While we were still celebrating Christmas with our families and friends, people in Bam, Iran were being tossed around by a very great and violent earthquake. Various news sources report that nearly 30,000 people died in this devastating tragedy.
The people of that city are still filled with a sense of despair and hopelessness. But, MSNBC reported on the 29th of December about an amazing discovery. 37 hours after the quake, a little girl was found still alive beneath a huge pile of debris from a crumbled building. Six-month-old Nassim was saved by a loving mother who died while shielding her baby with her own body. A spokesperson for the Red Crescent in Tehran said: "She is alive because of her mother's embrace." Many people are viewing the new movie "Passion of the Christ" and coming away with tears and many mixed emotions about the dramatic story from the Bible of the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ upon the cross. Galina and I went to see the movie with our son Bill, and we all struggled with our emotions as we watched something on film that we are already very familiar with from reading the Bible. One person recently asked me: "Is there anywhere in the Bible that teaches that Jesus was sacrificed for our sins? Doesn't the Bible say that God told Abraham not to sacrifice his son?" Questions like this often come from people who are struggling with the idea of faith in Christ as their Savior and Lord. When God created our first human ancestors, He placed them in the Garden of Eden – a paradise where they lived with peace, love and joy, and literally walked and talked with God. Satan, the enemy of everything righteous and good tempted Eve. Adam and Eve sinned by disobeying God's command. You may read this story in the book of Genesis. As a result of this sin, they were banished from paradise and began to suffer and eventually died. All diseases and death are the result of their sin, and our own sins which separate us from God. God has provided a way for us to be saved and have the positive hope of living in the Paradise of God. Long ago, even centuries before the birth of Jesus Christ, the Jewish prophet Isaiah wrote these words about the Messiah: "Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him and by his wounds we are healed." (Isaiah 53:4-5 NIV) In Romans chapter six the apostle Paul is reasoning about how we are dead in our sins until we come into a saving relationship with Christ through faith that the sacrifice of Christ on the cross was the payment for our sins. "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Without this righteousness, we cannot enter into the Paradise of God. We cannot achieve the righteousness of God by our own human struggles. We can only be counted righteous by God when we have faith in God's gift of love. "This is how God showed his love among us; He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." (1 John 4:10 NIV) Listen to the Word from Romans chapter three: "This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus, God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished – he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus." You can be assured of your place in Heaven by believing in Jesus Christ with all your heart, repenting of your sins, and confessing your faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. When a person obeys Christ' teaching about baptism, they are in a sense united with the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. (Romans 6:3-4) Live each day as a disciple of Jesus with the help of the Holy Spirit, and the joyful knowledge that someday you will experience life that is beyond all human comprehension. You are invited to attend the services of the Church of Christ at the corner of 3rd and E Streets. Write me with any questions or comments David Binkley, Sr., P.O. Box 186, Cedar Key, FL 32625 or E-mail at dgbinkley@aol.com. Or you may also request to receive the daily WORD OF THE DAY by e-mail. Check out our web site at www.cedarkeychurchofchrist.com. | 