The Cross of Love

I need to be loved! It is deeply rooted in my heart, as in the hearts of all humans.

We all need to feel respected and worthy as well, but I believe the most important need that creates a huge vacuum in every heart is the need for love. Many of the human actions and reactions relate directly to this basic need. However, we cannot find love, or more precisely the kind of love that will really satisfy us. All kinds of relationships break up every day due to lack, or even total absence, of real love. In many cases, what some people call "love" is not but passion or infatuation. Love is probably one of the most spoiled words all over the world and throughout history. It is confused with many other fleeting and delusive emotions.

Love, according to the Holy Bible, is not an uncontrollable emotion. It is an action of the will. However, I do not intend to talk about the differences between the four kinds of love. This is a lesson we can gain from C. S. Lewis' classic "The Four Loves". Lewis' conclusion, in brief, is that "Affection" (natural love between family members), "Friendship" (based on common interests), and "Eros" (romantic love), cannot survive alone by themselves without "Agape" (the Love of God). Human love will surely come short at a certain point without the supernatural divine Love!

The Bible tells us that God showed us His love by sending His Only Son to the world: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His Only Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16). It is just one of the greatest truths ever! God, out of His pure LOVE for us, sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross of Calvary instead of you and me.

While what many people see at the cross is just the suffering of a Good Man who died as a victim, we, enlightened by the Word of God through the work of the Holy Spirit of God, see at the cross on which our Lord was crucified, a love that is "so amazing, so divine".

I solemnly urge you, my dear reader, to open the eyes of your mind and see the One who gave Himself for you, who died in your stead in order to give you the opportunity to escape "the coming wrath", the eternal condemnation in hell forever! I pray that you may heed the Word of God, see how much LOVE God has given you, and obtain the life of God without which you are dead and separated from the Source of LOVE and LIFE!

More about God's Book

Q: How can I know for sure that the Bible is the Word of God?

A: The best way to find out if the Bible is the Word of God is by reading it prayerfully and carefully. You cannot honestly judge a book which you have not read. I suggest that you begin reading the New Testament, starting with the Gospel of Matthew and continue reading right on through Revelation.

There have been many who, like yourself, have wondered if the Bible really is God's Word. Some of them even doubted the existence of God. But when they began to read the Bible in earnest, their doubts left. They were convinced that there is a God and that the Bible is His Word. How did they come to that conclusion? Because in reading the Bible they became aware that God was speaking to them personally. The Bible revealed to them the need of Christ as Saviour and God's love in providing that Saviour. They became believers in God and His Son Jesus Christ. This is because the Bible is unlike any other book in the world. As the Bible tells us so clearly, "the Word of God is quick, [living] and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword" (Hebrews 4:12).

Although the personal reading of the Bible is the surest and best way to tell its authorship, its uniqueness also points unmistakably to God as its author. Let us consider some of the facts about the Bible that show it is unique--altogether different from any other book:

It has stood the test of time. In the last half of the 18th century, Voltaire, the French infidel, made the statement that within 100 years the Bible and all Christianity would be completely forgotten. Voltaire died in 1778. The Bible still lives on. How many 2,000 year old books are still being printed today? Since Voltaire died, it has been estimated that over 2,500,000,000 copies have been printed. It is still the world's best seller and is the world's most widely distributed book, having been translated into hundreds of languages. All of this has taken place despite the many efforts of various men to destroy the Bible. As the Bible says, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away" (Matthew 24:35).

It is accurate and reliable. If you were to read science and history books that were thirty to fifty years old you would find that they are outdated. Some of the facts they reported would have to be revised to reflect man's latest discoveries. What about the Bible? Although its references to historical and scientific data have often been challenged and disputed, none of them have needed revision. Instead of revisions, recent findings are continually verifying the truths of the Bible. I will refer to only one example among many which could be cited. For years, critics of the Bible have pointed out the fact that Daniel mentioned a Babylonian king named Belshazzar of whom history had no record. New archaeological findings have revealed the name of Belshazzar on clay tablets along with the names of his secretaries and sisters. We can trust what the Bible says.

Its prophecies have a 100% accuracy record. This becomes even more impressive when we consider that one fourth of the Bible was predictive when it was written. There are hundreds of prophecies made in the Bible which have been accurately fulfilled and there are many more yet to be fulfilled. The prophet Micah predicted about 700 B.C. that the Lord Jesus would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). The fulfillment is recorded in Matthew 2:1. Over one hundred years before Nineveh was destroyed, Nahum wrote that Nineveh would become "empty, and void, and waste" (Nahum 2:10). Today, this would be like predicting that Chicago will become a wasteland. (Remember, in Nahum's day there were no nuclear bombs.) Nineveh, just as it was prophesied, became empty and void and waste. About 600 B.C. Daniel accurately predicted the succession of three great world empires: the Persian (530 B.C.), the Grecian (331 B.C.) and the Roman Empire (about 68 B.C.). See Daniel chapters 2,7,8. Only God can declare the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10).

The unity of the Bible's sixty-six books. The Bible was written by about forty men who were not contemporary, but lived at various times during a period of more than 1,500 years. What makes it even more interesting is the varied occupations of these men. Kings, fishermen, shepherds, noblemen, tax collectors, doctors, lawyers and statesmen were among those whom God used to write the Bible. They wrote about every subject which vitally affects us--creation, sin and its origin, death, life, heaven, hell, Satan, and God.

When you consider all of this diversity you might expect that the result would be a book which would be both contradictory and confusing. But instead, we get a book which has a continuity and unity throughout the sixty-six books that is simply amazing. You can only come to one conclusion from this--the Bible is God's Word.

It alone claims to be the Word of God. From the "And God said" of Genesis 1:3 to the "I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things" of Revelation 22:16, we have God speaking to us in this Book. The men whom God used to write the Scriptures were inspired and controlled by God to write the exact words which He gave them. This means that what we have in the Bible are the very words of God completely free from man's thoughts and reasonings (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20,21).

It is relevant to our needs today. Go into any large bookstore today and you will find hundreds of books, many of them with catchy titles, all claiming to meet some of our needs. Though a great number of these books do fill a need for knowledge and learning, they do not give us the answers to our spiritual needs. Many of them leave a void and emptiness in our hearts. Only the Bible can explain, to the satisfaction of our hearts and consciences, the facts of sin, death, judgment, the love and holiness of God, the atoning work of Christ, and heaven and hell to mention a few. These are the things which meet our deepest needs, both present and future. Many who have questioned the Bible's relevancy for today can testify that when they finally came to read and believe it, they found peace, joy, and satisfaction. The Bible has the answers.

Source: http://www.mwtb.org/pages/display.php?id=600010

God's Book

So, on what foundation do we build all our arguments, e.g. Jesus is God Incarnate, The Lord Jesus is the Only Saviour, etc.? Simply on the Word of God, the Holy Bible. We cannot build our beliefs on man's shallow opinions, but we can calmly rest assured on the infallible Truth of God as He revealed it in His Word.

It is well known that the Bible has 66 different Books divided into 2 parts: the Old Testment (39 Books) and the New Testament (27 Books), written by 40 men from the most varied backgrounds, over a period of about 1600 years. Yet, these 66 Books are amazingly talking about the exact same subject: THE LORD JESUS CHRIST (from different perspectives, as it may well be understood)!

But how can we be sure that the Bible we now have is the true Word of God? Do we really have a revelation from God?

I think the best thing we can do to answer this question is to let the Bible talk about Itself. You just need to read this great Book, and you will certainly be assured that every word it contains is inspired by God.

This is actually what the Bible says about itself, "Every scripture is divinely inspired (i.e. God-breathed), and profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be complete, fully fitted to every good work" (2Timothy 3:16).

It also says, "We also have a more sure Word of prophecy, to which you do well to take heed, as to a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the Daystar arises in your hearts, knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture came into being of its own private interpretation. For prophecy was not borne at any time by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke being borne along by the Holy Spirit" (2Peter 1:19-21).

These 2 things the Bible tells us about itself are just the most fundamental truths about this great Book, namely:

1. It is INSPIRED by God Himself through holy men of God.

2. The ACCURACY of its PROPHECIES proclaims its divine source.

More would be said about those men whom God used in writing His Book, about the accuracy of its scientific, geographical, historical contents, about the evidences of archeology, etc., but the desire of my heart and my prayers are that you, my dear reader, would be encouraged to look it up for yourself!

GO READ the Bible! Do not look for errors and mistakes! Do not read with prejudices, but with a humble, Truth-seeking spirit. It WILL CHANGE your life!

Who is Jesus?!

The Lord Jesus Christ is probably the most controversial person in the history of mankind! Christianity, as shown in previous posts, is not merely a religion but the life of "Christ" manifested in (and through) the life of those sinners who believe in Him and His work on the cross for the remission of their sins. So, when we say that Christ is the only possible way to God, we affirm that He is the only Savior, the only Hope for all of us, human sinners. That's why it is extremely important to know who is Jesus about whom we're talking!

We Christians believe, as the Bible teaches us, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that is to say He is God Almighty who became flesh, a man, and came down here on earth and lived among us approximately 2000 years ago. We are talking about a real Person here, not a myth or a legendary person. Needless to say how easy it is to find evidence that Jesus truly existed.

The problem, however, is not whether He existed or not. It is what He did and what He said when He was here on earth that causes most of the arguments. Jesus actually claimed to be the Son of God. He said so among the Jews, who knew exactly what He meant by that (Cf. the Gospel according to John. Take for example John 5:18 "Then... the Jews sought the more to kill Him, because He... said that God was His father, making Himself equal with God.").

I would like to quote from C. S. Lewis, who once was agnostic, what he says about that:

"I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God.' That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic - on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg - or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to." (C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, in The Complete C. S. Lewis Signature Classics, Harper One, 2002, pp. 50-51.)

Jesus, then, is not just an admirable moral teacher, is not just a great prophet, is not just a religious leader... He is God Incarnate, God Almighty who chose to humble Himself and be a man! This is the most astonishing truth ever! But why did He do that? He did it because, out of His eternal, pure and unconditional LOVE, He wanted to save us from the trap of the Devil, and deliver us from the penalty of our sins (which is eternal death!), and bring us back to a living, spiritual relationship with Himself, and finally to take us to live forever with Him in heaven!

Your present position as regards Jesus Christ determines your eternal condition! You must make your choice!