The Lamb of God

Christ died according to the Scripture. The prophet Isaiah foretold how Jesus Christ died. He died in the place of every believer, for our sins. It was prophesied centuries before it happened. "He was led as a lamb to the slaughter" (Isaiah 53:7). The Bible is such an amazing book. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, the Bible declares by the foreknowledge of God, how Christ would die centuries before it was fulfilled.

Christ died as the Lamb of God. He died for the sins of the world. John the Baptist pointed to Jesus as the fulfillment of the prophecy. He said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). Jesus died to redeem believers out of all nations (Revelation 5:9). Jesus died as the sacrifice for our sins.

Jesus, like the passover lamb in the Old Testament, died in the place of others. He is every believer's substitute at the cross. He took our judgment and punishment. He shed his blood and poured out his life on our behalf. He died that believers may have life eternal. Our sin debt was paid in full by the Lamb of God.

Every believer can testify, that on the cross Jesus Christ died in my place. Our testimony of faith is made sure by the Holy Spirit working grace in our hearts. By faith we see how Christ died on the cross for us, knowing that he was the sacrifice that takes away all our sins (1 John 1:7).

Whom God Loves

God loves all nations. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). That includes every nation, all races, and every ethnic group (Revelation 5:9). 

God loves sinners. He proves it. God sent His Son to die for sinners like you and me (Romans 5:8). He died for our sins at the cross (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Look at God's love in Christ crucified. This is the greatest love story the world has ever known. Yes, God the Father's love for us is forever proven.

God loves believers through the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). The Holy Spirit makes God's love real to us. Upon confessing Jesus as Lord, the Holy Spirit does something beyond our ability to completely understand. He pours out the Father's love into our hearts. Our lives are changed by love divine.

God loves us forever. As believers in Jesus Christ, nothing can separate us from the infinite love of God. That includes trouble, persecution, suffering, and even death. God loves us now and forever. Everlasting life in Christ is the Father's everlasting love (Romans 8:37-38).

The Holy Spirit in Us

Charles Spurgeon testified of how God's Spirit is in all believers. He said, "Where the Holy Spirit dwells within a living child of God, He later rises out of the very midst of him as a fountain or a river, so that others may come and participate in the Spirit's gracious influences."

Spurgeon made it clear that the Holy Spirit is in all believers to flow out of us for the benefit and blessing of others. He quoted John 7:38. Jesus said, He who believes in me, as the scripture hath said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. The Holy Spirit indwells us and flows out of us. He indwells believers to bless us. He flows out of believers to bless others.

Spurgeon was gifted as a pastor-evangelist. He knew that souls were saved through his ministry, because of the work of the Holy Spirit. All believers have at least one ministry gift of the Spirit. God wants to use us in ministry to others, through the work of the Holy Spirit flowing out of us (1 Peter 4:10-11).

God's Spirit flows out of believers to touch the lives of others. The Holy Spirit both indwells us,  and flows out of us to reach others. The Holy Spirit does the work through you, even out of you, flowing as rivers of living water. Give all the glory to God, knowing that the Holy Spirit works both in us, and through us. For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13).

How God Will Provide

God is Jehovah-jireh, meaning the Lord will provide (Genesis 22:14). God provides for all who believe in his name. That means we can trust in who God is. It's not just who we want him to be. God's name is revealed to all believers in the Bible. We can trust in his name, as the Lord provides for us.

God will provide as our heavenly Father. He knows our needs before we ask. Prayer is not designed for us to inform God. He knows all things. Prayer receives from God our Father. Jesus said to pray,"Our Father in heaven"(Matthew 6:9). He taught us to make our requests based upon our needs."Give us this day our daily bread"(Matthew 6:11). God provides as our Father in heaven.

God will provide according to our needs. All of us have needs. Fear says, "No one is going to provide for your needs. You are a needy person with no one who can help." Faith says, "My God shall supply all of my need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus"(Philippians 4:19).

Our greatest need is not physical nor financial. Our greatest need is spiritual. We need God. We need faith that God will provide. God's covenant name among others is Jehovah-jireh. It means God will provide. His name reveals God's character. It's who He is and what He does. The Lord will provide.

How God Chose Us

"He chose us in Him [Christ] before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love" (Ephesians 1:4). The doctrine of election is all about God's love in Christ. God chose his people in Christ before the creation of the world. That includes our responsibility to repent and believe the gospel (Acts 16:30-31; 17:30).

God chose us in Christ. How then are we in Christ? Only when a person hears the gospel of Christ and believes on him can it be said that he is in Christ (Romans 16:7). We are saved by faith in the Lord Jesus (Romans 10:9). Having believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, we are baptized by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13). That's what it means to be in Christ.

God chose us unto faith in Christ. Believers are the church, the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27). In the Old Testament God's chosen people were known as the nation of Israel. In the New Testament, God's people are known as the church, which is both Jews and Gentiles who know Jesus Christ as Lord. God's chosen people are in Christ.

God chose us in Christ to be "holy and and without blame before Him in love "(Ephesians 1:4). Believers are blameless, because the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7). Believers are holy because we have received the righteousness of God in Christ (Romans 3:24-26; 4:5). This is never self-righteousness. It is the imputed righteousness of Christ, which believers receive through the gospel, by grace through faith. 

Christianity Is Christ

Martyn Lloyd-Jones pointed out, "Christianity is Christ. It all centers around Him, and every doctrine that we have and every idea that we possess is something that comes from Him. Therefore, we must of necessity start with Him."

Christianity is Christ as the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end of theology. All should agree that the Bible is a book about God. How can we understand who God is? Christ is perfect and complete theology. No wonder Jesus said, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father" (John 14:9). Christ is the total and full revelation of God. Christianity is God revealed in Christ.

Christianity is Christ in both the Old and New Testaments. In the Old Testament, Christ is revealed in prophecy and typology. The first prophecy of Christ coming is found in Genesis 3:15. He is the Seed of the woman. In typology Christ is revealed in signs and symbols, such as the Lamb of God. In the New Testament, Christ is revealed as fulfilling the prophecy and typology of the Old Testament.

Christianity is Christ as our Lord and Savior. Christ is the author and finisher of our faith. He is the sacrifice for all our sins. He is our risen Lord. Christ is our assurance of salvation. He is the focus of our faith, the hope of our future, and the love of our lives. Christianity is Christ as our all and all, now and forever!

God's Grace Resisted

God's grace is resisted by rejecting the gospel of Christ. Those who do have "insulted the Spirit of grace" (Hebrews 10:29). The Bible teaches that people resist the Spirit of grace, because their hearts have not been changed by the grace of God. The responsibility of man is his own just condemnation in rejecting the gospel of Christ.

"You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you" (Acts 7:51). Only the Spirit of grace can change the heart of man, which means our mind, will, and emotions. By resisting the Holy Spirit, people are insulting the only one who can apply the gospel of Christ to our hearts.

The Holy Spirit, who changes the corrupt heart of man, is the same Spirit of grace who convicts the heart of man. Conviction is grace that precedes new birth (John 16:7-11). When conviction is resisted, grace is resisted. Conviction deals specifically with the sin of unbelief, in essence, rejecting the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Why would anyone reject the gospel of Christ? Jesus said, "And this is condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil" (John 3:19). Therefore, those who resist the Spirit of grace reject the gospel of Christ. As a result, they face their own just condemnation (John 3:18).