NU169273@vm1.nodak.edu (04/14/91)
SOMETHING IS MISSING
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WHAT IS IT?
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My friend, are you dead or alive? Do you ever feel that there is
something important missing from you life? A vital part of your existence
that isn't there, and has never been there? An empty void and longing, deep
within the depths of your soul, crying out to be filled?
If you don't know the Lord Jesus Christ on a personal basis, that's the
problem. God, the giver and sustainer of life, is missing from your life.
The Bible says, without Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, you are
"dead in trespasses and sins;" (Ephesians 2:1)
HOW DID IT HAPPEN?
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In the Garden of Eden, before man's fall, Adam and Eve were alive, that
is, they were "spiritually" alive. They walked in perfection, and oneness
with God.
"And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden
thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof
thou shalt surely die." (Genesis 2:16-17)
On that day, when they disobeyed God and ate of the fruit, they died a
"Spiritual" death. Sin entered in, and they were separated from God.
Since then, every one of us has been born into sin.
"Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin;
and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:" (Romans 5:12)
"Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me."
(Psalms 51:5)
"There is none righteous, no, not one:" (Romans 3:10)
"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" (Romans 3:23)
The result is "spiritual" death, "physical" death, and if you die without
Jesus Christ, "eternal" death. This is eternal separation from God in hell
fire.
WHAT'S BEEN DONE ABOUT IT?
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Jesus Christ, the God-man, was not a partaker of man's sinful bloodline.
He was perfect, sinless, righteous, holy, born of a virgin, and God in the
flesh.
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by
him; and without him was not any thing made that was made." (John 1:1-3)
"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his
glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and
truth. (John 1:14)
He came to seek and to save that which was lost. He offered Himself the
perfect, sinless sacrifice unto God, to redeem man from the sin which
separates him from God. He came to give life back unto men.
"I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more
abundantly." (John 10:10)
"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. Verily, verily, I say
unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the
voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live." (John 5:24-25)
NOW IT IS UP TO YOU.
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My friend, do you hear His voice calling you through these scriptures?
He wants to breathe life into you. This receiving of new life from Jesus
Christ is what He called being born again.
We see this in John, chapter 3, where He tells Nicodemus, "Verily,
verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the
kingdom of God." "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which
is born of the Spirit is spirit." (John 3:3 and 6)
My friend, Repent! Turn to God from your sin, and embrace the Lord Jesus
Christ by faith, and be born of God. The missing link will be found, the
empty void will be filled. You, will be one with God. He will be your
Father, and you will be His son. You can rejoice with us in this great
truth forever. Amen
"He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath
not life." (I John 5:12)
K. Paulson
222 Stockbridge Hall
N. D. S. U.
Fargo, ND 58105