AFTER OUR OWN KIND PART II
Genesis 1:11-24
Only living things reproduce.
It's simple, but true. By definition, anything that reproduces itself is alive.
When I needed new furniture, I wished that my bedroom suites would mate and give birth to a child-sized dresser and chest of drawers. It would be cheaper and easier than going to a furniture store. But it never happened. It's a silly idea, isn't it? How could anything not alive replicate itself?
Many people wonder why they can't lead people to the Lord. They want to, and try to, but no one ever seems to come know the Lord through them.
I knew a guy like this several years ago at my old office. He would talk to coworkers about his church and why they should come there. He would talk about how faithful his family was and how it improved their lives. But no one ever responded to his invitations to partake of his faith.
Now, the problem could have been a simple lack of training on how to talk about his faith, but as I watched him over the years, I suspected that it might be something else. As he was giving his testimony one day, I realized that he had "become" a Christian because his wife was a believer. More than fifteen years earlier he had been baptized as a condition of the marriage contract. His girlfriend refused to marry an unbeliever, so he had pretended to believe to make her happy. Externally, he had whitewashed himself, but inside he was still as dead as stone.
This was confirmed by his actions. He never failed to participate in questionable activities. He would neglect his job as an inspector to drive around town looking for aluminum cans to recycle. He never declined to take gifts from contractors. He swore like a cowboy and ridiculed everyone who made any mistake. These are not the actions of a person with a living faith in the Lord Jesus. People saw that his words and his actions didn't mesh and were turned off.
If you have been a Christian for a while, but never led anyone to the Lord even though you have tried, take your spiritual pulse. It's a hard question to ask yourself, especially if you have been a Christian a long time, but are you certain that you are alive in Christ? Have you really been saved or have you just been going through the motions? Can you describe your salvation experience? What brought you to the foot of the Cross? What evidence do you have that you are alive in the spirit?
If you can't answer these questions with absolute certainty, you may not have a saving relationship with Jesus.
Now is the time to correct that. God loves you and wants to have a relationship with you. But your sin has deprived you of the privilege of that connection. However, He has made a way to remove your sin and make you worthy of relationship. If you want to be made spiritually alive:
Admit it-- you are a sinner. You know the truth. Everyone has sinned and alienated themselves from God. No one is good enough, no matter how good they are, because you are not graded on the curve. To be worthy of association with Him, your purity must be equal to the holiness and perfection of God. Only when you acknowledge what a sinner you are, can you be saved...
Believe that Jesus Christ has the authority to forgive your sins and came among us to take the punishment your sins deserve. God became man to provide a way for us to become holy enough to approach God. There are no rituals, including baptism, that will wash you clean. Only the faith in the authority of Jesus will give you life...
Confess to someone that you need Jesus's forgiveness and that you accept it. Anyone who confesses with their mouth (public witness) that they believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who died to restore man's relationship with God, is saved. They are born of the spirit (what the Bible calls being "born again.") ...
Determine to hand over your life to Jesus and be a follower of His teachings as presented in the Holy Bible. If you are really born again, you ought to be able to yield to God.
When you can sincerely do this, you become born again by God. You become so alive, that you will never die. You will know life; abundant, reproductive and eternal life.
(I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Revelation 3:1)
Genesis 1:11-24
Only living things reproduce.
It's simple, but true. By definition, anything that reproduces itself is alive.
When I needed new furniture, I wished that my bedroom suites would mate and give birth to a child-sized dresser and chest of drawers. It would be cheaper and easier than going to a furniture store. But it never happened. It's a silly idea, isn't it? How could anything not alive replicate itself?
Many people wonder why they can't lead people to the Lord. They want to, and try to, but no one ever seems to come know the Lord through them.
I knew a guy like this several years ago at my old office. He would talk to coworkers about his church and why they should come there. He would talk about how faithful his family was and how it improved their lives. But no one ever responded to his invitations to partake of his faith.
Now, the problem could have been a simple lack of training on how to talk about his faith, but as I watched him over the years, I suspected that it might be something else. As he was giving his testimony one day, I realized that he had "become" a Christian because his wife was a believer. More than fifteen years earlier he had been baptized as a condition of the marriage contract. His girlfriend refused to marry an unbeliever, so he had pretended to believe to make her happy. Externally, he had whitewashed himself, but inside he was still as dead as stone.
This was confirmed by his actions. He never failed to participate in questionable activities. He would neglect his job as an inspector to drive around town looking for aluminum cans to recycle. He never declined to take gifts from contractors. He swore like a cowboy and ridiculed everyone who made any mistake. These are not the actions of a person with a living faith in the Lord Jesus. People saw that his words and his actions didn't mesh and were turned off.
If you have been a Christian for a while, but never led anyone to the Lord even though you have tried, take your spiritual pulse. It's a hard question to ask yourself, especially if you have been a Christian a long time, but are you certain that you are alive in Christ? Have you really been saved or have you just been going through the motions? Can you describe your salvation experience? What brought you to the foot of the Cross? What evidence do you have that you are alive in the spirit?
If you can't answer these questions with absolute certainty, you may not have a saving relationship with Jesus.
Now is the time to correct that. God loves you and wants to have a relationship with you. But your sin has deprived you of the privilege of that connection. However, He has made a way to remove your sin and make you worthy of relationship. If you want to be made spiritually alive:
Admit it-- you are a sinner. You know the truth. Everyone has sinned and alienated themselves from God. No one is good enough, no matter how good they are, because you are not graded on the curve. To be worthy of association with Him, your purity must be equal to the holiness and perfection of God. Only when you acknowledge what a sinner you are, can you be saved...
Believe that Jesus Christ has the authority to forgive your sins and came among us to take the punishment your sins deserve. God became man to provide a way for us to become holy enough to approach God. There are no rituals, including baptism, that will wash you clean. Only the faith in the authority of Jesus will give you life...
Confess to someone that you need Jesus's forgiveness and that you accept it. Anyone who confesses with their mouth (public witness) that they believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who died to restore man's relationship with God, is saved. They are born of the spirit (what the Bible calls being "born again.") ...
Determine to hand over your life to Jesus and be a follower of His teachings as presented in the Holy Bible. If you are really born again, you ought to be able to yield to God.
When you can sincerely do this, you become born again by God. You become so alive, that you will never die. You will know life; abundant, reproductive and eternal life.
(I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Revelation 3:1)
