A new creation!

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/2co.5.17.KJV

His humanity died…

There is a scientific article about the death of Jesus, published in 1986 in one of the most prestigious scientific journals in the world—the JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association.

The article is titled “On the Physical Death of Jesus Christ”.

In it, the authors prove that the Roman flogging process was horribly cruel. Technical details are outlined, which, along with the Biblical narrative, provide a comprehensive overview of this entire process, from the trial to death on the cross.

Before judgment, it is narrated in Luke 22 that Jesus was in deep distress and sweating blood. Although a rare phenomenon, doctors recognize this feature as hematidrosis, which can occur due to high-stress levels.

After being judged, Jesus was violently whipped with a leather whip, with tiny balls of iron on the tips and pointy bones. The balls of iron caused internal injuries and bones tore apart flesh, exposing skeletal muscle and causing major blood loss, which probably left him in a pre-collision state.

After a severe flogging, Jesus was mocked, spat on, and forced to carry his own cross to Golgotha.

During the crucifixion, the accused was thrown on the cross on the ground and nailed with nails as long as 18 cm long on the wrists and feet.

Crucifixion was a process that produced intense pain and caused a slow and suffocating death.

Breathing was extremely painful. With every breath, Jesus had to lift his back up in live flesh, dragging it across the wood, and supporting all the weight on the feet, which were nailed. The fact that it increased blood loss and caused terrible pain.

The causes of death by crucifixion could be several, but the two most common were hypovolemic shock and suffocation from exhaustion.

When the Gospel of John narrates that after Jesus’ death a soldier stabbed him with a spear and came out “blood and water”, the scientist’s explanation is that the water probably represented pleural fluid and serous pericardium. It was preceded by the flow of blood and it would be less volume than blood. Perhaps in the scenario of hypovolemia and acute heart failure, pleural and pericardic flashes could have developed and been added to the apparent volume of water.

Only by analyzing Jesus’ physical suffering, do we realize how terrible it must have been to endure all this. Intense stress, sleepless night, unfair judgment, brutal lashing, mocked, and still having to carry his own instrument of death.

But even MORE so!

What “weighed” on His shoulders were our sins. Isaiah prophesied:

“But he was wounded for our transgressions, and he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement that brings us peace was upon him, and by his stripes, we were healed. “

| Isaiah 53:5 |

He was the sacrifice. Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Only God who became a man could reconcile men to God.

That’s why we say sacrifice was for love because He had no sin, we did. If sin begets death, it was us who were to die, not Him.

So all your rot, all your evil thoughts, and actions, all your rebellion against God. This was all on Christ’s shoulders.

And He overcame not only sin but also death!

When you think your life is too hard, that nothing is working, look at this picture and remember all that Jesus went through for the love of you. The punishment that brought us peace was upon HIM. THERE ARE NO EXCUSES!

Source: Christian Freedom

Consider the way His punishment was portrayed in the movie “The Passion of Christ”. I was likely worse than what we saw but He did it and suffered through it to pay for all of humanity’s sins. The price that He paid for your salvation and mine is more than we can imagine. He knew what was in store for Him and that was why He was praying so hard in the garden before His arrest. I pray that all of you who read this will seek Him as your Savior soon.

God gave first

One day many years ago, Jesus came into my life and it changed me forever. It didn’t change me immediately but it did make a change in my life that lasts until today and will be with me into eternity. God determined from the very beginning that mankind would need a Savior. He told Adam and Eve that the Seed of the woman would one day crush the head of the serpent and the Seed was Jesus Christ. God gave His only begotten Son for all of mankind’s sins. He paid the price for them but not everyone will accept Him as their Savior. God knows exactly who will and who will not, so it isn’t a surprise to Him at all.

Mankind has made up so many “gods” over the thousands of years that we’ve been here. We’ve tried to make our “gods” in our image and make them just as petty and ill-tempered as we are. Aren’t you glad that God isn’t like that? Our civilization would’ve started over so many times because things would’ve always been messed up in some sort of fashion. God loves us and He has a LOT of patience with us regardless of our shortcomings. I’ve often wondered why He does this but I think the best reason is that He is God!

Jesus came to give us a way to attain eternal life in heaven. It is only through our belief in Him as our Savior that we have a chance for eternity. Otherwise, eternity will be in hell and that is not a place that anyone should want to go. It was because of God’s love for us that Jesus gave His life for our sins and all we have to do is believe in Him for our salvation. I know that sounds too easy but God made it so that a child could understand how to become a Christian.

I pray that all who read this will seek Jesus as your Savior soon.

God supplies your needs

A Child is born…

Do you know for sure?

Where will you spend eternity? Some people think that once they die they won’t know anything from that point on. They believe that they will just “go to sleep forever” and not know anything about anything. That is an awful idea, that your life means absolutely nothing. God did not create us to live that way. We have a spirit inside us that will live forever. We are flesh because that is how God designed us. Your spiritual man or woman will live forever because God made us that way. We do not go to sleep forever, your spirit will live on in a body that God gives us when we enter eternity. If you have given your heart to Jesus and accepted Him as your Savior, your eternity will be with Him in Heaven in your eternal body.

But…if you haven’t given your heart to Jesus your eternal body and spirit will spend that eternity outside in the darkness away from God. You will be in hell with Satan and his demons because you refused to accept Jesus and the grace of God for your forgiveness of all of your sins. God offers atonement through the blood of Jesus that was shed for you. Jesus is the Creator and He is the Author of Life itself. Everything that is living, even those things that we haven’t discovered yet, was created by God.

God loves you but doesn’t like the sins that we all walk in every day. He made a way for you to have eternal life. A life that is rich and productive with Him in Heaven. You will live for eternity in hell but it will be a painful and dismal life because you will pay the price for not accepting salvation through Jesus Christ. Eternity was our destination before sin came into the world. Life with God is far different from an eternity without Him. I pray that you will seek Him out as your Savior because He loves you. He came to die for you because He loved you and me long before we were born.

Not one person can keep even the Ten Commandments. With Jesus as your Savior, you can try to keep them but even with Him in your heart you and I can’t keep all of them. A thought or a word will come through during the day or night that will break at least one of the commandments. When you break one you have broken all of them. But God has provided a way, through your belief in Jesus as your Savior, to be saved from an eternity in hell. Don’t wait another day to give your heart to Him because tomorrow is not guaranteed to any of us.

There is only one way to have an eternity with God and that is through accepting Jesus as your Savior. Won’t you make sure of your eternal home today?

Jesus came…

Chase after God…

He has chased you so why not chase after Him? You might wonder, “When has God chased after me?”. Everyone that the Lord calls to be His has been “chased” by Him because until we give our lives to Him we are all living outside His influence and we are not seeking Him at all. That’s not to say that He can’t have an influence on our lives because He can. That is how the Holy Spirit gets our attention to know that we need salvation in the first place. When God decides to call you to be His, He will do it in no uncertain terms. You will know that it is Him but it is still your decision to accept His call on your life.

Some people think that they can hear His call and choose not to answer it and while that is true, God’s call rarely goes unanswered. At some point you will open your heart and let Him in. Truly, we should be chasing after Him because He has our best life waiting for us. It may not be according to the “world’s” standards with fame or fortune in this life but consider your eternal life ahead of you in Heaven. Living in His Presence in a city with streets paved with gold? Come on? There is nothing on Earth that could compare to that!

Then consider that all of your aches and pains will be gone and you will live forever in a glorified body created just for you to give glory to God! Just the absence of pain and living with Him is enough for me even if I’m living in a cardboard box in an alley in Heaven!

God sent His Son to pay for all of humanity’s sins and He did. Whether we accept His offer of salvation or not is up to us but consider the alternative. If you don’t accept His offer, you will be cast “into outer darkness” with Satan and his demons in the lake of fire…forever. No water, no way to escape and the Presence of God will be out of reach for you. Would anyone seriously want to live forever like that? I wouldn’t. While there is time, give your heart to Jesus and seek to serve Him with all of your heart while you can because the age of grace is soon coming to an end.

Jesus fulfilled this prophecy that was given over five hundred years before His birth. God had this planned since Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden or even before then. Don’t turn away from His call.

We are chosen by the Lord!

This is a concept that is not easy to accept yet He has chosen each of us. All we should do is accept it and walk with Him every day, so why is it so hard to do this? Your life and mine are bound up in Jesus because He has called us to be His. All we need to do is pray and walk in His strength every day.

I know it sounds easy but it’s not. It has taken me more than ten years to get to this point in my life. I read and study God’s word every day and it still isn’t easy. Learning His ways and following in His footsteps takes more than just going to church once or twice a week. It’s something that we must depend on Him for every day. Can you decide to become a believer in Jesus? Yes, that part is easy when you feel His touch in your heart because the prayer is easy: Jesus, I know I’m a sinner and I’ve messed up in my life. I need your presence in my heart and in my life to save me from an eternity away from Your presence. Come into my heart and cleanse me of all of my faults and failures. Help me to become the person that you need me to be. In Your holy name, I ask this, Amen.

This part is easy but the next steps are necessary too. You should seek out a real Bible-believing church with a good teacher in the pulpit. If you don’t have a Bible get one and begin reading the book of John and the book of Romans. Later you can read the whole Bible to learn about God and the ways He dealt with His people, the nation of Israel. He loved them and He loves you and me but He doesn’t like our sins. If you have prayed that prayer sincerely then your sins are forgiven and your name is in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Studying the Bible is the most rewarding part of being a Christian because you are reading about God and you are reading about His love for all of humanity.

I pray that many of you who read this will seek Him as your Savior if you don’t already know Him. Learn about Him and His love for us and tell others when you feel led to do so because people need to know. The Age of the Church is coming to an end so please tell someone that God loves them.

Just this time…

Sin is cumulative. It hardens your heart and numbs your conscience to the point that you will not notice it until it is too late. If you have given your heart to Jesus and He is your Savior then you should RUN from sin no matter how “small” you may think the sin is. Satan tempts you to “try it this time, it won’t hurt”. YES, IT WILL!! Don’t listen to him, follow Jesus and listen to His counsel. Fill your heart and your mind with God’s Word so that Satan can’t tempt you so easily. He will try again and again but keep reading and studying His Word so that your mind will be washed with it and cleansed so that sin can’t or won’t find a place in your heart.