|
|
|
To those
of you expecting to see a beautiful girl here or cool looking guitar, I’m
sorry to disappoint you guys? I know, you must be wondering what gives Hold on to
your horses folks. Before I continue, here’re a couple of questions for you
to ponder. What would
you say if I told you someone had willingly took a bullet for you? Will you
reciprocate the love of your “hero” or just go on living life as if nothing
had happened? Will you be so moved with gratitude that you will take care of
your “hero’s” family or interest the rest of your life? Won’t you tell
everyone you know about your close shave with death, the heroics and love of
your savior? Well, I’m
a recipient of such amazing love. Remember reading in “the Scoop” about some
truths being absurd. Well, this one here takes the cake!!! I “experienced”
the love of my life some time in February 2001 and my life’s been totally
transformed by this extraordinary, one-of-a-kind love! Before I
knew my Savior, I’d questioned the existence of life. What’s the meaning of
life and what’s my purpose here? I knew even then, there’s more to life than
just the paper chase and the rat race of material fulfillment. I thank
God for opening my eyes and heart to my Savior. I now realized all that’s
happened in my life, the good and the bad are all part of a greater scheme of
things. Even my ability to design, build and work on guitars is a Divine
gift! I have no doubt about that in my mind! I’ll be
sharing 3 facts or truths about humanity and I hope you’ll agree with me. If
you don’t, it’s no biggie coz what I’m sharing with you is not from me per
se. It’s from the One who’s responsible for the air we breathe, the One who
knows what our future holds and the One who decides when we’ll be meeting Him
so I hope you’ll read on seriously. The 1st
Truth is all of us have a common problem and that’s sin. Sin??!! What’s that
you may ask. Well, the Bible describes sin as “lawlessness” in 1 John 3:4.
Simply said, it’s the breaking of God’s law. The Bible goes on to state
“There’s none righteous, no, not one;” Romans 3:10 and “for all have sinned
and fall short of the glory of God,” Romans 3:23. Nobody is perfect!
We have in some way or another fallen short of God’s standard, which is
absolute moral perfection. I don’t think I’m making a sweeping statement when I
say all of us have lied. Lying is wrong and a sin in the eyes of God. Some of
us may think and even believe there’re “small” sins and “big” sins but the
fact of the matter is sin is sin! James 2:10 tell us “For whosoever shall
keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.” What
this verse means is even if a person lived a morally perfect life except for
a single white lie, the reality is he or she is still a sinner. It’s been
asked how many people do you have to kill before you’re named a murderer,
just one right? You’re a murderer regardless of how many people you kill. The
same way, we’re all sinners regardless of how many “big” or “small” sins
we’ve committed. The 2nd
Truth is there is a penalty or judgment for our sins. The Bible tells us “For
the wages of sin is death,” in Romans 6:23 Most of us
work a job and get paid at the end of the month. We deserved to be paid our
wage or salary by our employer because of the work we’d put in for the month.
The same way, the wages we deserve for our sins is death. However, the death
that the Bible speaks of here is not our 1st or physical death because
eventually, all of us will die of old age, sickness or disease. The Bible
describes the 2nd death in Revelation 21:8 “the lake which burns with fire
and brimstone, which is the second death”. We commonly describe the 2nd death
as hell and as heaven is eternal, so is hell! Heaven is where we will be
eternally reunited with God and hell is where we will be eternally separated
from God! The Bible
tells us in Hebrews 9:27 “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but
after this the judgment,” We all
have to face judgment from God at the end of our lives. The sad reality is
all of us because of our sins, will experience the 2nd death. Please realize
that it is never God’s intention to send us to hell. We send ourselves there
by rejecting Him and His Truths. Alright so
far, we’ve learnt that all men have a common problem called sin and our
eternal destiny is hell because of our sins. Those are bad news!!! Here’s the
3rd and final Truth and thank God it’s wonderful news. There is indeed a
silver lining behind every dark cloud. The Bible
tell us in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 “that Christ died for our sins according to
the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day
according to the Scriptures,” Yes!
Someone has died in our place for our sins! Someone has taken on our
punishment for us! Now isn’t that good news! As
mentioned earlier, it is never God’s intention to judge and condemn us. We
condemn ourselves by willfully disobeying and rejecting Him. Because of His
love for us, God sent Jesus Christ, His Son, to die for our sins so we can be
reconciled with Him. Throughout history, there have been instances where
heroic man died for their family, friends and country. The amazing fact of
Christ’s death is that He didn’t stay dead. Jesus Christ was resurrected 3
days after his death! By His resurrection, Christ proves that He has overcome
sin, death and hell. Christ bled while hanging on the cross and the Bible tells
us in 1 John 1:7 “the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all
sin.” You may
have seen placards reading “John 3:16” at NBA, NHL, NFL games on ESPN or
some sports program on cable TV. John 3:16 tells us “For God so loved the
world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should
not perish but have everlasting life.” A lot of
people think Christianity is a religion but in reality, it is a relationship
between an Omniscient and Omnipotent Creator and His creation. Think about
it, religion is man-made; it is all about man’s effort in trying to appease
or reach God. John 3:16 tell us God loves us and sacrificed His Son for our
sake!!! It is God reaching down to man!!! Romans 5:8 drives home the point
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still
sinners, Christ died for us.” One of my
favorite preachers sums it up most succinctly. “Jesus Christ came to pay a
debt He did not owe because we owed a debt we could not pay.” Jesus
Christ Himself says “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not
condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has
not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” John 3:17-18 “All that the Father
gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast
out.”
John 6:37 Jesus
Christ never condemns anyone and accepts all who came to Him. John 3:16 say,
“whoever believes
in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” You may think
you’re not deserving or worthy of His Love. The fact of the matter is none of
us are worthy or deserve His Love. That’s why salvation is a gift from God.
The Bible tells us in Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the
gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” One can either accept
or reject a gift. I hope none of you when offered a present by a loved one
offers to pay for the gift. If you’d paid for something, it’s no longer a
gift! Alright,
the million dollar question now is how does one receive Jesus Christ? Are you
ready to accept your free gift from God? May I add that this will be the best
gift you’ll ever receive in your life!! 1 John
5:13 tell us “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son
of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” As soon as
we believe on Jesus Christ, the Son of God, God promises us eternal life in
heaven with Him! Eternal life begins the moment you accept Jesus Christ as
your Savior! Now how does one believe in Jesus Christ? We sure can’t see,
hear or touch Him. To believe
in Christ is to simply acknowledge the fact that we all sinners destined for
eternal damnation. Accepting the fact that there’s nothing we can do that
will help gain favor with God. Accepting the fact that Jesus Christ died for
our sins and His shed blood cleanses us from all sins. Most importantly, it
is by casting all our total dependence on Christ’s act of redemption alone to
save us from sin and hell. You may
be asking what do you mean? Let’s take for example you’re on a cruise and
the ship capsized. You’ve been floating in the ocean for hours. You’re
tired, cold, hungry and about to give up. Just then, a rescue boat comes along and
a hand reaches out to you. Now you know those people in the boat can and will
save you. But thinking and believing that will not save you. You have to reach
out to the hand of the rescuer, trust and depend on him or her. That’s what
it means to depend 100% on Jesus Christ. You must come to the realization
that there’s nothing that can save you from eternal damnation except by accepting
the works of Christ and by receiving Him. All it
takes is a simple prayer. Please know that the prayer does not save you. It’s
your absolute belief and trust in what Jesus Christ has done for you that
will save you!!! You may
pray: “Dear God, I come to
you as a sinner destined for eternal damnation. I know there’s nothing I can
do that can save me. I thank You for sending Your Son Jesus Christ to die for
my sins. I thank You for the shed blood for Jesus Christ which cleanses me
from all my sins. Lord Jesus, thank You for loving, dying and saving me. Help
me to repent from my sins and the best way I know how, I’m casting my total
dependence on You alone to save me from sin, death and hell. In Jesus name,
Amen.” I said a
similar prayer in February 2001 and my life has taken on a completely new
perspective. If you have said the above prayer and meant it from your heart,
congratulations and welcome into the family of God Please
e-mail me at saved@mtlutherie.com
so I can be blessed and rejoice with you. If you’re
looking to for a church to visit, it’s my honor and privilege to invite you to
my church. Let me
know when to expect you. If you’re living in Southern California, I would like to encourage you to visit Harvest Christian Fellowship located in Riverside, CA or Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa located in Santa Ana, CA. All
scripture quotes are from The New King James Version. |
What’s with the
“1st Love” thingy?