Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Why Did Jesus Die?

Image credit: FreeFoto.com / Ian Britton

Hello every one. I pray that all of you to have a blessed Easter. The last couple weeks has been quite busy for me. My wife's aunt came from Chicago to visit, then at the same time I had to work extra hours every day. Not to mention I had a number of things to get done around the house. While it was a good couple of weeks, there was just not much time for blogging. But I am excited to get back and get an article posted and visit the blogs which I follow.

I have a confession to make. Over the last year I have not been out witnessing like I use to. A friend of mine and I use to go out after church on Sunday's sharing the message of Jesus with anyone who would listen. But he moved on and I have been quiet. The Lord has been prodding me as of late to get out there and share the gospel again. Over the last couple of days I have been reflecting on some of the experiences we had sharing the gospel with the lost. Often times we would speak to someone who professed to be a believer in Jesus and attended church regularly. I use to like asking them the following question to see where they stood in their relationship with God. "Suppose I was someone in your life which you cared deeply about. Maybe your brother, or something. I came to you saying, 'I have cancer and in 30 days I will be dead. I do not want to have to go to hell. What must I do to be saved.' What would you tell me?" It was sad to see how many people did not know how to answer this question. I remember one young woman who replied, "Well, you should have thought about that sooner." I replied, "really now, that is what you would say?"

While I do not remember exactingly how the rest of the conversation with this woman went, below is a dialog that would explain to someone the answer to the question I asked above.

I ask, "In a few days from now is Easter Sunday. Do you know what the meaning of it is?"

Response, "It is celebration of the resurrection of Jesus."

I ask, "Do you know why Jesus had to die?"

Response, "That we would be forgiven of our sins."

In the book of Genesis, after the sixth day of creation, God considered His creation to be "very good." See God created man to live forever in His presence. There was to be no death. Creation was not just good, but "very good." (Genesis 1:31) God gave Adam and Eve one commandment, and that is to not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. However, Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate from the tree God had commanded them not to eat. As a result, sin entered into the world. That day Adam and Eve died spiritually and also began the path toward a physical death. See, the wages of sin is death. Not only did Adam and Eve have to die, all their offspring must also die because that sin nature has been passed on to them, that is all of us. Any one of us would have done the same thing as Adam and Eve, and disobeyed God. The bad news is, if we die in our sins, then we will be eternally separated from God. But God put into motion a plan to redeem His fallen creation.

When someone tells a lie, they are guilty of being a liar. If you or I have ever stolen anything, then we are guilty of being a thief. If you have ever taking His Holy name in vain, the bible says that He will not hold you guiltless. (Deut. 5:11) To further that, James says, "Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin." (James 4:17) We are all sinners, it is impossible to live a sinless life. Yes it is true that God is a God of love and mercy. He is a forgiving God who wants to forgive all for their sins. But God is also good and just. As a result, He must judge and punish sin. If He does not, then He not good. Could you imagine a judge in a court of law letting murderer go free just because he promised to not do it again? If a judge is good, then he must uphold the requirements of the law. We cannot on our own live a sinless life and meet all the righteous requirements of God in order to enter in to the kingdom of heaven, but Jesus can, and He did.

Jesus being God, came down from heaven to earth. He lived a sinless life fulfilling all the requirements of God. Then He went to the cross, shed His precious blood so that we could live. He took the sin of the world to the grave, but the grave could not hold Him. He defeated death, and on the third day, He rose from the dead. He paid the penalty for our sins on our behalf.   

So what must I do to be saved? The Bible says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:8-10) We cannot be good enough to enter into heaven. We cannot do enough good works either. God did everything to make it possible for us to receive this free gift of salvation through the shed blood of His Son, Jesus Christ. However for a gift to be a gift, it must be received. We receive this gift by placing our faith and trust in Jesus alone for our salvation. Repentance goes hand in hand with faith. To believe in Jesus in not just an head knowledge. If we have true faith, it will change who we are. If you have not received Jesus as Lord and Savior, I encourage you to call upon Him today. Repent of your sins and put your faith and trust in Jesus.

"For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13)








17 comments:

  1. Hi Ken; good to see you here again my good friend! This is powerful, and I have to say that although I challenge myself on a daily basis to get through an entire day without doing, thinking, or saying something in which I know is not pleasing to God, I realize the battle is real! We must never underestimate the power of sin and attempt to fight it in our own strength. We must take hold of God's gift for victory over sin; the Holy Spirit who lives within us and gives us power. And when we fall He lovingly reaches out to help us. :)

    Blessings and love this Holy week; have a spirit-filled Easter!
    Denise

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    1. Denise, Thank you for your comment. Rightly said, we must take hold of God's gift for victory over sin. Oh how much do we need His Holy Spirit dwelling in us as we live this Christian life. May you also have a blessed Easter.

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  2. Hi Ken, Good to see you back. Yes, life does sometimes get very busy. It is good that you were able to visit with family and earn some extra money at work (my husband has been busy working overtime with all the snow we've had this winter... He operates a grader).
    This was a good way to present the salvation message...I pray you are able to witness to many people as you feel called to do. Blogging is also a good tool for witnessing as well.
    Praying you and your wife have a wonderful Easter, and God bless you both~ Lisa

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  3. Good to see you back Ken! This was a good way to present the salvation message.
    Yes, sometimes life does get busy. My husband has worked a lot of overtime with all the snow we've had this winter. (he operates a grader).
    It's good you were able to earn some extra money, and also were able to spend time with family.
    Praying you are able to witness to people as you feel led to do. Blogging is a good way to do that too.
    May you and your wife have a blessed Easter, and God bless you both~ Lisa

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    1. Lisa, Thank you for your comment. The extra money from the overtime sure is nice. Thank you for praying for my witnessing. I agree that blogging is a good way to get the message out there. I pray all the time that unbelievers come to my blog and other blogs who speak the truth of Jesus, that they might be lead to a relationship with Jesus and be saved. May you likewise have a blessed Easter.

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  4. Hi Ken,
    I understand your love of witnessing in the street, my friend and I have done it for over twenty years and usually go out every two or three weeks. There are many people out there who would need to hear the gospel on their own territory, and who realize that we have 'been there, done that' just like they have, but have come through a door of blessing. I believe that you might well be going out evangelizing again because it is in your heart to do so. Maybe the Lord will bring someone across your path who feels the same. Lovely post, welcome back. God bless.

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    1. Brenda, Every time I had the opportunity to share Christ with someone, I was blessed beyond words. Thank you for your comment and may God bless

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  5. Ken, I hope you and your wife have a blessed Easter. Thank you for sharing this. I know it will bless many people.

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    1. Thank you Karen, and I like wise hope you and yours has a blessed Easter.

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  6. I was hoping you would be back for Easter. I always enjoy what you have to share.

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    1. Thank you Dee, I appreciate your kind words. May God bless you

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  7. Hi Ken,
    I sure did miss you and your posts. So nice to have you back. I hope your visit with relatives went well and lots of jobs got done.

    I remember you sharing about the times you went out evangelizing. One thing did come to mind when I read that and that is in the OT when someone just was married, they were to take a year off everything and spend time with their wife. Just that I'd share that with you.

    We have 3 young men, 17, 21 & 22, who love to go out and witness to the lost. It is so encouraging to see the excitement in their eyes when they come back. The 22 year old is really driven here and he shared how a young woman gave her life to Christ right there in the middle of the downtown.

    I love this about you and it encourages me to want to hit the streets. Maybe this Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday I will grab a this lively bunch of young adults and hit the streets sharing Jesus instead of chocolate bunnies.

    Blessings brother,
    <><

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    1. Child of God, Thank you and it is good to be back. My wife and I had a wonderful time with her Aunt. It is awesome to see young people sharing the gospel. I know every time I spoke to an unsaved person I was blessed beyond words. It was awesome to share with someone the words which could change their eternal destiny. While I do not have the power to cause someone to be saved, scripture does say that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. I pray that you get out there and share Jesus with some of the youth. That would be an awesome thing to do on Resurrection Sunday. Have a blessed day

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  8. I do not want to have to go to hell. What must I do to be saved? More than a "Good" question. It is "the question"? What else matters if I'm going to spend eternity in Hell? I want to go to Heaven? How do I get there? You explain the way well Ken. Thank you and God bless you for all that you do for me, your fellow man, and for the Lord. Happy Easter (Resurrection Day).

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    1. Thank you Brian for your comment. Yes it is the most important question we all must have the answer to. I hope you had a blessed Resurrection Sunday.

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  9. Wonderful post, Ken. The glorious news of the Gospel, presented in language both understandable and compelling.

    Wishing you a blessed Easter Sunday! May your day be full of Resurrection JOY!

    "He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said." (Matthew 28:6)

    He is Risen! He is Risen indeed!

    Celebrating with you the promise of eternal life - thanks the One who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life!

    GOD BLESS!

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    1. Thank you Sharon for your comment. Yes He is risen, indeed! I hope you had a blessed Resurrection Sunday.

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