For whom He foreknew, He also predestined,
to be conformed to the image of His Son,
that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Romans 8:29
Your life is a part of God's grand design. God has known about you and had a plan for your life since before time began. He knew everything about you before you were even born (Jer. 1:5). God predetermined that you would become like His Son. Your life, therefore, has a destiny. Christ is the model upon which the Father is developing your life. You are meant to have a relationship with the Father that is as intimate as the relationship between Jesus and the Father (John 17:21). Every event He allows into your life is designed to make you more like Christ.
God's call came when He invited you to join Him in the process! His call was extremely personal, designed specifically for your response. How wonderful to realize that at a particular moment in history, Almighty God spoke personally to you and invited you to become His child!
Because of your sin, you could never live blamelessly. But God forgave your sin and justified you, declaring you righteous. All the spiritual debt you carried with Him was forgiven, and you were freed to enjoy God and to serve Him for the rest of eternity. In biblical times, the glory of God's people was His presence. You, too, are glorified because the fullness of God now dwells within you, and you will one day be with Him (Col. 1:27; 2:9). He invites you to join Him in working out His will in your life—conforming you to His image (Phil. 2:12).
- Blackaby Experiencing God Day by Day
It's an unfathomable thing to realize that beyond 8,000 years ago there was only Adam and Eve, no hint at reproduction of people. Walking in perfect communion with Jesus. Just those two and Jesus. Perfect peace, perfect joy. No stress, no worries, no dangers from animals or anything else. Perfection.
Then sin entered the picture. Then came pain, stress, labor for Eve, work for Adam. I would have to believe tears in the eyes of Jesus as Adam and Eve were cast out of Eden. Fellowship broken. Like the prophet who looked into the eyes of a man and saw the horrors he would inflict on people. Jesus, even before they sinned, saw every human being who would ever be born in the eyes of Adam and Eve. Saw and knew their life story. Knowing that they were about to sin He was silent. Same as at Calvary as a lamb is silent it reads.
It still is amazing that people can think their behavior could ever surprise God. That their excuses for rejecting Jesus could ever have merit. In all the infinite attempts by man to reach God, only God could do the one and only thing possible to reach man.
As someone once said, everybody has their theology corrected when they die.
The most significant drawback to that statement is 100 percent of the people who rejected Christ know full well that their choice to reject Him is on them and there's now nothing they can do about it. They will be weeping and gnashing their teeth. They will be crying for all eternity, they will be in torment in Hell for all eternity. No way out. Many will be enraged for all eternity at the God of the Universe who told them all, while they yet lived, that they had a chance to choose Salvation in Christ.
Why go through all of this in this physical world? Time was meant for mankind, not for God. Scripture says that it's appointed unto man once to die then comes the judgment. Everyone has to die that has ever lived. It's as true a law of nature as the laws of gravity and thermodynamics.
My friend, you who believe that your life is either that good that you don't need Christ or you who believe that you are so bad that Christ would never want you, think again.
Long before this world was formed He knew all about you. Every millisecond of your life was counted and numbered. Every cell in your body accounted for. Every single firing of every synaptic brain cell function known before you were aware of it.
Yet Jesus chose to love you enough to die for you, in your place, so that you would not have to go to Hell.
People in way too many 'Churches' never hear the truth. That either you die and go to be with Jesus or you die and go to Hell, separated from Him.
It's a very sad truth that false Church's exist all over this world today. How can I say such a thing? Read the letters to the Church's in Revelation. There are thriving megachurches that are full of people who probably aren't saved. There are Churches of every size that are full of people who aren't saved. The 'do not offend' culture has long infected the Church. The Scriptures say the cross is going to offend people. Sugar coated cereal will never feed the body. True food feeds the body. Making people only feel good about themselves doesn't teach them about the harshness of life. Read Proverbs.
Jesus indeed knows all about you my friend, He is fully aware of everything about you and isn't turned off in the least. He is anxious to run to you and save you.
Stop with the buts. But you don't know! Doesn't matter. But I did... doesn't matter. But if you only knew...doesn't matter. Jesus is in the cleaning business when it comes to souls. Fishing at its finest. We catch them He cleans them. Doesn't matter how the fish is, He cleans them.
So before you try to say that you are too far gone, remember the true meaning behind the passage in Luke about leaving the 99 sheep in search of the one. Jesus is willing, unto His death, burial and resurrection, to go to any lengths necessary to find you, the one, who wandered away. Before you think that your life isn't that bad and you don't need to rely on Christ, remember the parable of the rich man. He was living at ease, but his income kept growing. Needed to plan out building bigger barns to hold what was coming in. He didn't consider at all that in that very night his soul would be required of him. He was in great health, prosperity, everything going great and was about to die. That can be you.
Don't think you can be all knowing enough to think you will be able to come to Christ before you die, after you have lived how you wanted to. Nobody's that good.
Only those with the breath of life in them can choose. Once that stops so is this limited time offer. Consider well that Jesus has been waiting all along, just for you, to say that you will open the door of your heart to Him. No decision you will ever make is as important. The rich man in torment in Hell absolutely did not want anyone he knew to be where he was. He begged Abraham to send word somehow back to the land of the living to warn people. Abraham said they all already have what they need to know to avoid joining him. Which now you do too.
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