It was not until Jesus came that we even had the hope of restoration. Now, every man, woman, boy and girl who trusts in the Lord for salvation can be restored to a spiritual life of purity and wholeness before God. Through Jesus Christ, man can again live in harmony and peace with God - communicating with Him through the Holy Spirit, and awaiting that eventful and eventual day of glad reunion with Him in the glory of heaven. WHAT A DAY THAT WILL BE!!

1. What makes a person so valuable to God?

1. The foundational answer is simple yet sublime and is found in my text. (Gen.1:27 "So God created man in His own image.) We are part of the great human family which God created to have fellowship with Him. His relationship with Adam and Eve, prior to Adam's disobedience, gives unarguable evidence of that fact.
2. God has poured His love out upon humanity. Jeremiah trumpets this wonderful message in his book, chapter 31 verse 3: "The Lord hath appeared of old unto me saying, 'Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee." The Apostle Paul gloriously proclaims in Ephesians 2:4,5 "But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ."
3. God gave His Son to die for the redemption of humanity. Romans 5:8 is a proof text for the love and mercy of God. "Bu God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
4. Dr. Charles Blake, Bishop of the Angeles Church of God in Christ, state in his commentary of this verse, "Man is distinct from the rest of creation. The Divine Triune Counsel determined that man was to have God's image and likeness. Man is a spiritual being, who is not only body, but also soul and spirit. He is a moral being whose intelligence, perception, and self-determination far exceed that of any other earthly being. These properties or traits possessed by mankind and his prominence in the order of creation imply his intrinsic worth, not only of the family of mankind, but also of each human individual. Capacity and ability constitute accountability and responsibility. We should never be pleased to dwell on a level of existence lower than that on which God made it possible for us to dwell. We should strive to be the best we can be and to reach the highest levels we can reach. To do less is to be unfaithful stewards of the life entrusted to us."
5. I would like to add that the Scriptures do not impose accountability or responsibility upon any other created beings. The celestial bodies, plants and animals simply behave within their original created purposes. Always have; always will. Not so with mankind.

1. The disobedient actions of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden brought the curse of sin upon mankind. Since that fateful act in Eden, sin has continued to rule and destroy the hearts and lives of men and women. Sin, in all of it's variations poisons the spirit of mankind and makes his approach to God impossible.
2. Genesis 6:5 depicts the rapid slide of humanity into the gaping jaws of sin and it's activities. "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."
3. Isaiah declares in 64:6, "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away."

 

4. Romans 3:23 -"For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God."

3. Why has society plunged so deeply into the cult of humanism?

1. When a person rejects God, he must replace the position of God in his life with something else. Some plunge into demonism in it's various forms. Others turn to spiritualism which is a false religion of satanically inspired human efforts toward some sort of god-like status. Most others embrace humanism and it's error of man's supposed innate goodness.
2. The phenomenon of the self-esteem propaganda demonstrates the futile efforts of man to lift himself out of his plight. In order for this secular philosophy to work, a person must believe himself to be full of worth and value - to the degradation of anything or anyone else. He must reach a point of superiority so that he stands alone upon the threshold of his own destiny. If it were only a methodology to lift one's emotional state, I could, perhaps, see it's value. But, the core doctrine of self-esteem is a secular mechanism to help a person feel good about themselves; not a method of renewing right relationship with God.
3. Humanism appeals to the flesh in grandiose ways. It's cardinal foundation is that man is the captain of his own fate; the creator of his own destiny. God, and His Word, are not included, nor welcomed into this belief system. It's roots hearken back to the days of Eden when Satan lied to Eve and persuaded her that she could be like God. That lie now wears the costume of humanism.

1. Yes, yes, yes … and that way is Jesus. God, Himself, has made the way for our return into His Kingdom.
2. Matthew 1:21 - "And she shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins."
3. Jesus said in John 3:17,17 -"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved."
4. 1^st Peter 2:24 - "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit."
5. Galations 1:4 -"Who gave Himself for our sins that He might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God, and our Father.
6. The heart of rebellious man, inspired by the devil, has sought out many paths to a man-made Nirvana, utopia, celestial kingdom, higher dwelling, or whatever name a particular cult gives it.
7. But, God's plan is far superior and true. He, Himself, has ordered the way for our salvation. We would be fools to search out some other way. After all, don't you believe God knows the way to Himself?

3. Can I really live in a present awareness of God's love and blessing?

1. Interestingly, a victorious Christian life begins with death. First, the death of Jesus who paid the cost of our salvation. Second, our death to sin which is accomplished at the point of our surrender to Christ.
2. Paul testifies of this in Galations 2:20, where he declares, "I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless, I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.."
3. The "Christ liveth in me" reality is made possible by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. By Him, Ephesians 2:1 tells us, "And you hath He quickened (made alive) who were dead in trespasses and sins;" And verse 6 -"And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus."
4. The Apostle Peter reminds us that even in times of trouble our faithfulness to God is rewarded. 1st Peter 4:14, "If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part He is evil spoken of, but on your part He is glorified."
5. Your prayer life is intensified by the promise in 1^st John 5:14,15 -"And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask anything, according to His will, He heareth us: And if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions we desired of Him."
6. Your motivation is sanctified by the challenge of Philippians 2:15, "That ye be blameless and harmless, the Sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among who ye shine as lights in the world." And verse 11 says, "Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God."

3. How should I feel about myself as a Believer?

1. You should be the happiest person you know, thrilled at the indisputable relationship you have with God, through Jesus Christ. No other accomplishment can be accounted which surpasses the magnificent glory and eternal future of your life in Him.
2. In Romans 8:16,17, The Apostle Paul writes this glorious truth.- "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit , that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ … "
3. No other creature of God's handiwork can make that claim. No animal, no celestial being, no tree, no bird, no frog, nothing, nothing, nothing! Man alone is the recipient of God's nature; man alone is the beneficiary of Christ's spilled blood; man alone is the temple of the Holy Ghost.
4. If that doesn't help you feel good about yourself as a Christian, I don't know what else to tell you.
5. Maybe this will help. 1^st John 3:2,3 - "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure.
6. How about this? 2^nd Corinthians 5:17 - "Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: (restored to his original purpose) Old things have passed away; behold, all things are new."

3. What does the future hold for me?

1. While you to live on this earth you will experience continual ministry of the Holy Spirit. Your life is a testimony of God's faithfulness. Do not ever feel unimportant or powerless. His life in you gives you position and His Spirit in you gives you overcoming ability. The devil doesn't have a place in you and therefore his works against you are ineffective. The Shield of Faith makes the outcome of all spiritual battles predictable. You, as a faithful child of God, always win.
2. Isaiah prophesied of YOUR victory thousands of years ago in Chapter 59, verse 19 - " When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him."
3. Hebrews 12:1, encourages, "Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us."
4. Your eternal future is the grandest realization of all. God has planned a tremendous homecoming for His returning children. Not unlike the father of the prodigal son, He has prepared a sumptuous meal and an eternity of praise, adoration, worship, and love.
5. Jesus said in Matthew 16:27 - "For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and then He shall reward every man according to his works."
6. Paul triumphantly shouts in 1^st Corinthians 15:51 - "Behold, I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."
7. He further proclaims in 1^st Thessalonians 4:16,17 - "For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel , and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord."
8. Listen to these prophetical scriptures by the Apostle John.