Richard Alan Edwards: "Except a man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God"...words of Jesus Christ, John chapter three.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

"Except a man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God"...words of Jesus Christ, John chapter three.

Have you ever pondered what Jesus Christ meant when he posited this absolute statement to this intelligent and educated man, Nicodemus? Do you have a full grasp of this topic and its implications for you personally? As you read this, at this moment in time, the crucial question confronting you should be, who is Jesus Christ, is he God? If so, which of His claims and statements have implications on me. If you are a logical thinking person, the consideration is that all of his claims and statements have implications on you. Surely you can't really believe that this is all there is. Die and go back to the ground. You don't sense that you will live on after this short life? God himself has provided redemption for you!!! Redemption means to pay the price. Jesus Christ paid the price of death for you so you could be born again. Cry out to God that he will grant you repentance and deliverance from the blindness caused by the devil. 2 Corinthians 4:4 and 2 Timothy 2:25b-26. This is real my friends. I beg you in Christ's name be reconciled to God before it is too late. Repent and believe in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. You have no excuse. You are dead in your sins against God. He loves you and will forgive you if you come to him as a little child, humbly trusting in him as your Lord (Master) and Savior. The awareness of his presence in your life and the fruits of the Spirit that you will experience will overwhelm you and give you joy and peace in believing and give you assurance of eternal life. Can you imagine that, eternal life? You will be with God for ten thousand and thousands of thousands of years and when that has finished counting you will go on living eternally as God lives. Eternal bliss!!! Read the book of John and the book of Revelation.

Tuesday August 3^rd, 1971 9 p.m.-2:30 a.m.

This day was, and is a day I will never ever forget. It was the day that I was born again and my day of salvation. The time was 2:30 AM. I was at Vanessa’s house and we were talking, drinking a coke and at 9 PM the sound of a knock at her door was heard. As I think back as to why would Gary would come to her door, brings back thoughts on providence, predestination, effectual calling and God’s infinite engineering in His world.

Gary Hadson (correct spelling?) was from Maine and had come to Miami to visit his uncle. Gary was not born again when he arrived, but soon became born again and he was “on fire” for God, as we say, telling everyone he could find about his conversion to Christ. He would ride his bicycle around Village Green (a subdivision) and find young people to witness to. I knew what he did and so did Vanessa.

When the knock on the door came she let him in and he spoke to both of us for 5 and ½ hours about Jesus Christ and his second coming. I had just graduated from high school and was soon going to move to North Florida to attend college. I loved nature so I wanted to be a forest ranger somewhere out in the woods smoking dope. What a goal, huh?

Starting somewhere during my 15^th year of life I began being heavily influenced by the attitudes and lifestyles of the drug counterculture and the psychedelic rock music. During that same period I began smoking marijuana regularly. I was not a good student in high school and I sided more with the drug culture than with the successful and popular kids.

Back to August 3rd, 1971. I listened for 5& 1/2 hours to a college student from Maine who became a Christian when he arrived in Miami. He talked of Jesus Christ and His Second Coming. At 2:30 AM, I walked outside the house to go home. I was instantaneously & completely overwhelmed with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. I was relieved of tremendous guilt of sinning against God. I saw no being or spirit, heard no voice, but I met Jesus Christ as Paul did on the Damascus road in Acts 9. I knew I was forgiven and clean of my sins as a spiritual weight was lifted off my soul. This was the being “born again”, experience that Jesus talked about in John chapter three. The Lord Jesus Christ made me aware of his Holy Spirit who now filled me with overflowing joy, peace and assurance of eternal life. I had been crying out to God at night in my bed. I did not know God. All I knew was a wave of the power of Almighty God came over me. I was released from slavery to sin and received in its place, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. I was, in a nano second, suddenly changed into a new person with a desire for God, a desire for God? I did not know anything about The Bible, yet I was now saved and was born again. I was made a new creation by Jesus Christ. After 42 years of studying and memorizing the Bible I could give you hundreds of scripture passages to support what happened to me. Do you want to be saved, have eternal life and be born again? It would be my privilege to help you any time day or night.

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THE LIMITED WELCOME OF JESUS CHRIST

What if today you received an invitation inviting you to have dinner with the most admired person of a Royal family? For instance, King Solomon, Queen Elizabeth, George Washington, or Abraham Lincoln ,or whoever you could name. Would you accept and believe the invitation was authentic and go to the dinner, however unworthy you feel, whatever socio-economic class you are in, whatever race, religion or ethnicity you might be? You have been invited by the Creator God, the most Royal person in the world to have ever lived. Why would you turn down such an invitation. This Creator God is going to make you worthy to sit at His table, he is going to cover your socio- economic embarrassment by giving you one of His own Royal robes. What if the language of this Royal individual was different than yours and you sensed you might have nothing to say to this person? Would you still go if he promised you a part of his kingdom and any desire that you wanted? Now those desires would be stipulated by His rules you understand.

So now, you are at the dinner. Imagine if you were a person who had nothing to say to this person of Royalty and education. Maybe you were at the bottom of the socio-economic level, you had accomplished nothing in life, you had no sense of self worth and absolutely zero to offer this person. You were speechless while sitting at the table of this Royal gentleman. This would be very humbling, extremely embarrassing, would it not? Yet now, something has suddenly changed!!!

This Royal Person is totally interested in your little life. He did not want to talk about all His accomplishments, but wanted to ask you, about you. This person is interested in your life. How different would that be? That would be unexpected and outside your normal experience with other people, right? Then that person of wealth, honor and priveledge and glory said, "ALL THAT I HAVE IS NOW YOURS", you will inherit what I have. You would be shocked at such a statement and ask, what do you mean by that? So, would you accept it, believe it, or would you proclaim: "It cannot be true, you are a liar"!!! I really do not believe you and will not have you reign over me, you shout.

You have heard clearly the offer that was made you.

Now we relate this metaphor to Jesus Christ who came from the highest of royalty and has existed before time began, was the person who created the worlds, the infinite space, the infinite galaxies and the infinite stars. In fact, there was never a time He has not existed. In fact, time has always been and that is one thing he never created. "From everlasting to everlasting thou art God". This person of royalty had hundreds of prophecies written about him by many prophets describing the circumstances, time and city of his birth. There are literally hundreds of prophecies about Him. No one can deny these or disprove them. He was born as a human over 2000 years ago to a woman who was a virgin. He lived a perfect life, never sinning and overthrew all of Satan's attacks. He died for the sins of the whole world. He died for you.

It was said by one author John, that if all the things that Jesus Christ did were all written down, that the whole world could not contain the books that should be written.

Would you, Could you, Should you say after never finding anything against Him, say, "You are some sort of Liar, a Lunatic, or a deceiver of billions of people since mankind began?

Jesus Christ, say it out loud, I dare you to shout it out loud. Call to Him and beg for His pardon. Accept that He died in your place receiving in His own body your suffering for your sins. You have sinned against an infinite Creator and a Perfect God. If you turn away, YOU will never be in His presence but forever be away from His presence because an Infinite God demands an Infinite and perfect sacrifice for your sin. Can you pay that price? No one can. We do not even know nor could we comprehend the infinite demands of God. We must meet His perfection in everything we do. None of us can be as perfect as God. Only His own Son who has never sinned can become your righteousness in God's view. After three days of being dead Jesus Christ rose from the grave. He rose up of His own power and appeared to thousands for a period of 40 days.

He says, "Come to me and I will give you rest." Rest for your souls. He is the Great Physician. God, the Almighty Creator of heaven and earth is inviting you to come and is welcoming you to an eternal supper with Him. Will you come? Will you scoff? Will you doubt? Most of us will not say we hate Him we are just indifferent. Will you throw your hands up in the air and say, "I well never let this person rule over me", I hate Him, I reject Him, I call Him a liar!

Or, will you receive the Royal invitation and the Welcome of Jesus Christ? Come to Him as that person who is at the bottom of the socio-ecnomic class, a person who has nothing to offer, a child with no pride, a brokenhearted person. Tell Him, He is listening. Trust Him and believe what He said about Himself and come to His table as a humbled person. He will not accept you otherwise. Call on His Name and He will save your soul. Repent and believe and lay your life down and He will save you. Read the book of St. John on your knees.

INFINITY

This English word is a derivative of infinitas (Latin) which means "unboundedness", without end, beyond human ability to number or even conceive. It is not a number or a concept, therefore it would have to be defined by someone who could understand it. We have tried in philosophy, mathematics, cosmology and theology to explain it the best we can. All our attempts are futile because we live in time and those who live within a boundary that is earthly cannot comprehend any idea or word or principle outside that boundary.

One of the many reasons men cannot think of God is that they are His enemy. They all have chosen to rebel against Him unless His divine providence interupts that process. He has divine retribution planned for each of us at His judgement. Man always is the center of His own universe and everything revolves around Him. Everything revolves around us. After all, are we not at the top of the food chain? In Western egalitarian civilization our view of God is smaller than small. Secular Humanism built upon Darwinism and Uniformitarianism have become our prevalent religion and we worship and serve the creature more than the Creator. We have taken in these non-logical, silly, spurious heresies which have supplanted the need for a God. How could God create the world in six literal days and rest on the seventh? A limited view and comprehension of the Infinite God is replaced. Get outside of time and find a place of solitude where you can focus on the infinte. Go somewhere without taking anything with you. Get alone. Get away from people, the rush, the TV, the internet and meditate on Time and Eternity and God Himself.