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Weekly Reminder...
The Weekly Reminder is an informative tool to help people who read it consider what the man of God has said. This weekend’s articles are based on what was heard on February 14 & 15, 2009 in the Westbury assembly.written by Br. Samuel Philogene
"So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation” (Hebrews 9:28).
It is wonderful to know that Christ came from heaven. He left His glory to give us life. He gave His life on Calvary; shed His blood so we can have a chance to live eternally. We learned last weekend how the death of Christ is a great opportunity for everyone to take part in what God is doing; it was a door opening for those who long ago could not even pronounce the name of Jesus. Remember that we are Gentiles and in time past we were not God’s people (Matthew 10:5), but God, in His mercy when we were dead in trespasses and in our sins, sent Jesus to go to Golgotha so we can have life today and have hope to live with Him in His kingdom (Ephesians2:1-6).
Br. Antoine was showing us the difference between the scriptures where some say that Jesus died for His own (John 10:11) and others say that Jesus came and died for the whole world (John 6:33). Through the Bible it was made clear that Jesus came and died on Calvary to give us a chance to come to the Father. He went on to say that when Jesus died He opened a door for everybody, this is the common grace bestowed on the world, all nations can come to the Father through the blood of Jesus Christ and find forgiveness for their sins (Hebrews 10:19-23). Prior to this only the Jews were God’s people and only they could pray to God and God would hear but now everybody, once they acknowledge Jesus Christ as their Savior, once they accept to be cleansed by the blood shed at the cross, can pray to God. That is why God never answered Cornelius’ prayers, even though the Bible tells us that man was a righteous man, “a devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God always” (Acts 10:2) It took Jesus to come to earth and die, now the way was made (the veil of the temple was rent in twain…[Matthew 27:51]), then God answered Cornelius, “Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God” (v4). The Bible doesn’t say how long Cornelius was praying but the testimony about this man can let us know that his whole life was dedicated unto God and that he had to wait for Jesus to make the way.
So this is how we have to understand the statement that Jesus died for the world, yes He died to give everybody no matter who you are or where you are from to be partakers to the blessings of the Father and more to be co-heir with Jesus the Son of God; oh, what a great privilege. This is the fulfillment of an old promise from God to Abraham our father in faith, by his obedience he received blessing from God not only for himself but for the whole world, in Genesis 22:18 “And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed My voice”. God was preparing the way for Jesus to come to give His blood now we can say all nations have their portion in the tree of life. But even though Jesus opened the door for the whole world not everybody accepts this chance because the death of Jesus Christ gives us a great responsibility to avoid sin because He came to rid us of sin (Matthew 1:21, John 1:29), so we can’t just say that Jesus died for my sins and continue in our sins, God forbid (Romans 6:1-2), by accepting the blood of Jesus we engaged ourselves to live a holy life to not crucify Jesus again (2 Corinthians 5:14-15). Br. Antoine told us that Jesus will not go to the cross again but He died once so it is our responsibility to walk worthy of the blood of our Savior (Hebrews 9:19-28).
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written by Br. Samuel Damus
“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” (John 3:16).
God’s grace was given unto all humanity. He sent His Son to die on the cross at Calvary for our redemption because the world was so far removed from God because of sins. The sacrifice that Christ made on the cross was to bring us back to God. There ought to be an appreciation for this sacrifice. We were dead in trespasses of sin “for the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Christ’s death on the cross erased our sins (humanity as a whole) and made us qualify for life, eternal life (Colossians 2:15, 1:12-14). This sacrifice should not be taken lightly. To become sons of God and live with Jesus eternally is a privilege that we should not squander.
This qualification is not instantaneous but there is a process that needs to take place. “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ; Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” (Titus 2:11-14). Christ’s death “cleared the slate” for all mankind before the Lord for we were practitioners of sin. Because our pardon was made before God we must not think that it is o.k. to live how we want. We owe Christ for His love and sacrifice; we must live for Him (2 Corinthians 5:15); in order to do that we must first believe in Him.
Jesus said, “And this is the will of Him that sent Me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life” (John 6:40). This belief is not only to believe that Christ exists but it is to trust and rely solely on Him and His words. A lot of people do not believe in turning the other cheek; an eye for an eye is what we are accustomed to. I don’t even have to mention loving our enemies, but to be a child of God we have to do just that (Matthew 5:38-45). When we trust in Jesus He will help us for “as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name” (John 1:12).
So we must give “thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son: In whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:12-13). Let us believe in Christ as the Father wants us to (John 6:29) and live a life here on after with a deeper appreciation for the sacrifice that Jesus has made. “For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward; 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 2:2-3).
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