We Shall See Jesus!

Psalms 17:15 (NKJV) As for me; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness. 1 John 3:2-3 (NKJV) ² Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. ³ And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

Intro: There's a day coming that all Christians are looking forward to. It is that day when we shall see Jesus face to face. What a joyful day that will be. Both King David and the apostle John wrote about that day with joy.

I. It will be a day of supreme satisfaction. [Psalm 17:15] [1 John 3:2] John says, “it has not yet been revealed what we shall be,” and David says, “I will be satisfied.” Satisfy means To fulfill the desires, expectations, needs, or demands of (a person,the mind, spirit);  give full contentment to:iT MEANS to put an end to (a desire, want, need, etc.) Nothing but God can satisfy the wishes of an immortal spirit. He made us with limitless capacities and desires; and He alone, can meet and gratify all these desires, and fill our mind and soul. No soul was ever satisfied but by God; and He satisfies the soul by restoring it to his original design, which was lost in the fall of Adam and Eve. God made us and only He can completely satisfy us. King David also says in; Psalms 16:11 You God, will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; fullness means to be; completely filled; containing all that can be held; filled to utmostcapacity: At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

II. It will be a day of great transformation. The apostle John says “but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him,” and David says I will awake in Your likeness.” When we see Jesus face to face, we will suddenly be transformed into His glorious image. The apostle Paul says in; 1 Corinthians 15:51-53 (NKJV) ⁵¹ Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed^52- in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead bodies will be raised incorruptible, (free from decay and ruin) and we shall be changed. Philippians 3:20-21 (NKJV) ²⁰ For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹ who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself. 1 Thess. 4:16-18.

III. It will be a day of an enlarged vision. John says “ for we shall see Him as He is,” and David says “I will see Your face in righteousness.” 1 Corinthians 13:12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.

John 14:1-3 ¹ "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. ² In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. Revelation 22:4-6 ⁴ They (God's children) shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. ⁵ There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever. ⁶ Then he said to me, "These words are faithful and true." And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show His servants the things which must shortly take place. Whether we live or die, Jesus is coming soon!

Can you imagine being face to face with our Savior and Lord? We should be preparing ourselves to meet Him for it will be soon. Are you preparing yourself for the day that Jesus breaks through those clouds to take us home to be with Him?

Invitation: Have you asked Jesus to forgive and save you from the penalty of your sins? If you do not know Jesus as your personal Savior and Lord, you will be left behind when Jesus returns for His church and you will have to face all the things that are coming upon this world. Ask Him right now to forgive you and invite Him into your heart. Then you shall see Jesus face to face.

Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?

                                            Scripture Text:                                                 Matthew 27:45-50 (NKJV) ⁴⁵ Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land. ⁴⁶ And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" ⁴⁷ Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, "This Man is calling for Elijah!" ⁴⁸ Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink. ⁴⁹ The rest said, "Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him." ⁵⁰ And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.

Intro: As Jesus hung there on the cross, He gave a mysterious loud cry: "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me." This was the great separation, the moment when God forsook Christ, His only Son. What is the meaning of this shocking statement? The very idea that God could and would "forsake" His only Son staggers the human mind. Yet Christ shouted out: "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" The meaning cannot be ventured into lightly. The meaning requires reverence and much prayerful thought. But even then, it remains impossible to measure the depth of what all His cry means. Scripture indicates at least the following meanings.

1. "Why hast Thou forsaken me?" Jesus sensed that God had withdrawn His presence from Him. He sensed that God was no longer with Him. God had to turn His back on His on Son while He bore the sins of the world. Jesus was willing to be forsaken of God for you and me. He became the sacrificial “Lamb of God” that takes away the sin of the world. Even as God the Father forsook Him, Jesus still called the Father My God!

2. "Why hast Thou forsaken me?" Jesus sensed that God had withdrawn His deliverance. Always in the past when Jesus was troubled, God had met His need. For example, God had sent a voice from heaven to assure Him (John 12:27-28); and when He was facing the cup in the garden of Gethsemane, God had even sent an angel to strengthen Him. But now, hanging upon the cross, God had forsaken Him. There was no deliverance from God. He was left all alone so that you and I would never be forsaken or separated from God! Romans 8:37-39 (NKJV) ³⁷ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

3. "Why hast Thou forsaken me?" Jesus sensed that He was bearing the curse of God, the curse of separation from God, the curse of the judgment and condemnation of God against sin. Galatians 3:13-14 (NKJV) ¹³ Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"), ¹⁴ that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

4. "Why hast Thou forsaken me?" Jesus sensed that God's life and holiness had left Him, He felt He was now dying as a sinful man and He felt that He had been delivered into the hands of the enemies of life and holiness, that is, into the hands of sin and death. He was being made sin and having to die. And both sin and death were foreign to Jesus, alien to His nature which is life and holiness. Both sin and death stood as enemies of God and enemies to all that belonged to God and He was facing them both for us.

  In becoming sin and in dying, Christ experienced all that was contrary to the nature of God—all that was involved in God separating Himself from sin and death.

2 Corinthians 5:21 (NKJV) For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Hebrews 2:14-15 (NKJV) ¹⁴ Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, ¹⁵ and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

Jesus' cry was fulfilling the prophesy in Psalm 22:1. The reason God had to forsake Jesus is given in Psalm 22:3: "Thou art holy." Jesus had "become sin" for many as the Bible says in;(2 Cor. 5:21).

He had to bear the penalty due man—the penalty of separation from a perfectly holy God. In all the mystery of His death, Scripture proclaims: 1 Peter 2:24 (NKJV) Jesus Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness--by whose stripes you were healed.

Note in verses 47-49 that some of the crowd misunderstood the words of Jesus' cry. One had compassion and sought to help Him by giving Him a drink. But others stopped the man and mocked by demanding that He be left alone to see if Elijah would come to save Him.

In verse 50 we see the great shout of triumph and the yielding up of Jesus' spirit.

1.  Jesus cried, "It is finished" (John 19:30). The Greek word tetelestai is the shout of victorious purpose which means “The debt is paid.” Christ had completed His work, mission, and task for all mankind.

He was not crying the cry of a defeated martyr; He was crying the cry of a victorious conqueror over Satan, sin, death and Hell.

2.  Then Jesus "Yielded up His Spirit" means that He willingly yielded and gave up His spirit. It must always be remembered that Jesus willingly died. He willingly came to this moment of yielding and giving up His spirit unto death for the salvation of all mankind.

Invitation: Jesus was forsaken of God for you. Have you taken advantage of the salvation Jesus has provided for you on the cross when He bore the penalty for your sins so that you could be forgiven and saved from Hell? If you do not know Jesus as your personal Savior, confess your sins to Him right now and ask Him to forgive you and save you for Heaven when this life is over. Ask Him to take charge of your life and then be baptized to show you have put your full trust in Him as your Savior and Lord.

Real Love

Intro:  Let's look at what God has to say from His Holy word about the subject of real love. It has lost its meaning in this world.

I. What is real love and where does it come from? Love is used so loosely in our society today that it has lost it's real meaning. A couple declares their love for each other and then at the first hint of trouble, they divorce. Churches split over the slightest disagreement. Nation fights against nation for power and control. The bible tells us where real love comes from. There is no real love apart from God, love began with Him because He is love. 1 John 4:16b God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. Example of what God's real love does! [John 3:16] God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. [1 John 4:10 ] ¹⁰ In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Here God’s actions defines the pattern of true love, the basis for all love relationships. When you love someone, you are willing to sacrifice dearly for that person. Real Sacrificial love is also practical in seeking ways to meet the needs of those who are loved. Real love is never about you, but how you can express that love to others.

II. Real love fulfills all the law. [Matthew 22:35-40] ³⁵ Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, ³⁶ "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" ³⁷ Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' ³⁸ This is the first and great commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' ⁴⁰ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."                                                                                  III. We are to love one another. [John 13:34-35] ³⁴ A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

³⁵ By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. a. Real love obeys Christ's commands. John 14:15 (NKJV) "If you love Me, keep My commandments. John 15:9-10 "As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. 10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.                 b. Characteristics of real love in action. 1 Corinthians 13:3-7 (NKJV) ³ And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. ⁴ Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; ⁵ does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; ⁶ does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; ⁷ bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.                                          IV. God's love for us is eternal. Romans 8:35-39 (NKJV) ³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ³⁶ As it is written: "For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter." ³⁷ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. These scriptures help seal our assurance in God's love. Paul lists several situations we might think could come between us and God. Paul knew from experience that these could not separate believers from God because he had already experienced them. This means that the love of Christ doesn’t separate us from these experiences, but even in the most devastating of these, the love of Christ is with us. Nothing can separate us from God's love for us which is in Christ Jesus or Lord.

Conclusion: The bible says in Romans 5:5 “The love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.” We are to allow His love to flow from us into the lives of those we come in contact with each day. If we do, people's lives will be changed for the glory of God the Father.

Invitation: Have you experienced God's love for you in the forgiveness of your sins? God sent His only begotten Son into this world for that very purpose. If you have not taken advantage of God's loving forgiveness, confess your sins to Jesus and ask Him to forgive your sins and invite Him into your life to save you and live in you. Be baptized as a witness of your faith in Him.

The Spirit Filled Life

Intro: When Jesus died and was resurrected, He promised to send the Holy Spirit to comfort and counsel us, and to lead us into all truth. Without the Spirit nothing can be accomplished for God. We must live our lives each day in the power of the Holy Spirit to be overcomers.

1. We are to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 5:18 (NKJV) And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit. This command is in the present tense which means that the believer is to be constantly filled with the Spirit; he is to keep on being filled. The Holy Spirit is to infill the believer continuously. The Spirit's filling is the personal manifestation of the presence of Christ to the believer who walks obediently day by day . It is a consciousness of His presence, of His leadership—moment by moment. It is living our lives in the power of His Spirit. But the Spirit's filling is not automatic. The responsibility of being filled with the Spirit rests upon the shoulders of the believer. He is filled only as he walks in submission to Christ. We are to pray and believe God for the filling of His Spirit in our own lives and take advantage of this power God has for us. Then we have freedom, ability and power to pray for the outpouring of the Spirit of God on the church, its efforts, on individuals, and on all mankind. When we have once learned to walk with the Father through the filling of the Holy Spirit, then we can most confidently pray for ourselves, our church, families, nation and for others too.

II. We are to be led and guided by the Holy Spirit. [Romans 8:14] (NKJV) For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. Believers not only have the Spirit within, but they are also to be led by the Spirit. When we are being led by the Spirit, only then are we children of God. As the Spirit leads us, He guide us into all truth. John 16:13-14 (NKJV) ¹³ However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. ¹⁴ He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. We can not know truth unless the Holy Spirit reveals it to us. The Spirit takes the truth in God's word and reveals the way we should live our lives. God the Father says My way is best for you. He doesn't want us to be led astray or taken advantage of by anyone.

III. We are to walk (live) in the Spirit. [Galatians 5:16- 25]Galatians 5:16-25 (NKJV) ¹⁶ I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. ¹⁷ For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. ¹⁸ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. ¹⁹ Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, ²¹ envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. ²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. ²⁴ And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵ If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Living our lives every day in the Spirit, being led by Him, walking hand in hand with Him, is the only way to overcome sin of all kinds and receive the favor and blessings that God intends for us to have. In Galatians 5:25 it says; If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. When the Holy Spirit leads, believers must follow. Since believers have been made alive by the Holy Spirit, He ought to direct the course of their lives. Unless we actively pursue contact with the Holy Spirit and obey his leading, we will be unable to resist the passions and desires of our flesh listed in verses 19-21.

Evidence of walking in the Spirit is listed in verses 22-24 of Galatians chapter 5. How are you doing?

IV. We are to pray in the Spirit. [Jude 20-21] But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, (v:21) keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

We believers are to build up our lives upon our holy faith. We are to study, meditate, learn, memorize, and live out the Scripture. We are to build upon what we have learned and then continue to build more and more. The only way believers can do this is to study the holy faith, the living Word of God. The believer builds by praying in the Spirit. To pray in the Spirit means that we pray under His guidance and influence, under His energy and power. That we seek and ask His help as we approach the throne of grace. We focus our minds and concentrate upon the Holy Spirit helping us to pray, and depend upon Him to help us. We ask and depend upon the Holy Spirit to cleanse our requests and make sure that what we ask is according to the will of God. We walk in the Spirit day by day and offer unbroken communication to God all day long. We set quiet time aside every day and wrestle in prayer before God for the needs of loved ones and for the needs of God's people and for the world—all in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Conclusion: The Father says He will be found by those who diligently seek Him. God alone can give you and I what we need for each day, in every circumstance and situation. In Him is fullness of life and joy forever more. In Him are the answers to all our problems. May we live our lives in the fullness of the Holy Spirit of God, praying in the Spirit, being led and guided by Him each day.
Invitation: As you focus on what you have read, let the Spirit of God lead you to the decision that you need to make. Has there been a time in your life where you stopped and confessed you sins to Jesus and asked Him to forgive you of those sins and to save you? If you have not now is the time to do that.

Trust

Intro: This New Year, if we trust God with every fiber of our being, we will be amazed what God can do for and through those who put their complete trust in Him. What God can accomplish in and through you and I is proportional to how much we trust and depend on Him. Trust means “reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, of a person,” in this case God.

I. Blessed are those who trust only in God. Psalms 40:4 (NKJV) Blessed is that man who makes the Lord his trust, And does not respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.

a. In the first three verses of this chapter God had helped David out of an extremely horrible situation. David had not looked to those who were arrogant or those who had turned from the true God to idols, but he instead trusted only in God for his help. God alone had lifted him out of the horrible pit he was in and set his feet on solid ground. God had given him a new hymn of praise to sing to God and others would see and hear what God had done for David and they would also put their trust in God for the help they needed. Only God can meet all our needs!

II. Trust God in your adversities. Psalms 56:3-4 (NKJV) ³ Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You. ⁴ In God (I will praise His word), In God I have put my trust; I will not fear. What can flesh do to me?

a. To what degree do you trust God when you are going through very difficult and hard times? Some fail miserably here while others are at their best in tough times. David said when he was afraid he would trust in only God and His word. How much time do you devote to reading, studying, and meditating on God's word? God's word tells us not to fear, but instead trust totally in Him and His promises. Only God has the power to deliver you from whatever you are facing or that you will have to face in the future. David said when he trusted in God, there was nothing man or the situation could do to him. When you trust completely in God, He is in charge of everything.

III. Trust God at all times. Psalms 62:8 (NKJV) Trust in Him at all times, you people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. Selah

a. Difficult times can jolt you into awareness of your need for God, whereas smooth sailing can lull you into a stupor of self- sufficiency. You begin to trust in self and others more than God, thinking you don't need Him. This verse says that we are to trust in God at all times. When life is flowing smoothly, people have a tendency to forget God? How about you? Do you forget about God when everything is going good? Do you forget to pray and read God's word? This aspect of your trust is more telling than when you have a problem. God cares as much about our tiny trust-steps thru daily life as He does our dramatic steps of faith. You may think no one notices, but the One who is beside you daily sees everything and rejoices at your trust in Him. We are to pour out our hearts to Him every day in prayer as we build ourselves up in our faith and trust of God during the good times so we will be better prepared for whatever comes, in full and complete trust in God and His ability to carry us through because God is our refuge, shelter from all the storms of life.

IV. Trust in God brings perfect peace. Isaiah 26:3-4 (NLT) ³ You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, whose thoughts are fixed on you God! ⁴ Trust in the LORD always, for the LORD GOD, (Yahweh-He who creates or causes to be) is the eternal Rock.

a. We can trust completely in God because He is our Eternal Rock. He is immovable! No one else but the immovable Rock, “the Rock of Ages,”can give us lasting peace for the soul.

It was from this expression that Augustus Toplady got the idea for one of the greatest hymns in the English language, “Rock of Ages.” Seeking shelter in a cleft in a rocky crag during a violent thunderstorm, he wrote this hymn. Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee. Consistently trusting in God and keeping our thoughts fixed on Him is vital to a flourishing intimate, rewarding, and peaceful relationship with God all year long, serving Him with joy.

Invitation: Have you trusted in Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord? Have you asked Him to forgive your sins and save you from Hell? If not now is the time the bible says in 2Cor. 6:2!

Why Did He Come?

Scripture Text 

Romans 3:10-18 & 2 Cor. 5:18-21

Intro: Jesus' birth, God invading human history with His presence in the form of man is on the record. Every time you write the date, you testify to the fact that God entered human history. Time is divided by His birth. The passages before us today help answer the question, “Why did He come”?

1. Jesus came because of the condition of mankind. Romans 3:10-12 (NKJV) ¹⁰ As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one; ¹¹ There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. ¹² They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one." Before Jesus came to this earth, there was no hope for anyone making it to heaven. The world lay in sin and error wasting away. The apostle Paul in the following verses show that all mankind are sinners and therefore hopeless of pleasing God. Even though the Jews were given God's 10 commandments, they were unable to keep them perfectly, and to validate his accusation that everybody is “under sin” Paul quoted from Old Testament passages. Romans 3:10-12, is taken from [Eccl.7:20] &Psalm 14:1-3, and makes the point that all people without exception are not righteous, do not understand God nor seek Him out), all have turned away from Him, are worthless (“have become useless,”) and none do good ( “do not show kindness,” and “are not benevolent in action”).Instead sin causes all mankind to be selfish and self-centered.These phrases in Romans 3:10 -12 end with the words “none and no, not even one”. This repetition stresses that not a single exception in the human race (except, Jesus) can be found.

II. Mankind sins with all parts of the body. Romans 3:13-18 (NKJV) ¹³ "Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit"; "The poison of asps is under their lips"; ¹⁴ "Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness." ¹⁵ "Their feet are swift to shed blood; ¹⁶ Destruction and misery are in their ways; ¹⁷ And the way of peace they have not known." ¹⁸ "There is no fear of God before their eyes." These verses describe the vileness and wickedness of various parts of the human body, indicating figuratively that every part contributes to a person’s condemnation. These quotations are taken from Psalms and Isaiah. They pertain to three actions: talking (throats... tongues... lips... mouths; vs. 13-14), taken from Psalm. 5:9, 140:3, 10:7. Conduct (feet; vs. 15-16) taken from Isaiah 59:7-8 and seeing (eyes; v. 18), taken from Psalm 36:1. Their speech is corrupt (open graves;), dishonest (deceit;), damaging (poison;), and blasphemous (cursing and bitterness;). From talking of sin, they commit sin, even to the point of quickly murdering (vs:15-16). As a result they and others are destroyed materially and spiritually, are miserable, and know no inner peace [v:17] ( Isa. 57:21). Apart from the indwelling Holy Spirit people cannot exhibit the fruit of the Spirit as listed in (Gal. 5:22). They have no inner spiritual capacity whereby they can exercise genuine love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control toward others. All these sins are summarized in Paul’s words, There is no fear of God before their eyes. [v:18] Fearing God, (reverencing Him by worship, trust, obedience, and service) is the essence of a godly person. So for a Jew not to fear God was the height of sin and folly. In these verses (Rom. 3:10-18) Paul quoted O.T. Scriptures so Jewish readers couldn't say that “Jews are sinners contradicts the Old Testament!” All people, Jews and gentiles alike are sinners before a Holy God.                                       III. He came to reconcile mankind to God. 2 Corinthians 5:18-19 (NKJV) ¹⁸ Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, ¹⁹ that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. God sent Jesus into the world for one purpose. To reconcile the world to Himself through Him. Reconciliation means to change thoroughly, to change from enmity or hatred to friendship, to bring together, to restore. The idea is that two persons who should have been together all along are brought together; two persons who had allowed something to come between them are restored and reunited. The thing that came between God and man was sin that we just read about in (Romans 3:10-18). All mankind has sinned and fallen short of god's glory. [Rom. 3:23] Through sin mankind has become enemies of God as stated in (2 Cor. 5:10). Without salvation mankind is antagonistic or hostile toward God, opposing what God stands for.Jesus came that through Him, we might have a personal relationship with God. He came to bridge the gap that separated us from our Creator and Father God.Jesus came to show us how much God cares for us, He cares how we live, what we believe and how we will die. Every time Jesus heals someone, He is saying, “It hurts Me to see you in pain.” Every time He lifts a burden of sin and guilt, He is saying, “Your heavenly Father is grieved when you remove yourself from His grace.” Every miracle Jesus performs and every word He speaks reminds us that He came to reconcile a lost world to our loving, compassionate God.

IV. We have become His ambassadors. 2 Corinthians 5:20-21 (NKJV) ²⁰ Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. ²¹ For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. We who belong to God's family have become His representatives on this earth and we are to plead with the lost to be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ His Son. God made Jesus who knew no sin to become sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. We are to tell the lost that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father but by Him. May we remember the reason why Jesus came as we celebrate this Christmas season and share Him with others as we get the opportunity.

Invitation: Consider this question as you we enter the Christmas season, do you know this Jesus, the Son of God, the One whose birthday we celebrate, as your personal Savior and Lord? If you do not know for sure, now is the appointed time to admit your sins against God and ask Jesus to forgive you and save you from the penalty of those sins. Jesus will give you the best Christmas gift you could ever receive, the gift of salvation.

Do it now before it is eternally to late!