Part 27 – What It Means To Prepare for the 2nd Coming of Our Lord & Savior, Jesus Christ
How can we be sure that a person knows God to some extent? It is not so much how well a person memorizes Words of God. One can keep reading and studying God’s Words only to end up questioning the teachings found in the bible. There is a way of discovering who are the genuine disciples of God in real life.
1 John 4:8 New American Standard Bible
“The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”
Luke 6:43-45 New King James Version (NKJV)
“A Tree Is Known by Its Fruit
43 “For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44 For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. 45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”
We have heard of people preaching Words of God. Their knowledge of religious doctrines sound good and accurate. But we ought to be careful about prejudging because the “fruit” of knowing God should be seen in a life of LOVE for God and LOVE for fellowmen as much as there is LOVE for the “self”.
In the Old Testament, believers in God obeyed the commandments out of fear they would be cursed for disobedience. And obedience to Words of God was the fruit of knowing God, thereby proving that “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” (Proverbs 9:10) This biblical saying remains TRUE up to the present under a New Testament. However, with the coming of Jesus Christ who showed the Righteous Way of Life, sinners are called to take one more very important step in order to fulfill God’s Laws. It is the very reason why we need to strive being followers of Jesus.
The only begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ, lived a human life which fulfilled God’s Laws in a Way that pleased our Almighty Father in heaven. It is written:
Romans 10:4
New American Standard Bible
“For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”
Prior to His coming as our light for the Righteous Life, no Man showed through his entire life how we can be truly righteous as human beings. We might say Noah and Abraham also lived righteous lives. Their lives spoke nothing about the Kingdom of God, how we can be saved from certain death, and how Man will inherit Eternal Life. In the Old Testament, we are told that God created Man out of mud only to come up with the conclusion that as humans, our destiny would be death. It did say through prophecies how the Righteous who dies will be risen up by God. However, it was clear to people before Jesus showed the Way that the only Way would be by obedience to all the laws of God.
Surprise ! Surprise ! The intelligent St. Paul observed how nobody in this world can fully obey all the Laws of God.
Romans 3:23 New American Standard Bible
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”
David killed thousands. The Law says, “Thou shalt not kill.” Moses killed an Egyptian. Abraham commanded the chosen people to fight for their lives, and therefore to kill. Inspired authors of God’s Wisdom like Ben Sirach, Solomon, and others lacked the perfection in living life that Jesus lived. Thus, Man had no Savior by way of enlightenment in the Way sinners ought to strive for.
It was Jesus who taught us that God’s Laws were made for Man and not Man for the laws. (Mark 2:27) And a careful study of the life of Jesus will bring us to the realization how the Son of God’s life was a life of LOVE.
Romans 13:10 Love is the fulfillment of the Law of God.