As good soldiers we must know what we believe in and how to “contend earnestly for the faith, (Jude 3). Let us begin with the basics. “”In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1).
“In the beginning was the WORD, and the WORD was with God, and the WORD was God.” ( Jo. 1:1). God spoke the worlds into existence through the WORD. Jesus Christ is the WORD of God incarnate. He is the “appointed heir of all things, through Whom He (God) also made the worlds;” (Heb.1:2).
He is the “express image” of the invisible God Who “upholds all things by the word of His power, (Who) when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,” (Heb.1: 3). “…by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, …all things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.” (Col. 1:16 & 17).
As the One Who sustains all creation, Jesus Christ holds enough credentials to substantiate His claim, not only as the Creator, but also His right to intervene in every activity of that creation. He is the beginning, the middle and the end of all things. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, (Jo. 14:6).
He is the WAY, (God’s method or means) of salvation and atonement for our sin. He embodies the TRUTH that settles the debate with Satan over our souls and every claim sin and death have made on them. He sounds the gavel of justice and closes the discussion on ‘what is truth’. He laid down His Life to gain everlasting life for whosoever would call upon Him. He has gone back to His homeland to prepare a place for us, (Jo. 14:1-2) an eternal home for the homeless and an everlasting place of rest for the weary, for those who would call upon Him.
Jesus Christ defines LIFE. In Him are contained all the codes for that life, including every genetic script for every form of life and its function throughout the universes. He is the author of all forms of life, past, future, and now, for He ever lives in the eternal NOW of forever.
There is no other god or force or demon that can compare to our God or defeat Him! “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name (or doctrine or method or gospel), given among men whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12). This is the simple Gospel and the truth for all men, for all time. This is the simple and complete Gospel of Jesus Christ.
In Him are restoration, life, grace, purpose, and peace, for even as He sustains all creation, He embodies all truth and gives value and purpose to those of His creatures who seek Him. But even as the simple is the profound, Paul’s fear has come true in that our “minds are being corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
The simple gospel of Jesus Christ has become profoundly perverted by the same serpent who provoked Eve’s innocence with his provocative and dubious, ‘did God say?’, (Gen. 3:1). Not much has changed. We are still being led away for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, crucified and risen, to follow many other jesus’ and their gospels of folly and self-serving gimmicks.
The things we are witnessing in these last days that present themselves as part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ are a shocking confirmation of God’s Words both through His prophets of old and the New Testament warnings of the disciples of Jesus Christ.
“Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore watch, and remember…I did not cease to warn everyone night an day with tears.” (Acts 20:28-31).
Jeremiah weeps to see the words of his day fully come to pass in ours. “An astonishing and horrible thing has been committed in the land: the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own power; and My people love to have it so. But what will you do in the end?” (Jer. 5:30-31).
PRAYER:
Lord, again, have mercy on us, for we have sinned greatly against You and Your truth. On every hand, in the church, in our land, in our nation and in our world, we have been consumed by the lie. “We lie down in our shame, and our reproach covers us. For we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.” (Jer. 3:25).
Open our eyes and cause us to see the evil that works in the very midst of us and cause us to weep over our sins, our rebellion, our hardness of heart and our disdain for the truth. Forgive us for we are truly in need of Your Mercy. Amen.
TO PONDER:
Knowing the truth, (the ability to recognize the truth without any other means then that which is already present within the individual), is intrinsic to those created in the image of God even as breathing is an innate, unlearned part of our natural life. “But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.” (I Jo. 2:20)
GREETINGS FAITHFUL WARRIORS!!!
JUST NOW COPIED YOUR BLOG AND LOOKING FORWARD TO SOME RICH READING. WILL PLAN
TO ATTEND SOME MEETINGS SOON…HAVE A YOUNG MAN IN MIND TO TAKE ALONG. I KNOW HE WOULD
LOVE YOUR TEACHING. JUST CROSSED PATHS WITH
TODD AGAIN RECENTLY AFTER LIKE CLOSE TO 20 YEARS. HE IS NOW A TEACHER AND HAS TONS OF
ENERGY TO SHARE.
I HAD SOME MEDICAL CARE RECENTLY GOING BACK
AWHILE, BUT NOW BEING RESTORED BY MY PRIMARY
“physician”. Will plan to bring others also, but they will be more in my age group.
GOD BLESS THE LIFE RECOVERY TEAMXOXOX
Dear Joyce,
Happy Thanksgiving. I was going through my blog and saw your comment from last Jan. Stay in touch. We love you. Pray for us for open doors and ministry opportunities. These are glorious and very dark days, when our light shines ever brighter.
In Him,
Marjorie Cole