Page 6 - Good News February 2010 paper
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GOD LOVES YOU AND OFFERS A WONDERFUL PLAN FOR YOUR WE MUST INDIVIDUALLY RECEIVE JESUS CHRIST AS SAVIOUR
LIFE. AND LORD; THEN WE CAN KNOW AND EXPERIENCE GOD'S LOVE
GOD'S LOVE AND PLAN FOR OUR LIVES.
"God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, so WE MUST RECEIVE CHRIST
that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life"
JOHN 3:16. "To all who believed Him and accepted Him, He gave the right to
become children of God" JOHN 1:12.
GOD'S PLAN
[Christ speaking] "I have come that they may have life, and that they WE RECEIVE CHRIST THROUGH FAITH
may have it more abundantly" [that it might be full and meaningful] "God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can't take
JOHN 10:10 NKJV. credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good
things we have done, so none of us can boast about it" EPHESIANS
2:8,9.
WHEN WE RECEIVE CHRIST, WE EXPERIENCE NEW BIRTH
(READ JOHN 3:1-8.)
WE RECEIVE CHRIST THROUGH PERSONAL INVITATION
[Christ speaking] "Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear My
Voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal
MAN IS SINFUL AND SEPARATED FROM GOD. THEREFORE, HE together as friends" REVELATION 3:20.
CANNOT KNOW AND EXPERIENCE GOD'S LOVE AND PLAN FOR Receiving Christ involves turning to God from self (repentance) and
HIS LIFE. trusting Christ to come into our lives to forgive our sins and to make us
what He wants us to be. Just to agree intellectually that Jesus Christ is
MAN IS SINFUL the Son of God and that He died on the cross for our sins is not enough.
"Everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard" Nor is it enough to have an emotional experience. We receive Jesus
ROMANS 3:23. Christ by FAITH, as an act of the will.
Man was created to have fellowship with God; but, because of his own
stubborn self-will, he chose to go his own independent way and
fellowship with God was broken. This self-will, characterized by and
attitude of active rebellion of passive indifference, is an evidence of YOU CAN RECEIVE CHRIST RIGHT NOW BY FAITH THROUGH
what the Bible calls sin. PRAYER (PRAYER IS TALKING TO GOD)
MAN IS SEPARATED God knows your heart and is not so concerned with your words as He is
"The wages of sin is death" [spiritual separation from God] ROMANS with the attitude of your heart.
6:23. The following is a suggested prayer:
The diagram below illustrates that God is holy and man is sinful. A great Lord Jesus, I need You. Thank You for dying on the cross for my
gulf separates the two. The arrows illustrate that man is continually sins. I open the door of my heart and life and receive You as my
trying to reach God and the abundant life through his own efforts, such Saviour and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me
as a good life, philosophy, or religion - but he inevitably fails. eternal life. Take control of the throne of my life. Make me the kind of
person You want me to be.
Does this prayer express the desire of your heart? If it does, I invite you
to pray this prayer right now, and Christ will come into your life, as He
has promised.
THE BIBLE PROMISES ETERNAL LIFE TO ALL WHO RECEIVE
CHRIST
"He has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the
Son has life; whoever does not have God's Son does not have life"
1 JOHN 5:11-12.
Thank God often that Christ is in your life and that He will never leave
you. Read HEBREWS 13:5.
You can know on the basis of His promise that Christ lives in you and
that you have eternal life from the very moment you invite Him in. He
JESUS CHRIST IS GOD'S ONLY PROVISION FOR MAN'S SIN. will not deceive you.
THROUGH HIM YOU CAN KNOW AND EXPERIENCE GOD'S LOVE
AND PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE. DO NOT DEPEND ON FEELINGS
The promise of God's Word, the Bible - not our feelings - is our
HE DIED IN OUR PLACE authority. The Christian lives by faith (trust) in the trustworthiness of
"God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while God Himself and His Word. The following train diagram illustrates the
we were still sinners" ROMANS 5:8.
relationship among fact (God and His Word), faith (our trust in God and
HE IS THE ONLY WAY TO GOD His Word), and feeling (the result of our faith and obedience).
"Jesus told him, 'I am the way, the truth and the life. No one can come to "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.
the Father except through Me'" JOHN 14:6. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and
This diagram illustrates that God has bridged the gulf that separates us manifest Myself to him." JOHN 14:21.
from Him by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross in our The train will run with or without the cabin cars. However, it would be
place to pay the penalty for our sins. useless to attempt to pull the train by a cabin car. In the same way, as
Christians, we should not depend on feelings or emotions, but should
place our faith (trust) in the trustworthiness of God and the promises of
His Word.
