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Bài 2

Self-Education

This is a fitting analogy for the lives of many, even some Christians. It is extremely distressing that there are Christians who professes to follow the faith for 5, 10 years and yet have no idea of where their soul will go once they die.

To avoid this sad situation, I invite you to study the Bible for answers to: the human natures of everyone; and the Saviour of mankind.

I.- THE HUMAN NATURE

What are our basic characteristics as humans?

There was a person who had a red mole on his chest. The doctor told him that he needed to go to a specialist to have the mole removed. If not removed, the mole will be very dangerous.

This person went home, thought about what the doctor had told him and laughed. He thought that the doctor was being conservative and worrying about nothing. It was only a small mole - what was there to worry about? But several months later the mole became bigger and it got infected. He again went to the doctor, but was told that the mole had turned cancerous and it was too late for treatment. The inevitable happened and the man died from what he had thought to be a small insignificant mole.

It is the same in spiritual terms. The Bible informs us that we are all sinners. But there are those who arrogantly chooses to ignore this and eventually their soul reaped the consequences. The Bible is clear about this thing, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) and the price of sin is death.

Each of us must admit that no matter how careful we are, during the course of a day we commit at least one or some of the many guises of sin such as deceit, malice, gossips, slanderers, insolence, arrogance, boastfulness and disobedience to parent(Romans 1:29-30), sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fit of rage,selfish ambition, dissension, factions and envy, drunkenness, orgies,and the like. (Galatians 5:19-21NIV). Each of us are guilty of these sins, if not all, then most and they are all sins committed against God.

God is Holy and sinners cannot come to Him. Therefore, because of sin, we are all drifting further and further away from God, which makes it even easier to sin against Him, which then causes us to drift even further away from Him. Because of this vicious circle, mankind cannot come to God through his own efforts.

Because of His love for us, Jesus voluntarily came down from heaven to earth to find and save mankind, and to give mankind a way to reach God as He says, "I am the way, the truth and the life." (John 14:6). Jesus is the bridge between man the sinner and God the Father. Thanks be to Jesus. But to be more precise in our thanks to Jesus, we need to know more about the person to whom we give our thanks.

II.- WHO IS JESUS TO PROCLAIM HIMSELF AS "THE WAY"

1.- Jesus is the Son of God, a part of the Trinity of God.

Before His birth, an angel appeared to the virgin Mary and proclaimed that "you will give birth to a son...He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High... the Son of God." (Luke 1:32NKJV). Saint John tells us about this of Jesus "..became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14).

The Lord Jesus came from heaven. He is God and He is also Man. He is perfect and without sin, and He has the prerequisites to be the sacrificial lamb for the sins of mankind. He is Man so that mankind can communicate with Him, and also to understand the nature of God through the Lord Jesus.

2.- What did the Lord Jesus do upon His arrival on earth?

The Lord Jesus performed many miracles when He was on earth. Therefore, was His purpose on earth the performance of many miracles? No! If you saw a person who continually checks his car, checks his oil and fluids, checks the tyres, you might be tempted to think that his car is in bad shape and he is always fixing it. But no, he is merely preparing the car for the trips that he has to make, and not because he need to fix the car. The preparation allows him to achieve the objectives and the destinations that he is aiming to go.

Similarly, the Lord Jesus came to earth and performed many miracles that allowed the lame to walk, the sick to heal, the blind to see, the dumb to speak and the dead to live. These are supernatural things. But, these miracles were merely to achieve the aims of His ministry. And what were these aims? The Bible tells us that, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." (I Timothy 1:15NIV).

This is the fundamental reason why Jesus came to the world. He fulfilled God’s plan to save sinners by submitting Himself to the punishment that should have been borne by sinners. He agreed to be nailed to the cross, His blood was spilled to the last drop for sinners. He gave His life for sinners! Therefore, those who are without sin need not come to Him, but those who are sinners should quickly hurry to Him and ask for His grace and forgiveness for their sins. If not, the punishment for sin is death. Jesus is "the Way" that leads mankind to to the Holy Father, Jesus is always willing to forgive those who are prepared to acknowledge Him as their Saviour who has saved them from their sins.

3.-What should be our response?

a.- For those who have acknowledged Jesus as their Saviour should give thanks and worship Him. When we are sure that our reason for following Jesus is for eternal salvation, then we will never have the doubts that make us stray from this path. Because to stray from Jesus, who is "the Way", means that we will be stepping in the wrong direction.

b.- Those who have not yet accepted Jesus as their Saviour should quickly do so. Why?

III.- THERE IS NO SALVATION FROM ANY OTHER PERSON

1.- The only salvation lies in the Lord Jesus Christ:

The Bible is written, "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to man by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12NIV).

The boat seeking refuge became lost because there was no clear direction. If the captain had known which direction to head in, then no one would have been arrested and they would have found freedom. Likewise, the salvation of our soul relies on the belief that Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life, and that we must strive more to know more about Him, the Saviour.

2.- We are not sure how long we can live on the earth.

Each of us should study the love of the Lord Jesus and believes in Him as soon as possible. Why? Because "...you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." (James 4:14).

3.- In Jesus we are saved both spiritually and physically:

When believing that Jesus is our Saviour, not only are our souls saved, but our bodies are also resurrected on the Second Coming of the Lord so that we may live in glory with Him for eternity.

Each of us need to live our lives with a thankful heart for the grace and love of God, and we must live in a way that glorifies God to justify His sacrifice for us on the Cross. A-men.