GSI Articles:
God's Gospel
Good News
for Children & PhD's
Profoundly Simple
Profound enough for any PhD
Simple enough for any Child
© Sid Galloway BS, M.Div.
Just an old sheepdog of the Good Shepherd
Genesis 1:1
Communicating conclusions from 100's of PhD scholars (& children)
Supporting the authority of His Word
& the consistency of His character
Human Rights? Slavery? - Animal Rights? Cruelty?
What about God's right to command compassion for all of His creatures?
As simple as 1, 2, 3
** For a more extensive overview of the Gospel, etc see: GSI Beliefs
God the Father's Son, Jesus,
became a human to do three necessary things for us personally:
# 1 - Jesus, God incarnate, lived a perfect human life, that we can't live. He is the Word (GK - Logos), our Creator, our Good Shepherd, and Sustainer.
# 2 - Jesus paid the consequence for human rebellion against God's Law. Selfishness is a choice to separate from Him and His Way.
# 3 - Jesus overcame death, proving He is the Savior, the Rescuer, of any who would submit in faith to Him and His Way of Holy Love.
# 1 - We can't be good enough
Have you ever done anything wrong?
Lied? Thrown a fit? Said hurtful words to another person? Lusted for another person's spouse?
Jesus said, "You must be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect." Matthew 5:48
James said, "If you keep the whole Law and yet stumble in one point, you are guilty of all of it." James 3:2
Paul says, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
Romans 3:23
So the Bible, God's Word, says that none of us can live good enough to earn the right to enter God's perfect Kingdom. Jesus, however, came and lived it for us.
"Jesus the Son of God, . . . . was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin." Hebrews 4:15
Sin is an attitude of the heart that chooses to be its own authority, rejecting the full authority of God. It is a choice to place oneself out from under the protective provision of God's loving hand of authority and guidance:
"Humble yourselves therefore under the mightly hand of God, casting all your worries on Him because He cares for you. Be sober and careful for your enemy the Devil prowls about like a roaring lion seeking someone to destroy." 1 Peter 5:7-9
# 2 - Our rebellion has consequences
What do you think is God's response to our rebellion against Him and His Way of Holy Love?
Paul says, "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23
The "Second" Death is separation from God's Kingdom of goodness. Separation from the only self-existent Being results in destruction of both body and soul.
Jesus emphasized that the effect of the Second Death would:
". . . destroy both body and soul in hell."Matthew 10:28"[God/Jesus] . . . holds all things together." Colossians 1:17
"These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power . . ."
2 Thessalonians 1:9"Then the Lord God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever - therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life."
Genesis 3:22-24"Blessed [are] they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city."
Revelation 22:14"And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment." 1 John 3:23
Dr. John Piper on the consequence of total separation from God:
"If all that is not God came into being at the word of God then it follows that every second of our existence is owing to the word of God. The Biblical teaching is that no creature has a principle of ongoing existence in itself apart from God's perpetual preservation. Hebrews 1:3 says that Christ "reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of his nature, upholding the universe by his word of power. If God should ever cease to address your body and soul with the command, "Be!", you would cease to be. The only barrier between you and nothingness is the word of God. Have we even begun to plumb the depths of that saying "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God" (Matt. 4:4, Deut. 8:3)!" [Emphasis added]http://www.soundofgrace.com/piper81/100481m.htm
Dr. Jonathan Sarfati on God holding the Universe together:
"At the same time that God judged sin with death, He withdrew some of His sustaining power. Romans 8:22 tells us that the whole of creation is groaning and travailing in pain. Everything is running down because of sin. God has given us a taste of life without Him—a world full of violence, death, suffering and disease. If God withdrew “all” of His sustaining power, the creation would cease to exist. Colossians 1:16–17 tells us that all things are held together, right now, by the power of the Creator, the Lord Jesus Christ. However, in one sense He is not holding it together perfectly, as He is deliberately letting things fall apart to give us a taste of what life is like without God. In other words, God is allowing us to experience what we wanted—life without God (cf. Romans 1:18–32).” [Emphasis added]
http://creation.com/why-is-there-death-and-suffering
Dr. John MacArthur on Christ bearing separation for us on the Cross :
". . . Philippians 2:5-8 . . . . [Jesus] did not empty Himself of His deity or He would have ceased to exist." [Emphasis added]
http://www.biblebb.com/files/MAC/50-16.htm
Jesus loved us so much that He bore the punishment of separation for us. God's Son was separated from God the Father for the first time in eternity, to pay for our sin.
Romans 5:8 says, "For God demonstrates His own love for us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
Isaiah 53:5-6 says, "He was wounded for our transgressions . . . .
All we like sheep have gone astray, everyone to his own way,
And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all."
Self-serving rebellion in the heart says, "I don't need a Savior from sin". God will honor that choice and separate absolutely at the final judgment from all who reject His free gift of salvation:
"The Lord is not slack concerning [His] promise, as some count slackness, but is patient toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9
"But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 2 Peter 3:10.
"Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner [of persons] ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness....”
2 Peter 3:11-12
The final judgment is described in the Revelation as the Lake of Fire:
"And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." Revelation 20:14-15
The old creation will pass away and God will provide a new creation without sin and suffering for those who choose Him and His way of unselfish, holy love.
"Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away." Luke 21:33
"Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature:
old things are passed away; ... all things are become new."
2 Corinthians 5:17"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away ...." Revelation 21:1
# 3 - We can't be our own boss (authority) or Rescuer
That's how Adam and Eve got into trouble in the Garden of Eden.
"Then the serpent said to the woman, You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
Genesis 3:4-5
Lucifer's lie is that we can be our own authority, and choose for ourselves what we think is right and wrong. But God alone is worthy to be KING, the only Being with the wisdom, power, and goodness to KNOW what is truly right and wrong in the long run. Therefore, the only way to enter His KINGDOM is to let go of pride and humbly submit to Him, trusting His self-sacrificial work on the Cross as His way to reconciliation.
Proverbs 14:12 says, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but it's end is the way of death."
Jesus said, "I AM the Way and the Truth, and the Life.
No man comes to the Father, except through Me."
(John 14:6)
Just believing some things about Jesus is not the same as believing in Him.
James 2:19 says, "even the demons believe . . . and shudder."
The demons believe a lot about Him, but won't submit to Him in love. The Greek New Testament term for submit is hypo-tasso, meaning "under-rank". The issue is one of authority - who rules - you or your Creator.
1 John 5:13 says, "These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life."
"And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." Revelation 21:4
"Blessed [are] they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city."Revelation 22:14
"And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment." 1 John 3:23
The "NAME" of Jesus refers to His authority. His name, "Yeshua",
in Hebrew means God-Savior. So believing in His name means to submit to His Lordship, trusting His perfect human life, His finished payment on the cross, and His promise to save all who call on Him.
Just wanting to avoide the final judgment is not enough. You must genuinely want Jesus to save you from your own sinful selfish nature? Do you want Him to take over your life and begin the work of changing you, including the discipline you need here on this old earth to help you turn away from old habits? (Philippians 1:6; Hebrews 12:1-12)?
Jesus commands,
"Repent for the King-dom of Heaven is at hand." Mat 4:17
To repent means to turn the direction of your heart away from self as king, to Jesus as LORD (King/boss/authority) over your thoughts, words, & actions - now and forever. The choice is yours - its simple but not easy for our pride.
Will you submit in faith
to Jesus
as your Savior
and your King ?
