How are you when it comes to taking time off? Are you good at switching off or do you always seem to be in work mode? I have to admit that I am not very good at switching off. I enjoy what I do and I find that it is easy to keep on going when you should be taking a rest.
Believe it or not the Bible establishes the premise of taking periods of rest. When God made the world he made it in six days and then rested on the seventh (Genesis 2:2, the Bible). Why do we keep on working? Why is there restlessness about us as humans? Is that we never feel that the job is really done properly? Or are we not satisfied with what we have done? Is there a guilt thing that makes us feel that we have never done enough? Do we have to impress others? Or satisfy our own demands? There is not one simple answer but a lot of the above will no doubt apply.
So how did God manage to rest after making this world? Well when God does a job he does it to perfection. He could not have improved on His creation. It was perfect and he was content and satisfied with what he saw on the dawn of creation.
You may at this stage be saying – it doesn’t feel or look like a perfect world to me! And you are right. This world is not perfect but the Bible teaches us that it was when God made it, in Genesis 1 we read that it was good, good and indeed very good. So what went wrong? Why do we have climate disorders, earthquakes and eruptions? We cannot ignore the creatures that live on this planet. Why do we kill each other, hurt each other and damage this world? Why does everything get old, wear out, decay? We are on a downward spiral and nothing can stop these natural processes. Or can they be stopped?
Let’s answer the first question first. Why? You maybe don’t like the answer but the Bible does offer an explanation. ‘By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin’ (The Book of Romans 5:12, the Bible). The reason why the downward spiral exists is that everything that is not of God and blessed by God will ultimately fail. God created the universe for our good but good can only be effective in the hands of the creator, God. When we handle good we corrupt it and it is tainted with our fallen nature. We like the first man, Adam , have made our choices and we ‘all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God’ (The Book of Romans 3:23, the Bible). God intended mankind to enjoy his blessings for ever free of corruption and death but Adam acts of rebellion condemned us all as guilty before God. You may feel that this is unfair but these are the facts as revealed by God in His word, the Bible.
Can the downward spiral be stopped? The message of Christianity is this. The ‘Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world’ (1 John 4:14, the Bible). This is not just climatic salvation, or economic salvation, or even ethical or moral salvation. All of those things will be effective in a future day but initially God offers personal salvation to individuals. The Lord Jesus Christ said (when in this world) ‘I have come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly’ (The Gospel of John 10:10, the Bible). He claimed that if a person took on board what he said and trusted Him and believed that God had sent him that, that person would cross the line from death to life, they would be raised to everlasting life at the Day of Judgement, that they would be saved (see The Gospel of John 3:36, 5:24, 11:25).
You might be asking how was all this possible? Was Jesus not just a good man? His claims are too great to be that of just a good man. He is either is the real thing or at best he was deluded and at worst a liar. Check it out, he claimed to come from heaven, he claimed to be equal with God, he claimed to fulfil Bible predictions, he announced that he would draw men to him upon dying, he predicted his own death and coming to life again after three days. These things are either true or false there is not middle ground.
All I can say to you if you are reading this blog is go, check it out for yourself. Read the Bible. Listen what God has to say. Trust Him. Take Him at His word. If you do e-mail on Stephen.baker1@virgin.net. I would love to hear from you.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Friday, April 18, 2008
So long
I am now on a guilt trip. If you have looked at my blog recently you will have noticed that I am really bad at writing entries. This is supposed to be an on line diary - I do keep a paper one better than this.
What have I been up to? Will that's my excuse. I have been really busy getting out and about telling people the message of Christ and His great salvation. As a result I have not had time to write my blog. I have been in schools, prison hostels, on the street (having meetings), working with other Christians having missions and generally doing all I can to bring the message of saving grace in front of people.
Why go to all this effort?
It's simple really. God has revealed in the Bible that we have all sinned and broken his law. We are guilty and stand condemned already by God. He is angry about our rebellion and will call us to account on the day of judgement IF we have not changed our minds and trusted His Son (Jesus) for salvation by then.
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. That is he was born of the virgin (Mary), lived a perfect life, died on the cross to pay the price for sin and came to life a again three days later as proof that he had paid the price for sin in full. That is he served God's sentence to take the legal consequences of our sin. He offers pardon and forgiveness if we turn from our sin and trust him as Saviour.
That's why I get so excited about the message of the cross. Will you trust him today. If you do be sure to e-mail me on Stephen.Baker1@virgin.net to let me know. I'll be praying for you.
What have I been up to? Will that's my excuse. I have been really busy getting out and about telling people the message of Christ and His great salvation. As a result I have not had time to write my blog. I have been in schools, prison hostels, on the street (having meetings), working with other Christians having missions and generally doing all I can to bring the message of saving grace in front of people.
Why go to all this effort?
It's simple really. God has revealed in the Bible that we have all sinned and broken his law. We are guilty and stand condemned already by God. He is angry about our rebellion and will call us to account on the day of judgement IF we have not changed our minds and trusted His Son (Jesus) for salvation by then.
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. That is he was born of the virgin (Mary), lived a perfect life, died on the cross to pay the price for sin and came to life a again three days later as proof that he had paid the price for sin in full. That is he served God's sentence to take the legal consequences of our sin. He offers pardon and forgiveness if we turn from our sin and trust him as Saviour.
That's why I get so excited about the message of the cross. Will you trust him today. If you do be sure to e-mail me on Stephen.Baker1@virgin.net to let me know. I'll be praying for you.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
The Rise of Christianaphobia
In our society a trend of ‘christianaphobia’is rising. Christianity is accused of some amazing things and to such an extent that it turns the values of Christianity on its head. In a large circulation Regional Newspaper in England Christianity was recently accused of being the source of the 'tide of disrespect engulfing us'. On a very basic level the principles of Christianity (if practiced) would ensure that peace and harmony ruled on earth as all people would act in the way Jesus Christ described (forgiving, loving etc). It is obvious however that all people have not accepted the salvation that Jesus Christ offers and that sin in the heart of humanity (as also established by Judaism) still results in evil and hurt for all concerned.
The writer chose to focus on one part of the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Other records in the Gospels state that the Lord Jesus did not come to 'destroy the law' as received under Judaism but to 'fulfill it'. This means that the individual who loves the Lord God expresses this in respect of others and respect for authority. The Lord Jesus never undermined the authorities of the day and indeed he encouraged his disciples to 'render to Caesar' the things that belong to Caesar i.e. revenue, tax, civil obedience etc.
The rest of the New Testament (see Romans 13) supports the principal that Christians are expected to obey the authorities and that political powers have been ordered by God and have executive powers from God to rule (with all that that implies). I would suggest kindly that should one choose to take a closer look at the Bible (and in particular the books of Isaiah and Revelation) they would discover that the Lord Jesus Christ has promised to return to planet earth one day and that he himself will dispense summary and immediate judgment on wrongdoing and evil (Revelation 21:8). Sadly unbelief in him is one of the crimes that will qualify for his judgment. This may seem harsh but essentially unbelief is the worst crime of all because of what it leads to. God is light therefore unbelief leaves you in moral darkness. God is truth therefore unbelief leaves you with all that is false. God is life therefore unbelief leaves you with death. God is holy therefore unbelief leaves you with sin, imperfection and that is wicked. Ultimately unbelief leads to all the grosser wicked sins that we readily accept are wrong and harmful. Thankfully today we all have the opportunity to 'believe in the Lord Jesus Christ' to be saved. In that day it will be too late.
So in closing I want to pass on to the readers of this blog a ‘Global Warning’ (excuse the pun). This is not about the effect of the mismanagement of our planet and its resources (important though that is) but about a longer lasting issue. This planet will come to the end of its life cycle one day (see the Bible – 2 Peter 3). However your and my spiritual life will never end. The warning is that if we do not actively get back to God then we will find that we are, on death, forever at a distance from God (and all that God is, love, justice, peace etc). How can we come to God? The answer is in honestly seeking the truth, obeying his command in the word of God. This is to repent of our sin (turn away from it) and place our personal faith in Jesus Christ.
The writer chose to focus on one part of the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Other records in the Gospels state that the Lord Jesus did not come to 'destroy the law' as received under Judaism but to 'fulfill it'. This means that the individual who loves the Lord God expresses this in respect of others and respect for authority. The Lord Jesus never undermined the authorities of the day and indeed he encouraged his disciples to 'render to Caesar' the things that belong to Caesar i.e. revenue, tax, civil obedience etc.
The rest of the New Testament (see Romans 13) supports the principal that Christians are expected to obey the authorities and that political powers have been ordered by God and have executive powers from God to rule (with all that that implies). I would suggest kindly that should one choose to take a closer look at the Bible (and in particular the books of Isaiah and Revelation) they would discover that the Lord Jesus Christ has promised to return to planet earth one day and that he himself will dispense summary and immediate judgment on wrongdoing and evil (Revelation 21:8). Sadly unbelief in him is one of the crimes that will qualify for his judgment. This may seem harsh but essentially unbelief is the worst crime of all because of what it leads to. God is light therefore unbelief leaves you in moral darkness. God is truth therefore unbelief leaves you with all that is false. God is life therefore unbelief leaves you with death. God is holy therefore unbelief leaves you with sin, imperfection and that is wicked. Ultimately unbelief leads to all the grosser wicked sins that we readily accept are wrong and harmful. Thankfully today we all have the opportunity to 'believe in the Lord Jesus Christ' to be saved. In that day it will be too late.
So in closing I want to pass on to the readers of this blog a ‘Global Warning’ (excuse the pun). This is not about the effect of the mismanagement of our planet and its resources (important though that is) but about a longer lasting issue. This planet will come to the end of its life cycle one day (see the Bible – 2 Peter 3). However your and my spiritual life will never end. The warning is that if we do not actively get back to God then we will find that we are, on death, forever at a distance from God (and all that God is, love, justice, peace etc). How can we come to God? The answer is in honestly seeking the truth, obeying his command in the word of God. This is to repent of our sin (turn away from it) and place our personal faith in Jesus Christ.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Dare to be different
In the last week I have met a lot of people who are not prepared to think for themselves. They are following the current trend in our society to 'rubbish' belief in God and to ridicule the idea that there might be some validity to faith. If you are reading this blog you are probably not one of these people but you may come across them on a daily basis. Just remember that faith is only as good as the one in whom you trust. This is why it is so important to understand the integrity of the Bible and the historical basis of the facts stated therein.
The Bible states in Psalm 118:8 'It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man'. (incidentally this is the central verse to the whole Bible when you divide it up by the number of chapters and verses - interesting and significant!). The Bible also states that it is better that your faith 'should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God'.
Will you dare to be different? Read the word of God today (The Bible). Start in the New Testament and read the four gospels. Discover the truth concerning the Son of God (Jesus) becoming man and dying 'for the ungodly' (that's all of us, as we did not know God by nature and were disobedient to Him). He (the Lord Jesus) is worthy of your trust and he died to be your Saviour. Pray to him today, search for him in prayer and in reading the Bible. Admit your guilt before God and 'call upon the name of the Lord' and you will be saved. Email me at stephen.baker1@virgin.net and I will be delighted to try to help you.
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