Pastor’s Youth Day Message

September 22. 2005

GOD’S ETERNAL SOLUTION

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YOUR EARTHLY PROBLEMS

MAN’S PROBLEM

You are born spiritually dead

In Ephesians 2:1 the Apostle Paul states (from the Greek Text) “And you being dead in your trespasses and sins” but what did Paul mean when he said you are dead when you are currently breathing? He apparently wasn’t talking about physical death so he obviously was speaking of his spiritual state. You see, when God created Adam, the Bible tells us that He formed him from the dust of the ground and breathed “His life” into him and he became a living soul. You as God’s elect were created with a spirit that was made to be united with and dependent upon the Spirit of the Living God. You were eternally placed in the Body of Christ before the foundation of the world and from eternity was made to have a relationship with the God of the universe and that’s what makes you different from the world. 

God’s plan in saving you began in eternity when all decisions are made concerning what your life would be. When God created man, He put him in a place called the Garden of Eden. Because there were no expressions of sin, Eden was viewed as being perfect and thus has been referred to as paradise. In the Dispensation of Innocence and Edenic Covenant, God gave Adam one simple prohibition, which was not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.... with the penalty that in the day that he ate of it, he would surely die. Well, most of you know the story; Adam rebelled against God and ate of that very tree. Now remember that the consequences were that in the day he ate of that tree...he would surely die but did he die physically that day?  No, the   Bible tells us that Adam lived to be 930 years

old. Then was God wrong about what would happen to him?  Absolutely NO …………. because true death means separation from God. The Bible tells us that at the moment Adam ate of that tree, he died spiritually, which is exactly what God meant; that is, he would die (be separated from God).  At the moment he took a bite of that forbidden fruit, his conscience was cut off from communications with the Spirit of God.  Now the resulting problem was not only two spiritually dead people (Adam and Eve) but all of his offspring because two spiritually dead people can only produce spiritually dead children. Now that has been and is the real problem throughout all of human history, as this alone is the source of all our troubles. Since the time of the curse in Eden, everyone born into this world has been born spiritually dead and separated from God.

All have sinned

Now because all people are born spiritually dead and separated from God, all are dead in sin.  Romans 3:23 says,” for ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” The word “sin” in the Bible means simply “to miss the mark or target and fall short of the glory and perfection of God.” You see, every one of us has lied, gossiped, disrespected our parents, etc.............. and when we do, we fall short of the perfect standard of our Holy God. In other words, no matter how hard you or I try to live according to the standards of our perfectly Holy God...we will always fall short.  We will always “miss the mark.”  It’s like if you and I each picked-up a rock and threw it towards the North Pole.  Well, you might throw it a little farther than me or I might throw it a little farther than you but we’re both going to be thousands of miles short so we’re both going to “miss the target.” The Bible goes on to tell us in Romans 6:23 that even in the Grace Dispensation and Covenant, “The wages of sin is death.” When the Grace Gospel talks about death, it is speaking about more than our eventual physical death but those who will spend eternity separated from God.  Now because we are all born into this world spiritually dead and all of us have sinned, there is no human ability or hope of anyone saving themselves. Now to those who were not chosen and placed in Christ in eternity; that is certainly bad news!

GOD’S SOLUTION

Jesus died for your sins and made you alive

The Gospel (Good News) is that Jesus Christ paid the penalty for our sins!  Romans 5:8 states, “But God commended His own love unto us that while we were yet sinners, Christ died on behalf of us.” Hebrews 9:28 states, “So Christ also having been offered once to bear the sins of many……………” The Bible makes it clear that Jesus Christ took all of your sins upon Himself and died in your place.  He became your “Substitute” and died the death you should have died. In the Kingdom Gospel, which is the New Covenant, I John 5:11-12 says, “And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.  He who has the Son has life; He who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”  In the Grace Gospel, which is the Grace Covenant, I Corinthians 15:45 says, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul but the last Adam (Christ Jesus), was always a life-giving Spirit”.  So you see, the Good News of both the Gospels of the Kingdom and Grace is that “Jesus Christ gave His life for you...for the purpose of giving His life to you!”  Manifestly, for testimony sake, Jesus Christ, the Son of God left the glory of heaven and came to this sin-sick Earth where He lived a perfect sinless life...so that as the Lamb of God, He could offer Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the world (of His elected ones), once and for all. And He did all of that for those who were spiritually dead, as the gift of eternal life is found only in Him!  So again, remember that Jesus Christ gave His life FOR you and has in turn imparted His life IN you!  Now that’s really Good News!

How can you receive this Eternal Life?

The answer to this question is the best part of your relationship with God, and that is: You already have ………… IN ETERNITY, BEFORE CREATION! Ephesians 2:8 says, “for the gift of God and this (is) not out of you, you are, having been saved by the grace through faithfulness.” Here it is very important to observe that your “faithfulness” would not be of grace but of works if it in any manner is utilized

as the transitional means of your salvation because the exercise of your faith could then be looked upon as something that you did to cause God to save you. It is so very important for you to know that the act of salvation actually happened by God’s Decree in eternity and it was expressed in time by the manifestation of His death on the cross approximately 2000 years ago, which all effectively eliminated any human actions or motions. So your salvation is a FREE gift from God. You cannot earn it because of anything you’ve done or haven’t done because it has already been done. The word “faith” means “to believe and trust.” You have received the gift of faith in time for the purpose of identifying with who you are in Christ Jesus and His sacrificial death, burial, and resurrection for your salvation. This absolutely rules out all your good works, baptism, or church membership...but everything is entrusted in Him and Him alone.

In closing I ask you this one simple question………… do you believe the things that have been conveyed to you in this message?  If you do, then I encourage you to pray (prayer is simply talking to God) right now and thank God for His wonderful gift of salvation that was given to you before the creation of the world!