Come near, O nations, to listen; pay attention, O peoples. Let the earth hear, and all that fills it, the world and all that springs forth from it.
Being Born Again means answering the calls of God on your life. The first call is to draw near, or come close to, God. Remember back in Genesis when Adam walked with God? He had to be near Him to do so. God would call and Adam would answer. At least, Adam answered until that time he sinned against God by disobeying His command, His Word.
And now, through Adam and Eve's disobedience, we were all inherently sinful by nature. We needed a Savior, Someone who could redeem us from sin back into God's grace. So God sent Spirit-filled leaders to His people to lead them back to Him.
He sent Noah, who preached for 120 years until the rains and the floods came. But the people wouldn't listen. So only Noah and his wife, their three sons and their wives were saved. Everyone else died.
He sent Moses, who led God's people out of slavery in Egypt nearly into the Promised land. But the stubborn, set in their ways older generations wouldn't listen. And Moses disobeyed God. So, neither Moses nor the elders of Israel entered the land which God had chosen for them. Moses, however, got to at least see it, though from a distance. Only the young generation believed God and even then, only some of them followed God faithfully.
He called Joshua to overthrow the giant people living in the Promised land. God called him to be strong and courageous, to overcome his doubts and his fears by being obedient to God's Word. To strengthen himself daily by meditating on God's Word. God reminded Joshua that his prosperity depended on His obedience.
God sent judges to deliver and lead His people between the time of Joshua's death and the beginning of the kings who would rule His people. As usual, some were corrupt and some did well. But they could not atone for the sins of God's people.
He sent Gideon (during the time of the judges), "you mighty man of valor", the youngest in his clan, which was the weakest tribe of Israel. He called Gideon to be obedient and do all that The Lord commanded him to do. And he did. He tore down idols and idolatrous altars. Gideon had an army of nearly 12,000 men following him into battle but God decreed there were too many. Through testing, God whittled Gideon's army down to 300. These men overthrew Israel's enemies. Little is much when God is in it.
God sent priests (ex. Eli, Samuel) and kings (ex. Saul, David) to direct and lead His people. Some priests and kings were disobedient and sinned against God. Then God called prophets to warn the God's people of the dangers of disobedience to God's Word. But God's prophets were ignored and killed.
Then God sent His Son, His only begotten Son. God filled His Son with Himself, His Word became flesh (mortal) and lived among God's people. His Authority was recognized upon His baptism when the Spirit of God settled on Him like a dove and God's voice spoke from the heavens, "This is My beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased."
But God's Son was not received either. Even at birth He was hated and people sought to kill Him. The devil tried to trick Him out of His birthright.. Jesus began to teach repentance and faithfulness to God: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." and "Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men." The time came soon that God's Son would be killed. It would be Satan's undoing.
God sent His Son, His only begotten Son Jesus Christ, to die for the sins of the world, that sinners like me would receive God's grace when I believed such an outlandish story; when I believed such a wondrous gift!.
We are all sinners. There are two types of sinners. There are the sinners who are saved by grace and there are the sinners who have refused to be saved by grace. What do I mean when I say, "I am saved by grace."?
When I say, "I am saved by grace", I am saying that I believe that Jesus Christ is God's only begotten Son. I am saying that I believe He took my punishment and bore my shame on the cross. I am saying I believe He did that for me, that I might be brought near to God through His sacrifice.
It is as if I had done the worst crimes, was ready to be executed for my wrongdoings and then, behold! my brother steps up and says, "I'll take her place. Beat me. Torture me. Kill me. But leave her alone." That's love. That's what Jesus did for me. I am a sinner. But I am a sinner saved by grace.
And when I die, this sinner saved by grace, will enter the kingdom of heaven. While many will go with me and untold numbers await my arrival on the shores of the crystal sea, too many more will go to hell. Hell is the destination of the sinner who refused the gift of God's grace. It is neither lovely nor does it smell good. The unrepentant sinner has chosen to make hell his or her destination.
While God's heaven is eternal, the hell God created for Satan and his angels is not. Even hell will have an end and it will be worse than hell. If you are one of these sinners, we who have answered God's call to come near to Him beg you with open arms and tear-stained prayers to "Repent, and follow Christ." before it's too late.
Now is your day of salvation. Now is your opportunity to choose to be a sinner saved by grace and not a sinner unsaved by grace. Hear Jesus knocking at the door of your heart? Just say Yes to Jesus, Yes to Grace, Yes, Lord, yes To Your Will (repent and believe) and to Your Way (follow and obey).
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