God’s design
We are made in the image of God. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. . .(Genesis 1:26) We have the ability to make choices. We have a ‘will’ that we exercise. We are able to consider the options and make choices based on the information we have and in accordance with our desires or preferences. We can choose; to our good or to our peril. And God lets us. We are made in His image.
Throughout this article you will see a number of references to God ‘choosing’. Just as we are made in God’s image and we have the ability to make choices – we need to remember that throughout the history of the world God, too, has made many decisions; deliberate choices. We should take note of these and see what God’s mind is on any such particular matters.
God’s plan
From before Adam, God knew what would happen when He created people, who would have the ability to choose between good and bad; right and wrong; God and themselves. He even planned a way of providing salvation for them, that is – a way for them to be saved.
. . .according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. (2 Timothy 1:9)
God is a Spirit
God is a Spirit. . . (John 4:24). Being a spirit, how could God be seen by anyone on earth? God chose to come to earth in a form that people could see and interact with.
God took on a human form.
Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. (Phil 2:6-7)
Here is a little parable to help illustrate why He did this:
There was once a boy called Ben. He lived on a farm surrounded by lots of trees. Ben loved watching the birds make their nests, feed their young and do all the things that birds do. He loved their songs too. He had a favourite place on the farm where the trees were super tall and certain birds nested. Ben had a tree hut there and could watch the birds without them being bothered by him.
One day Ben’s dad told him that some men were coming soon to cut down many of the tall trees. Ben was really upset. He wanted to help those birds know what was going to happen. But what could he do? How could he tell them to get out of their nests quickly and fly somewhere else that was safe?
After a while Ben realised that the only way he would be able to warn those birds was to speak their bird talk. But how could he know what that was? He would have to become a bird if he was going to be able to communicate with them.
In a similar way, God took on human form and became a man, so that people could see and interact with Him. God also knew that in order to provide us all with a way to be saved, He would have to become the sacrifice for our sins – nothing, no one else was good enough to be that sacrifice.
Where would God live on earth?
So God was planning to come to live on earth as a man. Where would He go? Where would He live?
God chose to prepare a nation to which He would come and belong to. Furthermore, this nation would have its own land and territory; Israel (Gen 13:14-17; 15:18; 35:12; 48:3-4; Deut 11:24; 34:1-4; Numbers 34:1-12) and God would choose out part of it for His own special use; Jerusalem. (e.g. 1 Kings 14:21)
He chose out a man to become the father of those who would set up that nation. In Genesis 12 we have the record of what God told Abram (later called Abraham):
And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. (Gen 12:2-3)
Take good note of what the LORD told Abram. Nations, today, are being blessed or cursed by God, according to how they treat the nation that God made from Abram.
For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac. (Gen 21:2-3)
God arranged for Abraham and Sarah to miraculously bear a son in their old age. He was called Isaac.
. . . in Isaac shall thy seed be called. (Gen 21:12)
When Isaac was an adult God spoke the same words to him as to Abraham:
. . .in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. (Gen 26:4)
Isaac and his wife Rebekah, with God’s help (Gen 25:21) had twin boys: Esau and Jacob.
God appeared to Jacob and said: I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. (Gen 28:13-14)
Later Jacob had 12 sons which became the 12 tribes of Israel. Israel was the new name that God gave to Jacob. (Gen 32:28)
The time draws near
More than seventeen hundred years after Jacob, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph as we have it in Matthew 1:20-23
. . .the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
Virgin birth
When Jesus Christ took on human form it happened in a unique way for a very important reason. A virgin was chosen by God to be the mother of His body. No human father was involved but God’s Holy Spirit came upon the human virgin bringing about a “miracle” conception. Mary was told by the angel: “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” (Luke 1:35)
The baby born, Jesus, was not only man – but God. A human father would have produced just a human. Jesus Christ was unique; “God…manifest in the flesh”.
(1Tim 3:16)
Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren,.. (Heb 7:14-15, 17)
God comes as a man
It was the nation of Israel that God chose to come and live in. He was born into a Jewish family, in the tribe of Judah.
Matthew 2:1-2 records: Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews?
Right from the outset there were some who recognised that Jesus was the promised Messiah; the Christ. e.g. Simeon, Anna in Luke 2. King Herod (Matthew 2) got upset when the evidence suggested that Jesus was more than just a man. Herod tried to kill Him.
Around 30+ years later, when the religious leaders condemned Jesus to death, they claimed that He had spoken blasphemy, making Himself equal with God; just as they did throughout His life.
Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.
(John 5:18)
The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. (John 10:33)
Jesus replied: Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God? If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him. (John 10:36-38)
There has never been anyone else who has done all the signs and miracles that Jesus Christ did as He healed the sick: opening the eyes of the blind and ears of the deaf, healing the cripples, the lepers and numerous others, even raising people from the dead. He fed the 5000 and the 4000, He calmed the storm and walked on water – but there were still some who wouldn’t believe that He was who He claimed to be. What other proof could you need that someone was the promised Messiah, the Christ? Well, maybe one final proof that nobody could counterfeit – He would rise again from the dead. He did.
Even when they crucified Him, the scene went dark for 3 hours – from 12 o’clock till 3 p.m. – the brightest part of the day! (Luke 23:44-45) This was followed by an earthquake; (Matt 27:51) Just a coincidence? Not at all.
The very thing that had worried Herod the king a couple of years after Jesus was born (Matt 2:16) ended up being the very thing that was put above Him in writing on the cross – King of the Jews.
As Jesus Christ hung there on the cross the title that was showing was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin.
And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS (John 19:19)
The chief priests of the Jews complained to Pilate the Roman governor about the wording. Some have suggested that the reason for their complaint was that when JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS is read in Hebrew, there is an acrostic formed that spells out (reading right to left) YHVH – which is Yahweh or Jehovah, the special name that God declared first to Moses. In effect the title on the cross gave a cryptic message that Jesus is God; the very thing that the religious leaders of the day would not accept.
He was rejected then as the King of the Jews – but a day is coming when Jews will cry out for Him to rescue them – and He will. And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, (Zechariah 12:9-10)
In the meantime, the most important message for today is that the Lord Jesus Christ, who was crucified, buried, and rose again from the dead is God’s provision to give eternal life to whoever will accept it.
. . . is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (2 Pet 3:9)
Jesus made the way to be saved
thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
(Matthew 1:21)
There is only one way to be saved. It doesn’t involve money or doing some “good works”, as some religious organisations claim. The only way to be saved is through faith. You must accept that God has paid the price for your sins, when Jesus Christ allowed Himself to be crucified. He was the only sacrifice good enough to satisfy God – because He was sinless (born of God, as seen above).
You choose – you accept Him or reject Him
But you do need to do one thing – tell God you are a sinner and you believe that Jesus died for your sins, then ask Him to save you and make you one of His children.
…if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Rom 10:9, 10)
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Rom 5:8)
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 3:16)
Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree.. (1 Pet 2:24)
And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life… (1 John 5:11-13)
This is the heart of the gospel as set out in the Bible – but it’s only for those who will come to Him through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. In John 14:6 Jesus said to His own disciples, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
The alternative – your choice
Those who reject God’s gracious offer of how to be saved are like someone drowning at sea who refuses to grab a life buoy that’s thrown to them. If you’re not saved, you’re lost.
And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
(Rev 20:15)
The only way to be saved involves faith; believing and accepting that God has paid the price for our sins. It is on the basis of what He has done, not what we can do.
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Eph 2:8, 9)
Added conditions in the future
The Bible speaks about a time that is coming shortly when those who, at that time, put their faith in Christ Jesus to be saved will also have to meet 2 specific requirements, due to what is happening then.
Once the true believers have been snatched away to be with Christ (in the Rapture) the scene on earth will change. There will arise a world leader (a false Christ) whose mission will be to get everyone to worship him and to kill anyone who is a Jew (because the real Christ was a Jew) or anyone who will not receive the “mark” he puts on those who worship him. Anyone who turns to Jesus Christ to be ‘saved’ (by faith) will have 2 specific requirements placed on them according to the Bible:
1. They must NEVER, on any account, accept the ‘mark of the beast’.
And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb (Rev 14:9-10)
2. They must always help and side with God’s people, the Jews.
Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. (Matt 25:31-46)
In summary
We are made in God’s image, and like God, we have the ability to make choices; as in deed He did.
God chose out a people for Himself; right from the time of Abraham. Jesus came as “God…manifest in the flesh” (1Tim 3:16) and was born into a Jewish family in Israel.
Today God offers eternal life to whoever will accept His gift of salvation through Jesus Christ – but He will never force you. The choice is yours.