GOD'S LOVE FOR A LOST WORLD

    "looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds." (Titus 2:13-14) By age fourteen, I had already given my life to Jesus and was attending regular bible studies and prayer meetings. At 17, I attended a youth evangelism school and started preaching the Gospel and winning souls for Jesus. One of the many valuable things I learned over the years was about the need for every Christian to grow in the spirit.  So, one day, I asked my older brother Paul, who was then my mentor, "how do you know you are maturing in the Spirit?" He told me basically, "you know you are growing spiritually when you are bearing the fruit of the Spirit" (such as self-control, gentleness, and godliness). Wow!  I had thought he would say when you begin to manifest the gifts of the Holy S...

"and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem." ( Luke 24:46-47 ) How Sin Came About The first book of the Bible (Genesis) records how Adam and Eve (the first humans) were very privileged; living in a beautiful garden made specially by God for them. They lacked nothing, they had dominion over everything else God created by God, and they were very close friends with God. But with time, Adam and Eve fell off from their special relationship with God, through disobedience. They would not accept responsibility for the offense both of them were guilty of. Adam and his wife lost the special relationship and privilege they had been enjoying from God. This is how sin entered the world and has persisted up to today. This falling away by the whole human race from our relationship with God is re...

  "The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, 'Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!'" (John 1:20) The Sin of The World Reading the first book of the Bible called Genesis, you'd realize Adam and Eve (the first humans) were very privileged: living in a beautiful garden made specially by God for them. They lacked nothing, they had dominion over everything else God made, and they were very close friends with God.  But then, just as husbands and wives often fall apart as a result of offenses, Adam and Eve fell off from their special relationship with God, through an offense they wouldn't accept responsibility for. Everyone blamed somebody else for an offense committed by all. Does this sound familiar? This is how sin entered the world and has persisted up to today. This falling away by the whole human race from our relationship with God is referred to as the sin of the world. The Lamb of God (Jesus) In almost every culture/religion, t...

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begot;16ten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16) When I was little, I used to be very afraid of life after death. Some nights, in bed, I would reflect on my sins. I just knew I was doomed to hell because I had gotten to hear in Sunday School about the existence of hell and heaven. I had never heard about God being a loving God, so I only saw Him as this judge who would one day have me cast into this lake of fire where I would suffer eternally. At one point, I tried to convince myself that hell did not exist but fortunately my older brothers reassured me of it and I became scared and more careful once again. But irrespective of what I did or did not do, there wasn't any assurance of me not ending up in God's eternal punishment. Though I was scared, I couldn't stop doing the things that I knew would lead me to end up in hell. By the time I turned fourteen, an old...