We will study more about how to have this peace and this eternal life when we return next term. Our first talk will take place, Lord willing, on January 10, 2011, at the same time, 6:00 p.m., at the same place, the Heritage Lounge in the Athabasca Hall, on the University of Alberta campus.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2011.
May God bless everyone of us during this holiday season.
I have included the notes from last evening's talk.
The Solution to the Problem of Sin
Opening Question: Have you ever had to pay a fine, for returning a book late to the library or for violating a traffic rule or regulation?
When we do something wrong, whether it is something small or big, there are consequences that we pay. At times the consequences extend only to our own lives, but sometimes these consequences can affect other people in our lives, our relatives, friends or even strangers.
We talked last time about the problem of sin. Sin brought death into our lives, physical death and spiritual death, separation from God. However, when God created man, He did not want him to live under the power of sin, under the threat of death and separated from God. God wanted man to live in a close relationship with Him. And he had a plan since the beginning for this to happen.
In Genesis 3:14-15, we read about the curse that God put on the serpent (the devil) and the promise that one day an offspring of the woman (Eve) was going to crush the head of the serpent:
14 So the LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
God says He will put enmity or strife, warfare, between the serpent the Devil and the woman – between the serpent’s followers and her offspring. Offspring is her family. Jesus comes from her family and this is the first prophecy or foretelling of the future about Jesus – Jesus is going to crush the head of the Devil – whereas the Devil is only going to bruise Jesus (that happens when Jesus goes to the cross to pay for our sins).
John 3:16 is perhaps the best known verse in the Bible. It says:
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.
What does this verse tell us?
God loved the world.
God gave His one and only Son.
God wants whoever believes in Him not to perish.
God wants them to have eternal life.
In Romans 5, we read, beginning in verse 1, then verses 6-10
1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ
6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
What does it mean to be justified?
To be justified means to be declared free of blame or of the penalty. We have been declared free because of the blood of Jesus.
What does it mean to be reconciled?
Reconciled means to be accepted, to re-establish a lost relationship, to be settled, at peace. We are at peace with God because of Jesus.
In 1 Peter 2:24, we read: 24 “He [Jesus] himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”
If Jesus took all our sins, which means that we do not have sins anymore in our lives. Remember, that Adam and Eve were afraid of God and ashamed, because they had broken His laws and His commandments when they ate from the tree God told them not to eat from. Now, we can approach God with confidence and without any fear because Jesus took the penalty and paid it for us.
But how do we receive this state of peace with God and of salvation from our sins and the promise of eternal life with God?
We have all taken the first step, which is to learn about these promises and this salvation. The word of God is the only way to learn about these things. If we read it, study it, meditate upon it, we will learn about the things that we need to obtain peace with God and salvation. We will learn the commandments of God and what in particular He wants from us to do to be saved.
Hebrews 9:14 tells us that the blood of Christ cleanses our conscience from our sins: How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!
In 1 John 1:7, we read: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
The blood of Christ continually cleanses us of our sins. No matter our sins, if we come back to God and walk according to His commandments, we can have the forgiveness of our sins.
In Matthew 7:7-8, we read: 7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
Conclusions
God has a plan in place for resolving the problem of sin. Jesus gave Himself so that our sins may be forgiven. If we study the Bible, the Word of God, we will learn about what God wants from us to do, in order to be in a good relationship with Him, to have peace and eternal life with God in heaven. We will continue to study more about what we need to do and what God’s commandments are next semester when we return on the 10th of January. If anyone wants to study these sooner, please see me and we can talk.
Campus Bible Talk 2010
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