For His Name's Sake

Now the God of Hope fill you with all Joy and Peace in believing, that you may abound in Hope, through the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13

I pray you would see, and would soon say, "Jesus I love you. Thank you for loving me for your own name's sake. "

There are 2 parts to Romans 6:23 that each person must grasp before an appreciation of the Gospel (Good News ) about Jesus can really take shape in your heart. It says, "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

".... but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord:"

God is all knowing, nothing is hidden from him in eternity past or future, yet he causes himself to forget our sin....Isaiah 43:25 says, “I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins." 

"For his sake" profoundly means God can not be unloving at any time. Because he is LOVE he always demonstrates it in various ways, and in ways that are very deep and therefore hard to believe....nevertheless true. Because he does it for His names sake we get the choice to benefit from his Way of doing things. 

"Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. BUT he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. YET IT WAS THE WILL OF GOD THE FATHER TO CRUSH GOD THE SON; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors. (Isaiah 53:4-6, 10-12)

What you just read is how eternal life becomes possible to you. God made a way for you to escape the 2nd death once you die in the body. This transaction isn't automatic though. The wage of our sins remain upon each of us until we believe in Jesus and become Born Again (God the Holy Spirit coming to live inside of you). Dealing with your sins, facing them, confessing them and wanting to change and repent becomes so much easier when you come to finally realize who God is and that the outcome of who he is SAVES YOU. It is a blessing to believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob because He SAVES YOU. HE IS LOVE. Thinking about this is good. Why did God create humanity when he knew doing so would be like a building crashing on his head, that doing so would bring his Son Jesus so much pain and suffering? To understand why we need to grasp a new perspective. Amazingly, 1 Peter 1:19-20 and Ephesians 1:3-4 reveal that God the Son was foreordained before the foundation of the world to ransom humanity from sin...to take the nails in his hands and lashes on his back that we deserved...and that there would be people who would trust in the blood he shed to save them. His death was no accident, nor was it unplanned. The nails that were driven through Jesus' hands at the cross were actually there in the purpose, intention and heart of God BEFORE he created us out of the dust of the earth. He decided to die and live for you first because he knew you would sin and die even before you were born. The implication of this is really important to grasp. HE WANTS A RELATIONSHIP WITH YOU. RO ENJOY LIFE WITH YOU FOREVER!

Isaiah 49:15-16 says that it is possible even for a mother to forget her nursing child, and to not have compassion on the son of her womb, but it is IMPOSSIBLE for God to forget those who trust in his name because he has engraved them upon the palms of his hands. At Creation, in Genesis 2:7, we see these hands forming us out of the dust of the earth, and almost 2000 years ago in Matthew 27:35, Mark 15:24, Luke 23:33, and John 19:18 we see these same hands being crucified. 

The big deal is that God the Father really loves you. He can not overlook your sin so he warns with , " the wages of sin is death". He knew your sin would be a problem between you and him and that it would destroy your relationship together. So he decided to destroy sin through sacrificing his own perfect and Holy life ( His Son Jesus) so you could have a way to escape the wage of your sin through a relationship with Jesus. God the Son, Jesus, is your Mediator before God the Father. If you don't believe and confess Jesus as your Savior, Mediator, Or Lord then he is not, and when you stand before God there will be nothing to redeem your soul from the 2nd death. With the faith you practice now in the blood of Jesus, you will be justified then by that same faith. But if you do not put your faith in Jesus now, you will not have the faith that saves and death will be the just wage, verdict. 

I believe that most people would confess that they have sinned: used God's name as a cuss word, stolen , lied, hated someone, lusted after someone.....at least once in their lifetime. But I don't believe that most people understand how God feels about righteousness and the real consequence of breaking God's law , nor the truth about how God feels about them to save them from the consequence of breaking the law. People perish for lack of knowledge about God and people live because they come into the knowledge of God. Saving knowledge and faith only come by hearing the Bible and learning it and then believing it. 

I pray with all my heart that you would believe that God loves you and that you would put your faith in Jesus Christ to wash away your sins....primarily with the 1st motive that you love him, the Obedient One, and the 2nd motive because you want to live with him. 

The message from God about Jesus to humanity and you personally for all creation and BEFORE creation has been the same: 

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love Ephesians 1:3, 4

"...but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you." 1 Peter 1:19, 20

"I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live." Deuteronomy 30:19 

"The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 3:23

Remember, God redeemed this world by his choice to die through Christ. Satan, his demons, and human choices corrupt this world. That's not Gods fault. The world is getting darker because people are not seeking after The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But the cool thing is that no matter how dark it gets God promises you will find him when you seek him with ALL YOUR HEART...

Much Love for you,

Hank