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Chapter 6 |
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This chapter discusses how You can have Real Meaning in Your Life. This chapter is the most important of this document and can be read without the need of reading any other chapter. If you only have time to read a portion of this chapter, please read the summary of the most important issue of this document that is found in the last section of this chapter with the heading, "Summary of How to Have Real Meaning in Life." Chapters 1 to 5 provide more details about many of the things stated in this chapter. (Some parts of chapters 1 to 5 will be repeated in this chapter for the sake of those who may not, initially, have had time to read those chapters.) How can I have Real Meaning in My Life? Have you ever asked yourself What is the meaning of life? This is a very important -- but general -- question about life. A more practical question is How can I have Real Meaning in My Life? I am not attempting to answer the question, What is the meaning of life? I’m not sure what the answer is. I believe the Holy Bible is God’s manual on life (more will be said about this later). Since the exact question is not in the Holy Bible and since I am not aware of any verse or group of verses in the Holy Bible that directly answers the question, I’m not sure what the ultimate answer is. (For more information on the Holy Bible, refer to point 2 below and to chapter 1, "A Question, Truth and the Holy Bible.") The Holy Bible -- as I understand it -- does have much to say to answer the question How can I have Real Meaning in My Life? Below are seven major points concerning this issue. Point 6 is the main point to remember. |
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Point 1: |
God is more than Awesome! |
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Below are some of the main things about God that many people who study the Holy Bible believe. (The Holy Bible is referred to as the Bible in other parts of this document.) |
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God is -- and will always be -- greater than anyone or anything in the universe (Revelation 11:17). |
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God is eternal (Deuteronomy 33:27; Genesis 1:1; Revelation 11:17). He existed before eternity, He exists now and He will always exist. |
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God created the universe, the Earth, vegetation, animals, human beings and so on (Genesis 1 and 2). |
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God is holy (Leviticus 11:45). | |
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God is love (1 John 4:8). | |
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God loves every person in the world -- including You! (John 3:16) |
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God's judgments are righteous -- God is fair (Revelation 16:7). |
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More will be said about God's love and justice later in this chapter. [Normally, only the most direct and simplest Bible reference is given concerning a statement. It is not necessary to look at the references.] [All Bible references in this document are viewed from the standpoint of the text of the Authorized Version (AV), which is the same as the King James version (KJV), of the Bible. The text in other versions of the Bible may convey something different than the King James Version. See appendix A, "More Information About the Holy Bible and Which One to Use," for more information on various Bible versions.] On the important issue of Who God is, there are various viewpoints, even among people who base their beliefs on the Bible. One of the things that the Bible teaches is that there is one true God. The Bible teaches that God is one but at the same time is three divine Persons. The three divine Persons are God the Father, the Son of God (Jesus) and the Holy Spirit (Holy Ghost) (Matthew 28:19). It is not easy to understand that God is one and at the same time three. The reason for the difficulty may be that God is so much greater than our minds can understand. The following is a summary of point 1. God is the supreme being in the universe and everyone and everything is inferior to God. Basically, God determines the consequences of every action in the universe -- He determines what TRUTH in the universe is. God is one but at the same time is three divine Persons, God the Father, the Son of God (Jesus) and the Holy Spirit. For more information about this and other things about God, refer to chapter 2, "Who God Is." |
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Point 2: |
The Holy Bible is the Best Book on Truth. |
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As mentioned in chapter 1, truth is unshakeable. I believe the best way to find the truth on how to have real meaning in life is to learn it from the One Who created us (the human race). God created the human race. God Himself inspired a few people of the human race to write the Bible. This is why the Bible is the best book on truth. You could say that the Bible is the operating manual for everyone on how to have real meaning in life. (For more information on the Holy Bible, refer to chapter 1, "A Question, Truth and the Holy Bible.") |
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Point 3: |
God's Wrath is Directed Towards Us. |
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The Bible teaches that God created the universe including the Earth. On the Earth, God created the first two human beings, Adam and Eve, and the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:7,15-25). When God created Adam and Eve, they were both perfect. According to Genesis 3:8, it seems that they could fellowship with God. God told Adam that fruit from any of the trees could be eaten except from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (Genesis 2:15-17). Eve was also aware of this command of God (Genesis 3:2,3). According to Genesis 3:1-21, the Serpent, which is Satan or Lucifer (Revelation 12:9), persuaded Eve to eat the fruit of the forbidden tree. During or after she ate of the fruit, she said something to Adam and he listened to what she said (Genesis 3:17). Next, Adam ate the fruit of the forbidden tree. By doing that, he disobeyed God's command -- Adam sinned. Sin is disobeying one of God's commands (many are found in the Bible). God's commands include the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20: 3-17). We disobey His commands when we do such things as steal, lie (including half truths) and so on. We also disobey His commandments when we worship anything or anyone besides God (verses 3-5). A command of God sometimes is just for a particular person (Genesis 12:1). Romans 2:12-16 says that people sin even if they are without God's written laws. Verse 15 states that the law (commands) is written on their hearts. If you disobey one of God's commands, you are no longer blameless of His commands as a whole (James 2:10). When Adam sinned, there was no way to have sin taken away completely. To God, animal sacrifices could not take away sin completely -- sin couldn't be fully dealt with (Hebrews 10:4). The Bible teaches that all human beings are descendants of Adam and Eve. Since we are their descendants, we inherited the nature to sin from Adam -- we were born with the nature to sin (Romans 5:12). We have all sinned -- disobeyed God's commandments (Romans 3:23). All human beings are children of disobedience, so God's wrath is directed towards us (Romans 5:12-19; John 3:36; Ephesians 5:5,6). When we disobey God's commands, we deserve to be punished. He has every right to release His wrath on us. (I believe when young children and younger die, they get to live with God forever because they are too young to understand eternal choices. I believe God fairly determines, on an individual basis, whether the child is too young or not to understand the choices.) The nature that we inherited is often called the sinful nature. It is a particular quality to want to sin. That nature inside of us leads us to sin (Romans 3:23). For more details, refer to chapter 4, "The Human Race Becomes Polluted by Sin." |
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Point 4: |
The Punishment for the Sin in Us is Death (Romans 6:23). The Worst Aspect of Death is Eternal Separation from God, which means Eternal Torment in the Lake of Fire. |
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Below are four major aspects related to death for those who do not Trust (Believe) in Jesus. (How to Trust (Believe) in Jesus is explained in point 6.) |
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For those who do not believe in Jesus, they may be a human being who is breathing, but they don't have the life of God flowing in them. (Ephesians 4:18) |
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Physical death is death of the body. When this occurs, the rest of the person (many believe to be the spirit and soul) is separated from the body. (Some people (who believe the Bible) believe that the spirit and the soul are the same thing, but others (who believe in the Bible) believe they are not the same thing. Refer to the article, "What, Exactly, is Saved When One is Born Again?" by Lance B. Johnson. ( www.comeandsee.org/SAVING/Cpart2.html (accessed June 1, 2009)).) |
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After physical death, the person (many believe to be the spirit and soul) who does not trust in Jesus will temporarily reside in Hades (one of a few places that the Bible refers to as Hell) (Luke 16:19-31). |
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At a later time, some believe that Hades and everyone in it will be thrown into the Lake of Fire (another of a few places that the Bible refers to as Hell) (refer to the note in the next paragraph), which is the place of punishment through eternal torment (Revelation 20:14,15). |
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(I believe that the Greek word Gehenna (or Geenna) is referring to the Lake of Fire. This Greek word is translated in the King James Version of the Bible as Hell as in Matthew 23:29-33.) God is holy (Leviticus 11:45). Our iniquities (sins) (the things that we do that disobey God's commands) separate us from God (Isaiah 59:2). God the Father doesn't like the sin that is in people. He doesn't want people with sin to be near Him. The children of disobedience that will not trust in Jesus have God’s wrath directed towards them. Their ultimate end will be punishment through eternal torment in the Lake of Fire -- what a horrible existence that will be. (Please note that when those who do trust in Jesus physically die, they may have still committed sins, but they will still live with God. This is explained near the end of chapter 7, "Benefits and Responsibilities for Those Who Received God's Gift of Eternal Life.") |
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Point 5: |
There is Awesome News! Jesus Took the Punishment for All of Our Sins! |
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Jesus, Who is sometimes referred to as the Word, is God (John 1:1,2,14). Jesus was God the Father's only begotten Son (John 3:16). Jesus was the Son of God. (We can be children of God -- a son of God or a daughter of God -- when we put are faith in Jesus (Galatians 3:26-29)). Jesus was with God the Father before the heaven, the Earth and human beings were created (John 1:1-3,14) (John 17:5 also applies here as mentioned in Albert Barnes' New Testament note set). Jesus always existed with God the Father (W. Vine's dictionary, look under only begotten). [For details on references, refer to the Bibliography section.] God the Father wanted to provide a way for our sins to be completely washed away so that we can fellowship with Him. To pay the penalty for our sins, God the Father required someone who lived a perfect life -- someone who always did what God the Father wanted and never did anything wrong in His sight. The only Person that met the requirements was God's Son, Jesus. So God the Father sent Jesus to the Earth by having Jesus be born as a human being (so somehow Jesus was God and man at the same time) (Matthew 1:18-25, Hebrews 2:9-18). Eventually, Jesus became an adult. Though He was tempted, He lived a perfect life -- He always did what God the Father wanted Him to do. He didn't commit any sins (Hebrews 4:15). Because Jesus had never sinned, He could be the SACRIFICE to take the punishment (pay the penalty) for all of our sins. Jesus allowed all of our sins to be put on Himself. Since He took on Himself all of our sins, He had to pay the penalty for all of those sins. That punishment (penalty) was suffering and death. God allowed an earthly government to kill Jesus by crucifixion. The government did that by hanging Him on a wooden cross -- nails were driven into His hands (and probably His feet) to hold Him to the cross. He not only suffered and died, but God the Father forsook -- stopped fellowshipping, communicating or helping -- Jesus because our sins were in Him (Jesus). This was probably the worst thing that either of Them ever had to go through. After Jesus died, He was put in a tomb. Three days later, God the Father (Galatians 1:1) and the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:11) raised Jesus from the dead. Jesus was Resurrected from the Dead! Even now, Jesus is Alive! He is with God the Father in heaven (1 Peter 3:22). His death on the cross and His resurrection were probably the most important events for the human race. This is why the cross is probably the most important symbol to Christians (followers of Christ or, in other words, followers of Jesus because He was also called Christ (Matthew 1:16)) (Acts 11:26). After Jesus’ death, God the Father no longer forsook -- resumed fellowship and so on -- Jesus because punishment for all our sins that He (Jesus) took on Himself was completely paid for through His suffering and death. Jesus conquered death and Hell! (Revelation 1:18) So now Jesus' Blood can wash away all of our sins! (Revelation 1:5) This is where two of the statements mentioned in point 1 are demonstrated. Below are the two statements. |
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God is Love. God's judgments are righteous -- God is fair. |
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Because we are children of disobedience, God the Father is justified to direct His wrath towards us. When each person dies, God would be justified to, eventually, punish each person with eternal torment in the Lake of Fire. God could have just left everything this way. God is fair. Actually, God is more than fair. GOD LOVED US SO MUCH that He exercised His Grace and Mercy. God's Grace has to do with His kind actions towards people (W. Vine's dictionary). God's Mercy has to do with the act of meeting people's needs (W. Vine's dictionary) including spiritual needs. So what God did was send His Son, Jesus, to die to take our punishment for all of our sins. Jesus took our punishment so that we don’t have to! God can pardon us -- cancel the punishment we deserve. When God pardons people, it means that they are SAVED from His Wrath! God will pardon people only if they choose to receive it. It is our choice to receive God the Father’s pardon or not. Yes, God is more than fair. The next point explains very important things that God says. |
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Point 6: |
We are to Change Our Thinking and Trust (Believe) in Jesus. |
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In Mark 1:15 Jesus said, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. In Acts 26:20, the apostle Paul said that people should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance. The word repent (W. Vine’s dictionary) has to do with changing one’s thinking. I believe this means we are especially change our core beliefs. The above two verses are saying that we are to acknowledge that we have broken God’s commands and are on our way to Hell. We are to change our thinking -- with God’s help. We are to start doing what the Bible teaches. We are to be sorry to God for breaking His commands and start obeying His commands. If we are truly sorry, there will be evidence that our core beliefs are beginning to line up with the Bible. When we do these things, we show God that we love Him, which the Bible says is the most important thing that we must do (Matthew 22:37,38). When we Keep His Commandments as taught in the Bible, we show that we love Him (John 14:15). The Bible says that we must TRUST (BELIEVE) IN JESUS (Acts 16:31; John 3:16,17). When we Trust (Believe) in Jesus, we are trusting that what He said is true. The most important written document explaining Jesus’ teaching is the Holy Bible (John 5:39). One of the main things that He said is that He is the Only One through whom you can be Saved from God’s Wrath (John 14:6) (Romans 5:8-10). Only after You are SAVED can You have Real Meaning in Life. As mentioned earlier, because all of us have sinned (disobeyed God’s commands), God has every right to direct His wrath towards us. (As noted in point 3, Romans 2:12-16 says that people sin even if they are without God’s written law.) Also mentioned was the fact that Jesus took the punishment that we should suffer! The reason Jesus took our punishment is found in John 3:16 below. |
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| For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. | ||
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The phrase He gave His only begotten Son is referring to the fact that God gave His Son, Jesus, to pay the penalty for all of our sins -- Jesus suffered the punishment for all of our sins. GOD LOVED EVERYONE in the World So Much that He allowed JESUS to be the SACRIFICE to take the Punishment that we should suffer. All that God did will not do us any good unless we Believe (Trust) in Jesus. When we do Believe (Trust) in Jesus we will have everlasting life! Everlasting life is having abundant life now (John 10:10) and abundant life with God after we die. (The reference verse John 3:16 is one of the most important verses in the Bible. That is why this reference of the verse is sometimes seen as Jn 3:16 written on posters being held by sports fans at sporting events.) Let's look at the word believe used in the verse. There are different levels of believing. The word can mean to have an opinion about something or to suppose (An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828), Noah Webster). (Noah Webster considered education useless without the Bible. (Wikipedia contributors, "Noah Webster," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noah_Webster (accessed May 22, 2009)) (You may search the 1828 dictionary one word at a time at http://1828.mshaffer.com .) Believing in Jesus is not just believing that Jesus was a real person, who lived in the first century; just believing He was a really good person or just believing He was a great religious teacher. Believing in Jesus is much more involved than that. The word believe can also have a meaning of putting one's TRUST or CONFIDENCE in someone or something (An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828), Noah Webster). To my understanding, the word believe in the above verse has this meaning. The verse is saying that people that put their Trust in Jesus or that place their Confidence in Jesus will have everlasting life. Below is information that further explains what it means to TRUST (BELIEVE) IN JESUS. |
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You are putting your TRUST or CONFIDENCE of your entire life in Jesus. When you put your trust in Jesus, you are also putting your trust in God the Father (John 14:44) and the Holy Spirit; the Three are one, some refer to them as the Trinity. |
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You will start to base your entire life on His teachings, which are found in the Bible. |
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You will endeavor to do what God (God the Father, Jesus or the Holy Spirit) tells you to do. I believe many times it is the Holy Spirit Who tells us what to do. I believe as you get to know the Holy Spirit better, you will be able to know when He is speaking to your inner being for such purposes as teaching you truth (John 16:13) and telling you what to do. I believe God the Father (Matthew 17:4,5) and Jesus (John 10:27) speak to people -- sometimes audibly (Acts 9:3-5). |
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You are not to put the trust or confidence of your entire life in any thing (such as a statue, Nature, force or concept), any church, any government, any organization or any human being (such as a Christian leader, spouse, relative, friend or even your own self). You are to put the trust or confidence of your entire life in Jesus, which also means you are putting your trust in God the Father and the Holy Spirit, because They are one. |
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When you TRUST IN JESUS, you are choosing to change your beliefs -- especially your core beliefs -- so that they start to match what the Bible teaches. To put it another way, the decisions that you make -- especially the important decisions -- must start to be based on the teachings of the Bible. One important area of change is in regards to sin. You are to be sorry that you have committed those sins. You are to change your attitude towards the sins. Like Jesus, you are to hate sin, but love doing right (Hebrews 1:9). You are to realize that when you did those sins, you were disobedient to God. Your desire should be to obey God. You’re actions should start reflecting your change in attitude. The great thing is that God is there to help you to obey Him -- to help you live in a pleasing manner before Him (Hebrews 13:21). The Bible explains how to get His help.
God doesn't ask you to clean up your life before you Trust in Jesus. God just asks you to come the way you are in your imperfection. God wants you to Trust in Jesus, then He will help you to live in a manner that is pleasing to Him. |
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…Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved… |
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The verse says that when you TRUST (BELIEVE) IN JESUS, You will be SAVED from God's wrath! Another verse, Romans 6:23, says that when people TRUST IN JESUS, they will not have eternal torment when they die, but have God's Gift of Eternal Life! Jesus suffered the punishment for the sins that you and I have committed and that we deserved to be punished for. Through Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection, God the Father has provided -- if you accept it -- a Pardon from the punishment that you deserve from all the sins that you have committed. You are putting your Trust in Jesus when you receive the pardon. IF you do not accept the Pardon that God the Father has offered to you, eventually, you will be punished in the Lake of Fire, even though Jesus already suffered the punishment. If you do not accept the pardon, His suffering would have been for nothing as far as you are concern. Here is a summary of point 6 so far. When you change your thinking and TRUST IN JESUS, some of the things You receive are a pardon, God’s Gift of Eternal Life -- abundant life now and in the future -- and You will receive salvation from God’s wrath! This is also referred to as God’s Gift of Salvation. The message that we can be Saved from God's wrath is awesome news! Faith and Trusting in Jesus To Trust in Jesus requires faith. Hebrews 11:1 describes faith as the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. The word substance can be interpreted as confidence (W. Vine's dictionary). The word hope can mean to expect (J. Strong’s concordance-dictionary). To summarize the previous paragraph, the following can be said of faith: |
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Faith is having confidence in Jesus that He will keep His promises. We are to have confidence in Jesus that He will cause to come to past that which we have an expectation for (because it is based on His promises). The Bible is full of His promises and He keeps ALL His promises. (Please be aware that most or all of His promises have conditions. We need to meet the conditions before we can receive the promise.) |
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We may not get what we have an expectation for, because we are expecting it to occur for the wrong reasons (James 4:3). |
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There is no visible (tangible) evidence of what we have an expectation for. |
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So faith is having confidence in Jesus that He will cause to come to past that which we have an expectation for (after we have met all applicable conditions), even though there is no visible evidence that it will happen. Trusting in Jesus, which can be done by saying a suggested prayer (found later in this chapter), will require faith because most people can't see Jesus with their natural eyes and don't see the visible (tangible) results of what Jesus' has promised (such as abundant life now and in the distant future). Hebrews 11:6 below [bold emphasis and words in square brackets are mine] [italicized words were provided for a better understanding of the verse when the Bible was translated into English] states some other things related to faith. |
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| But without faith it is impossible to please Him [God the Father]: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. |
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Confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus. This means that you acknowledge that the Lord Jesus rules with God the Father in heaven right now (John 5:22; Acts 10:36; 1 Peter 3:22). Also, this means that you align yourself with Jesus and the teachings of the Bible -- you are going to be on Jesus’ team. (Refer to Matthew Henry’s commentary on the Bible.) Jesus is going to be the boss (lord, ruler) of your life. |
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TRUST (Believe) in your heart that Jesus, through His sacrificial death and resurrection, has provided the way so that you can be Saved from God’s wrath. |
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When you do the above two things by faith, you show that you Love God because you are keeping His commandment (John 14:15) of Trusting (Believing) in Jesus (Acts 16:31). These verses show that when you come Jesus’ way, you will be Saved from God’s wrath. The Bible is God’s operating manual to have real meaning in life. After you are saved from God’s wrath, start to learn and do what the Bible teaches and do what God wants you to do, You will have real meaning in life! (John 10:9,10) Having real meaning in life doesn’t mean He promises a life without problems, but He does promise to always be with you (Matthew 28:20) and to help you with those problems when you go to Him (Hebrews 4:16). |
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Point 7: |
Some Benefits and Responsibilities of Those Who Trust in Jesus. |
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Some of the Benefits: |
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The sins that they have committed will be washed away! Acts 10:43 says that they will receive remission of sins. The word remission can mean a pardon (J. Strong’s concordance-dictionary). They are pardoned from the punishment of eternal torment! |
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Because the sins that they have committed will be washed away, they will no longer be children of disobedience (mentioned in point 3 above), but they will become children of God! God’s wrath will no longer be directed towards them -- they will not be punished with eternal torment. They are Saved from God’s wrath! This is sometimes referred to as God’s Gift of Salvation. |
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Their names will be written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Next to the Holy Bible, the Lamb’s Book of Life is probably the most important book in the universe for human beings. Jesus is sometimes referred as the Lamb because animal (sometimes lambs) sacrifice was an illustration of God sacrificing Jesus. People who are Saved from God’s wrath (those who choose to put their Trust in Jesus), will have their names written in the Lamb’s Book of Life (Revelation 21:2,4,10,22-27). The people who have their names in the Lamb’s Book of Life will be allowed to live with God in forever! People who don’t have their names in that book will be punished with torment in the Lake of Fire forever. This is why Trusting in Jesus is so very important. |
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They become adopted children of God -- they are adopted into the family of God (Ephesians 1:3-6; Galatians 3:26). |
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They received God's Gift of Eternal Life! They can have abundant life now and when they die they will live with God forever! (Revelation 21:2,4,10,22-27). They will have pleasures forevermore (Psalms 16:11). |
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Some of their Responsibilities: |
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Love God by doing what He wants them to do. |
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Learn what the Bible teaches about what God expects of them and what they can expect from God. |
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Point 1: |
God is more than awesome! |
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Point 2: |
The Holy Bible is the best book on truth. |
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Point 3: |
God's wrath is directed towards us. |
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Point 4: |
The punishment of the sin in us is death (Romans 6:23). The worst aspect of death is eternal separation from God, which means eternal torment in the Lake of Fire. |
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Point 5: |
There is awesome news! Jesus took the punishment for all of our sins! |
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Point 6: |
We are to Change Our Thinking and Trust (Believe) in Jesus. |
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Point 7: |
Some benefits and responsibilities of those who Trust in Jesus. |
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The next section has a suggested prayer to Trust in Jesus. |
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Meaning in Life in the Framework of Eternity |
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