Today is Good Friday for 2016.
The story was started on Christmas Morning.
This is something I try to read every Christmas – and Easter:
Today commemorates the whole focus of Christianity, save one part.
Today commemorates the day that a perfect man took upon himself the cost, the debt, that every man, woman or child incurs by our flesh. I am a sinner.
Romans 3:23(Amplified)
since all have sinned and continually fall short of the glory of God,
No one is able to walk perfectly – because we continue to sin.
Romans 3:10(AMP)
10 As it is written and forever remains written,
“There is none righteous [none that meets God’s standard], not even one.
It has been this way since the beginning of time – we sin.
Romans 5:12 (AMP)
12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, so death spread to all people [no one being able to stop it or escape its power], because they all sinned.
Because God is the creator of everything, and the master of heaven, he makes the rules.
God is so holy that no unrighteousness can appear in his presence.
Because one fell that is now our enemy, and we tend to follow in his steps, there is a price to pay for sin.
Romans 6:23a(AMP)
23 For the wages of sin is death,
And yet, God is so loving, he provided a way to pay for that debt.
Romans 6:23b (AMP)
but the free gift of God [that is, His remarkable, overwhelming gift of grace to believers] is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
That debt is death, and He chose to pay that debt HIMSELF.
Romans 5:8(AMP)
8 But God clearly shows and proves His own love for us, by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
He paid a debt He did not Owe.
Randy Matthews from 1972 – Didn’t He
I want to thank Teen Missions for their Romans Road page. There is additional explanation for these points on that webpage, and there is another part of this story, that is Easter Morning.
The Romans Road IS the Preparation for Jesus Coming.
Because He IS coming again – just as He said.
Hebrews 9:28(AMP)
28 so Christ, having been offered once and once for all to bear [as a burden] [a]the sins of many, will appear a second time [when he returns to earth], not to deal with sin, but to bring salvation to those who are eagerly and confidently waiting for Him.
The Open Bible website has compiled verses about Jesus’s Second Coming.
When Jesus returns there is one thing that he will be looking for. And that is faith.
Luke 18:8(AMP)
8 I tell you that He will defend and avenge them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find [this kind of persistent] faith on the earth?”
2 Chron 16:9a(AMP)
9 For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth so that He may support those whose heart is completely His.
It starts at the cross.
The first step to prepare for Jesus’ return is to go to the cross, and be cleanse by the blood of the Lamb – Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 1:17-19
17If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth;
18knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers,
19but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.…
Make sure that you have confessed your belief in Jesus:
Romans 10:8-10(AMP)
8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word [the message, the basis] of faith which we preach—
9 because if you acknowledge and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord [recognizing His power, authority, and majesty as God], and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart a person believes [in Christ as Savior] resulting in his justification [that is, being made righteous—being freed of the guilt of sin and made acceptable to God]; and with the mouth he acknowledges and confesses [his faith openly], resulting in and confirming [his] salvation.
And, there is a recipricating act for our gratitude for being saved from the debt of sin:
1 Cor 6:19-20(AMP)
…19Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?
20For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.
and back to Romans:
Romans 12:1(AMP)
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God–this is your true and proper worship.
And how do we live this(with an extra footnote from the Amplified Bible):
John 13:34(AMP)
34 I am giving you a new commandment, that you [a]love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you too are to love one another.
Footnotes:
John 13:34 The key to understanding this and other statements about love is to know that this love (the Greek word agape) is not so much a matter of emotion as it is of doing things for the benefit of another person, that is, having an unselfish concern for another and a willingness to seek the best for another.
Jesus wrapped up the 10 commandments into two:
Matthew 22:36-40(AMP)
36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 And Jesus replied to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
39 The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for others].’
40 The whole Law and the [writings of the] Prophets depend on these two commandments.”
And this rolls back to Love…Love is patient, Love is kind, Love is not envious nor rude….1 Cor 13.
1 John 4:7-12(AMP)
7 Beloved, let us [unselfishly] [a]love and seek the best for one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves [others] is born of God and knows God [through personal experience].
8 The one who does not love has not become acquainted with God [does not and never did know Him], for God is love. [He is the originator of love, and it is an enduring attribute of His nature.]
9 By this the love of God was displayed in us, in that God has sent His [One and] only begotten Son [the One who is truly unique, the only One of His kind] into the world so that we might live through Him.
10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation [that is, the atoning sacrifice, and the satisfying offering] for our sins [fulfilling God’s requirement for justice against sin and placating His wrath].
11 Beloved, if God so loved us [in this incredible way], we also ought to love one another.
12 No one has seen God at any time. But if we love one another [with unselfish concern], God abides in us, and His love [the love that is His essence abides in us and] is completed and perfected in us.
It all starts at the cross.
This is one of the songs that focuses my heart:
As sung on the Voice:
https://youtu.be/amxE80Zj1Ys
Here is the Old Rugged Cross with Lyrics, if you prefer.
Today is the day that I refresh my focus upon what Jesus did for me, how much he loves me, and how much it cost him to make a way for me to enter into Heaven.
My steps for preparing for Jesus’ return is to remember the cross – but also remember, that Sunday is coming!
https://youtu.be/YByT6wfdhJs
Worship with me!
Alan Jackson – Are you washed?
https://youtu.be/SDqTENtNvKQ
Jesus’s Palms
Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.
I want to thank Blue Letter Bible and Bible Gateway for the ability to search the Bible online.
“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest
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