Wednesday, April 17, 2013

“SIH’s Think On These Things: 2 Pet 3:18”

2Pet 3:18 (KJV)
18) But grow in grace, and [in] the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him [be] glory both now and for ever. Amen.
 
“Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ”.  In this six word title we find several very important truths being presented to us….
1.  “Our” – This helps us to understand that a personal relationship with the Sovereign Creator of the universe can be had by man.  He is not “The Lord and Saviour…”, but “OUR Lord and Saviour…”
2.  “Lord” – This teaches us that He is the Master and Controller over all things.  He is the One that is King over all and, in recognition of that fact, we are to willingly submit to His Kingship.
3.  “Saviour” – He is the One that graces His people with deliverance from the wrath of God.  We have all sinned, and because of that sin, we are all deserving of the wrath and punishment of Holy, Almighty God.  It is this Jesus that supplied salvation for His people by taking the wrath of God upon Himself.
4.  “Jesus” – He is not only our Saviour but He is the One True God, Jehovah.  It is this same One True God that brought the world into existence, gave mankind their physical life and gave to His people spiritual life.  This is why He is given the title “Jehovah Is Salvation”.
5.  “Christ” – He is the One that was anointed with the Holy Spirit enabling Him to fulfill the roles of our infallible prophet, intercessory priest, and absolute sovereign King. 
 
How can we enter into a personal relationship with this wonderful Sent One?  The Word of God helps us to understand this in a very simple way…
 
Jesus, Himself tells us that to obtain a relationship with Him and to enter eternally into His presence we must be born again… John 3:7, Jesus said to Nicodemus, “Ye must be born again.”
To be born again, we must recognize and acknowledge that we have sinned against God.  This means that we are separated from God which is proved by the acts of disobedience that we commit… Rom 3:23, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God”   Based upon these sins, we are spiritually separated from God and deserving of His punishment… Rom 6:23, “For the wages [payment] of sin is death” and  “ . . . it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).
But God gave His only begotten Son, Jesus, to bear your sin, shed His blood and die in your place. “ . . . He hath made Him [Jesus, Who knew no sin] to be sin for us . . . that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). “ . . . God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
By agreeing with God about our sin and turning from them we will find ourselves coming to Him with a sorrowful spirit and in submission to His desires for us.  This is called “repentance”… Acts 17:30, “God . . . commandeth all men everywhere to repent”  
In Acts 16:30-31, the Philippian jailer asked Paul and Silas: “ . . . Sirs, what must I do to be saved?  And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved . . . .”  We are to simply forsake our sins, turn to Him as our Lord and believe on Him as  the one who bore our sins, and died in our place, that He was buried and resurrected by God.  “But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name” (John 1:12).
This is God’s Word to each one of us, clearly declaring to us the path He has prepared to allow us to enter into an eternal relationship with Him.
May the Lord bless us as we “Think On These Things”.
 
SIH Homepage: http://www.settledinheaven.org
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