Man has a sin problem, but God has
the solution and the answer. God is a loving God. John 3:16,
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but
have everlasting life". God is truly a loving God to give
His only begotten Son to die for us. That is the ultimate of love.
Nothing could be greater.
Not only is the Lord loving,
but He is also just. Jesus says in John 5:30 (KJV), "I
can of my own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge; and my judgment is
just". Yes, when we stand before the Lord on the
Day of Judgment, He will be just. But justice demands that the guilty
be punished. Let me give you an example. Just suppose I went
out and robbed a bank, and was caught. Also suppose that the judge
and I were good friends. So the judge calls me up to his bench and
whispers to me that he doesn’t want to send me to prison for twenty years.
He tells me, that if I will quietly walk out the back door, he will tear
up all the paperwork, nothing will be said, and I can go free. Would
he be a just judge? No way. But God is a just God, and can
be no less.
Not only is God a loving and
just God, but the Bible speaks of God as a vengeful God. In Hebrews
10:30-31 we read, "Vengeanceis mine,
I will repay, says the Lord. And again, the Lord will judge his people.
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God".
Most people like to think of God as only a loving God, and nothing else;
but this is not true. On the Day of Judgment, the majority of people
will find out just how fearful it is to fall into the hands of the living
God.
Why
did Jesus have to die?Because
God is not only a loving God but he is also just.Justice
demands punishment for the guilty. God has specified in the Bible how He
will erase anyone’s guilt.But
we must obey God’s instructions.Those
who continue to be guilty are those who have not obeyed what God has said.At
the end of time when Christ comes back 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9 says that
He will come “In flaming fire taking vengeance on
those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our
Lord Jesus Christ.These
shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the
Lord and from the glory of His power.”
God is also a God of grace.
Grace is the unmerited favor of God. Romans 3:23-24 tells us, "For
all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified
freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus."
We have all sinned. We all deserve to be punished throughout all
eternity for our sins, but Christ Jesus has already taken our punishment.
God, by his grace, that is His unmerited favor toward us, can now be just
in saving us, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Our
redemption is in Christ Jesus, and not in ourselves.
It is by the grace of God that
one is saved. In Ephesians 2:8-9 we read, "For
by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves;
it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast."
We are saved by the unmerited favor of God through our "obedience to the
faith" (Romans 16:26, Matthew 7:21). There is no way that anyone
could ever be good enough to go to heaven, because we have all sinned.
We all deserve to be punished eternally. There is no way that anyone
could ever earn his way to heaven, because heaven will be a gift of God
for those who go there.
Our Lord says in Luke 17:10,
"So likewise you, when you have done all those things
which you are commanded, say, We are unprofitable servants.
We have done what was our duty to do." We cannot do enough
to earn our salvation. We read in Isaiah 64:6, "But
we are all like an unclean thing, and all ourrighteousnesses
are like filthy rags." There is no one of us that deserves
to be saved. It is only by the grace of God that anyone will be saved.
Questions Lesson 5
The Nature of God (click on the button of the
answer of your choice)
1) (John 3:16) God so loved the world that
He
will not punish anyone.
He
gave His Son to die for us.
He
will allow everyone to go to Heaven.
2) God
does not love mankind.
3) (Hebrews 10:30) Vengeance belongs to
God.
Man.
Those
who are wronged.
4) God
will punish those who die in their sins.
5) (Hebrews 10:31) To fall into the hands of the
living God is
A
comforting thing.
A
good thing.
A
fearful thing.
6) God
is too loving to punish anyone.
7) (John 5:30) The judgment of Christ
Will
be just.
Can
be appealed.
Is
not always right.
8) Justice
demands that the guilty be punished.
9) (Romans 3:23-24) Since we have all sinned
God
is not going to punish anyone for their sins.
Everyone
is going to be lost.
The
saved are justified by God's grace through Christ.
10) All
accountable people have sinned.
11) (Ephesians 2:8-9) If we are saved it will be
By
the grace or unmerited favor of God.
By
our own goodness.
Only
if we have never done anything wrong.
12) We
should boast how good we are.
13) (Luke 17:10) After we have done all the things
commanded us
We
are still unprofitable servants.
We
have "earned" our way to heaven.
Then
we do not need God's grace.
14) We
can be so good that God has got to save us on our own merits.