From 1 Corinthians 1:18, “For the word of the Cross is folly to those who are perishing; but to us who are being saved, it is the Power of God.” (emphasis mine – ESV)
Galatians 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh, I live by the Faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
Matthew 10:38-39, “And whoever does not take up his cross and follow Me, is not worthy of Me. Whoever finds his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for My sake, will find it.”
Colossians 2:13-14, “Any you, who were dead in your trespasses, and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with Him; having forgiven us all our trespasses; [How?] by cancelling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This He set aside, nailing it to the cross.”
Please note, those who have Jesus have the forgiveness. Those who refuse to call on Him will account for every sin they ever commit on this earth.
Philippians 2:8-11, “And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by being obedient to the point of death, [also John 10:18] even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name; so that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth; and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.”
And yes, this includes Satan who will bow and confess before beginning his eternity of torment. Jesus became lower than the angels for a time (Hebrews 2:9), but only until the perfect sacrifice was completed for us. Then He took His rightful place on His throne at the right hand of the Father (Acts 7:55-56; Romans 8:34; Ephesians 1:20; Colossians 3:1 and Hebrews 1:3 as examples).
Peter wrote in 1 Peter 2:22-24, “He committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth. When He was maligned, He did not answer back; when He suffered, He threatened no retaliation, but committed Himself to God who judges justly. He Himself bore our [my] sins in His body on the tree, that we may cease from sinning and live for righteousness. By His wounds you were healed.”
One point to be made here: He gave us the gift of a true pathway to eternal life for all who will accept and receive the gift given at Calvary. He is fully aware that as long as we are in our human bodies on this earth, we will slip and sin. John covered our way to forgiveness in 1 John 1:8-10. We still confess what we have done, and ask His forgiveness. Without the Son, the Father will not forgive (John 3:18; 1 John 5:12). That’s the unforgiveable sin, to leave this earth never having accepted Jesus as Savior. This is blaspheming the Holy Spirit by denying a part of the Trinity, the Son of God. When a person denies Jesus, they’re denying the whole Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It’s an all-or-nothing offer that is made to everyone on this earth.
There are so many who would rather believe Satan’s lies because he tells them what they want to hear.
‘All lifestyles are perfectly all right; there are many ways to heaven without Jesus; you’ve got plenty of time to seek Jesus later; and his favorite – Did God Really Say?’ The love of power and money has turned many previously good pastors into false prophets. Suddenly, they don’t see a problem with all the alternate lifestyles that God calls abominations. They preach to the ego rather than the soul. Meanwhile, they travel about in their private jets and “enjoy” their huge bank accounts.
Romans 8:1, “There is therefore, now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:8, “Those who are in the flesh, cannot please God.” Romans 8:10, “But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is your life because of righteousness.”
This earthly body we are in is meant to be shed and forever changed to one that will last through all of eternity. 1 Corinthians 15:53, “For this perishable body must put on the imperishable; and this mortal body must put on immortality.” We will have bodies, and a mindset, that is free from corruption and sin, and it will last forever.
Likewise, all those who appear at the Great White Throne Judgment – Revelation 20:11-15 – will have immortal forever bodies, but designed to live in torment forever with absolutely no relief. False prophets who tell you that God will not send anyone to hell, or will not leave them there, are wrong. First, God does not “send” anyone to hell, and would rather that all would change and accept Jesus so they could be eternally saved (2 Peter 3:9). He will allow free will to any who choose not to receive the gift, and to be separated from Him forever.
A 2002 song by Marty Funderburk has a very deep message. It’s been performed by numerous artists, and I would like to just give the chorus:
“Calvary calls me to surrender; Calvary calls me to obey. Into a dying world it calls me, to be a light along the way. For the Cross demands allegiance; I’ll give nothing less than all. I’ll answer, ‘Here Am I,’ when Calvary calls.”
With everything that’s happening in this world today, we all need Hope; and mine is in the form of Jesus the Christ. With all the opportunities I had in my earlier years to call on Him, I let Him down in so many ways. God gave me more than enough chances; and truth be known, He would’ve been justified in turning me over to the evil one. I know I had prayer warriors constantly asking the Father to please keep trying. I do the same for all our loved ones today. One day, I believe the Holy Spirit made one more plea that I finally heeded. It started out just as an impulse, but after a few minutes, I found myself telling Jesus I knew I had disappointed Him in so many ways. I knew I could never be perfect on this earth, but also knew my eternal destiny changed for the better that day.
God loves us so much that He offered His Son to be our Savior (John 3:16-18 and Romans 5:8). There is nothing we can do to earn that gift, and no earthly price can we give to buy it.
Our only response is to receive the gift and accept Jesus as our Savior. Calvary called, and He answered for us. He took the punishment and pain that rightfully is ours. He even had to experience a moment of separation, for the first time ever, from the Father. It was at the moment that every sin that would ever happen on this earth was laid on our “Perfect Sacrificial Lamb.” God is pure and holy, and had to turn away as our Savior’s sin-free blood covered those sins (Psalm 22:2 and Matthew 27:46). That is, it covered all those sins of those who truly confess they are sinners; believe and have faith that Jesus’ death on the cross was for all of us; ask Him for forgiveness and to be our Savior. We also have faith that God raised Him on that third day to show that sin and death had been conquered once and for all (Romans 10:9-13).
As I have pointed out many times, is it hard to understand that anyone who rejects Jesus will be rejecting the Father? The entire Trinity was present at the creation of this earth; present through everything that happened all the way to Calvary; and still is present today. Our God, His Son and the Holy Spirit will be there when this earth passes, and the new Heaven and Earth are created. This time, there will be no sin allowed in the new world. Everyone there will finally be just as Jesus is – totally sin- free.
WE are seeing more events going on in this world that could be, as Jesus described them, “Birthing Pains.” Eventually, any day now, our Deliverer will call up all true believers to meet Him in the clouds, in the air. We will be spared from the upcoming wrath that will be worse than anything that has ever occurred on this earth. He said in Luke 21:28 that when we see these signs taking place, to look up. He said our redemption is drawing near. Everything He spoke of, and all the other prophetic authors spoke of, are here, and they are more prominent than ever before.
To gamble with your eternal soul is a very poor choice to make. When Jesus said, “It is Finished” (John 19:30), He was saying that all that had to be done was complete. Calvary called; Jesus willingly answered (John 10:18), and He made the pathway open to all who would be a part of His Flock (John 10:16). The choice is totally up to you, and no one can make it for you. It’s either Jesus or Satan – no third option. Satan is the master of deceit, and knows what lies ahead in his future. He is just arrogant enough to want to pull as many as possible from the Savior that he and his followers can.
In Jesus, there are no lies, no deception of any kind. His words are straightforward and true.
John 14:6, “Jesus said, I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except by Me.”
This is absolute. There is no other way to eternal life in Heaven. If you listen very carefully, you can hear the Savior call out to you from Calvary, “I Am Doing This For You.” Will you answer, ‘Here Am I?'” He’s waiting.
Maranatha