Remembering Gods Path to Salvation
After Adam and Eve fell, by eating of the tree which God had commanded them
not to eat of, all mankind was under the curse because all mankind came from
Adam and Eve.
We thank God that He didn’t leave us in that state, but He told the devil in
Genesis 3:14-15 “and the Lord God said to the serpent, because you have done
this, you are cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field, upon
your belly shall you go, and dust shall you eat all the days of your life. And I will
put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; it
shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel”.
Let us take a look at what state we were in at that point; because Adam could
only reproduce after his kind, and he was a fallen man. Looking at Ephesians 2:
1-10, we see our fallen state and how God made us alive; it says “and you have
He quickened (made alive) who were dead in trespasses and sins. Wherein in
time past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the
prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of
disobedience. Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the
lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by
nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for
His great love wherewith He loved us. Even when we were dead in sins, has
quickened us together with Christ, by grave you are saved. And has raised us
up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. That in
the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His
kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are you saved through
faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God. Not of works, less any man
should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to good
works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them”.
Just take a moment to meditate on that, and you will find, that the greatest
Christmas gift was given to us from our heavenly Father (John 3:16-18) “for God
so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes
in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into
the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.
He that believes in Him is not condemned; but he that believes not is condemned
already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of
God”.
God’s plan for mankind’s salvation was as He told Abraham in Genesis 12:2-3
“and I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name
great; and you shall be a blessing. And I will bless them that bless you, and
curse him that curses you; and in you shall all families of the earth be blessed”.
In Ephesians 2:12-19 we see that before we accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord
and our Savior we were without any covenant rights; it says “that at that time you
were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers
from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world.
But now in Christ Jesus you who sometimes were far off are made near by the
blood of Christ. For He is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken
down the middle wall of partition between us. Having abolished in His flesh the
enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in
Himself of two one new man, so making peace. And that He might reconcile both
to God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby. And came and
preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were near. For
through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. Now therefore you
are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of
the household of God.”
God has reconciled us to Himself through the death, burial and resurrection of
Jesus Christ; the perfect gift to whosoever will receive it (Romans 5:15-17) “but
not as the offense, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one
(Adam) many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which
is by one man, Jesus Christ, has abounded to many. And not as it was by one
that sinned, so is the gift; for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the
free gift is of many offences to justification. For if by one man’s offence (Adam)
death reigned by one, much more they which receive abundance of grace and of
the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by One, Jesus Christ”.
Many people in life are asking for the perfect Christmas gift, but they have not
received Jesus Christ which is the only perfect Christmas gift. When we
remember God’s path to salvation, and see that He gave it all, He paid the price
to redeem mankind, and to reconcile us back to the way we were before Adam’s
fall. Isaiah 53:3-6 says “He (Jesus) is despised and rejected of men; a man of
sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He
was despised, and we esteemed Him not. Surely He has borne our griefs, and
carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and
afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our
iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we
are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his
own way; and the Lord Yahweh has laid on Him the iniquity of us all”.
David speaking to himself, says “bless the Lord Yahweh, O my soul; and all that
is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord Yahweh, O my soul, and forget
not all His benefits. Who forgives all your iniquities; who heal all your diseases.
Who redeems your life from destruction; who crowns you with loving kindness
and tender mercies. Who satisfies your mouth with good things; so that your
youth is renewed like the eagle’s”.
It is good to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, but we should never forget the gift
that our heavenly Father gives to us. You see that God doesn’t want any to
perish, but that all should come to the knowledge of the truth; and Jesus says
Himself in John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man comes to the
Father but by Me”.
God’s path to salvation is for every one, but it will not be forced upon anyone.
God gave us the will to accept or reject it, but as He told Moses to teach the Israel’
s in Deuteronomy 30:15-20 “see, I have set before you this day life and good,
and death and evil. In that I command you this day to love the Lord Yahweh your
God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and
His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the Lord Yahweh your God
shall bless you in the land where you go to possess it. But if your heart turn
away, so that you will not hear, but shall be drawn away, and worship other gods,
and serve them. I denounce to you this day, that you shall surely perish, and
that you shall not prolong your days upon the land, where you pass over Jordan
to go to possess it. I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I
have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life,
that both you and your seed may live. That you may love the Lord Yahweh your
God, and that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him; for He is
your life, and the length of your days; that you may dwell in the land which the
Lord Yahweh swear to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give
them”.
This gift is available to everyone, and it is a gift that will never fade away; so let
us all receive the perfect gift that our heavenly Father has made the path for us
to receive.
Sermon by: Harriet Bond
Date: December 23, 2011
After Adam and Eve fell, by eating of the tree which God had commanded them
not to eat of, all mankind was under the curse because all mankind came from
Adam and Eve.
We thank God that He didn’t leave us in that state, but He told the devil in
Genesis 3:14-15 “and the Lord God said to the serpent, because you have done
this, you are cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field, upon
your belly shall you go, and dust shall you eat all the days of your life. And I will
put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; it
shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel”.
Let us take a look at what state we were in at that point; because Adam could
only reproduce after his kind, and he was a fallen man. Looking at Ephesians 2:
1-10, we see our fallen state and how God made us alive; it says “and you have
He quickened (made alive) who were dead in trespasses and sins. Wherein in
time past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the
prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of
disobedience. Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the
lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by
nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for
His great love wherewith He loved us. Even when we were dead in sins, has
quickened us together with Christ, by grave you are saved. And has raised us
up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. That in
the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His
kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are you saved through
faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God. Not of works, less any man
should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to good
works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them”.
Just take a moment to meditate on that, and you will find, that the greatest
Christmas gift was given to us from our heavenly Father (John 3:16-18) “for God
so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes
in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into
the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.
He that believes in Him is not condemned; but he that believes not is condemned
already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of
God”.
God’s plan for mankind’s salvation was as He told Abraham in Genesis 12:2-3
“and I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name
great; and you shall be a blessing. And I will bless them that bless you, and
curse him that curses you; and in you shall all families of the earth be blessed”.
In Ephesians 2:12-19 we see that before we accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord
and our Savior we were without any covenant rights; it says “that at that time you
were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers
from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world.
But now in Christ Jesus you who sometimes were far off are made near by the
blood of Christ. For He is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken
down the middle wall of partition between us. Having abolished in His flesh the
enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in
Himself of two one new man, so making peace. And that He might reconcile both
to God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby. And came and
preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were near. For
through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. Now therefore you
are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of
the household of God.”
God has reconciled us to Himself through the death, burial and resurrection of
Jesus Christ; the perfect gift to whosoever will receive it (Romans 5:15-17) “but
not as the offense, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one
(Adam) many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which
is by one man, Jesus Christ, has abounded to many. And not as it was by one
that sinned, so is the gift; for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the
free gift is of many offences to justification. For if by one man’s offence (Adam)
death reigned by one, much more they which receive abundance of grace and of
the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by One, Jesus Christ”.
Many people in life are asking for the perfect Christmas gift, but they have not
received Jesus Christ which is the only perfect Christmas gift. When we
remember God’s path to salvation, and see that He gave it all, He paid the price
to redeem mankind, and to reconcile us back to the way we were before Adam’s
fall. Isaiah 53:3-6 says “He (Jesus) is despised and rejected of men; a man of
sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He
was despised, and we esteemed Him not. Surely He has borne our griefs, and
carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and
afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our
iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we
are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his
own way; and the Lord Yahweh has laid on Him the iniquity of us all”.
David speaking to himself, says “bless the Lord Yahweh, O my soul; and all that
is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord Yahweh, O my soul, and forget
not all His benefits. Who forgives all your iniquities; who heal all your diseases.
Who redeems your life from destruction; who crowns you with loving kindness
and tender mercies. Who satisfies your mouth with good things; so that your
youth is renewed like the eagle’s”.
It is good to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, but we should never forget the gift
that our heavenly Father gives to us. You see that God doesn’t want any to
perish, but that all should come to the knowledge of the truth; and Jesus says
Himself in John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man comes to the
Father but by Me”.
God’s path to salvation is for every one, but it will not be forced upon anyone.
God gave us the will to accept or reject it, but as He told Moses to teach the Israel’
s in Deuteronomy 30:15-20 “see, I have set before you this day life and good,
and death and evil. In that I command you this day to love the Lord Yahweh your
God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and
His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the Lord Yahweh your God
shall bless you in the land where you go to possess it. But if your heart turn
away, so that you will not hear, but shall be drawn away, and worship other gods,
and serve them. I denounce to you this day, that you shall surely perish, and
that you shall not prolong your days upon the land, where you pass over Jordan
to go to possess it. I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I
have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life,
that both you and your seed may live. That you may love the Lord Yahweh your
God, and that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him; for He is
your life, and the length of your days; that you may dwell in the land which the
Lord Yahweh swear to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give
them”.
This gift is available to everyone, and it is a gift that will never fade away; so let
us all receive the perfect gift that our heavenly Father has made the path for us
to receive.
Sermon by: Harriet Bond
Date: December 23, 2011
