1 Peter 1:3: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In His great Mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”
What is the main message of the Bible?The Bible addresses many basic issues of life and Death, of the past and the future. In general the leading topics in the Bible have been grouped under 2 main categories:
1. The Wonderful Presentation of Salvation
2. Revelation of Gods plan and Purpose of Life
The Good News of Salvation in Jesus Christ is the fundamental message of the Scripture. God created a big universe and formed the first man and woman in sinless perfection. Adam and Eve went with the temptation from Satan and fell into shame and Sin. Yet God did not abandon humanity on its course to destruction. He chose to show special care to his people and from them to provide a Saviour unto the world. Through the resurrection of Jesus, God demonstrates His victory over sin and calls people to identify with this victory by having faith in Jesus Christ.
In living with this Salvation we know that life is not meaningless but we live surrounded by Gods Love and bond for eternity with Him.
1. The Wonderful presentation of Salvation
A. Realization of Sin
Many of us consider Sin as the violation of the Ten Commandments. We tend to think murder or adultery as the major sins compared to lying, cursing or idolatry. The truth is that sin is defined as – “to miss the mark”. The “mark” in this case is the standard of perfection established by God and evidenced by Jesus Christ. Viewed in this light, it is clear that we are all sinners.
Rom 3: 23: “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”
We cannot escape our failures to be righteous in our own strength. Only when we understand our weakness, we will consider relying on the sacrifice of Jesus! God wants us to recognize our sins and even those who may not have murdered or committed adultery will find themselves convicted of lying or of worshipping false idols like wealth or other ungodly powers. Unfortunately, Sin in any amount will distance us from God.
There are 3 types of Sins:
i. Inherited Sin:
Adam’s and Eve’s rebellion against God gave birth to the first sin which has been passed on through generations into the world as mentioned in Romans 5:12.
ii. Imputed Sin:
These are the Sins done by violating the Laws given by God to Moses. Ie, violating the Law of God.
iii. Personal Sin:
These are sins that are committed every day by every human being
Isaiah 59:1-2: “Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear. Your iniquities have
separated you from your God. Your Sins have hidden His face from you.”
B. Lead to Repentance
Once we recognize ourselves as Sinners we then need to lead ourselves to Repentance and embrace Jesus to forgive us because He died for us.
An example from the Bible: Manasseh – his father Hezekiah
When Hezekiah the king of Judah who was about to die - broke down, cried and prayed to God; the Lord then added
15 years to his life. 3 years later Manasseh was born to him and began his reign as a king from the age of 12. HE reigned for more than 55years, the longest among any Hebrew King. Surely, Hezekiah would have shared his personal history to his son Manasseh, however Manasseh led an evil life. Manasseh worshipped the Sun, Moon and Stars and sacrificed his own children as burnt offering. He consulted spirit mediums and murdered innocent lives. He ignored the warnings from the living God. Finally, the Lord sent enemies to fight him and capture Manasseh where he was taken into exile. Manasseh then understood his sins and remembered his father Hezekiah. When he repented, the Lord answered his prayers by bringing him back to Jerusalem. It was only then that Manasseh realized that the Lord was really God.
An interesting fact from the above example:
Manasseh was born to Hezekiah during the additional 15 years that God had granted to Hezekiah. If Hezekiah had accepted death when God had first planned for him, then his son Manasseh the most evil of kings would never have been born. This explains a real truth to all of us. We all pray for our comforts but never ever leave it to God to perform in his right time.
The Bible mentions that the Wages of Sin is eternal death. But for us, all our sins have been crucified on the cross of
Jesus and now by faith in Jesus Christ as the Savior we have the redemption through His blood.
So as a New Year Message to my Christian fellow believers, I would like to encourage each of us to bring ourselves once more to realize our Sins and be ready to lead our lives to a repentance before Jesus Christ. We also need to leave our lives into the plans of God, rather than us demanding from God.
A New Year Promise for All:
Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the plans I have for you, declare the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
plans to give you a hope and a future.”
