Come to “THE WELL” Meet HIM who is the essential profession of our faith: JESUS CHRIST IS OUR ONLY “CREED” -JESUS fulfilled the Scriptures The Old Testament (the Hebrew Scriptures) inspires faith. The ancient Scriptures predicted, with great detail, the coming of the Messiah Savior, Christ Jesus into the world. Centuries before His coming, the Hebrew prophets predicted Messiah/Christ, the Son of God, Savior and Lord would come to the earth and reveal Himself as a man. The search for faith begins and ends when sincere hearts examine the Old Testament Scriptures which point to the coming Messiah/Christ. (2 Timothy 3:14-17; 2 Peter 1:16-21) The most logical conclusion Christ-followers can draw from the prophetic promises is that Jesus of Nazareth could have fulfilled all the Hebrew prophecies, about the coming Messiah, by one chance out of over four quadrillion. Jesus’ personal claims and the New Testament writers formed their proclamation of Jesus upon the prophets’ foundation. Jesus demonstrates how believable biblical prophecy really is. The Old Testament predictions joined with eyewitness accounts about Jesus and together form the foundation for the faith of all true Christ-followers. Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, Savior and Lord! -JESUS inaugurated the Kingdom of God Jesus introduced the sovereign rule of God to all people. Centuries before the coming of Jesus, the Hebrew prophets predicted the initiation and inauguration of the Eternal Kingdom of God upon earth. It was pictured as beginning as a “little stone” rolling down the side of a mountain during the days of the Roman Empire. The Kingdom of God would ultimately be more powerful than all kingdoms of earth and eventually crush them all. (Daniel 2:44-45) John the Baptist taught that, with the first coming of Jesus, the Kingdom of heaven was among them and that Jesus’ teachings made up “Canon Law” for the faithful. Jesus was even more precise and explained that some, but not all, of his disciples, would not die before they saw the Kingdom of God come with power. Where Jesus reigns supreme, there the Kingdom is present in His great power. (Matthew 3:1-2; 3:13-17; Mark 9:1) -JESUS died to pay the eternal penalty for all the sins of the world There was never a death in all of history like that of Jesus. His death was predicted down to the most minute details. His death was voluntary. His death was planned by Almighty God to benefit of the entire human family. The details of Prophet Isaiah predicted that Jesus’ death in our place was to be confirmed by resurrection where the Lord would raise the dying Servant from death to fill the role of Eternal Mediator to save the entire Lord’s faithful people from the eternal penalty of sin. (Isaiah 53:10-12) The significance of Jesus’ death must be the center of our faith. It is “the Good News” for all who trust in Jesus. From the time of His crucifixion’s first announcement, “preaching of Christ crucified” has inspired faith and incredible faithfulness within millions of believers since his ascension into heaven. (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) -JESUS was raised up from His own death to conquer death for everyone Jesus’ death was not only a spiritual event but historical as well. The same must be said about His resurrection. While there was never a death in all of history like that of Jesus, the same can be said of His bodily resurrection from death and the grave. There is no historical event in the ancient world so objectively confirmed as the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. His resurrection announcement is at the heart of the Good News Proclamation. Both Jesus’ unique death and resurrection of Jesus are founded upon the predictions of the Hebrew Scriptures and predictions Jesus made prior to His death. (1 Corinthians 14:1-4, NIV) Jesus’ resurrection was witnessed by many individuals, even hundreds of people at one time. They had to realize death could not annihilate the Son of God. The most difficult thing to grasp and understand fully, the mystery of death and of life beyond death, was demonstrated by Jesus’ resurrection and ascension. People in Jerusalem saw others raised to life at the very hour of Jesus’ crucifixion. Jesus conferred upon His apostles the power to raise still others from death. Jesus’ apostles were permitted to talk to Jesus, be with him six weeks after his resurrection, and hold the most intimate conversations with Him. Their interaction with Jesus was in His whip, nail and spear-scarred body which they and crowds in Jerusalem knew had been cold in death. Jesus’ resurrection prepared the apostles to obey everything He desired them to say and do to establish the Truth of the Gospel in the world. -JESUS is Lord, fully man and fully GOD “Jesus is LORD!” is the central point of all Christian faith, a confession which every true Christ-follower must be willing to make before others. This not only acknowledges Jesus is God but He is also the rightful authority over every life. Prophet Daniel gave a vivid prediction of the final exit of Jesus from the earth on the clouds into heaven. Daniel’s vision said He would appear as “son of man,” a human being, coming with the clouds of heaven into the presence of the “Ancient of Days,” the Hebrew term for eternal God. There He would be given authority, glory and sovereign power over all peoples, nations, men of every language. Everyone would be called to “worship Him” because His dominion would never pass away, His kingdom would never be destroyed. (Daniel 7:13-14) The Apostles of Jesus recognized and identified Jesus’ divinity, deity and eternal sovereignty. They described him as “being in nature GOD,” possessing “equality with God.” It is imperative that “every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Anyone who does not acknowledge Christ as fully God is “anti-Christ” and “does not have God.” (Philippians 2:6-11; 2 John 7-10) -JESUS offers New Covenant promises: pardon for guilt and power for eternal life Prophet Jeremiah predicted and New Covenant writers promised eternal hope and security only within a deeply personal relationship with Jesus Christ. These unique promises inspire eternal confidence for every true believer to walk by faith and not hide in fear. The apostles joined the predictions of Jeremiah with their own proclamation of the Gospel. They promised, “By one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. . . Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” The Gospel invitation is, “Draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” This invitation offers “unswerving hope.” (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 10:14-24) Jesus death is the only sacrifice for sin anyone will ever need. Believers can claim eternal security in the New Covenant. Our confidence is in the sacrificial death of Jesus alone. Jesus is the only High Priest to whom we ever need to plead for mercy from the Lord. We come to God, in Christ, with our hearts full of faith. The New Covenant promises “pardon” not “acquittal” for the true believers in Jesus Christ. Various passages, in both the Old and New Covenant Scriptures illustrate the Lords pardon which forgives us and removes the eternal penalty which we all deserve because of our sins. (Ephesians 2:4-10; Hebrews 9:14; Romans 8:3-4, 9; Galatians 5:16-18, 22-25, NIV) -JESUS will return to earth; then heaven and earth will become one forever The return of the Jesus has been and is a central expectation for Christians of all ages. There will be no unusual signs to forewarn us of the event. This truth is shocking because all generations have been conditioned by “second coming cultists” who try to recruit folks by convincing them they are living in the end times because of especially unusual political and societal phenomena occurring. The truth of the matter is that Jesus return will be unexpected; this is because absolutely NOTHING unusual which will immediately forewarn of-his coming. (Luke 21:9; Mark 13:7; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3; 2 Peter 3:3-4, 10) The return of Jesus promises to bring the believers blessed hope: He will return to take us to where He is. Our bodies will be transformed like His immortal body. When he breaks through the clouds at His final return, all the dead in Christ will rise and meet Him first and the living faithful will be caught up to meet the Lord and be with Him forever. (John 14:3; Philippians 3:20-21; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18; 2 Timothy 4:8; 1 Peter 5:4; 2 Peter 3:13; John 3:2) -JESUS defined clear disciplines for those who claim He is their Lord While the Lord is not willing that anyone perish, we must CHOOSE to trust Him and follow Him. Being a Christ-follower is not an identity into which a person is born or a spiritual status an individual absorbs from the culture, even religious culture. Being a follower of Jesus Christ is an identity received only by personal choice. While we recognize the powerful influence of parents and family over our life choices, what family is (spiritually) does not define or determine what we are or will become spiritually. Sin and salvation are our personal choice. (Ezekiel 18:20; 2 Peter 3:9; Revelation 22:17; John 3:16; Mark 16:15-16; Acts 2:38-41) While the Lord’s goodness is overwhelming, we must CHOOSE to let Him lead us to repentance. Our repentance marks our personal surrender to the amazing grace of God. It is imperative that we be able to recall and demonstrate when we first gave our lives to Him. Without this surrender, our initial commitment is unfinished. (Luke 13:2-3; Acts 3:19, 2:38-41; 17:30) While faith is the personal “condition” of salvation, obedience is “evidence” of our personal salvation. Jesus came, not to abolish God’s eternal moral law, but calls His followers to obey God’s will to the letter but from the heart, not just with external performance but internal purity of motive and integrity. Our obedience reflects the base rock of our character. Jesus insists that everyone who is part of God’s family does the Father’s will. Jesus further insists that only those who choose to obey show evidence of being touched by His love and filled with His presence. Every new disciple of Jesus is to be taught to obey everything He commanded. In fact our faith is not true faith if it refuses to obey Him. (Ephesians 2:1-10; Matthew 5:17-20, 7:24-27, 28:18-20) -JESUS pictured His spiritual “body” made up of all who claim He is their Lord Jesus pictured His church as the “household of God.” Jesus’ most graphic picture of what His one church body should be like is in the parable of the “Prodigal Lost Son.” In the Father’s family are the more mature, conscientious and meticulously obedient children. In His family are also the disobedient, spiritually less mature, self-seeking and flesh-gratifying children as well. Father does not impose His will on any of His children but His richest blessings are available only for those who are faithful. Father is every bit as concerned for His young rebels as He is for the rigorously faithful. In fact, Father recognizes that external obedience may be a cover-up for a harsh, critical, rejecting posture, an unloving heart toward Father’s other children. His is a family of acceptance on our best days and worst days. Father loves all His children so much that when the young rebels come home with deep repentance, He insists upon throwing a great party to celebrate the homecoming. Father recognizes that each believer is, at times, both the older obedient son and the younger selfish rebel. Father’s house is pictured as place of celebration which begins with a slaughtered animal and ends with vibrant celebration and praise, celebration with all kinds of music and holy dancing as well. (Luke 15:11-32) Jesus pictured His church as a “family of indestructible unity.” Jesus prayed for such incredible unity of believers that they would become as tight as the relationship He had with His Father. He prayed each follower would be so full of His divine presence and power that theirs would be a complete unity.” He prayed that their love for one another would become a reflection of His great love demonstrated for the whole world. Jesus insisted that this kind of unity is possible only for those who see and know Him as He really is. Disunity among believers is evidence of not really knowing the Lord. The most repeated commandment of the Lord from one end of the Bible to the other is to “Know the LORD!” The intimate love and unity among all true believers must become as indestructible as that between the Father and the Son. When Jesus’ prayer, among believers is fully answered, the world will again see Him so clearly they will surrender at the feet of Jesus like the crowds of that first Pentecost in Jerusalem. Our unity and love must become such a powerful demonstration of the presence, passion and power of God that the lost will again come to radical faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and experience powerful and eternal intimacy with our Lord Jesus. Then we can cry out with boldness and joy, “Come quickly, Lord Jesus!” Total unity among believers is not a faithful option. Why cannot those who claim “JESUS is Lord” get together. Why are there divisions among believers? Are differences inevitable? Yes and No! We all believe in Jesus, want to follow Him faithfully and want to have intimate spiritual unity with others who love Him. Many of our differences are because we are at different places in our understandings and misunderstandings, and in our knowing how to relate the big collection of Bible material in a meaningful way to our lives. Also, our understandings or misunderstandings are not the product just of what we know from the Bible but we are influenced by our families, cultures and religious traditions. Believers have always struggled with these kinds of matters. Aside from trusting in the explicit facts about JESUS, trying to follow His direct commandments, we have to permit differences without permitting divisions among us! In the personal ministry of Jesus, He “agreed with” the Pharisees and other religious scribes when they upheld the authority of the specific laws, commandments or directives of the Lord. In addition to their commitment to the Law of the Lord, these religious zealots also imposed what was called the “traditions of the fathers” or “hedges around the Law of God.” These divisive religious zealots imposed “cultural applications or examples” of obedience in addition to explicit Laws of the Lord and sometimes imposed prohibition into the “silence of Scripture.” Jesus identified this kind of hermeneutics, interpretation and application of Scripture as “vain worship, teaching for doctrine the commandments of men.” Their zeal for “protecting the Law” ultimately led to their initiating and fueling the execution of the fully obedient and fully gracious Son of God. In their rigid adherence to Law they missed the ONE who was “full of grace and truth.” This is why the historic church has been empowered by zeal that runs beyond the Law. Like some of the Pharisees, zealous Christians insist that the “silence of Scripture infers or implied prohibition.” All believers hold deep convictions about what is right to do and what is not right to do. There are legitimately disputable matters in Christian understandings. Some have “weak faith and others strong faith.” Some possess a”very rigid conscience” and others are “more relaxed in matters of conscience.” Some of our conscientious differences may relate to “special rules about certain days, foods and drink.” Most of us consider ourselves as being of “mature faith and understanding.” That perception imposes upon us the greater responsibility for maintaining the high standard of intimate Christian unity. The strong must protect but not flaunt their liberties in the face of the more limited personal restrictions. We are emphatically taught “not to judge our brothers but encourage and build them up.” We must be true to our own conscience but protect the other persons’ right and responsibility to do the same thing. We must genuinely “respect conscientious differences” and “agree to disagree” at times. We must accept one another, with all our personal and mutual imperfections, “just like Christ received each of us.” Our personal and collective faith must be unbending in our recognition: “To his own Master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand!” (Romans 14:1-15:13)
Posted on: Sun, 20 Oct 2013 02:58:42 +0000
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