people to a place like Hell?” The truth is God doesn’t send us to Hell. The non-belief in Him and sin, choosing the devil’s way, put people in Hell. Remember, God is holy and will not allow sin in His kingdom.

But, know this: God does not want anyone to perish! He wants all of us to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9) More importantly, God sent His one and only Son to die for us so that we would not go to Hell. But, it’s not enough just to know that Jesus died for us. You must truly believe that He died for us and then confess Him that He is your Savior. Remember our A-B-C’s in the Bridge Illustration? You must Admit your sins, Believe that Jesus is who He says He is and Confess that He is your Savior.

Never forget how much God loves you!!! He loves you so much that while we were still sinners he sent His son to die for us! (Romans 5:8) And the reward is so great, too, because the Bible says that, “For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through Him” (John 3:16-17)

Friday 4 December 2009

How did Paul become a Christ-follower when he met Jesus because he killed Christians?

That is a very awesome question! In order to understand how Paul became a Christ-Follower, you should read the Book of Acts, which is in the New Testament. Chapter 9 deals with Paul’s conversion from being a Jewish leader to becoming a Christ-Follower. The very end of Chapter 7 and the beginning of Chapter 8 introduces us to Paul (Saul) and tells us who he is and the kind of person he is.

Paul started out persecuting Christians; in fact, he even killed them. Then, while on the way to Damascus to find more Christians and imprison them, Paul met the resurrected Christ. That meeting was so impactful that it changed Paul forever.

Now, it seems kinda weird that Jesus would pick Paul, who used to be known as Saul, out of all the people who lived during that time to become a Christ-Follower, doesn’t it? I mean, this guy was actually going around the country and persecuting Christians, beating them, imprisoning them and even killing them! Why Paul?!?!

Remember, Jesus is God. And, because He is God, He knows everything. Jesus knew that Paul would change. Jesus knew that Paul would be one of the greatest disciples of the word. Jesus knew that people who knew Saul of Tarsus would be amazed at his transformation into the Christ-Follower Paul and Jesus knew that Paul would do great things to further Christianity.

And, that’s exactly what Paul did! Paul started churches in places all throughout the region. Many of these places were unchurched and full of sin. Paul not only began churches, he wrote them letters to keep them strong in their faith. Many of those letters are parts of the New Testament. Many of the letters Paul wrote were while he was in prison!

That meeting on the road to Damascus with Christ changed Paul so much that he was willing to go to prison and even die for Jesus. In fact, Paul has no fear of dying because, as he says in 2 Timothy 4:7, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

It’s really amazing how quickly Paul converted to Christianity. You should read Acts 9:1-20. It’s pretty short and really cool!

Thursday 3 December 2009

Why did only certain people go on the cross?

Wow, awesome question! First of all, let me be clear about crucifixion…it was basically a death sentence. Crucifixion wasn’t intended to be a punishment with set time. It wasn’t like the Roman judges said, “You will be crucified for a period of three hours.” The act of crucifying someone was meant to kill them. Not only that, but it was meant to kill them in a very slow, painful and tortuous way. Roman crucifixion was also meant to humiliate and dishonor a person.

Now, having said that, crucifixion was reserved only for the worst criminals, basically your murderers and thieves. In the Bible, we only have two instances of crucifixion mentioned. The first involves Jesus and two thieves, the second is when the Apostle Peter is told he will be crucified as a martyr (John 21:18-19).

Since the second instance is vague and has been debated by many Biblical scholars, let’s go to the first instance, which we know to be true. Here we have two thieves and Jesus who are being crucified. Do you remember what Jesus did to warrant death by crucifixion? According to the Jewish leaders, He blasphemed by claiming to be God. Even Pontius Pilate couldn’t find a reason to crucify Jesus so he handed Jesus to the Jews who had Him crucified by the Roman soldiers. So, Jesus, who was perfect and without sin and who had committed no crime, was crucified along with two thieves.

As unfair and unjust as that seems, it fulfills Old Testament prophesy about the Messiah. Jesus had to die on that cross. But, here’s the glorious and wonderful part about his death on the cross: when Jesus died He took the sins of world past, present and future with him and redeemed us. And because Christ died for us, we can have eternal life with God, the Father, in Heaven.

So, even though the cross was reserved for certain criminals, Jesus’ crucifixion was necessary to fulfill God’s unstoppable plan.

Wednesday 2 December 2009

If God was made somehow, could he have been made from the planets somehow or the universe?

Well, that’s a very interesting question! Unfortunately, in order to answer it, we have to make an assumption that God was somehow created. And, we know, through Scripture, that God is not a created being. God has always been here, is here now, and will be here forever. In fact, God created the Earth and the Heavens and the universe and the planets.

I know that seems hard to understand. Many Biblical scholars have tried for years to try and answer or explain it in a way that makes some sort of sense to us. But, there are just some things that go beyond explanation … things that only God, the Father, knows. And, this is where faith comes in.

There are just some things in the Bible that we must accept as truth even if we can’t completely understand it or explain it. And we accept them based on a faith that God is who He says He is and has the ability to do the improbable. I mean … how do we explain that the Earth is exactly the right distance from the sun so that we either don’t burn up or that we don’t freeze up? How do we explain the tilt and the rotation of the earth is just right and that one rotation equals one day and one night? How do explain why you and I breathe air but fish breathe water? How do we explain how a holy and perfect God can come to earth as Jesus and live among us in this sinful world and then go willingly to the cross and die for us so that we could live forever?

There are so many other examples of God’s greatness that we just can’t explain but we know them to be true.

So, could He have been made from the planets or the universe? Absolutely not.

Tuesday 1 December 2009

Is a person who turns their back on God a lost person?

That is a very awesome question! We do live in a l"ost world." People are lost because they don’t have a relationship with God. So, a person who turns his or her back on God is a lost person because they don’t have that relationship that God so desperately wants to have with them.

But, here’s the good news! In fact, it’s great news!!! God is always ready and waiting for anyone who wants to have a relationship with Him. In fact, in 2 Peter 3:9, Peter (who was one of Jesus’ original disciples) says, “The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

We also told the parable of the Lost Sheep in class (Luke 15:1-7) where the shepherd, who has 100 sheep, loses one and goes out to find that sheep. When he finds that sheep, he celebrates even though he still had 99 sheep! Jesus tells us that God is like that shepherd in that there will be more rejoicing in Heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

So, even a lost person, who turns his or her back on God, can come back to God and He’ll immediately accept them, love them, and rejoice in their return! We have a very big God whose love is unstoppable and He wants you to have a relationship with Him.

Remember, there is nothing you can do, nothing, that is so bad God can’t forgive it.