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| Chapter 8. Concluding Remarks part 3: continued from What is interesting is that every one of the passages we have looked at concerning the Servant, the Messiah, and the Son were written well before the birth of Jesus the Messiah. In fact, the time span ranges between about 500 and about 1,000 years before His birth. The Creator had a specific plan in order to redeem man. He told man about what He decided to do long before He did it. Then, in accordance with His power He did what He said He would do. He did this at the exact instant He had determined to do it. There is a verse in the New Testament, Romans 5:8, that summarizes the underlying motive of God in doing these things:
for us.” The word Christ is the Greek word for the Hebrew Messiah. The Messiah died for us! He did this because God loves us. Friend, what will you do with Jesus? Nature requires a Creator God. God specifically designed the creation to point towards Him and we have looked at ways in which it does. Beyond this, the Bible confirms that it is the Word of God by fulfilled prophecy. The scope and magnitude of the prophecies are overwhelming. These are not prophecies of some minor event happening in the life of some inconsequential person. These are prophecies of the Son of God taking on human flesh through virgin birth and then dying as a sin offering for the sins of mankind. These are prophecies of resurrection after the death and of satisfaction over it all. These are prophecies of where the Son would be born and the year He would die. Only the Creator could make and fulfill prophecies of this magnitude. Because God loves you, He sent His Son into the likeness of human flesh that He might make Himself an offering for you, bearing your sins in His body. You have no other hope, because He is God’s only provision. If anything else had been adequate, God would not have gone to the extreme measure of offering His Son as a sacrifice for our sins. The Son of God offered Himself as a payment for your sins. If you will trust Him, He will bless you eternally. However, if you refuse Him, you will kindle His wrath, for you have despised something extremely precious and costly which for now is being offered to you freely. God offers you eternal life. He offers you forgiveness of sins. He gives you the promise of knowing Him on an intimate basis. However, if you forsake Him, if you turn from Him, He will cast you off forever. The decision is yours. God rewards those who seek Him diligently. Putting off the decision is to risk eternal damnation. So, how do you receive the Son as your Savior? It is explained to us in John 3:16,
Him should not perish but have everlasting life. We receive God’s Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, as our Savior by believing in Him. This verse is really an application of Psalm 2:12 we looked at a little while ago, “Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.” What does it mean to believe in Him? The Greek word translated here as “believe” can also be translated trust in or rely on. Believing in Christ as Savior means accepting what God has revealed about His person, that He is the Son of God and will some day rule as King. It means accepting what God has revealed about His work, i.e. that Christ died for our sins, was buried, rose again three days later, and was seen by many witnesses. Finally, it means RELYING on these things for our salvation. We no longer rely on ourselves or on our own works. We rely on Christ’s finished work to save us. We have lived in rejection of God. We have suppressed truth about God so that we could live in sin. We recognize that God is holy and will have nothing to do with sin. It is our desire to come to Him, to know Him, to be pleasing to Him. Yet, we know that our sins make this impossible and there is nothing we can do about it. Our sins have too powerful a grip on us. Yet, God loves us and has done all of the work for us. He is willing to receive us if we come to Him His way, which is through His Son Jesus Christ. As we come to Christ, He reveals our sin to us. We can look to Him to forgive us of our sins or we can turn from Him and go our own way. But, we cannot deliberate determine to continue in our sins and come to Christ to save us, doing both at the same time. Repentance is the willingness and desire to have Jesus make us clean. It is turning from a life of rebelling against God and going our own way. Yet, it is not us trying to become clean in our own will power, we do not have the strength to do this. It is yielding to Him to save us and clean us up. “God now commands all men everywhere to repent.” (Acts 17:30) Friend, may you cast yourself on the mercy and grace of Jesus, relying on Him to cleanse you and make you acceptable to God. Jesus said, "The one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. (John 6:37) The Old Testament prophet said that if you forsake God, He will cast you off forever. But, Jesus promises that if you will come to Him, He will not cast you off. You come to Him by believing that He is the Son of God, that He died for your sins and rose again. This is a belief that results in reliance on Him, the Lord Jesus Christ, to clean you up and to make you acceptable in God’s eyes. Friend, will you come to Jesus now? The following is a suggested confession of faith. May it express your internal decision to trust Christ as Savior: Father in Heaven, I have sinned against you. I have not glorified you, I have not honored you, and I have gone my own way, even when I knew better. I am guilty before you and deserve eternal judgment. However, I believe your Word, that Jesus Christ is your Son and that His death paid off my judgment. I am relying on Jesus to forgive of my sins and to give me eternal life. Thank you. In the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ, Amen. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! (2 Corinthians 9:15) If you have just trusted Christ as your Savior, please let us know by sending an e-mail with a brief note telling us of your decision. The address is on the back page. We have some material we would like to send you telling you “what’s next” and also to encourage you in your service to God. |