October 28th 2018
Are You Ready For The Trip To Heaven With Jesus?
1John 1:10 (NIV)
If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
Many people seem to think they are good people, and therefore, they deserve to go to heaven when they die. Usually they compare themselves to other people and decide they are above average, and thus they should be considered by God to be good enough to go to heaven when they die. Do you believe a person can go to heaven when they die, because they were good enough during their life? Do you believe God somehow owes them consideration for heaven, because they were basically a good person when they lived? If you are good enough, then you do not need to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, in order to go to heaven when you die. This seems to be how some people think, and thus, they do not feel any need for a Savior! In the selected verse, John wrote about this type of thinking, and thus “we make him (God) out to be a liar.” The Bible makes it very clear that we are all sinners, and therefore, we MUST have a Savior, or we will go to hell when we die!
Read from Isaiah about how it was before Jesus came into this world to offer us salvation through what He did! You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember your ways. But when we continued to sin against them, you were angry. How then can we be saved? All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. (Isaiah 64:5-6). Did you get that, “all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” to God when we present ourselves to God without being accompanied by the Savior! Before Jesus came onto this world as our Savior, people had to offer burnt sacrifices as a covering for their sins. In doing this there still was no guarantee that such offering would guarantee them entrance into heaven when they died! Only Christianity offers such a guarantee, because Jesus paid the entrance fee, so to speak, for His followers to enter heaven when they die.
Jesus told us about this salvation situation when He still walked this earth as the God/man. Nicodemus asked Jesus about how Jesus was performing many miracles and what the end result of His ministry was! In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no-one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." (John 3:3). Jesus’ answer confused him, and he asked how a person could be born again. All of us are born into this cursed world as mortal beings, and we are all descendants of Adam, and we inherit a sinful nature because of the curse. Therefore, we must be born again through Jesus Christ to save our immortal soul. Paul wrote about this offer to be born again through Christ. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. (1Corinthians 15:21-22).
Paul also wrote about this saving grace which will be given to all those who claim it by believing that Jesus Christ is their Savior. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no-one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:8-10). We are born again when we believe that Jesus has died for our sins, and thus we start a new life as followers of Jesus Christ. This is sometimes noted as being twice born! If you have been born again then you have been changed from someone who is destined to go to hell when you die to knowing your immortal soul is destined to go to heaven when you die to this life! Therefore, you are immediately a new creation, and will live a blessed life from that moment. From that moment on we can confidently pray knowing that our prayers are heard by God. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. (1John 5:14)
It is possible for disciples of Jesus to feel confident about our long-term future, as we know our immortal soul will spend eternity with Jesus Christ in heaven. This should give us a peace that passes all understanding that Paul wrote about. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7). In this lifetime we may have many responsibilities, but the most important one is for you to take on Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. This is the main purpose for this lifetime we are granted by our Creator God! If you die without Jesus as your Lord and Savior, your immortal soul will spend eternity in hell!
Everyone starts life as a sinful being, as we all inherit a sinful nature from Adam, placed there by that original sin committed in the perfect Garden of Eden! Therefore, no one is viewed by God as sinless. No one is good enough to go to heaven until they are born again! Hell is a real place originally created for Satan and his followers, before Adam committed that first or original sin! There is only one way to avoid going to hell when you die. "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going." Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:1-6)
Jesus said, “I am going there (to heaven) to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” Are you ready for the trip to heaven with Jesus?
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
1John 1:10 (NIV)
If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
Many people seem to think they are good people, and therefore, they deserve to go to heaven when they die. Usually they compare themselves to other people and decide they are above average, and thus they should be considered by God to be good enough to go to heaven when they die. Do you believe a person can go to heaven when they die, because they were good enough during their life? Do you believe God somehow owes them consideration for heaven, because they were basically a good person when they lived? If you are good enough, then you do not need to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, in order to go to heaven when you die. This seems to be how some people think, and thus, they do not feel any need for a Savior! In the selected verse, John wrote about this type of thinking, and thus “we make him (God) out to be a liar.” The Bible makes it very clear that we are all sinners, and therefore, we MUST have a Savior, or we will go to hell when we die!
Read from Isaiah about how it was before Jesus came into this world to offer us salvation through what He did! You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember your ways. But when we continued to sin against them, you were angry. How then can we be saved? All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. (Isaiah 64:5-6). Did you get that, “all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” to God when we present ourselves to God without being accompanied by the Savior! Before Jesus came onto this world as our Savior, people had to offer burnt sacrifices as a covering for their sins. In doing this there still was no guarantee that such offering would guarantee them entrance into heaven when they died! Only Christianity offers such a guarantee, because Jesus paid the entrance fee, so to speak, for His followers to enter heaven when they die.
Jesus told us about this salvation situation when He still walked this earth as the God/man. Nicodemus asked Jesus about how Jesus was performing many miracles and what the end result of His ministry was! In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no-one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." (John 3:3). Jesus’ answer confused him, and he asked how a person could be born again. All of us are born into this cursed world as mortal beings, and we are all descendants of Adam, and we inherit a sinful nature because of the curse. Therefore, we must be born again through Jesus Christ to save our immortal soul. Paul wrote about this offer to be born again through Christ. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. (1Corinthians 15:21-22).
Paul also wrote about this saving grace which will be given to all those who claim it by believing that Jesus Christ is their Savior. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no-one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:8-10). We are born again when we believe that Jesus has died for our sins, and thus we start a new life as followers of Jesus Christ. This is sometimes noted as being twice born! If you have been born again then you have been changed from someone who is destined to go to hell when you die to knowing your immortal soul is destined to go to heaven when you die to this life! Therefore, you are immediately a new creation, and will live a blessed life from that moment. From that moment on we can confidently pray knowing that our prayers are heard by God. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. (1John 5:14)
It is possible for disciples of Jesus to feel confident about our long-term future, as we know our immortal soul will spend eternity with Jesus Christ in heaven. This should give us a peace that passes all understanding that Paul wrote about. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7). In this lifetime we may have many responsibilities, but the most important one is for you to take on Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. This is the main purpose for this lifetime we are granted by our Creator God! If you die without Jesus as your Lord and Savior, your immortal soul will spend eternity in hell!
Everyone starts life as a sinful being, as we all inherit a sinful nature from Adam, placed there by that original sin committed in the perfect Garden of Eden! Therefore, no one is viewed by God as sinless. No one is good enough to go to heaven until they are born again! Hell is a real place originally created for Satan and his followers, before Adam committed that first or original sin! There is only one way to avoid going to hell when you die. "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going." Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:1-6)
Jesus said, “I am going there (to heaven) to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” Are you ready for the trip to heaven with Jesus?
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
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