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| Does God Love You? |
Q. I sometimes wonder if He does love me. If He is a loving God, why is there so much suffering and sorrow in the world?
A. In His book called the Bible, God shows that our sins are the cause for all the suffering and sorrow. It is true that God reveals His love to the whole world, as we read in one of the most quoted verses in the Bible:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
This agrees with:
The LORD detests the way of the wicked but he loves those who pursue righteousness. (Proverbs 15:9)
For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. (Psalms 1:6)
Q. But I am not wicked. I am a decent, moral person. Surely the good I have done in my life far outweighs whatever bad I have done. How can these verses apply to me?
A. By God’s standard of righteousness even the most moral person is looked upon by God as a desperate sinner on his way to Hell. The Bible teaches that no one is good enough in himself to go to Heaven. On the contrary, we are all sinners, and we are all guilty before God.
As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. (Romans 3:10-11)
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9)
Q. If I am such a wicked person in God’s sight, what will God do to me?
A. The Bible teaches that at the end of the world all the wicked will come under eternal punishment in a place called Hell.
For a fire has been kindled by my wrath, one that burns to the realm of death below. It will devour the earth and its harvests and set afire the foundations of the mountains. I will heap calamities upon them and spend my arrows against them. I will send wasting famine against them, consuming pestilence and deadly plague; I will send against them the fangs of wild beasts, the venom of vipers that glide in the dust. (Deuteronomy 32:22-24)
Q. Oh, come on now! Hell is not real, is it? Surely, things are not that bad.
A. Indeed, Hell is very real, and things are that bad for the individual who does not know the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior. The Bible makes many references to Hell, indicating it is both eternal and consists of perpetual suffering.
If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:15)
This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
(Matthew 13:49-50)
... the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power;
(2 Thessalonians 1:7-9)
Q. That is terrible! Why would God create Hell?
A. Hell is terrible, and it exists because God created man to be accountable to God for his actions. God’s perfect justice demands payment for sin.
For the wages of sin is death … (Romans 6:23a)
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. (2 Corinthians 5:10)
But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. (Matthew 12:36)
Q. Does that mean that at the end of the world everyone will be brought to life again to be judged and sent to Hell?
A. Indeed it does; that is, unless we can find someone to be our substitute in bearing the punishment of eternal damnation for our sins. That someone is God Himself, who came to earth as Jesus Christ to bear the wrath of God for all who believe in Him.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5)
For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, (1 Corinthians 15:3-4)
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
Q. Are you saying that if I trust in Christ as my substitute, as the One punished for my sins, then I will not have to worry about Hell anymore?
A. Yes, this is so! If I have believed in Christ as my Savior, then it is as if I have already stood before the Judgment Throne of God. Christ as my substitute has paid for my sins.
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him. (John 3:36)
Q. But what does it mean to believe on Him? If I agree with all that the Bible says about Christ as Savior, then am I saved from going to Hell?
A. Believing on Christ means a whole lot more than agreeing in my mind with the truths of the Bible. It means that I have come to trust the whole Bible, God’s law book to me. It also means that I have an on-going earnest desire to be obedient to the commands of the Bible. Thus I find I am truly happy when I am living like God instructs me in the Bible.
And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. (1 John 2:3)
No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. (Matthew 6:24)
Q. Are you saying that there is no way to escape Hell except through Jesus? What about other religions, including many that profess faith in Christ? Will their followers also go to Hell?
A. Yes, indeed. They cannot escape the fact that God holds us accountable for our sins. God demands that we pay for our sins. Other religions cannot provide a substitute to bear the sins of their followers. Christ is the only one who is able to bear our guilt and save us.
Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6)
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)
Q. Doesn’t the Bible teach that I must attend church regularly and be baptized? Will these save me?
A. If possible, we should do these things, but they will not save us. No work of any kind can secure our salvation. Salvation is God’s sovereign gift of grace, given according to His mercy and good pleasure. Salvation is,
"Not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:9)
Q. Now I am desperate. I do not want to go to Hell. What can I do?
A. You must remember that God is the only one who can help you. You must throw yourself altogether on the mercies of God. As you see your hopeless condition as a sinner, cry out to God to save you.
And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. (Luke 18:13)
And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (Acts 16:30-31)
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Romans 10:13)
Q. How can I believe on Christ if I know so little about Him?
A. Wonderfully, it is God Who saves us through the Lord Jesus and gives us the faith to believe on Him. You can pray to God that He will give you faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior.
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. (Ephesians 2:8)
God works particularly through the Bible to give us that faith. So, if you really mean business with God about your salvation, you should use every opportunity to hear and study the Bible, which is the only Word of God. In this brochure, all Bible verses are printed in italic letters. Give heed to them with all your heart.
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (Romans 10:17)
Q. Does this mean that I have to surrender everything to God?
A. Yes. When God has saved me, I will recognize that even though I did not deserve salvation, yet Jesus Christ in His great mercy and love has done all the work required for my salvation. Consequently, very humbly I will live a life that praises and thanks Him for my salvation.
…Saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. (Isaiah 66:2b)
We love our sins because we are sinners. Therefore, we can begin to pray to God for an intense hatred for our sins. We know that our sins are sending us to Hell.
Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities. (Acts 3:26)
Q. I don’t know if I am ready to do that. I need some time to think about it.
A. You might not have much time. For one thing, you might not live to see tomorrow. What God said to the man who trusted in the things of this world, He could say to you,
"… Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee:" (Luke 12:20)
Also, the Bible says that the end of the world is coming soon.
The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath. (Zephaniah 1:14-15a)
Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. (James 5:8)
Q. Is the day of wrath and judgment really near? Can we know how close to the end of the world we might be?
A. Yes! It is near. God gives much information in the Bible which tells that we are very near the end of the world.
And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold… And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. (Matthew 24:12, 14)
For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. (Matthew 24:24)
Q. Besides being the time for Judgment Day, what else will happen at the end of the world?
A. Those who have trusted in Jesus as their Savior will be transformed into their glorious eternal bodies and will be with Christ forevermore.
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)
Also, God will destroy the entire universe by fire and create new heavens and a new earth where Christ will reign with His believers forevermore.
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up… Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. (2 Peter 3:10, 13)
Q. Why does God give us this warning?
A. Just as God warned ancient Nineveh that He was going to destroy that great city and He gave them forty days warning, the Bible also warns us that the end is very near.
And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. (Jonah 3:4)
Q. What did the people of Nineveh do?
A. From the king on down, they humbled themselves before God, repented of their sins, and cried to God for mercy.
But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? (Jonah 3:8-9)
Q. Did God hear their prayers?
A. Yes. God saved the city of Nineveh from destruction.
Q. Can I still cry to God for mercy so that I will not come into judgment?
A. Yes. There is still time to become saved even though that time has become very short.
Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: (Isaiah 55:6)
How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him. (Hebrews 2:3)
In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah. (Psalms 62:7-8)
ARE YOU READY TO MEET GOD?
"An Invitation" Click Here
Heavenly Father, thank you for this wonderful message. Thank you Lord for loving us so much that you gave your only Son, that by believing in Him we are saved and will be with you forever. Father, we pray this wonderful message reaches the hearts of all those who read these words. That they too will see your shining light, seek you with all of their heart and truly come to know you. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, Amen!
Created on 08/12/2008 05:47 AM by admin
Updated on 08/19/2008 03:23 PM by admin
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