What is the greatest thing that happened in your life?
Part
1 -Reconciliation-
Ge 28:12 And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up
on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God
ascending and descending on it.
What is the greatest thing that happened to your
life? If you are a Christian you may say, the greatest thing that happened in
my life is knowing God through Christ Jesus. Now that is correct, can you go a
little further and do you really see the meaning of it? Let me give you an
example so you can see what I really mean. If you had best friend that you
loved and enjoyed friendship so much, but a day came that you lost your
friendship and instead of friends you became hostile to each other, you became enemies.
But a time came that through someone else you were brought back to your friend
and friendship was restored back again for good. This is called reconciliation.
Remember the story of Joseph, how his brothers
hated him so much tried to kill him at the end sold him to Ishmaelites for
twenty shekels of silver. You know the story in Egypt Joseph being a slave then
put in prison, God exalted him to be the second to Pharaoh. When there was a
famine in
The enmity, hostility and hatred are gone and now
there is a deep intimate love and a fellowship, which will last forever. Now
you can answer my question correctly, the greatest thing that ever happened was
I was brought back to God through Christ Jesus, my relationship with God is
restored and he will be with me forever.
Man
had a perfect fellowship with God.
Ge 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the
image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
God created man in holiness and in righteousness,
perfect in nature and in knowledge of God. (See Col 3:10 and Eph 4:24)
The
fellowship was broken by sin.
Ge 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof
thou shalt surely die.
"For as by one mans disobedience many were
made sinners" (#Ro 5:19)
The fellowship/friendship was broken as sin entered
the human race, the first child of Adam was Cain and we see the fruit of sin,
as Cain was a murderer.
What does God require from man? The Ten
Commandments. The 10 Commandments shows the righteousness of God and God
requires everyone to obey all of the law to 100%, anything short of that is a
sinner. God does not give grades, even if you keep 99.9% still you are a
sinner, you fall short of the glory of God.
Ro 7:12 Wherefore the law is holy, and the
commandment holy, and just, and good.
13 Was then that which is good made death unto me?
God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that
which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.
Jas 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law,
and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
Ro 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the
glory of God.
When man tried to keep the 10 Commandments it truly
manifested his sinful nature.
Ro 5:20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence
might abound.
The law of God showed that we are truly sinners.
Ro 7:7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God
forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust,
except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.
1Jo 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
Gods
righteous anger.
Now who is offended by Mans sin? It is God the
Father. Man has disobeyed God and has come against the authority of God by
violating his righteous law. There fore God is angry with the sinners daily.
Ps 7:11 God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry
with the wicked every day.
This anger of God is not a sinful anger but a
righteous anger. God is holy and righteous without sin and God has every right
to become angry when he see how people have disobeyed him and have come against
his authority.
Jesus never sinned but had every right to become
angry when he saw the disobedience of men.
Mt 21:12 And Jesus went into the temple of God, and
cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables
of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves.
Mr 3:5 And when he had looked round about on them
with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the
man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was
restored whole as the other.
Today we hear many popular churches preaching that
God loves everyone, this is opposite to scripture, this is not the whole
counsel of God, and the truth is God is angry with the sinner. Some say God
hates sin but loves the sinner. This is not in scripture but the scripture
says, God is angry with the wicked.
God will punish those who disobey him.
2Th 1:8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know
not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction
from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.
Many are living a careless life. They hear the
dangers of sin but go on sinning. They are cold to the word of God. Young and
old both live looking for the pleasures of this life. They have no time to
study the word of God and to have fellowship with God. They spend a lot of
money for their food, clothes, makeup, and vitamins but take little care about
their salvation.
Here we see there are two parties angry at each
other, God with man and man hates the true living God. You may say that there
are many who love God.
Joh 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love
me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto
him, and make our abode with him.
24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and
the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.
Man does like a god who will compromise with sin and a
god who loves everyone, a god who will not punish sin. But the true living God
is a holy, righteous and a just God. He is a good judge where he will not allow
the lawbreakers to go out free.
We can never understand reconciliation if we do not
understand the above. We need to understand there is enmity between man and
God.
Ge 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the
woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou
shalt bruise his heel.
Here we see the first proclamation of the gospel.
There is going to be enmity between two seeds, Satans seed, which are all the
unbelievers, and the womans seed, which are all the true believers. That is why
the world persecuted the prophets. The true Christians will not compromise with
the world, if they compromise the world will love them and then we know that
they are not true Christians.
Joh 15:18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me
before it hated you.
Joh 15:19 If ye were of the world, the world would
love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of
the world, therefore the world hateth you.
Ro 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God:
for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
Reconciliation.
If you are a true Christian you can say the greatest
thing that happened in your life is reconciliation, I was not following God,
may be I had a form of religion but I truly was disobedient to God daily and
never had a true relationship with God but I realized how wicked I was in the
light of the 10 Commandments and God gave me the grace to repent and turn my
evil ways to him, and he brought me back to him, Jesus paid the price for me
and he brought me back to the Father, I was lost now I am found. If you are not
a Christian you can be reconciled to God by the grace of God alone by true
repentance.
We will continue on part two next week.