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MY FAVORITE STORY
By Cindy
A long, long, time ago, Almighty God sat on His throne and talked to His Son, Jesus. They decided, along with the Holy Spirit, to create a universe; and so they did. When Jesus, spoke the earth into being along with all the creatures of the sea, air, and land, the Father declared that it was good. The earth was beautiful and lush. There was no decay, no death, no, not even a food chain, for God Himself provided for all. Then they decided to create a being in their own image, and they called it a man and named him Adam. Adam was given authority over all that the Father and Son had created and daily walked and spoke with them face to face. Then God decided to make Adam someone to be his companion, someone like himself, and so Eve was created. Now Adam and Eve together lived on this lush planet and daily-enjoyed Gods company. Everything on the planet was subject to Adam, and all things were his and Eves to do with as they wished, except for one tree. It was called The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. God had told them they were not to eat the fruit of this tree, or they would die, but everything else was theirs. Living on the earth then was so wonderful. There was no decay; people and animals didnt get old. There was no sickness, no aches or pains. Everyone and everything was in perfect physical shape. What a beautiful world!
One day when Eve was out in the garden alone, a serpent came up to her and began speaking to her. She didnt seem at all surprised that the serpent spoke, so very likely all the animals could communicate with Adam and Eve. This was really Satan though, making himself look like a serpent. He told Eve that if she ate fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, she really wouldnt die, but would be like God. Now we think that Eve should have known better, but this was her first experience with a lie. She probably didnt even know it was possible to lie. So she believed the serpent and ate the fruit. It was good, and she was still alive, so she figured she give some to Adam. Now Adam wasnt deceived by the lie and knew the consequences, but for whatever reason decided to follow Eves lead and he also ate the fruit! Satan was elated! He had just caused Adam to commit the first sin! God came and spoke with Adam and Eve, though for the first time they couldnt see Him. He explained to them that they would indeed die. They had already died spiritually, which was why they could no long see God face to face. Their bodies would also now begin to get old and eventually die. They, and everyone born after them, would now experience pain and discomfort. Since they had been created to have a close relationship with God, and now could not due to the sin, there would always be an empty ache inside them caused by their need and desire to be with God. Now remember that the whole world was subject to Adam, he was ruler over it all. When he sinned, he brought punishment not only on himself, but also on the earth and everything in it. In effect, by eating that fruit, he sold the title deed of the earth, everything in it, and all mankind to Satan! Now, Satan was ruler over all the earth, and everything was subject to him! It seemed like everything was just all messed up now, and only God could fix it.
Many thousands of years passed. Men lived and died. People seemed to be getting further and further away from God. The whole world was caught in a trap of sin, death, and decay. But, God had a plan. The angels were totally amazed. They scratched their heads and wondered that God would even bother with people any more. Why not just leave them to their fate? After all, they certainly deserved it! God, said NO. He loved us and would not let us just live in sin and be separated from Him forever! He and His Son Jesus talked it over. They wanted things to be the way they were supposed to be, with people living without fear, without sin, without death and without that awful ache inside from missing being with God. They wanted to give people back their birthright to live and rule with God. So they talked about how to make this happen and made their plans.
One day, the Father looked at Jesus and said, Its time Son. Much to the amazement of the angels, Jesus stepped down from His Heavenly Throne, and made His way through space and time and became an unborn child in the womb of a young woman named Mary. After His birth, the tiny infant opened His eyes, and the creator of all that is looked out on His creation through the eyes of a frail human baby. That baby was Jesus, come to earth in the flesh. He lived among the other humans of that time, teaching them about His Heavenly Father, and never sinning himself.
You see, since sin had entered into the world through one man, Adam, the only way it could be overcome was through another man living a sinless life. No one could do it except God Himself, because He was the only one without sin. So thats why He chose to give up Heaven and come to earth for us. Since the punishment for Adams sin was death, Jesus knew He would even have to die for us and then come back to life again, so that death would not hold us captive any more. It was the only way to get the title deed for earth and humanity back. So Jesus grew up and lived a sinless life, always doing the will of His Heavenly Father.
Then when He was 33 years old, a friend betrayed Him and others finally arrested Him and had Him tortured, all His friends then deserted Him and then finally crucified Him to kill Him. That type of death was so extremely painful, that the Romans even invented a new word to describe the painthey called it excruciating. But Jesus wasnt done yet. The men crucifying Him offered Him some drugs to lessen the pain as they normally did, but Jesus in His love for us refused it! He knew that we would experience pain throughout our lives and wanted us to know without a doubt that He really did understand what it was like. His job on earth was almost done now, but not quite. Before He died, He asked His Heavenly Father to forgive us and then declared that it was finished. Then He died. His mother and a few of His friends took His body to bury it and put it in a tomb. They couldnt have the funeral for a couple more days though. Three days later, they went back to the tomb to prepare Jesus body for the funeral. It was gone! They were crushed and crying went out of the tomb. The sunlight on their faces probably made them squint and not see to well for a second. Then as their vision cleared, they saw Jesus! He was alive! Can you even begin to imagine their joy???? There He was, standing in front of them, every bit as alive as they were!
Jesus then spent the next 40 days explaining to all His friends and family (for thats what He called His disciples) why He had died and what His death and resurrection really meant for them and for all of us. He explained that He had given His life freelyHe could have called for hundreds and hundreds of angels at any time to come and rescue Him, but He didnt. He could have stopped it at any time by Himself, since He Himself was God, but He didnt. He didnt stop it from happening because He loves us. He wanted us to have our birthright back. He wanted us to have what we were created to havea personal relationship with Him and to rule over the earth and even the angels with Him. All this He said was now ours again, free for the asking! All we had to do was ask and then accept His free and wonderful gift. Those who did would no longer be slaves to sin; they would no longer be under the rule of Satan. They would have abundant life now and forever with Him. He told them that now, nothing and no one could separate us from Him. He explained that although there would be problems, crisis, and troubles during our lives, He would walk with us through them. He said that if it got too tough, He would carry us till we could walk beside Him again. He said He loved us and wanted us to be with Him always.
He said too, that one day He would come back and get us. Then He would make a new earth, all perfect once again for us to live and rule on forever, and He would never leave us. He explained that He would send His Holy Spirit to live in each of us that have accepted His gift and that the Holy Spirit would guide us, help us, teach us, and comfort us. After explaining all this and more to His friends for 40 days, the Father called Jesus to come home to Heaven, and so Jesus rose up in the sky in front of everyone, till no one could see Him anymore! Dont you think it must have been amazing for His friends to watch him disappear into the sky?
Now Jesus is sitting on His Throne again in Heaven, waiting until once again the Father says, Son, its time. Then a trumpet will sound long and loud, and Jesus will shout to all of uscome on up here! Those people who have already died will come back to life and rise up into the air to meet Jesus. Then those of us who are still alive will begin to rise up and meet Jesus in the air. He will give us all new bodies then, like the ones we were meant to have. These new bodies will never get old, or sick or die! Then theres going to be a HUGE party! Jesus called it a wedding feast! Everyone in the world since the beginning of time that has accepted Jesus and His gift of Life, will be there! Wow, can you even imagine it??? Jesus told us too, that Heaven would be so awesome that no one can even begin to imagine how great it will be!
Isnt our God wonderful? Im so glad that He loves us and wants to be part of our lives. Have you asked Him to be Lord of your life? If you have, then He lives inside you, and all His promises are yours!
God Bless! Cindy from Fresh-Hope.com
By Cindy
A long, long, time ago, Almighty God sat on His throne and talked to His Son, Jesus. They decided, along with the Holy Spirit, to create a universe; and so they did. When Jesus, spoke the earth into being along with all the creatures of the sea, air, and land, the Father declared that it was good. The earth was beautiful and lush. There was no decay, no death, no, not even a food chain, for God Himself provided for all. Then they decided to create a being in their own image, and they called it a man and named him Adam. Adam was given authority over all that the Father and Son had created and daily walked and spoke with them face to face. Then God decided to make Adam someone to be his companion, someone like himself, and so Eve was created. Now Adam and Eve together lived on this lush planet and daily-enjoyed Gods company. Everything on the planet was subject to Adam, and all things were his and Eves to do with as they wished, except for one tree. It was called The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. God had told them they were not to eat the fruit of this tree, or they would die, but everything else was theirs. Living on the earth then was so wonderful. There was no decay; people and animals didnt get old. There was no sickness, no aches or pains. Everyone and everything was in perfect physical shape. What a beautiful world!
One day when Eve was out in the garden alone, a serpent came up to her and began speaking to her. She didnt seem at all surprised that the serpent spoke, so very likely all the animals could communicate with Adam and Eve. This was really Satan though, making himself look like a serpent. He told Eve that if she ate fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, she really wouldnt die, but would be like God. Now we think that Eve should have known better, but this was her first experience with a lie. She probably didnt even know it was possible to lie. So she believed the serpent and ate the fruit. It was good, and she was still alive, so she figured she give some to Adam. Now Adam wasnt deceived by the lie and knew the consequences, but for whatever reason decided to follow Eves lead and he also ate the fruit! Satan was elated! He had just caused Adam to commit the first sin! God came and spoke with Adam and Eve, though for the first time they couldnt see Him. He explained to them that they would indeed die. They had already died spiritually, which was why they could no long see God face to face. Their bodies would also now begin to get old and eventually die. They, and everyone born after them, would now experience pain and discomfort. Since they had been created to have a close relationship with God, and now could not due to the sin, there would always be an empty ache inside them caused by their need and desire to be with God. Now remember that the whole world was subject to Adam, he was ruler over it all. When he sinned, he brought punishment not only on himself, but also on the earth and everything in it. In effect, by eating that fruit, he sold the title deed of the earth, everything in it, and all mankind to Satan! Now, Satan was ruler over all the earth, and everything was subject to him! It seemed like everything was just all messed up now, and only God could fix it.
Many thousands of years passed. Men lived and died. People seemed to be getting further and further away from God. The whole world was caught in a trap of sin, death, and decay. But, God had a plan. The angels were totally amazed. They scratched their heads and wondered that God would even bother with people any more. Why not just leave them to their fate? After all, they certainly deserved it! God, said NO. He loved us and would not let us just live in sin and be separated from Him forever! He and His Son Jesus talked it over. They wanted things to be the way they were supposed to be, with people living without fear, without sin, without death and without that awful ache inside from missing being with God. They wanted to give people back their birthright to live and rule with God. So they talked about how to make this happen and made their plans.
One day, the Father looked at Jesus and said, Its time Son. Much to the amazement of the angels, Jesus stepped down from His Heavenly Throne, and made His way through space and time and became an unborn child in the womb of a young woman named Mary. After His birth, the tiny infant opened His eyes, and the creator of all that is looked out on His creation through the eyes of a frail human baby. That baby was Jesus, come to earth in the flesh. He lived among the other humans of that time, teaching them about His Heavenly Father, and never sinning himself.
You see, since sin had entered into the world through one man, Adam, the only way it could be overcome was through another man living a sinless life. No one could do it except God Himself, because He was the only one without sin. So thats why He chose to give up Heaven and come to earth for us. Since the punishment for Adams sin was death, Jesus knew He would even have to die for us and then come back to life again, so that death would not hold us captive any more. It was the only way to get the title deed for earth and humanity back. So Jesus grew up and lived a sinless life, always doing the will of His Heavenly Father.
Then when He was 33 years old, a friend betrayed Him and others finally arrested Him and had Him tortured, all His friends then deserted Him and then finally crucified Him to kill Him. That type of death was so extremely painful, that the Romans even invented a new word to describe the painthey called it excruciating. But Jesus wasnt done yet. The men crucifying Him offered Him some drugs to lessen the pain as they normally did, but Jesus in His love for us refused it! He knew that we would experience pain throughout our lives and wanted us to know without a doubt that He really did understand what it was like. His job on earth was almost done now, but not quite. Before He died, He asked His Heavenly Father to forgive us and then declared that it was finished. Then He died. His mother and a few of His friends took His body to bury it and put it in a tomb. They couldnt have the funeral for a couple more days though. Three days later, they went back to the tomb to prepare Jesus body for the funeral. It was gone! They were crushed and crying went out of the tomb. The sunlight on their faces probably made them squint and not see to well for a second. Then as their vision cleared, they saw Jesus! He was alive! Can you even begin to imagine their joy???? There He was, standing in front of them, every bit as alive as they were!
Jesus then spent the next 40 days explaining to all His friends and family (for thats what He called His disciples) why He had died and what His death and resurrection really meant for them and for all of us. He explained that He had given His life freelyHe could have called for hundreds and hundreds of angels at any time to come and rescue Him, but He didnt. He could have stopped it at any time by Himself, since He Himself was God, but He didnt. He didnt stop it from happening because He loves us. He wanted us to have our birthright back. He wanted us to have what we were created to havea personal relationship with Him and to rule over the earth and even the angels with Him. All this He said was now ours again, free for the asking! All we had to do was ask and then accept His free and wonderful gift. Those who did would no longer be slaves to sin; they would no longer be under the rule of Satan. They would have abundant life now and forever with Him. He told them that now, nothing and no one could separate us from Him. He explained that although there would be problems, crisis, and troubles during our lives, He would walk with us through them. He said that if it got too tough, He would carry us till we could walk beside Him again. He said He loved us and wanted us to be with Him always.
He said too, that one day He would come back and get us. Then He would make a new earth, all perfect once again for us to live and rule on forever, and He would never leave us. He explained that He would send His Holy Spirit to live in each of us that have accepted His gift and that the Holy Spirit would guide us, help us, teach us, and comfort us. After explaining all this and more to His friends for 40 days, the Father called Jesus to come home to Heaven, and so Jesus rose up in the sky in front of everyone, till no one could see Him anymore! Dont you think it must have been amazing for His friends to watch him disappear into the sky?
Now Jesus is sitting on His Throne again in Heaven, waiting until once again the Father says, Son, its time. Then a trumpet will sound long and loud, and Jesus will shout to all of uscome on up here! Those people who have already died will come back to life and rise up into the air to meet Jesus. Then those of us who are still alive will begin to rise up and meet Jesus in the air. He will give us all new bodies then, like the ones we were meant to have. These new bodies will never get old, or sick or die! Then theres going to be a HUGE party! Jesus called it a wedding feast! Everyone in the world since the beginning of time that has accepted Jesus and His gift of Life, will be there! Wow, can you even imagine it??? Jesus told us too, that Heaven would be so awesome that no one can even begin to imagine how great it will be!
Isnt our God wonderful? Im so glad that He loves us and wants to be part of our lives. Have you asked Him to be Lord of your life? If you have, then He lives inside you, and all His promises are yours!
God Bless! Cindy from Fresh-Hope.com
