R
Rick C. Hodgin
Guest
Being good isn't enough. Being great isn't enough. Being the best person
you can possibly be isn't enough. Why?
Every religion except Biblical Christianity teaches that you can be saved by
your own works, by your own merits, by doing certain rituals or by achieving
some kind of attainment level on your own.
Only Biblical Christianity teaches that you cannot redeem yourself, that
because sin exists and because you are a sinner, the taint of that sin state
remains on you, such that no matter how many good deeds you do, no matter
what kind of good or great person you are or later become in life, it would
still never be enough to wipe clean the stain of sin from you. That stain
is a stain of history, an event that did happen, and it can't be undone by
good works.
The only way for that stain of sin, and the subsequent requirement of a real
judgment by a Holy, Holy, Holy eternal God maintaining order in His eternal
Kingdom, is to have that sin completely transferred to another so that it
never even appeared on you. And this is something only God can do because
He is eternal, and not bound to time as we are.
Jesus walked the Earth 2,000 years ago, yet His death on the cross back then
sets us free even today because God supernaturally reaches into those who
have put their faith in Him and grabs hold of that sin and transfers it to
Him, so that we are left sin free (like it never even happened).
Jesus becomes filthy with our sin, and we receive His spotless perfect
righteousness.
Jesus did this willingly because He loves us. We are not taking from Him
when we are made whole in this way, but rather He came to the Earth to die
in our place for this very reason (because we couldn't redeem ourselves).
He even prayed just before the final events of His time on Earth took
place, asking God, who can do all things, if there was any other way. I
believe Jesus knew there wasn't, but it was given to us as a witness so
that we too would realize there was no other way:
http://biblehub.com/kjv/matthew/26-39.htm
39 And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed,
saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from
me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.
It's also recorded that God was with Him continually during His passion,
such that even in this moment when Jesus asked that if it be possible for
the cup to pass from Him, God sent an angel to pray with Him and to give
Him strength in His Hour:
http://biblehub.com/kjv/luke/22-43.htm
43 And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening
him.
Can you imagine the prayer? Jesus being God, praying in the native
language of God. And to be a prayer angel, knowing exactly what to
say, being guided by God the Father into all right words. It's just
amazing to consider.
-----
This was always God's intent, that He would come and pay the price of our
sin, for all who would put their faith and trust in Him. It's our second
chance at redemption, since we were lost with the fall of Adam and Even
and their sin, such that with their sin, sin itself entered into the world,
and death with sin:
http://biblehub.com/kjv/romans/5-12.htm
12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by
sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
So was Jesus manifested to undo sin:
15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through
the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and
the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded
unto many.
-----
While in Egypt, the Jews were given a command by God: The Passover.
It remains to this day an annual ritual and celebration whereby they, in
a very deliberate and particular manner, prepare a sacrificial animal, and
in a very deliberate and particular way, consume the food, using also the
blood as paint marks on their door posts, signifying to God that they are
trusting in Him.
It relates back to the plagues of God against Egypt when Pharaoh wouldn't
let God's people go. All of God's people were saved by the blood of the
sacrificial lamb:
Pharaoh refuses to let God's people go in Exodus 5 through 11:
http://biblehub.com/kjv/exodus/5.htm
10th Plague, death of all firstborn males:
http://biblehub.com/kjv/exodus/11.htm
Explicit instructions given by God for the Passover, so that their
sons would not be killed:
http://biblehub.com/kjv/exodus/12.htm
The blood of the sacrificial lambs (one per household or small group)
used in the Passover by the people of Israel had no redeeming power. But
it was a sign of the future covenant that God Himself would send His own
sacrificial lamb, the Real Sacrificial Lamb, to make the Passover eternal,
and not an annual ritual of reminder and looking forward to that future
coming Messiah, but it would be of the Messiah Himself.
Jesus is that Passover Lamb.
He Himself was sacrificed, and it was His blood used not on our door
posts, but in Heaven in something called the Mercy Seat. This act of
self-sacrifice and love appeased God such that He is no longer angry
because of sin, but that because Jesus paid the price of sin, as God
poured out full strength His punishment upon His own Son in our place
so that we could be set free.
And now, and for all time (even for the Jews, who today are blinded to
Jesus Christ being the Messiah because they rejected Him when He first
came to the Earth, but at some point God has promised to remove those
blinders), those who put their faith and trust in Him have their sins
forgiven and covered by His sacrifice. And because He was God and was
able to raise Himself from the dead, all who put their faith and trust
in Him will raise from the dead with Him into eternal life.
-----
Jesus is the fulfillment of God's plan of redemption for man from the
sting of sin. He calls out now to all people world-wide asking them
to come and take freely from that which He has to give:
(1) Forgiveness of sin.
(2) Eternal life.
(3) A body like that of the angels (perfect, never again, not tired).
(4) And the best part: to be with Him forever in the paradise of God.
He's offers it to all people. And all who receive His offer are set free
from sin, free from judgment, free from damnation, and are restored to
the full creations God created us to be, no longer of this mere limited
form seen here in this sinful world, but the full creations of God, made
in His image and likeness, such that we are even as He is.
-----
Jesus is love. He is forgiveness. He is the way to Heaven. He is the
truth of God. He is the life and light of men. He makes the impossible
possible, and He calls out to each of us.
Come to Him and ask Him to forgive your multitude of sins. He will forgive
every last one, no matter what you've done or to whom. He has the power
and authority to forgive you, and He's only waiting for you to come to Him
and ask for forgiveness. I pray you do. I would like to see you in Heaven.
Best regards,
Rick C. Hodgin
you can possibly be isn't enough. Why?
Every religion except Biblical Christianity teaches that you can be saved by
your own works, by your own merits, by doing certain rituals or by achieving
some kind of attainment level on your own.
Only Biblical Christianity teaches that you cannot redeem yourself, that
because sin exists and because you are a sinner, the taint of that sin state
remains on you, such that no matter how many good deeds you do, no matter
what kind of good or great person you are or later become in life, it would
still never be enough to wipe clean the stain of sin from you. That stain
is a stain of history, an event that did happen, and it can't be undone by
good works.
The only way for that stain of sin, and the subsequent requirement of a real
judgment by a Holy, Holy, Holy eternal God maintaining order in His eternal
Kingdom, is to have that sin completely transferred to another so that it
never even appeared on you. And this is something only God can do because
He is eternal, and not bound to time as we are.
Jesus walked the Earth 2,000 years ago, yet His death on the cross back then
sets us free even today because God supernaturally reaches into those who
have put their faith in Him and grabs hold of that sin and transfers it to
Him, so that we are left sin free (like it never even happened).
Jesus becomes filthy with our sin, and we receive His spotless perfect
righteousness.
Jesus did this willingly because He loves us. We are not taking from Him
when we are made whole in this way, but rather He came to the Earth to die
in our place for this very reason (because we couldn't redeem ourselves).
He even prayed just before the final events of His time on Earth took
place, asking God, who can do all things, if there was any other way. I
believe Jesus knew there wasn't, but it was given to us as a witness so
that we too would realize there was no other way:
http://biblehub.com/kjv/matthew/26-39.htm
39 And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed,
saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from
me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.
It's also recorded that God was with Him continually during His passion,
such that even in this moment when Jesus asked that if it be possible for
the cup to pass from Him, God sent an angel to pray with Him and to give
Him strength in His Hour:
http://biblehub.com/kjv/luke/22-43.htm
43 And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening
him.
Can you imagine the prayer? Jesus being God, praying in the native
language of God. And to be a prayer angel, knowing exactly what to
say, being guided by God the Father into all right words. It's just
amazing to consider.
-----
This was always God's intent, that He would come and pay the price of our
sin, for all who would put their faith and trust in Him. It's our second
chance at redemption, since we were lost with the fall of Adam and Even
and their sin, such that with their sin, sin itself entered into the world,
and death with sin:
http://biblehub.com/kjv/romans/5-12.htm
12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by
sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
So was Jesus manifested to undo sin:
15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through
the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and
the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded
unto many.
-----
While in Egypt, the Jews were given a command by God: The Passover.
It remains to this day an annual ritual and celebration whereby they, in
a very deliberate and particular manner, prepare a sacrificial animal, and
in a very deliberate and particular way, consume the food, using also the
blood as paint marks on their door posts, signifying to God that they are
trusting in Him.
It relates back to the plagues of God against Egypt when Pharaoh wouldn't
let God's people go. All of God's people were saved by the blood of the
sacrificial lamb:
Pharaoh refuses to let God's people go in Exodus 5 through 11:
http://biblehub.com/kjv/exodus/5.htm
10th Plague, death of all firstborn males:
http://biblehub.com/kjv/exodus/11.htm
Explicit instructions given by God for the Passover, so that their
sons would not be killed:
http://biblehub.com/kjv/exodus/12.htm
The blood of the sacrificial lambs (one per household or small group)
used in the Passover by the people of Israel had no redeeming power. But
it was a sign of the future covenant that God Himself would send His own
sacrificial lamb, the Real Sacrificial Lamb, to make the Passover eternal,
and not an annual ritual of reminder and looking forward to that future
coming Messiah, but it would be of the Messiah Himself.
Jesus is that Passover Lamb.
He Himself was sacrificed, and it was His blood used not on our door
posts, but in Heaven in something called the Mercy Seat. This act of
self-sacrifice and love appeased God such that He is no longer angry
because of sin, but that because Jesus paid the price of sin, as God
poured out full strength His punishment upon His own Son in our place
so that we could be set free.
And now, and for all time (even for the Jews, who today are blinded to
Jesus Christ being the Messiah because they rejected Him when He first
came to the Earth, but at some point God has promised to remove those
blinders), those who put their faith and trust in Him have their sins
forgiven and covered by His sacrifice. And because He was God and was
able to raise Himself from the dead, all who put their faith and trust
in Him will raise from the dead with Him into eternal life.
-----
Jesus is the fulfillment of God's plan of redemption for man from the
sting of sin. He calls out now to all people world-wide asking them
to come and take freely from that which He has to give:
(1) Forgiveness of sin.
(2) Eternal life.
(3) A body like that of the angels (perfect, never again, not tired).
(4) And the best part: to be with Him forever in the paradise of God.
He's offers it to all people. And all who receive His offer are set free
from sin, free from judgment, free from damnation, and are restored to
the full creations God created us to be, no longer of this mere limited
form seen here in this sinful world, but the full creations of God, made
in His image and likeness, such that we are even as He is.
-----
Jesus is love. He is forgiveness. He is the way to Heaven. He is the
truth of God. He is the life and light of men. He makes the impossible
possible, and He calls out to each of us.
Come to Him and ask Him to forgive your multitude of sins. He will forgive
every last one, no matter what you've done or to whom. He has the power
and authority to forgive you, and He's only waiting for you to come to Him
and ask for forgiveness. I pray you do. I would like to see you in Heaven.
Best regards,
Rick C. Hodgin