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Page 4 The message of the Bible
What follows is an overview of the whole message of the Bible:
God is glorious. He is the creator and ruler of all things. He is infinite yet personal. He is holy, good, kind, loving, and generous toward all of His creation, and He loves being in relationship.
We as humans are made in the image of our glorious God. We have a free will and were intended to live in a way which reflects God's glory through obeying His easy commands. The result would be eternal life in harmony with God, each other, and creation.
But we have all fallen short of God's glory. We have listened to the devil's lies and have been selfish, covetous, proud, and unbelieving: the roots of sin. As a result our relationships with God, ourselves, each other, and the rest of creation are in a mess - subject to death. That's the result of sin. And to try and cover up our sin we choose to find our significance, sense of purpose, and wholeness, in things, beings, or pursuits other than the one true God. We try to hide from God.
But God's kindness, tolerance and patience are such that He leads each one of us to see the wrong we've done. He speaks to our conscience. He hopes that we will turn to Him with a desire to change our ways.
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God's wrath is therefore deservedly towards people who consciously suppress this knowledge in their conscience and reject Him. They give the devil a foothold in their life. They become idolatrous. They end up living a life of depravity. They approve of others who live the same way, though knowing better. But they cannot escape God, because there is coming a Day when God will judge the world based on truth.
But for those who do turn to God now, there is good news! Because God loves us so much, wanting us to experience life to the full, He did for us what we could never do for ourselves. He provided a means of taking the penalty of death due us, washing us from our guilt & shame, and bringing us back into a right relationship with Him, each other, & creation.
God did this through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He is the Son of God, namely the Word of God incarnate on earth.
Therefore, to all who turn to God asking for the forgiveness of their sins, and who believe in His means of getting right with Him - that is, ultimately trusting that Jesus died for you in your place, and that He rose again - there is the assurance of everlasting life. You will not be condemned to hell and banished from God's glory, because you have now been washed of your sins & guilt! But to those who do not believe, there is the certainty of judgment & hell.
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Furthermore, all who trust in Jesus Christ will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes to live inside of you to help you live a life which glorifies God. He does this by helping us to do all that Jesus taught us and modeled for us. He will also help you be set free from the power of sin and also be healed of your brokenness and hurt which had so influenced many of your past behaviour patterns. And to top it all off, the Holy Spirit also gives each believer gifts & abilities to serve the cause of Christ in the world!
This new life is lived out not in isolation but together with others who also believe and are filled with the Holy Spirit. This is Christ's church, and we are an example of what it means to be living in relationship with God. But we are still living in the midst of an evil world whose god is the devil, and we will suffer persecution. But we live for Jesus Christ until the day He returns, after which there will be a new heaven & earth in which there is no more evil, and a whole new realm of living in His glorious presence will unfold. Amen.
Do you want to be born again, and thus begin to experience a better life as God always intended?
Just follow the steps on the next few pages…
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