I always thought love was shaped like a heart but it's actually shaped like a cross.
Crucifixion - was the cruelest & most shameful way to torture & execute a criminal. A person could spend days on a cross, dying a slow & painful death.
Criminals were executed publicly & a sign was hung above their heads, stating the crime they had committed so that others would be afraid & never dare to repeat the felony.
The very word 'cross' should be far removed not only from the person of a Roman citizen but from his thoughts, his eyes & his ears.
- Cicero
We recognize the cross as the greatest demonstration of true love, a place of victory, freedom & refuge, & the source of all God's blessings.
The cross was clearly an abomination to the entire world, yet God made it a place of provision.
It was there that God removed every curse so that He could give us His blessings.
All the evil that was within us fell upon Jesus & all the good in Him become ours through our faith in Him.
Only Jesus has the power to radically change all things; only He could turn a symbol of misery & defeat into the greatest victory known to man.
How great & wonderful is our God!
1. Can we save ourselves by our own good deeds?
*Ephesians 2:8-9
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.
*Titus 3:5
He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
2. What is the means God uses to cleanse our hearts from all sins?
*1 John 1:7
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
3. If we desire to be saved, what 2 things must we do?
*Romans 10:9-10
If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
4. If we have received Jesus, the Son of God, what do we have?
* 1 John 5:12-13
Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
5. If we deny Jesus before men, what will He do?
*Matthew 10:33
But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.
REMEMBER:
ALL THE EVIL THAT WAS WITHIN US FELL UPON JESUS, SO THAT ALL THE GOOD IN HIM COULD BECOME OURS AT THE CROSS THROUGH OUR FAITH IN HIM.
Walang komento:
Mag-post ng isang Komento