in a nutshell

Do you know the Gospel in a nutshell? Sometimes I use a set of colors for the illustration.

.

.

Gold

God exists. He is who he is. That is to say, his nature is not determined by our wishes.

.

And he is holy, perfectly holy. But consider this: if he were all mercy, where would the justice be? If he were all righteous, where would the love be? How can these seemingly opposing attributes coexist? And why is that a problem for us?

.

.

Black

We are not holy. And that a problem for us with grave consequences (no pun intended). We are under a severe penalty, without a way to overcome it from our own side. The only one who is able to solve this problem is God, himself.

.

.

Red

So he sent his son, Jesus, (Within the nature of the one God, there are three eternal persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.) to fulfill God's requirements for all who believe in him. So Jesus died on the cross to satisfy the righteous wrath of God, and when he rose from the dead, proved that his sacrifice was accepted by the Father. The exchange of our sin to the cross, and Christ's imputed righteousness is freely given to all who believe (have faith) in Christ.

.

.

White

Believing in him, is not just believing about him. It means humbling oneself and trusting in him exclusively, and completely (what he said and did, who he is, etc.). Those who do, are sealed for salvation and indwelt by the third person of the Trinity; the Holy Spirit.

.

.

Green

The Holy Spirit continues to change us, conforming us to God's standards (making us more like Jesus).

.

.

There are other elements of the Christian faith that are important, but I would say this is the most essential foundation of what Jesus Christ's followers are proclaiming. That is where I am coming from. That is what I represent. And I can't make anybody change, but I would love to see as many as possible loving God the same way.

.

(If anyone wishes to make a private comment, rather than on the open blog, feel free to use the email address from my profile.)

.

For more about saving faith, see my post called wheelbarrow

.

You will find an alternative view of death at dead bird

.

Image: broken nutshells by Tiago Salgado

the way

For my 99^th post, I would like to share a tech tip that I have wanted since the beginning, but only discovered last week.

.

Let’s say you were talking about Jesus, as the only way to eternal life. And you wanted to make a Scripture reference, so that if you rest the mouse on it (without clicking) the text of the verse pops up. It would look like this: John 10:9

.

Could you use something like that? You can find out how to do it by clicking on the button below, then selecting the Abbreviations and acronyms link on that page.

(It's fixed now; try it.)

.

I want my whole life to be an arrow, pointing to this one door. There are people all over the world committed to this message, and even today, people suffer at the hands of those who reject the message. If you are a disciple of Jesus, please pray for both groups. That the ones who suffer would be strong in the Lord, and that their persecutors would see the light, and receive God’s free gift. It is the only door that leads to life.

Photo credits: Gate from Martin Stickland, Doors from Flickr.com

wheelbarrow

This week, a boy told me that he believes that God is perfectly holy. And this youngster admitted that he (the boy) is not (holy). He knows that his sin has offended God, and that God would be just in punishing him. He knows that all sin carries the death penalty, and he cannot save himself from this predicament. He said that he knows and believes that Jesus is God, that Jesus became a man to pay the price for our sins (death) and that Jesus rose again from the grave. So what’s the problem?

.

This boy said he is not sure if he is ready for heaven. My expectation was not that he was unsaved, but that he was just unsure of his salvation. He needed the assurance of eternal life. 1 Jn. 5:13 says, “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.”

.

Nope. He was sure that God’s word was true, but he just didn’t feel ready to commit. There it was, the key to eternal life, and he didn’t receive it!

The story is told of a tightrope walker by the name of The Great Blondin. He amazed people with his tightrope act across the Niagara river. Blondin asked for a volunteer to go across in a wheelbarrow. The spectators said they believed that he could do it, but actually climbing into the wheelbarrow was another matter entirely! Finally, his own manager got up on his back and he successfully (to nobody’s surprise) made the trek across.

.

Head knowledge, or intellectual faith doesn’t impress God. If you say you trust God with your life, do you trust Him enough to climb in the wheelbarrow.

.

Lord, in Jesus' name, I ask that you give me faith to trust you wholeheartedly.

dead bird

Am I morbid? I looked at this dead bird, and I felt sad… at first. I think the artist captured the emotion very well. She effectively communicates death in this watercolor. The painting evoked in me, an expression of concern. Yes, there was a twinge of depression for the dead bird.

.

But I could not remain blue for the little bugger, because this portrayal of death was impersonal, not a friend or family. This poor little (imaginary) bird caused me to think about death in general, but what if this is not the end of the story? What if this is only a reminder of what happened (and stayed) in the past? Now my countenance could not remain heavy.

.

This time, as well as many other times, the topic of death has served to remind me that for some of us, death is a foe that has been conquered. God did it for several people in the Bible, including Jesus’ friend Lazarus, and the most spectacular raising from the dead was when Jesus raised Himself. God is in the business of resurrections. Not just physically, so that death is temporarily delayed, but better, so that we may live eternally, and one day even enjoy a new, glorified physical body.

.

Death happens. But when someone was already dead, and then raised back to life, imperishable… that’s front page news! That’s why I look at this painting and rejoice. I once was dead in my sin/transgressions, but God, in his incredible mercy and grace, chose to give me eternal life when I believed in Jesus Christ, His Son.

.

I looked at that bird as it was… dead. Then, I imagined this picture, not as the end, but as a beginning. When you look at the smokey colors, what do you see? Is that life evaporating, or God’s breath of regeneration coming down? I choose to see that blend of colors as the anticipation of new life.

.

Watercolor by Ester Wilson (Used with permission)