What must I do…?
Today we hear promises from the wealthiest men on earth that we are on the verge of colonizing another planet. There are so many reasons to believe that humans as a species are on the verge of something great and decisive.
But the reality is it all comes down to making a choice of which path we will follow. One path says you can save yourself, maybe it even says you are a god and all you need to do is tap into that inner power. This path is what drives many to say we can save ourselves, we can colonize another place, we can do this.
But another path says that even with our best attempts, we can’t save ourselves. Not all the technological advances in the galaxy can save us from death and destruction. This path though has the only true hope – an invitation by Jesus who became human and knows the joys and sorrows and temptations that we struggle with and can empathize with us. He has made a way of escape so that anyone who wants to - can be saved.
Story Time
There was a man who was walking in the forest and along the way felt little hints in his mind that he was no longer on the right course but he continued and followed his gut, followed his instincts, followed his heart. Eventually he realized that by following his inner compass, eventually he ended up way off course. He didn’t realize how much until he finally looked at his map and realized how far off course and just how desperate his situation really was. Without a compass and in this case we are talking about truth from the bible, can we see how far off course our lives are? How can we know how far off course we really are unless we have a reference point?
Jeremiah 17:9
“The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?
It’s pretty self-explanatory but the bible tells us that we can’t follow our heart. We can’t trust our gut. Our emotions and feelings can betray us. So what is our hope?
How about trusting others?
Jeremiah 17:5
This is what the LORD says: “Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans, who rely on human strength and turn their hearts away from the LORD.
Ok so we can’t put our faith and trust in other humans either. Why? Because let’s be honest, we get burned, we get let down, we are betrayed and the list goes on.
Jesus though makes a promise:
John 14:6
Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.
Deuteronomy 31:6
So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the LORD your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.”
We have nothing to fear if we put our faith and hope and trust in the One who became one of us – Jesus.
Romans 10:13
For “Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.”
So what must we do to be saved?
We cry out to God and ask Him to save us. But the Christian walk doesn’t end there. Sometimes we have guilt and burdens that we have our full attention and we can’t enjoy the peace that God wants to give us.
1 Peter 5:7
Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.
You have to believe God wants the best for you.
Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
He means for our good. So when we face trials what do we do? Do we fall into the temptation that God has abandoned us?
James 1:2-4
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Trials are for our good.
Trials in the gym make our muscles stronger.
Trials with the piano make us a better musician.
Trials in the Christian walk help us build our faith.
As we endure these trials, we grow and mature.
We don’t have to wonder through life without a way to know we are on the right track.
First we have scripture.
Jesus said in Matthew 4:4 - Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.
We also know that scripture is like a flashlight as we walk through the darkness. It lights our path so that we can know where to go.
Psalm 119:105
Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.
But are there other ways to know we are following our new friend Jesus as he leads us.
Jesus tells us of a group in the last moments of time that follow him – Revelation 14:4 - These are they which follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These were redeemed from among men,
John 16:7-8 tells us of another way to know what is true. Jesus is describing the power of the Holy Spirit -
But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the [a]Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment;
What was the original condition of Humans when God created them?
Genesis 1:26,27 -
They were created in God's image and God has a character of selfless love so when we were created we had a perfect loving character. -What happened to our perfect loving character?
Genesis 3:1-6 -
Adam and Eve sinned, shattering there perfect loving character and then they started reproducing which passed the broken selfish character onto their children-How universal is the problem?
Romans 3:23 (all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God)
The glory of God in scripture is often describe as character and the Bible says in 1 John 4:8 that God is love so the character that we have fallen short of is one of love.
We are also told in John 15:8
“By this my Father is glorified that you bear much fruit”. What fruit is being described here? The Fruit of the spirit of Galatians 5 – Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, ….
•The bible gives us a definition of true love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Our sin and selfishness have separated us from God but He came into the world to reconcile the world to Himself.
Isaiah 59:1,2
Behold, the Lord’s hand is not so short, that it cannot save;Nor is His ear so dull, That it cannot hear.2 But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God,And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.
John 1:1-4
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.
Jesus tells us in John 3:3 that we need to be ‘born again’. We need to have an entirely new existence. This is why baptism is so important. It is a public statement that you are done with your old life and you want Jesus to do something new in you. Ezekiel 36: 26
26 Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.
Jesus came into the world not to condemn but to save.
16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His [a]only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
Why did Jesus have to die in our place?
Hebrews 9:22 -
without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. What do we do to benefit from Jesus death on the cross?
Acts 16:31 -
By believing in Christ as your savior you are admitting that you are the one who deserves death and you are thankful that God has provided a substitute for you. By having this faith in Jesus as your savior You are laying hold of the gift that God has given you.
What practical things are we to do to be forgiven and cleansed?
•Acts 3:19
Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;
1 John 1:9
9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
How does God give us a new heart?
John 14:17 (Jesus Himself will dwell in us through His Holy Spirit) What will be the result of Christ dwelling within my heart?
Philippians 2:13 (You will want to do His will)
1 John 4:7 (You will love)
Galatians 5:22-25 (You will have the fruit of the spirit and it's aspects)
Acts 1:8 (You will want to share the precious friend you have found with others)
Ephesians 6:18 (You will talk to God through prayer)
1 John 3:22 (we will keep his commandments and do the things pleasing in His sight)
Romans 12:2 (You will experience a transformation of your mind)
2 Corinthians 5:17 (You will be a new creature) What promise does God give us in regards to our new birth experience?
Philippians 1:6 (We can be confident that our new birth will be successful because Jesus promises to accomplish it by His power)
Story Time
There was a man, who was paid to run a switching station for a railway bridge. This bridge ran high across a river and there were two tracks on each side, but at the bridge the track converged into one. And it would switch tracks if a train was coming from either direction. The switching station would operate so that two trains would not derail or collide. So he goes out one evening and he switches the track because he knows the 5 o’clock train will be coming soon. But the track will not switch, it was stuck.
Repeatedly he tries to switch the track from the control room. But off in the distance he sees a smokestack and he hears the sound of the whistle of the train. He has only enough time to go down the manual override which was on the bridge. So he makes his way across the bridge to where the manual switch is and just before he was about to pull the lever, when he hears a voice calling out to him, “Daddy” the voice cry’s out, “Daddy”. It’s his five year-old boy, he’s coming out looking for him and even though he’s told time and time again not to go out on that bridge. His son is running across the bridge.
The train is rounding the bend. He shrieks as he sees his only son run across the bridge. He’s yelling to him to go back, but his son can’t hear him. The tracks rumbling, the train’s coming around. The son is yelling, “Daddy”. He has his hand on the switch and has a difficult decision to make. Does he save his son and let every passenger on the train die? Or does he sacrifice his son and let everyone on the train live? And Michael makes his choice and pulls the lever. He falls to his knees and sobs as the train whizzes by. And as the train speeds by, everyone is laughing, carrying on and having a good time They don’t even notice the huddled down sobbing figure of a man who’s just sacrificed his son for the life of everybody on that train.
God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that ---IF YOU BELIEVE -- in him you should not perish.
God made a sacrifice for us and many of us are just cruising down the railway of life excusing the sin in our lives, ignoring the fact that God is calling us to something higher, ignoring the fact that God paid the infinite price to save us from sin.
He has a place prepared for you in paradise. All you have to do is acknowledge your sin and ask Him to save you.
We hope you’ve been encouraged and inspired by these studies. We are going to send you one more message which is an invitation to see if you would like to connect with one of our team members to ask any questions you have after studying through these or perhaps other questions that have come to mind. We don’t have any products to sell you and we won’t be asking you for money. We just feel this story of how Jesus is in the process of saving this blue planet and as many as want to be saved is too good to keep to ourselves.
Our prayer is God will richly bless you and guide you to the best life He has in store for you.