Gospel concerning Jesus Christ Part 1
April 15, 2007(GB Message)
This is the commencement of my teaching about Jesus Christ and His Gospel (good news), which He proclaimed to the entire world through the Bible.
What is the Bible?
The Bible is one of the greatest literary writings in the world of literature. No book of literature can come anywhere near it in the quality, nature, and purpose of this book. But as true Christians, we are not excited because of this high honour bestowed upon this book, but are exceedingly delighted that it is a spiritual book par excellence and above all the very word of God.
The world does not believe the Bible, and there is nothing we can do about it. The Bible itself makes mention of the world’s rejection. “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him”, Jn 1:10. Sad as it is, this is true.
The oldest manuscript of any ancient publication available in the world is the Bible in the forms called Codex Sinaticus, Codex Vaticanus and the like. I myself was fortunate to spend a few hours looking at these great materials while I was in London.
I was also able to see a few pages of the first ever printed pages of the Bible called the Gutenberg Bible in the great Museum in Washington D.C. These are millions of dollars worth of materials preserved in Government-funded Museums. No other publication in the world has such monumental preservation as this unique book, the Bible. This is not a chance or a coincidence. The Bible is a mystic godly gift to mankind.
Only a very small number of people care to understand it, in spite of the fact that it is God’s announcement to this world now under the domination of the greatest force next only to God but a totally evil one. Without the help of God no one can dream of escaping the venomous effects of this vile force.
The Bible is the single greatest influence responsible for the global industrial revolution and many great events of the world, one of which is the transformation of the cannibals in Africa, Indonesia and other countries into great civilized nations. Statistically, the greatest number of people in this world are the followers of the teaching contained in this book.
Of the many other unique features of this book this book contains prophesies and the literal fulfilment of several of them for a sample see Appendix 1.
What is the central teaching of the Bible?
As stated earlier, it is the message of Almighty God to the whole world disclosed by His Son Lord Jesus Christ through the Bible. It is from the Bible that we learn that every man in this world has lost the glorious chance of being in heaven due to Satan’s evil scheme, which he played against the first parents Adam and Even. From their fall, all their offspring inherited sin and the sinful tendency. Not only did they lose the chance of being in heaven but were also condemned to perish in the Lake of Fire.
God loved the people exceedingly but found no way of removing the contamination caused by Adam and Eve as a result of satanic deception from them and from this earth. God could not eradicate it just by a word because it was introduced by Lucifer who was a divine being and human beings thus contaminated also happened to be in the image of God. There was no remedy for such a venomous contamination of sin. Let us imagine that it was like a man bitten by of a rabid dog gets ill with the deadly disease called rabies. As we all know, there is no cure for it. The person affected by it is himself a potential danger for contaminating others around him, besides the certainty of his own death. That is the reason God had wisely kept the couple in an isolate place, in quarantine as it were.
After the contamination, the whole earth became infected. God decided to destroy the entire earth and perhaps the universe itself. Before that He wished to save the entire humanity who had been incurably infected by the deadly contamination called SIN. There was no means of eradicating this terrible spiritual virus. We don’t understand the clinical analysis of it. Only in heaven we may know it from God. God arranged a unique and great way by which to redeem the people so that (1) the people may escape damnation and (2) that they may attain the original glory with which they had been created.
God Almighty found no other means than sacrificing His own Son, making Him to be born as a human being, in order to save the people from the impending calamity of the destruction of this earth. He lived in this earth and He allowed Himself to be killed on a cruel Roman cross. The Son in obedience to His Father took upon Himself the Sin of the entire humanity and died on the cross as an atoning sacrifice. Strangely and very sadly God found only this way by which to rescue the humanity from the impending calamity. Even more tragic is the fact that very few people believed this gracious merciful salvation arranged by God for salvation. God has no choice whatsoever than to destroy the world, Satan and the rest of mankind.
It is not merely dying that is involved in the tragic fate of humanity but spending eternity in a lake of burning fire. They will not and cannot die but go on suffering endlessly. It is not an unkind act of God but an inevitable situation created by human beings themselves. Man having been made in the likeness of God, cannot be destroyed like animals and birds. He has the chance of either being redeemed and attaining immortal life or being thrown into the Lake of Fire along with the Satan to endure the agony eternally without being able to die. There is no other choice. But God is not “willing that any should perish in that manner but that all should come to repentance“ and escape the inevitable hellish existence. It is amazing and sad that very few only respond to the invitation of God through the Bible while the rest put up an indifferent attitude.
I taught you that the Bible is not written in a manner that anyone and everyone can understand. You may wonder how then God could communicate His Gospel to humanity. The answer is: The Bible does have some parts that contain a very important message that everyone can understand. Appendix 2 contains a sample of such scriptures. If people respond to these scriptures, as a first step, then God will show the next step in many ways, but not otherwise. In any case it is His will that the disciple of God should learn from a man who had already become a disciple and who is provided with an anointing for the teaching ministry.
Satan is taking over so-called churches
Why do we consider this to be the case? It is not difficult to find reasons.
One reason is that we are in the last days Heb 1:2. The evidences are observed towards that fact. We come across a strange verse in one of the books of the Gospel: “However when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” Lk 18: 8. In the same book, in the previous chapter Lord Jesus predicts that the Son of Man shall come at a time when people are least prepared (Lk 17:26–27). We understand this fact from yet another verse of the Bible also. “In the last days difficult times will come. For men will be … holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power”, 2Tim 3:1,5.
Another reason is that the Lord Jesus made a categorical statement, “Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” Mt 7: 14. As the end time draws near, the aforestated signs intensify. It is not because of these verses I have come to the conclusion that many churches have been taken over by the satanic forces; on the other hand, in my long spiritual path I have experienced this. Only such an experience made me go to the Bible to find an answer. Only later did I learn from the Bible that this is bound to happen.
Does that mean that the assurance of Lord Jesus “on this Rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades (Satan and his forces) shall not prevail against it, Mt 16:18 is false? No. Actually His assurance stands firm like a bed-rock.
This church built on the Rock of Lord Jesus two thousand years ago has always stood firm unshaken even during the days of martyrdom. From the history of the church, we have evidence to believe that the pure church of God has always existed. But the size of the church (quantity wise) is progressively diminishing as the last day draws nigh. Putting two and two together I have reasons to believe that Satan has taken over much of what we see as the church. By that statement I only believe that the true churches all over the world are becoming smaller day by day.
At this juncture it is prudent to be careful and examine ourselves if we are in the right track instead of passing judgement on other churches. Every person is expected to go up the ladder after a particular step is introduced to them by various servants of God rather than dancing around that step and singing “Ring-a-Ring o’Rosies A Pocket full of Posies “A-tishoo! A-tishoo!” We all fall down!” There is no absolute perfection as long as we are in this world; our measure of perfection is relative. We have to just keep on growing towards perfection. In some ways, we know more today than great stalwarts of the faith like Rev. N. Samuel, but we have not attained perfection. Just as they did, we must continue to strive and grow. Once the church stops growing it means that sin and Satan are crouching at the door. (Gen 4:7)
Appendix 1: Prophesies literally fulfilled
(Copied from Thompson Chain Reference Bible Published by Zondervan Bible Publishers, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1983)
Below is a list of prophecies with their fulfillment:
Would be the “Offspring of a Woman”
Ge 3: 15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.
Ga 4:4 But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law. (Lk 2:7; Rev 12.5)
Promised Offspring of Abraham
Ge 18: 18 Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. (Ge 12: 3)
Ac 3;25 And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, “Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed,” (Mt 1:1; Lk 3:34)
Promised Offspring of Issac
Ge 17: 19 Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant With him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.”
Mt 1:2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers. (Lk 3:34)
Promised Offspring of Jacob
Nu 24: 17 I see him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel, He will crush the foreheads of Moab, the skulls of all the sons of Sheth. (Ge 28:14)
Lk 3:34 The son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor. (Mt 1: 2)
Will descend from the tribe of Judah
Ge 49: 10 The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his.
Lk 3:33 The son of Amminadab, the son of Ram the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the Son of Judah. (Mt 1:2—3)
The Heir to the throne of David
Isa 9: 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing, and upholding it With justice and righteousness from that time and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this. (Isa 11:1—5; 2Sa 7:13)
Mt 1:1 A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham. (Mt.1 6)
Place of birth
Mic 5:2 But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will he ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.
Mt 2:1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east, to Jerusalem. (Lk 24—7)
Time of birth
Da 9:25 Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem
until the Annointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven “sevens” and sixty-two “sevens.” It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble.
Lk 2:1—2 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) (Lk 2:3—7)
Born of a virgin
Isa 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
Mt 1:18 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. His mother Mary was pledged to married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. (Lk 1: 26 – 35)
Slaughter of infants
Jer 31: 15 This is what the LORD says: “A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because her children are no more.”
Mt 2:16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. (Mt 2: 17 – 18)
Escape into Egypt
Hos 11:1 When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.
Mt 2:14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt. (Mt 2: 15)
Ministry in Galilee
Isa 9: 1—2 Nevertheless there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan—The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.
Mt 4 12—16 When Jesus hard that John had been put in prison, he returned to Galilee. Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali—to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah: Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, along the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.’
As a Prophet
Dt 18:15 The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.
Jn 6:14 After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” (Jn 1:45 ; Ac 3:19—26)
As a Priest, like Melchizedek
Ps 110:4 The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind: “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”
Heb 6:20 Where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become forever, in the order of Melchizedek. (Heb 5:5—6 ; 7:15—17)
His rejection by Jews
Isa 53: 3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. (Ps 2:2)
Jn 1:11 He came to that which was own, but his own did not receive him. (Jn 5:43; Lk 4: 29 ; 17: 25 ; 23: 18)
Some Of his characteristics
Isa 11:2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD. (Ps 45:7; Isa 11:3—4)
Lk 2: 52 And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men. (Lk 4:18)
His triumphal entry . . . .
Zec 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your Icing comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (Isa 62:11)
Jn 12:13—14 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD is the name of Lord!” “Blessed is the King of Israel!” Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it Is written. (Mt 21: 1—11; Jn 12—12)
Betrayed by a friend
Ps 41:9 Even my close friend, whom I trusted, he who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.
Mk 14:10 Then Judas lscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. (Mt 26:14—16; Mk 14:43—45)
Sold for thirty pieces of silver
Zec 11; 12 I told them, “If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not keep it” So they paid me my pieces of silver. (Zec 11: 13)
Mt 26:15 And asked, “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty silver coins. (Mt 26: 3 – 10)
Money to be returned for a potter’s field
Zec 11: 13 And the LORD said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the handsome price at which they priced me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw
the house of the LORD to the potter.
Mt 27:6—7 The chief priests picked up the coins and said, “It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money.” So they decided to use the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners. (Mt 27:3—5; 8—10)
Judas’s position to be taken by another
Ps 109: 7—8 When he is tried, let him be found guilty, and may his prayers condemn him. May his days be few; may another take his place of leadership.
Ac 1:18—20 (With the reward he got for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) “For,” said Peter, “it is written in the book of Psalms,” ‘May his place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in it,’ and, “ ‘May another take his place of leadership.’ ” (Ac 1:16—17)
False witnesses accuse him
Ps 27: 12 Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, breathing out violence. (Ps 35:11)
Mt 26:60—61 But they did not find any, though many false witnesses came forward. Finally two came forward and declared, “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’”
Silent when accused
Isa 53:7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth (Ps 38:13—14)
Mt 26 :62—63 Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” But Jesus remained silent. The high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” (Mt 27:12—14)
Struck and spit on
Isa 50:6 I offered my back to those who beat me, my checks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting.
Mk 14:65 Then some began to spit at him; they blindfolded him, struck him with their fists, and said, “Prophesy!” And the guards took him and beat him. (Mk 15:17; Jn 19:1—3; 18:22)
Hated without cause
Ps 69:4 Those who hate me without reason outnumber the hairs of my head; many are my enemies without cause, those who seek to destroy me. I am forced to restore what I did not steal. (Ps 109: 3—5)
Jn 15:23—25 He who hates me hates my Father as well. If I had not done among them what no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen these miracles, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: “They hated me without reason.”
Suffered vicariously
Isa 53:4—5 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. (Isa 53:6, 12)
Mt 8:16—17 When evening, came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases.” (Ro 4:25; 1Co 15:3)
Crucified with sinners
Isa 53:12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore sin of many, and made intercession. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Mt 27:38 Two robbers were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. (Mk 15:27-28; Lk 23:33)
Hands and feet pierced
Ps 22:16 Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet. (Zec 12:10)
Jn 20:27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands, Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubling and believe.” (Jn 19:37; 20:25–26)
Mocked and Insulted
Ps 22:6—8 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned bran and despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads: “He trusts in the LORD; let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.”
Mt 27:39-40 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” (Mt 27:41—44; Mk 15: 29–32)
Given gall and vinegar
Ps 69:21 They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.
Jn 19:29 A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus lips. (Mt 27:34, 48)
Hears prophetic words repeated in mockery
Ps 22:8 He trusts in the LORD; let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.
Mt 27:43 He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, “I am the Son of God.”
Prays for his enemies
Ps 109:4 In return for my friendship they accuse me, but I am a man of prayer. (Isa 53:12)
Lk 23:34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
His side to be pierced
Zec 12:10 And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.
Jn 19:34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.
Soldiers cast lots for his clothes
Ps 22:18 They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.
Mk 15:24 And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each (Jn19:24)
Not a bone to be broken
Ps 34:20 He protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken. (Ex 12:46)
Jn 19:33 But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.
To be buried with the rich
Isa 53:9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.
Mt 27:57—60 As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to and went away.
His resurrection
Ps 16:10 Because you will not abandon me to the grave, not will you let your Holy One see decay. (Mt 16:21)
Mt 28:9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. (Lk 24:36—48)
His ascension
Ps 68:18 When you ascended on high, you led captives in your train; you received gifts from men,even from the rebellious—that you, O LORD God, might dwell there.
Lk 24:50—51 When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. (Ac 1:9)
Appendix 2: Word of God that can be easily understood
John 3:16 (KJV)
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
John 5: 24 (KJV)
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
John 5:24 (NKJV)
Life and Judgment Are Through the Son
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.
Acts 20:21 (NASB)
Solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 2:3 (KJV)
How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord (Jesus Christ), and was confirmed unto us by them that heard Him;
1 John 4:14 (NIV)
And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world.
1 John 5:11 (KJV)
And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
John 4:42 (NIV)
Many Samaritans Believe
They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”
1 Timothy 1 (NIV)
Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.
2 Timothy 1: 9 (NASB)
who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity,
Acts 4:12 (NIV)
Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
Mark 16:16 (NIV)
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
John 1:12 (NIV)
Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, he gave the right to become children of God—
John 5:24 (NKJV)
Life and Judgment Are Through the Son
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.
John 20:31 (NIV)
But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his Name.
Colossians 1:13 (NIV)
For he Has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves,
Acts 13:38 (NIV)
“Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.
1 Peter 3:18 (NIV)
For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit,
