Jesus Christ is my God!
Issued 28.01.2006
What do you mean?
The way you yourself use words the same way you hear the words from others. God always means what He says. Did you miss what God spoke to you, because often you yourself don't mean what you say?
What do the words of the Bible mean?
When reading the Bible you have sometimes wondered at the meaning of the words. Though you read all the related Bible passages you still don't understand. Then you have two alternatives. You yourself try to reason what is the meaning of the words or you turn to God with your prayers and ask Him.
If you receive a letter from an unknown person and you don't understand what he means, you don't start to reason the meaning of his words - do you? Instead, you get in contact with the writer and ask him. Also you can leave it be in touch, if you want to avoid a contact with him.
It is often disputed about the meaning of a Bible passage. Both sides are referring to the same Bible passage by saying "it is written" and they don't understand the passage in the same way. The same thing also happens with other books than the Bible. If it is not possible to ask the writer himself, what he did mean, there is always room for misunderstanding.
In the case of the Bible many trust the official interpreters of some church, and don't find out about things directly from Jesus. Do not be like them but take the words of the Bible with you and get in contact with Jesus.
It is often difficult to understand the words of someone correctly without knowing the person. Hearing the tone of the voice could help in understanding but it is not possible when reading a text. However although you hear him speaking, you still can misunderstand him. This also concerns our relationship with God.
We easily misread the words of the Bible, if we have never recognized the voice of God with the ear of our spirit. And even if we had recognized His voice, we still can misunderstand Him, if we don't know the attitudes of His heart. Only the cross of Jesus can teach us to know the deepest thoughts of God.
When reading the Bible you have sometimes wondered at the meaning of the words. Though you read all the related Bible passages you still don't understand. Then you have two alternatives. You yourself try to reason what is the meaning of the words or you turn to God with your prayers and ask Him.
If you receive a letter from an unknown person and you don't understand what he means, you don't start to reason the meaning of his words - do you? Instead, you get in contact with the writer and ask him. Also you can leave it be in touch, if you want to avoid a contact with him.
It is often disputed about the meaning of a Bible passage. Both sides are referring to the same Bible passage by saying "it is written" and they don't understand the passage in the same way. The same thing also happens with other books than the Bible. If it is not possible to ask the writer himself, what he did mean, there is always room for misunderstanding.
In the case of the Bible many trust the official interpreters of some church, and don't find out about things directly from Jesus. Do not be like them but take the words of the Bible with you and get in contact with Jesus.
It is often difficult to understand the words of someone correctly without knowing the person. Hearing the tone of the voice could help in understanding but it is not possible when reading a text. However although you hear him speaking, you still can misunderstand him. This also concerns our relationship with God.
We easily misread the words of the Bible, if we have never recognized the voice of God with the ear of our spirit. And even if we had recognized His voice, we still can misunderstand Him, if we don't know the attitudes of His heart. Only the cross of Jesus can teach us to know the deepest thoughts of God.
Do you mean what you say?
Do you always mean what you say? For instance did you say to your child: "If you are not a good boy, we will leave you in that house." Your child looks with horror at the gloomy house that is like a haunted house and he is distressed in his heart. Actually you didn't mean what you said. You had no intention of leaving your child in that house. You only frightened him to force him to obey you. You frightened, that means you lied. You wronged.
When you hear God speaking to you about the eternal punishment, you say that now I am frightened. Because you yourself frightened, you think that He is like you. However God always means what He says. He doesn't frighten, because He never lie.
If you train yourself to speak things that you really don't mean, you harden your heart. You said to your spouse: "I love you." What did you mean? Maybe you said it only because it sounds good. You wanted to give a good experience to your listener with your words. Maybe you actually meant: "I need you and I would like to take advantage of you." Then you hear the message: "God demonstrated His love for you in this deed when Jesus suffered the judgment of your sins and died for you." You hear this in the way you yourself use the words about love.
When you heard this gospel maybe you felt your freedom threatened. You think that God tries to take advantage of you and bind you to a boring covenant with Him. In fact He offers you eternal life in a new nature, and the life of this old nature is boring compared to its glory.
God doesn't use words the same way we often use. Therefore we easily misread the Bible and don't understand the message of God we hear. If the ear of your spirit listens to the desires of your sinful nature when reading the Bible, it is natural that you misunderstand what you read.
Do you always mean what you say? For instance did you say to your child: "If you are not a good boy, we will leave you in that house." Your child looks with horror at the gloomy house that is like a haunted house and he is distressed in his heart. Actually you didn't mean what you said. You had no intention of leaving your child in that house. You only frightened him to force him to obey you. You frightened, that means you lied. You wronged.
When you hear God speaking to you about the eternal punishment, you say that now I am frightened. Because you yourself frightened, you think that He is like you. However God always means what He says. He doesn't frighten, because He never lie.
If you train yourself to speak things that you really don't mean, you harden your heart. You said to your spouse: "I love you." What did you mean? Maybe you said it only because it sounds good. You wanted to give a good experience to your listener with your words. Maybe you actually meant: "I need you and I would like to take advantage of you." Then you hear the message: "God demonstrated His love for you in this deed when Jesus suffered the judgment of your sins and died for you." You hear this in the way you yourself use the words about love.
When you heard this gospel maybe you felt your freedom threatened. You think that God tries to take advantage of you and bind you to a boring covenant with Him. In fact He offers you eternal life in a new nature, and the life of this old nature is boring compared to its glory.
God doesn't use words the same way we often use. Therefore we easily misread the Bible and don't understand the message of God we hear. If the ear of your spirit listens to the desires of your sinful nature when reading the Bible, it is natural that you misunderstand what you read.
Sin came into being by an interpretation
God said to the first man that he will die, if he eats fruit of the forbidden tree. In her mind Eve started to interpret the word of God. She thought that what might God's order actually mean? She dared to act against the word of God only because she believed that God meant something other than He had said. We notice from the consequences that God really meant what He had said.
When you say to someone something he didn't expect to hear from your mouth, you often hear an astonished question: "What?" If you remain quiet and don't repeat your message you will notice that he certainly heard what you said. Everybody's hearing is selective. Also a child can leave without attention a request of his parents to do a little service, but a little rustle of a candy paper can catch his attention. In the same way many claim that God has never spoken to them, although it is not true. God has spoken many times to every person.
What has God spoken to you? He has testified you to the truth, when you lied. If you think back you can remember a voice in your heart that said to you: "You lied. You wronged." He doesn't blame you but He just quietly says the truth to you. Certainly you heard what He said, but you didn't care about it.
Somebody calls God's speech conscience or superego, so that he needs not be aware of that God has spoken to him. It is true that a voice of conscience is similar to a speech of God. However there is a difference between them and everybody can distinguish it. The voice of conscience sounds like your own thought. God's voice radiates the tone of His personality. It is sure that it differs from the tone of your personality.
Another person speaks about the Mother Nature when he should admit that God has spoken to him through a phenomenon of nature. Because he doesn't want to praise and honour God for his experience, he honours the impersonal "mother nature". One, who doesn't want to meet God, interprets a speech of God as something else.
God said to the first man that he will die, if he eats fruit of the forbidden tree. In her mind Eve started to interpret the word of God. She thought that what might God's order actually mean? She dared to act against the word of God only because she believed that God meant something other than He had said. We notice from the consequences that God really meant what He had said.
When you say to someone something he didn't expect to hear from your mouth, you often hear an astonished question: "What?" If you remain quiet and don't repeat your message you will notice that he certainly heard what you said. Everybody's hearing is selective. Also a child can leave without attention a request of his parents to do a little service, but a little rustle of a candy paper can catch his attention. In the same way many claim that God has never spoken to them, although it is not true. God has spoken many times to every person.
What has God spoken to you? He has testified you to the truth, when you lied. If you think back you can remember a voice in your heart that said to you: "You lied. You wronged." He doesn't blame you but He just quietly says the truth to you. Certainly you heard what He said, but you didn't care about it.
Somebody calls God's speech conscience or superego, so that he needs not be aware of that God has spoken to him. It is true that a voice of conscience is similar to a speech of God. However there is a difference between them and everybody can distinguish it. The voice of conscience sounds like your own thought. God's voice radiates the tone of His personality. It is sure that it differs from the tone of your personality.
Another person speaks about the Mother Nature when he should admit that God has spoken to him through a phenomenon of nature. Because he doesn't want to praise and honour God for his experience, he honours the impersonal "mother nature". One, who doesn't want to meet God, interprets a speech of God as something else.
Do you take the gospel seriously?
God became man in Jesus Christ, so that we could hear His voice better and to know Him. Jesus suffered the punishment of our sins, so that we would dare to listen to the truth. God sacrificed His only Son, so that we would get an evidence of His love for us. This love makes us take the words of God seriously. Or does it?
God says He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Jesus should not perish but have eternal life. This word "whoever" means everybody. God means what He says. He doesn't want you to have eternal punishment, but eternal life. The ball is now in your court. Do you take God's love seriously?
Many consider this message an annoying thing. They wouldn't like to reject God's grace, but they don't want it to have a too deep effect on themselves. They don't want to give up their sins, but they would like to be saved from the judgment of sin.
For them such a salvation would be suitable that would jump to them through a magic touch of a religious ceremony leaving their heart untouched. Of course they find support for this kind of salvation from the Bible. They are able to expound away the words of the Bible speaking about the salvation through the faith of heart. Their pride, greed and selfishness interpret the Bible for them.
For some people this message is good news, because it gives an answer to their longing. They would like to get rid of their sins and to be saved from their judgment. They are not satisfied with the deeds of people, but they seek real contact with God. They seek knowing of God from the Bible, because they want to come close to God.
God became man in Jesus Christ, so that we could hear His voice better and to know Him. Jesus suffered the punishment of our sins, so that we would dare to listen to the truth. God sacrificed His only Son, so that we would get an evidence of His love for us. This love makes us take the words of God seriously. Or does it?
God says He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Jesus should not perish but have eternal life. This word "whoever" means everybody. God means what He says. He doesn't want you to have eternal punishment, but eternal life. The ball is now in your court. Do you take God's love seriously?
Many consider this message an annoying thing. They wouldn't like to reject God's grace, but they don't want it to have a too deep effect on themselves. They don't want to give up their sins, but they would like to be saved from the judgment of sin.
For them such a salvation would be suitable that would jump to them through a magic touch of a religious ceremony leaving their heart untouched. Of course they find support for this kind of salvation from the Bible. They are able to expound away the words of the Bible speaking about the salvation through the faith of heart. Their pride, greed and selfishness interpret the Bible for them.
For some people this message is good news, because it gives an answer to their longing. They would like to get rid of their sins and to be saved from their judgment. They are not satisfied with the deeds of people, but they seek real contact with God. They seek knowing of God from the Bible, because they want to come close to God.
To where does distress force you?
It is really unfair to God to receive His love only formally. How does He react upon this? He gives distress to these people because of their sins. The purpose of these distresses is that a distressed one would understand God's love in the work which Jesus did on the cross. He experienced the distress we deserve because of our evil thoughts and deeds. When we ourselves suffer distress due to our evilness, it is a test for our faith. In this distress many have given up their faith. Certainly all of them had not the faith of heart, but many have given up even their formal faith.
In spite of distresses some stick to their confession, but they change its content. They come to the conclusion that they are holy and evil at the same time and they resolve their anguish by accepting their evilness. They came to a strong conviction of an immoral grace allowing them to sin without feeling distress. They found a faith of heart through their distressing experience, but it is not the same faith that Jesus had in His own distress.
When they didn't let God come into their heart, they opened their heart to a religious spirit. They really have a faith of heart, but it is not according to the mind of Jesus. They gave up fighting against sin and read their Bible in the light of their defeats. Their message of "grace" is deceitful. Their company makes a tested one unable to endure trials.
Did God's rebuke make you feel a bad person? Are you depressed because you are not praised but rebuked? It is love when God rebukes. It is an invitation to eternal happiness. There is your chance to become a true believer. When you are distressed because of your evilness you can understand the work Jesus did on the cross more deeply.
Woe to those who are distressed because of their offences! If only they turned to Jesus who once suffered their distress on the cross! By turning to Him they prove that they believe that He lives. Woe, woe to many who only are complaining of their misery to people, but don't call on Jesus. Many distressed people refuse to think about the sufferings, which Jesus experienced for them. Woe, woe, woe to them for they have by their disbelief forbidden themselves eternal happiness!
Let your distress drive you to the distressed Jesus. It is easy for a guilty and evil person to come to Him. He was shocked at your evilness in Gethsemane and was distressed so much that He sweated blood. Even so He took your guilt upon Himself and carried it as far as to the tree of the cross. He received all the blows of God's judgment, on your behalf, and paid your sin debts by His dead. Because He Himself was guiltless and perfectly pure death couldn't keep its hold on Him, but He was raised from the dead. Because He lives, He is able to take away your distress from you!
He is closer to you than the nearest Bible. Turn to Him! Refuse to be comforted by any other thing, before Jesus has comforted you.
It is really unfair to God to receive His love only formally. How does He react upon this? He gives distress to these people because of their sins. The purpose of these distresses is that a distressed one would understand God's love in the work which Jesus did on the cross. He experienced the distress we deserve because of our evil thoughts and deeds. When we ourselves suffer distress due to our evilness, it is a test for our faith. In this distress many have given up their faith. Certainly all of them had not the faith of heart, but many have given up even their formal faith.
In spite of distresses some stick to their confession, but they change its content. They come to the conclusion that they are holy and evil at the same time and they resolve their anguish by accepting their evilness. They came to a strong conviction of an immoral grace allowing them to sin without feeling distress. They found a faith of heart through their distressing experience, but it is not the same faith that Jesus had in His own distress.
When they didn't let God come into their heart, they opened their heart to a religious spirit. They really have a faith of heart, but it is not according to the mind of Jesus. They gave up fighting against sin and read their Bible in the light of their defeats. Their message of "grace" is deceitful. Their company makes a tested one unable to endure trials.
Did God's rebuke make you feel a bad person? Are you depressed because you are not praised but rebuked? It is love when God rebukes. It is an invitation to eternal happiness. There is your chance to become a true believer. When you are distressed because of your evilness you can understand the work Jesus did on the cross more deeply.
Woe to those who are distressed because of their offences! If only they turned to Jesus who once suffered their distress on the cross! By turning to Him they prove that they believe that He lives. Woe, woe to many who only are complaining of their misery to people, but don't call on Jesus. Many distressed people refuse to think about the sufferings, which Jesus experienced for them. Woe, woe, woe to them for they have by their disbelief forbidden themselves eternal happiness!
Let your distress drive you to the distressed Jesus. It is easy for a guilty and evil person to come to Him. He was shocked at your evilness in Gethsemane and was distressed so much that He sweated blood. Even so He took your guilt upon Himself and carried it as far as to the tree of the cross. He received all the blows of God's judgment, on your behalf, and paid your sin debts by His dead. Because He Himself was guiltless and perfectly pure death couldn't keep its hold on Him, but He was raised from the dead. Because He lives, He is able to take away your distress from you!
He is closer to you than the nearest Bible. Turn to Him! Refuse to be comforted by any other thing, before Jesus has comforted you.