Responding To What JESUS Had Done

In my blog entitled, "Jesus, Our Kinsman-Redeemer," where we saw how God loved us that though He is the Son of God, He went down from heaven to become one of us.  He did it because He doesn't want us to perish but, instead, to have eternal life (John 3:16).

John 10:10 says, "[Christ speaking] 'I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly' [that is might be full and meaningful]."  But why most people are not experiencing the abundant [victorious] life?

The answer is found in the blog entitled, "Condition of Man's Heart," where I discussed that man don't experience a victorious life because they act contrary to the nature, will, and Word of God (Proverbs 3:32).  In other words, man is sinful (see Romans 3:23) --- he chose to go his own independent way because of his own stubborn self-will characterized by an attitude of active rebellion or passive indifference.

"God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).  "Christ died for our sins... He was buried... He was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures... He appeared to Peter, then to the twelve.  After that He appeared to more than five hundred..." (1 Corinthians 15:3-6).  So how are we going to respond to what Jesus did?

First, we must receive Christ (John 1:12) through faith (Ephesians 2:8,9).  The story of Nicodemus found in John 3:1-8 we observed that when he [Nicodemus] received Christ, he experienced a new birth.  The same will happen to us if we receive Christ.  But how are we going to receive Christ?

Revelation 3:20 says, "[Christ speaking] 'Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him."  This means that we can receive Christ through personal invitation.

"Receiving Christ involves turning to God from self (repentance) and 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 the Son of God and that He died on the cross for our sins is not enough.  Nor it is enough to have an emotional experience.  We receive Jesus Christ by faith, as an act of the will" (Four Spiritual Laws, page 9).

You can receive Christ right now by faith through prayer.  The following is a suggested prayer, also found in page 10 of the Four Spiritual Laws:

     "Lord Jesus, I need You.  Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins.
     I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord.
     Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life.
     Make me the kind of person You want me to be."

If the above prayer express the desire of your heart, I invite you to utter it right now, and Christ will come into your life, as He promised.

If you had received Christ in your life today, please feel free to send me a message.  In case that you have any question, inquiry, or prayer request, I also suggest that you post a comment below.

JESUS, Our Kinsman-Redeemer.

In my previous blog entitled, "Condition of Man's Heart," we found out that the reason why man don't experience a victorious life is because they act contrary to the nature, will, and Word of God (Proverbs 3:32).

We also learned that man is sinful and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) that leads him to eternal death (Romans 6:23a).

Today, we will study portion of the second part of Romans 6:23 that says, "... but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Many of us know that we have a Redeemer who is our LORD (the existing One) Jesus (Jehovah of Salvation) Christ (the Messiah) for we had heard about Him, saw people testifying about Him in TV, read about Him in the Bible, newspapers, and even in billboards.  But does Jesus Christ qualified as a Redeemer?

The book of Ruth gave us some qualifications of a kinsman-redeemer, to wit:

1.  He must be a blood relative.  Naomi told Ruth, "May the one who hasn't abandoned his gracious love to the living or to the dead be blessed by the LORD."  She added, 'This man is closely related to us, our related redeemer, as a matter of fact!" (Ruth 2:20).  How can Jesus Christ be a blood relative if He is God.  He became our blood relative when He came down from heaven and became one of us.  Jesus passed this first qualification!

2.  He must be willing to perform his duty as a kinsman-redeemer.  Boaz told Ruth in chapter 3 verse 13, "Stay the night, and if he fulfills his duty as your related redeemer in the morning, that will be acceptable.  But if he isn't inclined to do so, then, as the LORD lives, I will act as your related redeemer myself.  So lie down until morning.'"  We can read in the Gospel that when Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, He prayed to let this cup passed but He still accepted the will of the Father to die on the cross - this shows that He is willing to become our Redeemer whatever the cost!

3.  He must be willing to marry the redeemed.  In Ruth 4:5, Boaz told the nearest kinsmen that the law requires that when he would buy the field of Elimelech, he must also take Ruth as his wife.  Because the nearest kinsman will complicate his own inheritance, then Boaz took the responsibility as kinsman and married Ruth (Ruth 4:9-10, 13).  In the NT, there are parables comparing the church to a virgin that is going to get married to the Groom who is our LORD Jesus Christ  (e.g., Parable of the Ten Virgins in Matthew 25:1 to 13).

4.  He will not rest until he finishes.  Ruth 3:18 said that Naomi told Ruth to be patient for Boaz will not rest until he finishes everything that day.  God didn't rest during the creation until He saw that "it was very good."  Jesus didn't rest in His plan of redemption until came to passed; and while on the cross, He said, "it is finished."

The above confirms that our LORD Jesus Christ is qualified to become a Redeemer.  If you believe that Jesus is our Redeemer, what would be our response to all He had done?  The answer to this question will be the topic of my next blog.

For question, inquiry, and prayer request, please feel free to post your comments below.

Condition of Man's Heart

In Ruth 1:2, we can read that during the time of the judges, Elimelech together with his wife and two sons left Bethlehem of Judah because of a famine.  We can observe two things in this particular verse:

First, there was a famine in the Promised Land that is supposed to be fruitful - a land flowing with milk and honey.

To understand this, we must remember that the narrative happened during the time of judges, that is, after the death of Joshua, son of Nun and assistant of Moses, and the whole generation of people who was with him also died, Israel practiced what the LORD considered to be evil by worshiping Canaanites deities (Judges 2:11).  So, in the burning anger of the LORD for what Israel did, He gave them into the domination of marauders who plundered them (Judges 2:14).

The famine that was experienced during the days of Elimelech was probably occasioned by the hostile invasions of the Philistines, Ammonites, etc., carrying off the corn as soon as it was ripe, or destroying it on the field - a punishments sent by God for the sins committed by Israel.

Second, an Israelite family left the land that they inherited from God and journeyed to the land of Moab.

The names of the family members will give us a hint why they decided to leave the land flowing with milk and honey and journeyed to the land of idolaters.

Elimelech whose name means "my God is king,"  Whenever his friends called to him, they didn't say, "Elimelech," but "My God is King," or "God is my King."  He has a wonderful name - a testimony of the sovereignty of his God.

His actions signifies his trust in what his name represents but it seems that he had forgotten that "The name of the LORD is a strong tower.  The righteous runs into it and is safe" (Proverbs 18:10).  However, he even named his two sons, Mahlon that means "sickly or unhealthy" and Chilion, meaning "weakness, wasting away" and came from the root word that means "consumption" (tuberculosis).

This verse simply indicates the condition of man's heart, that is, every person is born dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1) passed on from Adam (Romans 5:12).  Romans 3:23 also says that, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."  The first part of Romans 6:23 confirms that if man did evil, the wages of it is death, that is spiritual death.

The reason why man don't experience a victorious life is because they act contrary to the nature, will, and Word of God (Proverbs 3:32).

However, the second part of Romans 6:23 says, "... but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."  This will be the topic of my next blog.

For question, inquiry, and prayer request, please feel free to post your comments below.