pomegranatesandchains

Paul, a highly educated Jewish man, chosen by God even after his persecution of emerging believers in Jesus as the awaited Messiah, had this to say to the highly educated Athenians of his day who worshipped many Greek idols, as we today put many idols before God. He answers the question, “Why follow God’s son to salvation?” in just a few sentences still so relevant to highly sophisticated people of 2015:

“This God made the world and everything in it.

He is Lord of heaven and earth, and he doesn’t live in temples built by human hands.

He doesn’t need help from anyone.

He gives life, breath, and everything else to all people.

From one person Go made all nations who live on earth, and he decided when and where every nation would be.

God has done all this so that we will look for him and reach out and find him.

He isn’t far from any of us, and he gives us the power to live, to move, and to be who we are.

‘We are his children…’

Since we are God’s children, we must not think that he is like an idol made out of gold or silver or stone.

He isn’t like anything that humans have thought up and made.

In the past, God forgave all this because people did not know what they were doing.

But now, he says that everyone everywhere must turn to him.

He has set a day when he will judge the world’s people with fairness.

And he has chosen the man Jesus to do the judging for him.

God has given proof of this to all of us by raising Jesus from the dead.” (Acts 17:24-31)

These most learned men’s reaction in the next verse was how arrogant, self-sufficient people of today continue to respond to the good news of free salvation, they 1) laughed and 2) delayed thinking about their decision by saying, “We will hear you talk about this some other time.” — which becomes their decision of “no” I don’t need a savior, thank you anyway God.

Choose to believe Paul’s words today. Ask God to reveal the truth of his words to you while there is still time. At the end of human time, God’s word says he will send two witnesses to preach salvation to an unbelieving world. What if Paul was one of them — to reach the Gentiles (those not of Jewish faith) along with an Old Testament saint such as Elijah or Moses to preach that Jesus is the long awaited Messiah to the Jewish people? Would you rather believe his words now, or when they would be repeated then, preceded by, “It is written…”

David, king of Israel, the anointed psalmist who wrote truth through music long before today’s popular Christian artists tells us in Psalm 119:96 that “Nothing is completely perfect, except your teachings.” NOTHING. Wow! Everyone looking internally for perfection in a “Type A” world that runs a t full speed, full tilt 24-7…will not find that elusive longing. Perfection is found in God’s teachings….His truth. Later in this same psalm, David goes further and amplifies and compares God’s teachings as being:

“….sweeter than honey” (verse 103)

“…a lamp that gives light wherever I walk” (verse 105)

“…mean more to me than the finest gold” (verse 127)

So put all together, you get God’s word is a sweet gold light that illuminates the lives of ordinary people and reveals the extraordinary truth that God wants a personal relationship with mankind. (“Understanding your word brings light to the minds of ordinary people” Psalm 119:130). John, the apostle, tells us in the very opening verses of his eyewitness account of Jesus’ life and ministry that “In the beginning was the one who is called the Word. The Word was with God and was truly God. From the very beginning the Word was with God.” (John 1:1-2). John is famous for succinctly sharing God’s plan of salvation in very few words:

1. “The Word became a human being and lived here with us. We saw his true glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father. From him all the kindness and all the truth of God have come down to us.” (John 1:14)

2. “God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in him will have eternal life and never really die.” (John 3:16)

Everyone will acknowledge these truths, that Jesus is God’s word, in human form…come so that we might know the Father, who is spirit and truth. Choose him here on earth so that Jesus might represent you to the Father in heaven when you eventually cross that great divide between this earthly existence into eternity.

“Whether we live or die, it must be for the Lord. Alive or dead, we still belong to the Lord. This is because Christ died and rose to life, so that he would be the Lord of the dead and of the living.” (Romans 14: 8-9)

“For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, to me every knee shall bow, And every tongue shall confess to God. So that each one of us shall give account of himself to God.” (Romans 14:11-12). I want Jesus to be standing next to me on that day, acting as my intercessor…the only bridge that God offered between himself and our world. How about you?

Why must we choose Jesus of our own free will through faith in God’s word, His truth? Because…”Christ was humble. He obeyed God and even died on a cross. Then God gave Christ the highest place and honored his name above all others.

So at the name of Jesus everyone will bow down, those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. And to the glory of God the Father everyone will openly agree, “Jesus Christ is Lord!” (Philippians 2: 8-11) When you cross into eternity, it will become abundantly clear that God’s truth is truth. No one at all will be able to escape the reality that God sent his son for us.