I have been reading a book called, "Classic Christianity," by Bob George. It explains what Jesus did for us on the Cross. I have always been grateful for how Jesus sacrificed himself for the forgiveness of sins for the whole world, but I didn't really understand how that could be.
Bob George has a really tight grip on what Christianity means. There is only one place in his book that I do not agree with, and that is being gay is a sin. I really cannot believe that. I feel that this man has done a great deal of good works, but has a ways to go as far as understanding God's will, (as do we all). So when I read books like this, I always take it with a grain of salt, but I read them because I, too, am searching for a clearer understanding of God's will.
I obviously couldn't relate the entire book to you on this little blog, but I will tell you what I learned most from it.
When Adam disobeyed God, that made the entire human race become, "spiritually dead." We were not relying on God's will to guide our lives, anymore. We used our free will to decide to stop listening to God's will. Since then, man has been sinning. Even when following The Ten Commandments to the tee, we were still sinners. There is nothing we can do to stop sinning because of our very nature. We were separated from God by our own doing.
So God in His grace, gave us Jesus, the bridge back to God. He was the only man on Earth to be born without that original sin. He was/is the perfect human being. He was, "in" God, and God's will was the only will He followed. He was like Adam was in the Garden of Eden. And like Adam, changed the whole world.
God put all of our sins onto Jesus, and then Jesus was killed. To God, our sins have been forgiven; dealt with. We keep sinning, but God has forgiven us for all of our sins. When that finally sinks in, we realize that we can stop begging God for forgiveness and begin trying to hear His will again. When we hear and listen to His will with our hearts, not just our minds, His Commandments are naturally obeyed.
What stands out the most here for me, at least right now, is that the whole world was changed by Jesus, just as it was changed by Adam. We are closer to being like Adam and Eve in the Garden than ever, and I am so excited about that! If you really think about it, the world has gotten better since Jesus. People have become more and more concerned about their fellow man as the ages go by.
So, THAT IS THE GOOD NEWS! I used to wonder why Jesus being killed on the Cross could be good news, but now I understand. Everything between God and man has changed for the better, and has been for the last 2,000 years. God just wants us to come back to Him. He wants us to live in, "Eden," again with Him, but we must choose to listen to carry out His divine will of love and peace.
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2 comments:
Good post.
As usual..good writing Allison. I am only echoing our pastor, but it falls in line with what you are saying. Many people want to think that we are born good. That we are good by nature.However..Pastor proved this to be wrong with the simple example that we don't have to teach our children how to throw a temper tantrum (etc.). They do this naturally. There are so many instances where our children prove we are naughty by nature and it is up to us to try to turn them into "good" human beings.
As far as forgivness..it is almost too good to be true. So hard to really wrap your brain around. The fact that you can do heinus (sp) acts and as long as you profess Jesus Christ as your Savior and truly believe it, he will forgive you of all and any sins. The concept of humans forgiving one another is also difficult. We hear people forgiving those who have murdered their child etc. And we think, how can they do that? OUr pastor also said recently that God wants us to forgive as freely as he has done for us. That we should give forgivness out, however, that doesn't mean you should trust the thief who stole from you...you should forgive him though. It is also important to teach children at an early age about forgivness. My children and the children at my preschool have to not only apologize, but ask the person they hurt to forgive them. It is pretty powerful. You should hear my little 2 year old insist that her brother asks her for forgivness. I am also careful to ask my children for forgivness after I have wronged them as well. Hope I didn't get too off topic!
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