Since Christ is to be the center of the Christian’s life, and we desire to make Him the center of this blog, I wanted share the gospel message with everyone you all. Some of you already know the Lord, but as the song says, “I love to tell the story for those who know it best. Seem hungering and thirsting to hear it like the rest. And when in scenes of glory I sing the new, new song, twill be the old old story that I have loved so long.” (“I Love to Tell the Story” by A. Catherine Hankey)
The gospel message really starts in Genesis where we see Eve deceived by satan and Adam choosing to disobey God. Satan twists God’s Word and the world God created, a beautiful world without sin, is destroyed by man’s desire to be equal with his Maker. God walks through the garden to find Adam and Eve, who then continue to sin by hiding from Him and trying to pass the blame off on satan, Eve, and even God Himself.
At this point, all could have been lost. But it’s not. In the first preview of God’s plan of redemption, an animal’s blood is shed, and from its skin Adam and Eve are made coverings.
It isn’t that man makes mistakes or chooses to sin once in awhile. Man is inherently wicked, completely depraved, and prone to evil. Man’s nature is sin, and he must be made a new creation.
The Old Testament is filled with examples of this. God’s chosen people constantly are going through the cycle of not following God’s commands, being warned, still not obeying, being punished, turning back to God, and then starting the cycle over.
The Old Testament is also filled with prophecies of a promised Deliverer, promised Hope. God would make a way; there would be a final sacrificial lamb.
But that lamb would have to be completely perfect and without sin. God’s son, Jesus, holy and righteous, came to earth to accomplish His Father’s will: to make atonement for mankind. To pay our debt, one we could never pay.
At the right time in God’s Sovereign plan, from the line of David, Jesus was born in Bethlehem of a virgin. He lived a sinless life and began His earthly ministry when he was 30. For three years He shared truth and had compassion on many people. He healed the sick and preached to all who would listen.
But then, just like today, most people didn’t want Him or what He had to say. So they plotted to kill Him, not realizing that they were carrying out part of God’s plan for redemption.
Jesus was wrongly sentenced to death. He was beaten, mocked, tortured and hung on a cross; there He bore the wrath of God. He bore the punishment for our sin. I don’t think we could ever imagine the weight of what that must’ve been like. Because of what Christ did, believers will never know the wrath of God.
Our sins were put on Christ and on the third day, when He rose from the dead, He had defeated sin, death, and the devil.
Isaiah 53
1 Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2 For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned-every one-to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?
9 And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.
We can never completely fathom the work that Christ did on the cross. The agony He bore as He suffered for sins He had never committed. The feeling of being rejected by His Father, as the wrath of God poured out on innocent blood. The victory over sin, death, and the devil. The resurrection that gave man the opportunity for a relationship with God, because Christ intercedes on our behalf.
And this gift, so costly for Him, He offers to sinners who believe in their hearts and repent of their sins. The gift of salvation is free.
Don’t misunderstand. Living for Christ can be costly. It may cost you relationships, selfish desires, and definitely sinful living. But once you are His, you realize what a joy walking with the Lord is. Leaving behind your sins becomes your desire out of gratitude and love for your Lord.
I hope you are resting in His grace today. If you are, you stand redeemed because Christ’s blood has washed your sin away. It’s not covered, it’s gone.
If you’re not saved, it is as simple as acknowledging you are sinner in need of God’s grace. Repent of your sin, accepting Christ as YOUR Savior and walk away a new creation. Then begin reading His Word – 1 John and the gospel of John are excellent places to start.
To read the crucifixion and resurrection accounts, see Matthew 26-28, Mark 14-16:8, Luke 22-24, and John 18-21.
For the Christian, the best if yet to come. As God’s children, we will receive an inheritance, a heavenly kingdom where we will be with Him forever.
1 Peter 1:3-5
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,
5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
We hope you are resting in Christ today! 🙂
© Grace Baeten 2020
The Misplaced Mom 