Gospel concerning Jesus Christ Part 2

(GB Message)

Click for Tamil translation

The first lesson was an introduction about the contents of the Bible. I taught you that the Bible is God’s announcement to the people of this earth about the availability of a glorious opportunity to attain immortality and to inherit a place in God’s celestial region, free of cost with a little effort on the part of the individual. Even for that little effort, God is willing to grant the strength if one sought for it earnestly, trusting Him.

After that initial little effort God shows the next step. Through many such steps God leads him in the heavenly path of sanctification. When people do not complete a step, God waits, and does not show the next step. Many stop along the way and do not progress. This is how dead churches are formed and over such churches alone, the gates of Hades prevails.

You have learnt earlier that God is really in search of genuine truth seekers in order to enable them to escape from the clutches of Satan and from the worldly influences dangerously poisoned by the powers of all kinds of evil forces. After all, no one is born with any adequate knowledge of God. A desire for the knowledge of God develops in an individual only gradually and progressively and not at once. The process may vary from person to person. To some it develops with an accelerated speed. But to some others, it is rather slow and progressive.

Once the person tastes the revelation of God, he should grab that opportunity like a drowning man catching a float. In any case, Satan will continue his evil design against the person’s effort of seeking after God. A spark of desire for the knowledge of God is inbuilt in the soul of every man so that he may pursue after the search backed by that spark. But more often than not people fail to exert and seek after Him especially because Satan through their humanity (flesh) tries to divert their attention. As written in the Bible, the “flesh sets against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another”, Gal 5: 17 and thus our attention is diverted.

We shall do well to know that even genuine Christian parents do not give birth to Christian babies whereas Hindus, Jews and Muslims give birth to babies of their own kind. In the wisdom of God no one is born with any special advantage with regard to godliness. Of course, it is true that some have to face greater hurdles than some others. But to those with such hurdles God’s special grace also is added. In other words every one is born with more or less the same degree of advantages and/or disadvantage. If at all some have to face extraordinary disadvantage, it is not without the knowledge of God. We have no means of understanding the mysteries of God and godliness. By the by it is of utmost importance to understand at this juncture what the soul is.

The Soul of man
Man has three elements in him 1) the perishable body 2) the imperishable soul and 3) the imperishable spirit. The body in man is given to him to exist in this earth for the period of time God allows him. But the other two elements in him have been given to him to seek after God and to aspire to live beyond the limits of the body. The strength of the body is very limited. It can live only for a small period of time like the carrier of the rocket shooting into space. The purpose of the carrier is only to push and fling the rocket into outer space at a great velocity. After that operation is over, the carrier disintegrates. Its function is nothing more than helping the rocket to get into space and make it an orbiting satellite. In the case of man, the body is important to him as long as he lives in this earth. Immediately after his death the body is useless and so it meets with natural disintegration.

But before the body disintegrates, the soul and spirit have an important function to carry out, which is to seek after God amidst the debris of the world that came to great ruin as a result of the influence of the devil. According to God’s design this effort on the part of the man should be completed before his death. If he seeks after God truly, he is given the opportunity to become immortal by the power of God. It is glorious achievement for every person born in this earth. The greatest achievement of man consists in his soul successfully realizing God and with His help, attaining immortality.

The Gospel of Christ:
Only from the Bible can we learn the most fascinating information for every person born in this earth. This information is about how one may attain this immortality.

Let us list some of them for our easy remembrance:

1. The entire humanity is polluted, having become sinful and automatically having distanced themselves from God their Creator. In the words of the Bible, they have all “. . . sinned and fall short of the glory of God”, Rom 3: 23.
2. Satan or the devil is the major hurdle for a man to approach God.
3. God doesn’t prevent the devil from meddling with man’s affairs, because God uses the devil as a test, allowing man to choose to be on God’s side or on the side of the devil.
4. God has already decided to destroy the world along with the devil and his followers.
5. God has simultaneously announced His intentions, His sincere love for humanity, and the heavenly region kept reserved for those who follow Him through His message in the Bible.
6. God’s plan of salvation: Some points to discuss.

• Incarnation
• His atoning sacrifice for the sin of mankind.
• His death and burial.
• His resurrection on the third day.
• Salvation for Israel
• Two fold plans fulfilled
  • Salvation for Gentiles
  • Proof of His resurrection apart from the assurance contained in the Bible
• The ministry of the Apostles
• The ministry of the Church
• The ministry of the love of God