Monday, November 23, 2009

John 10:10

Since we are all in this ride called "LIFE", we might as well enjoy it to the FULL! But the truest and the most satisfying enjoyment i have discovered is only found in Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God! 

In fact, it was the original plan and will of God in God's intention in the Garden of Eden when man and woman had a perfect union and relationship with the God of the Universe with His super abundant peace that only comes from Him. That's why Jesus Christ, the Holy Lamb of God had to come and die for us in order to bring us back to the state where man had fallen from. Therefore, Jesus Christ Himself said in John 10:10 while he was living on this earth "The Thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life." (The Holy Bible, NLT)

Until a man come to this place of knowing and experiencing this truest enjoyment, there will always be an abnormality in the heart and life of a human. I could say this fact on the basis of the Authority of the Scriptures and upon the experiences of many including myself. 

The reason behind is that the man somehow and in some measure always tries to go back to the place where he had fallen from whether he realizes or not. There is this guilty conscience within man that he can never deny its existence or erase it by the wind of a great span of time, or with an exuberant display of the noblest of deeds or with immeasurable money and wealth that could even buy this whole wide world. Regardless of what any person's social status may be according to man's evaluation, whether he is poor or rich, famous or infamous - he is still a sinner and there is an eternity put by God on the inside which has been proven in life experience even by numerous songs and poems, dreams and myths that are composed, written and told by man himself all throughout the history of mankind. 

Unless this man who is created in the image of Triune God come to his originality in position and statue, there is this on-going unrest of the soul that cries deep on the inside no matter how hard he tries to ignore it. The sound of this cry is either near or far, silent or loud depending on where we are in handling the truth that we need to get right with a holy God. 

The devil who is the enemy of God and God's people would love to keep us in foolishness of total ignorance of this fact. But when we give attention and response to this inward cry of the soul we begin to work our way back to the God who created us. It is good that we begin to realize and start making progress toward God. But we have to know that we must come not in our own terms, but in God's terms. 

In the history of mankind since the great fall of first man and woman - Adam and Eve, man tried so many times and in so many ways to come to God in his own ways and methods. That's why we have so many religions, cults and belief systems today all around the world. The definition of religion is simply this: a man's own way back to God. The devil not only wants to keep us in ignorance of our need of a Savior but also he wants us to make efforts God-ward continuously without the realization that we CANNOT and WILL NOT ever make our way back to God on our own strength and ability. Why? Because man's sins and his sin conscience which are the result of his sin nature that he inherited from Adam will never be erased or cleansed unless he dies and becomes a new creature. 

No amount of good works and self-sacrifice of one's own life would make him a new creature! As light cannot exist with darkness at the same time, so is God with a sinful man. Man has to die and become a new creature in order to come to a holy God. That's why Jesus tells the reasoning man Nicodemus that he must be born again, born from above in John chapter 3. This is the Good News of Jesus Christ! Since man can never make his way back to God in his own strength, God Himself came in His own initiation in the form of a helpless human to save us or bring us back to the place we ought to be in originality, which is in the full of wonder and awe filled relationship with the beautiful God who is such Great Love. Our sin which was the wall of separation both with God and man was broken down by the body of Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary nearly 2000 years ago. Jesus Christ our Savior took all of us, the whole mankind - with its sins and iniquities, sicknesses and diseases, failures and shortcomings - our whole identity who we are - upon Himself and bestowed Himself in all of His perfection and beauty upon us. What a wonder it is! What wisdom! What a work! This was the work Jesus referred to when He said in John 19:30 breathing His last air "It is finished"

My friend, whole mankind's helpless effort and strivings can end right here if you and I truly begin to grasp this powerful truth by the breathe of the Holy Spirit that we cannot and will not ever come to God in our own power and knowledge, but Jesus Christ has done ALL for us. All we need to do is to hear this truth and humble ourselves by acknowledging our sin and need for a Savior, and repenting from all of our dead works and believe this wonderful work of God and receive with open heart and arms by speaking with full assurance of heart that Jesus is Lord and He lives. If one truly believes and receives this, he is born again. He is a new creature born from above. He is united with the death of Jesus and receives a new nature in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I don't know how exactly it happens but just as the Scripture says in John 3:8 "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit." I know that I have been born again by the Spirit of the living God. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold all things have become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17) Hallelujah!!! This is so wonderful! So awe-full! Thank you Jesus! I have nothing to do but to praise and worship Thee and rejoice and love Thee oh God! 
What a life! "The Prince of Life" is died for you and me so that we can have this life, and have it more abundantly. This life is Jesus Christ Himself!

"Therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us." (Romans 5:1) Consequently, the abnormality that is in the heart and life of man which i mentioned above has become normal, and the unrest that is in the soul of man has turned to true rest as it is the will of God in its originality. For we have real and genuine peace with God because our dead works, constant laboring and all our sweats to be justified in His sight have come to an end; to be in this condition we did nothing but receive by faith what Jesus did for us on the Cross. Even the faith to believe in Jesus came from Jesus Himself, for "..faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (Romans 10:17). All of these are gift from God! We have nothing to claim to our own. Glory be to God!

I'm well aware that i began writing this article by making a statement about enjoying this life or having an enjoyment in this life. Perhaps someone might wonder and ask where would the fulfillment of the Great Commission that given to us by the Lord Himself to go and make disciples of all nations, reaching the lost, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, being the extension of Jesus' hands and feet, and of His love, and bearing forth fruit in Christian ministry and service fit in into all of these niceties? I want to clarify that this enjoyment i'm talking about is not in anything or anybody else except the Lord Jesus Christ Himself alone, the Son of the Living God. And having this enjoyment, delight, love, intimacy, peace, rest and joy in Him does not promote passiveness, and it doesn't make you passive or inactive, but in fact it is the greatest power to be most fruitful and productive, expand and extent in the Kingdom of God with the leading of the Holy Spirit. 



It is resting and working at the same time! It might sound funny, but it is the truth! For years in my pursuit of God i tried in my own strength not even realizing it until i came to a dead end and began to see the light dawning of the "yoke is easy" and "burden is light" because of the mercy and grace of our great God. (Matthew 11:28-30). As the Apostle Paul said in Romans 14:14 "I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus..." that everything natural is death and everything of supernatural which is of the Lord Jesus is life and life more abundantly! What i mean by everything natural is that man's own works and labor without the inspiration and leading of the Life Giving Holy Spirit are all death. Let us have Jesus Christ who is the Tree of Life and share and show Him to others through our lives! For we are living epistles to be known and read by all men!!! (2 Corinthians 3:2)

Let all glory and honor be unto Jesus My Lord and Savior!

© by Chinzorig Jargalsaikhan

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