PASSOVER GREETINGS

Jesus is our Passover

Praise the LORD! His shed Blood paid the price of our sin and by it we have the forgiveness of sins.

Praise the LORD! His dying in the flesh has freed us from the power of sin in our bodies.

Praise the LORD! By His resurrection our spirit is born again and made a NEW Creations by the regeneration of the Holy Spirit!

Praise the LORD! Now by His Resurrection Life we can walk in Newness of Life as we yield to the Spirit of Life and not our old dead nature.

Praise the LORD! His Resurrection guarantees the resurrection of our bodies in the FIRST Resurrection.

Praise the LORD! We have been saved in our spirit and are being saved in our soul and our bodies will be saved because of Christ’s baptizing us with the Spirit into HIS death, burial and resurrection!

Praise the LORD! Jesus is our Passover!

May the LORD continually bless you as we reflect upon our LORD Jesus Christ’s Passion and Resurrection this Passover Week.     -Jeff Hawkins

History is HIS STORY

Christmas is about JESUS, the Son of God who became the Son of Man so that sons of men could become sons of God!

What an incredible story, HIS Story. The Story that says, “for God so loved the whole world that He gave His one and only Son Jesus to live, die and rise from the dead for all men, so that WHOEVER put their trust in His Son Jesus, would not perish eternally for their sin, but instead have eternal life.”

The picture shows the happy faces of some African brothers who have just led a neighbor to Christ. All believers are Ambassadors for Christ. We are either a good ambassador or a bad ambassador. A good ambassador both Tells the Truth and lives the Truth of the Gospel. But to believe the Gospel a person must “hear” it so they can believe it. Yes, faith comes by hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Some one has said “HISTORY is about HIS STORY.” My friend and mentor shared the Gospel Story using the acronym H-I-S-T-O-R-Y. Let me share it with you. Maybe it will help you to share the Story with others and be blessed as our friends in Africa were when a soul was saved from eternal death and received eternal life.

H – God is HOLY and He will judge all mankind according to His standard of holiness by His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus alone has lived a perfect life and was raised from the dead to never die again because He is Holy.  God has never done wrong. He is not even tempted to do wrong! John 5:22; Romans 2:5-6; Acts 17:30-31; James 1:13

I – I am a sInner! Because I am a sinner I will face God’s Judgment by His Son. Every one is a sinner because everyone is from Adam’s race. All have sinned IN Adam and all sin because because we have been perfect and  we have not kept the moral law of God! Adam’s nature is our nature. NO one will escape the Judgment of God.   All have failed to keep God’s perfect standard in two ways.  We have done what we should not do (sins of commission, Galatians 5:19-21) and we have not done what we should do (sins of Omission, James 4:17). Romans 3:19, 23; James 2:26; Hebrews 9:27

S – I need to be SAVED from the most severe judgment in the eternal Lake of Fire. There is a price for sin. That price is DEATH. It is a spiritual death. Our spirit/nature is dead because it is Adam’s nature. We were conceived spiritually dead. It is a physical death. All of us are physically dying. There is no escaping physical death. Our bodies are dying because all creation is under the curse of God because of sin. It is an eternal death. This is the worst part! Because I sin personally I will suffer in the Lake of Fire away from the presence of God for ever and ever! This is what the Bible calls the SECOND Death. Physical death is called the first death, when my spirit departs the body which then corrupts and returns to dust. This is my fate if there is no remedy!
Matthew 10:28; Revelation 14: 10-11, 20:11-15; Romans 1:18

T – God wants all men to be saved, but unless they know the TRUTH one cannot be saved from the judgment of death. God wants to save me body, soul and spirit but I must know the truth to be saved from spiritual, physical and eternal death.     1 Timothy 2:1-4

O – That truth is “there is ONLY ONE Mediator between God and man. God has appointed Him to represent us in His divine court in heaven. That one mediator who can stand between sinful man and the Holy God is the Eternal God-Man, the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Timothy 2:5, Philippians 2:5-8

There is a price to pay that is acceptable to God the Father for sin. For the Holy God to be just in saving sinners the price must be paid. (Romans 3:26) The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), and the life of flesh is in the blood. (Leviticus 17:11) Some one must die in our place and shed blood and that blood must be acceptable in the eyes of the Father so that He can forgive us forever.

R – Jesus paid the RANSOM price to redeem mankind from sin. That is He died to set us free from the price of sin. (1 Timothy 2:6; Galatians 3:13; hebrews 9:12; 1 Peter 1:18-20)

Since God wants all men to be saved and has provided a way to save all men, why is it that all men are not saved?

The reason is that as in earthly courts one needs a qualified lawyer, so too in heaven one needs a qualified and acceptable lawyer, or advocate. To get this Heavenly Qualified Lawyer one must ask Him to take your case.

Y – YES must be a sinners response to this proposition from God. That is to be obedient to the Gospel, one must repent of their sinfulness by admitting to being a sinner and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. (Acts 20:21) To believe is to accept that Jesus is God and He lived and died for you so that HE could give you HIS Life eternal.

To say YES is to ask Jesus to take your case and represent you before the Father in Heaven. This is done by “calling on  Jesus” to be our savior. By simple faith in the Truth fo the Gospel ask Jesus to save you. He always says YES. (Romans 10:9-13)

Have you received the BEST Christmas present of all?

You can if you pay attention to HISTORY.

ETERNAL LIFE!

YOU CAN HAVE ETERNAL LIFE!

Each One will Give an Account

The message of Christianity is about Eternal Life. And it is universal, because everyone is under the condemnation of sin. This Gospel of Eternal life is available to ALL, regardless of race, gender, education, or status. Eternal life for all is through the one and only begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ and should be “good news” to the ears of any person who wants to make things right with the God who made him. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. NO one comes to the Father, except through Me.” The Gospel is Jesus Christ. He is God’s only begotten Son.  That is He is God made human. This good news is God’s Story of saving grace to sinful man. It is HIS STORY.

The Acronym H I S T O R Y explains the Gospel

H – holy

God the Father is holy or set apart from man in His character. He has never done anything wrong, nor can He be tempted to do wrong. (James 1:13)

I – sin

In contrast to God, all mankind has sinned. (Romans 3:23) Sin means to miss the mark, or fail to hit the target of God’s righteous standard. God’s standard is perfection and is revealed in His moral Law (The Ten Commandments). (Romans 3:19) All men have failed to meet this perfect standard in two ways:

By doing what we should not do. Gal. 5:19-21

By not doing the good things we should do. James 4:17

S – saved

In order for any man to stand in the presence of the Holy Heavenly Father when he dies without fear of rejection, one must be saved or delivered from the Wrath of God which is death. Romans 6:23 says that the price or wages of sin is death. There are two kinds of death resulting from sin.

1^st Death – when the human spirit departs the body which then corrupts and returns to dust.

2^nd Death – when the body is resurrected and reunited with its spirit and is judged for the sin committed against God in this life. This Judgment results in the sinner’s body and soul being cast into the Eternal Lake of Fire where he suffers eternal torment. (Rev. 14:10-11, 20:11-15). Jesus said this death is worse than the 1^st Death and is to be feared. (Matthew 10:28) This judgment will be impartial. All sinners will be judged. (Romans 1:18)

T – truth

The truth is that God wants all men to be saved and have eternal life. While God wants all men to be saved, they will not be saved from God’s wrath unless they know and believe the Truth. Paul tells us that God desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:4) What is the truth that one must know to be saved from God’s wrath and have eternal life?

O – one

The truth one must know is that God the Father cannot save us unless we seek to be reconciled to Him through the One Mediator between God and man, the MAN Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5). God has appointed Him to represent us in His divine court in heaven. This one and only mediator who can stand between sinful man and Holy God is the Eternal God-Man, the Lord Jesus Christ. ( Philippians 2:5-8)

There is only one price to pay that is acceptable to God the Father for sin. The price is death. (Romans 6:23) For the Holy God to be just in saving sinners the price must be paid.  The wages of sin is death, and the life of our flesh is in the blood according to the Law of God. Someone must die in our place and shed blood that is acceptable (holy) in the eyes of the Father so that He can forgive us of our sin forever.

R – ransom

Jesus paid the ransom price to redeem us, or set us free from the curse of God’s holy Law which is eternal death for sin. (1 Timothy 2:6; Galatians 3:13; Hebrews 9:12; 1 Peter 1:18-20)

Since God wants all men to be saved and has provided a way to save all men, why is it that all men are not saved?

Just as in earthly courts one needs a qualified lawyer, so too in heaven sinners need a lawyer, or advocate, someone qualified to represent us before the Holy God. Jesus Christ is qualified because He lived a perfect Life and was thus able to die for all sin. Jesus rose from the dead proving He is acceptable to God. To retain this Heavenly Qualified Lawyer you must ask Him to take your case. He will represent you if you will call on Him.

Y – yes

Yes must be your response in obedience to the Gospel, in obeying God’s command to change your mind about God and believe in His Son Jesus Christ. (Acts 20:21)

The way to say yes to Jesus is by trusting in Him to save you.  By simple faith in the Truth of the Gospel (Jesus Christ) He will represent you before God and save you from His just wrath against you. Jesus always says YES to those who turn to Him for eternal life. Whoever calls upon the Name of the LORD Jesus Christ will be saved. (Romans 10:13)

“It is appointed unto all men to die (physically) once, and after this comes the Judgment.” Are you ready to be judged by God?  Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved from God’s Wrath on that Judgment Day and escape the 2nd Death.

If you have believed on Jesus take a moment right now and thank Him for saving you.

“Lord Jesus, I want to say thank you for saving me! You died for my sin and rose again to give me eternal life. Thank you. I believe in You for eternal life.”

If you have BELIEVED this good news of eternal life through Jesus Christ or desire more information contact Jeff by email at HIMAfrica@gmail.com or message him on Facebook @ HIMAfrica.

ALL who accept who Jesus Christ is (the God-Man) and what He has done for them (died for their sin), to these He gives the right to become children of God, that is to those who BELIEVE in Him.