Part One: Works of the Cross
In his Book “Pease with God” Billy Graham describes three things in the Cross; a description of the depth of man’s sin, the overwhelming love of God, and the only way to salvation. The depths of the sins of man makes it impossible for man to have a relationship with God. In Theology for Today by Elmer Towns, Dr. Towns says that man cannot comprehend the true meaning of divine holiness and it is this holiness that prevents God from seeing man in his sinful nature. It is because of our sins that it was necessary for Jesus to go to the cross. It was because of the love of God that Jesus chose freely to go to the cross for us. In John 3:16-17 “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. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” We clearly see the depth of the Love of God for Man we also see that the only path to salvation is only possible because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.
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I have spent most of my life in strife and turmoil, from rebelling against to divorce. My life was in such a wreck that at my lowest point I was ready to end it all in a pill bottle. It was in that moment that I began to realize that it is in our darkest moment that the Lord calms our spirit. Every sense that day my prayer to God has always been for peace. Just as Jesus calmed the waters (Mark 4: 35-41) he can calm the
The world was gripped by the tale of forgiveness, Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross and his subsequent resurrection, as it was written and asserted. Through his first supernatural miracles and preaching, Christ had created a young religious congregation, but after his death Christ’s disciples and followers dedicated themselves to spreading the Word of God and the religion to the far corners of the world. Mass conversions took place with ordinary citizens in awe at the declared majesty of God, as well as the thought of a better life beyond the squalor of ancient
Though Jesus was sinless and undeserving of death, he offered himself as a sacrifice in atonement for all sin (Invitation to World Religions, pg.418). Paul was always emphatic in maintaining that salvation cannot be earned by “works”, whether humans’ effort to obey the commandments in the Torah or excellent work in general. Instead, he taught that the salvation made possible by Christ’s sacrifice is a gift, the ultimate expression of God’s love and grace. Salvation is given to those who respond to God’s grace in faith, the conviction that God has acted through Jesus Christ to amend for human sin. Although Paul was very clear in teaching that salvation depends on God’s grace and the individual’s turning to God in faith, he did not dismiss the importance of works (Invitation to World Religions, pg.419). For Paul, faith does more than bringing salvation; it unites the believers with Christ in a “newness of life”. He believed that the spirit lives in believers and brings them into union with God. As a divine presence within, the spirit encourages the growth of spiritual virtues, the greatest which is love and makes all Christians one in the church often called “the body of Christ”.
I finally woke up feeling better than I had the day before and I instantly knew the plans God had for me. He gave me an unbelievable amount of strength that I had no idea one person could obtain. I finally accepted that adversity was inevitable and I was no longer going to let it break me. Overcoming adversity is one of the biggest challenged in life and when we finally have the courage and strength to face it; then we will see the purpose God has for us. God will never give up on you and he will never leave your side. I continued to pray until I was no longer in such a bad state of mind. I learned to accept what God had put me through at such an early age as the best blessing I have ever received. Suffering built perseverance and hope that I never thought I had, he took my dark time and turned it into a gift. My experience is not a misfortune, it is something God gave me to be able to serve others. In times of difficulty, no one knows what God is doing with their life but he made me realize what I was capable of overcoming if I trusted in him and never lost faith. He turned something so terrible into something amazing. This showed me that he is always there even when I feel alone and he is never going to leave me in a hard time. I am blessed to be able to be there for others in times like this and give them advice or just be someone to talk to. This experience has influenced me to take on a career in psychology so no one ever
He stood between "us" and God; and both the reproaches and the divine displeasure due to them, "met" on his sacred person, and produced the sorrows of the atonement - his bitter agony in the garden and on the cross. Jesus thus showed his love of God in being willing to bear the reproaches aimed at him; and his love to "men" in being willing to endure the sufferings necessary to atone for these very sins.“Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”.Now may the God: Paul puts these words into the form of a prayer this demonstrates that he recognizes that this is a work that the Holy Spirit must do inside us. The God of patience: Our God is a God of patience. We are often in so much of a hurry, and God often seems to work too slowly for us. Often the purposes of God seem to be delayed but they always are fulfilled. God's delays are not His denials, and He has a loving purpose in every delay.That you may: The goal is to glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Billy Graham was an evangelist that believed that to live in a “righteous country” it was necessary to start with the conversion of its individuals. He feared that people were becoming more attached to the pleasure of materialistic things such as money more than they were with God almighty. Graham was very strategic in getting his message across the country and being noticed. Graham targeted famous popular personas and developed close relationships with them in so that they could influence others to convert. More importantly, Graham played an important role in Eisenhower’s baptism and interest in religions. Eisenhower began to incorporate religion to strengthen the people faith during the cold war which was a time in which many feared being
Moreover, he was crucified because of pardoning our sin. I know this stories about Jesus, but, at that time, Jesus existentially came to me as the incarnation. I realized that Jesus Christ is my lord but also sincere friend as he came down to Zacchaeus in the plan of God. This is my experience of and understanding God and God’s love.
Billy Graham was born in 1918 and raised on a dairy farm near Charlotte, NC. He was the oldest of four children and an average student. Graham’s teenage interests included cars and sports, most especially baseball. As a teen Graham underwent a spiritual conversion, in which he experienced a “granite determination to commit his life to Christ”. Graham graduated from Wheaton College in 1943 and soon began a ministry of sharing God’s love to a broken humanity. In addition, Billy Graham married and was a father to five children. Graham continued his ministry for 60 years before retiring to Montreat, NC.
Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every nation. (Mark 16:15)
Jesus Christ, God incarnate came to earth to save everyone from eternal damnation in hell. As humans, with Adam and Eve as our representatives in the Garden of Eden, they broke God’s one commandment, therefore allowing sin to come into the world. Because of this fall, we all deserve damnation, and because of the sin nature inside of us, everyone deserves to die and be eternally punished. However, because of the loving and gracious nature of God, He sent his only son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross to be our representative for sin. When he took the cross, not only did he bear the physical pain of the lashes, the dehydration, and the cross itself, but he also drank God’s cup of wrath for us. Everyone on earth deserves to be on that cross, but Jesus, through his great love for us, paid the ultimate price of his own life to save us.
requires self-denial. The cross was the most painful and humiliating form of execution of the Roman era. Thus, to take up one?s cross daily is to expect painful situations every day because of allegiance to Christ? (1?Luke? 1755). We are to understand that being a disciple of Christ we will have our character tested. We must be willing to give up everything to follow, and love Him above all others. Even our own lives are to be a sacrifice for His service. We are to not be ?ostriches? with our heads in the sand but with open eyes, minds and hearts weigh the cost, and decide if we are able to follow. Are we able to stand against our enemies, (His enemies)? Are we strong enough, brave enough, and faithful enough to be counted worthy? If we are not, are we willing to sacrifice it all to become what He requires?
John Walden’s critical review states that in the Bible Jesus Christ died on the cross to save us. He was killed because of his loyalty to God, not
Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress. He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed. Psalm 107:28-29 (NIV). It's so easy to lose sight of God when life is sweet and easy, then circumstances in life often take us places that we never intended to go. When everything is violently shifting around us like a storm, the only way to counteract chaos is by keeping stillness inside of us. But what does stillness entail? Did you know that stillness does not mean inactivity, but that stillness is dynamic, it’s movement to be in harmony with the Creator? So when life gets hard it’s awesome to have the closeness of God when we are at our weakest.
Jesus had to carry his own cross, that probably weighed two times his size, all the way up to wear the crucifixion was going to take place. Already beaten and bloody, they lay him down onto the cross shaped piece of wood and begin by nailing his hands and feet into it and standing the cross up into the air. What a brutal sight it must have been for God to see his only son tortured like this, but the good news is that he knew what his plan was for Jesus and for his people and he knew what was going to happen after all this was over. Jesus died hanging from that cross, washing all of our sin away and paying the ultimate sacrifice. After he died he was wrapped in a white cloth and placed into a tomb with a boulder sealing the door to the outside world. Three days after being placed in there, the people went to check up on the tomb to find that the boulder was pushed aside and the white cloth was folded neatly where Jesus was laying. The son of God, the Messiah, rose again from the dead to fulfill his mission so that we may have everlasting life in God’s kingdom. God’s plan for our life and through Jesus he teaches us that if we follow in God’s word and make him our most prized possession and ask for him to be in our hearts that we may to “escape the penalty that God will execute upon all who have broken His
When Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden tree, sin entered the world and that which was once good became corrupted. From that moment, we were separated from God. Yet because we were made in His image and He love us so much, He gave up his one and only son to die on the cross for our sins. One of God’s attributes is His benevolence, which means that He loves and cares about all His creation. He is also merciful, which means that He is very compassionate and tender-hearted towards us. I mention these specific attributes to emphasize the fact that these attributes were also present in the person of Christ. Jesus said, “He who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9), meaning that if we want to personally “know the love, the holiness, the power
This short scene leading to the cross opens the mind of the audience that Jesus loves us vastly to take the punishments of sins.