The Just shall live by Faith

" And they were in the way going up to Jerusalem; and Jesus went before them: and they were amazed; and as they followed, they were afraid. 
And he took again the twelve, and began to tell them what things should happen unto him,
Saying, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes; and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles:
And they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him: and the third day he shall rise again ". Mark 10: 32 - 34.
  Christ's death on the cross and His resurrection on the third day are the bedrock of the Christian faith and belief in this bedrock is imperative for living a glorious life in Jesus Christ. This is a life-time spent in accepting , believing in and confessing faith in the Salvation Plan of God for all mankind .
 The Salvation Plan of God says : All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Romans 3 :20 - 26 .
All men needed a Saviour to take upon Himself the guilt of Man's sin and  without the shedding of blood , there is  no remission of sin . 
Therefore not the blood of goats,calves and bulls was required ; but the perfect  blood sacrifice was the only  blood offering acceptable to God for the remission of sin to effect the salvation of mankind.
 The shedding of the blood of the Spotless Lamb of  God was the perfect blood sacrifice . 
Hebrew 9 : 11 - 15 .
 Jesus Christ was the perfect sacrificial lamb , spotless , holy and acceptable  to God; chosen from the beginning of the world as the Saviour of  mankind, to bear the sins of the world

When Israel sinned by speaking against God and against Moses in the wilderness , God sent fiery serpents into their midst which bit them causing the death of many Israelites.
  Then in their agony and terror , the people raised up a huge outcry to God  for mercy and  deliverance. Numbers 21 :4 - 9. 
 God's answer to their cries and God's solution for their pain and death was based on a simple condition which seemed foolish and hilarious to many of them .
Who amongst them would have thought that the cure and deliverance from death  would be found in no other source but through their faith in staring at the brazen image of the very same dreadful serpent  that was causing so much horror and death in  their midst ?
God told Moses to make a serpent of brass and to set it on a pole and to tell the people that all that was required for the snake bite victims to do was , simply , to believe that they would be saved from death by lifting up their eyes to gaze at the serpent of brass lifted up on a pole.  
Those who survived the terrible ordeal were those victims who had a child-like faith in this solution and they looked at the  brazen fiery serpent hanging on the pole .  
But those who perished were the disputers who despised and rejected this God-given solution; by dismissing it as "foolish , unreasonable and unscientific " .
Incidentally , even today , that same symbol of the serpent on a pole is the world-wide symbol of the Medical Profession . 

In the days of Christ , the cross was a dreadful symbol of a very shameful and painful death .  
Spiritually, the Jews regarded death on the cross as an abominable death .
 Any one who was crucified was regarded as a cursed person . Deuteronomy 21: 22-23.
The occupying Roman government used the cruel punishment of death by crucifixion  to make a public example of hardened criminals and the Jewish dissidents who rose up to rebel against Roman  occupation and forced rule of Israel.
  Therefore the sight of Jesus Christ  hanging on the cross in great agony like a common criminal was a very painful and shameful  one for His family and disciples to behold. Galatians 3 :13,14.
 Hours after the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified and He was confirmed dead and His body was removed from the cross , He was buried and His body was sealed up in a cave , heavily guarded by Roman soldiers to ensure that the grave of the Saviour of the world remained sealed , permanently. Matthew 27: 62 - 66.
There was great jubilation in the camp of  Jesus' enemies both on earth and in the Satanic realm because they thought Jesus Christ had been silenced for ever.
When Jesus died on the cross and was buried, the events were witnessed by His mother and some of His disciples; that is those ones who did not go into hiding after Jesus was arrested..
John 19:25 -27, 38- 42 .
Most of  Jesus' disciples and followers had come  to believe that Jesus was the Messiah
 indeed ; because of His miracles , His teachings and His promises of eternal life .
The  fear , despair and grief of Jesus' mother , family and friends must have  been great  because before their eyes was the finality of Jesus' death on the cross and of His burial in a heavily-guarded and sealed grave.  
They too must have thought it was all over and finished indeed.
  " It is finished !" John 19 : 30.
. " He  paid  the debt He did not owe.
I owed the debt I couldn't pay ;
I needed someone to wash my sins away 
And now I sing a brand new song ! 
Amazing Grace !
Lord Jesus paid the debt that I could never pay !" 

Christ  was the rejected stone which was despised and set aside as nothing  by the " expert builders" of this world . He was the rejected stone which has become the head stone , indeed the Chief Corner Stone. 
There is  no salvation in any other name but the name of Jesus Christ and there is no other name under heaven given amongst men whereby we must be saved. Acts 4 :11 - 12.
 Just as the brazen serpent was lifted up on the pole for the dying victims to look at it and to live ; so also is the belief in the crucified , dead , buried and resurrected Christ the only way to eternal life .  John 3 : 13 -18.
Faith in the redemptive blood of Jesus and His finished work on the cross is what justifies a sinner  before God.
This Faith is upheld and built  not only upon the words of our confessing that "Jesus is Lord !";  but on the Belief that Jesus is Lord and Saviour who is able  to deliver to the uttermost ,  all the days of our lives on earth and that Jesus is the giver of eternal life 
 " For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, 
The just shall live by faith ". Romans 1:16,17.

" Where is the wise of this world... ? "

" Where is the wise ? where is the scribe ? where is the disputer of this world? has God  not made foolish the wise of this world ?"  I Corinthians 1 : 20
 The wisdom of God expressed in His salvation plan through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ was not the wisdom of this world, nor of the " princes "of this world which comes to nought . 
The wisdom of God uses the despised and foolish things of  the earth to manifest His Glory.
1 Corinthians  1 : 25 -29. 
The preaching of the cross of Jesus is not foolishness and it is not just  another news item
It is the power of God and it is the hidden wisdom of God in a mystery which God ordained before the world began to bring about your salvation , unto your glory. 

  "... had they known it , they  would not have crucified the Lord of glory ." 
     1 Corinthians 2:5-8.
Disputers cannot comprehend the ways of God. and so  disputers believe that they are the " experts and the sole custodians of all knowledge and wisdom in the earth" .
They  would despise all things which they regard as "foolish things and ridiculous beliefs" .
Some would say ,"Death is final . What is the rationale in the belief that the source of life would be hinged on the death of anything or of any human being?".
" How could  a man who could  not prevent his own shameful death on the cross , promise others victory and life eternal?" Matthew  27:35 - 44 . 

Wise men are not disputers but they are seekers who are prepared  to go the extra mile to find out the veracity of any claim before dismissing it as " foolish and false".
" It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter ".
Proverbs 25 : 2.
Nicodemus was a ruler of the Jews , he was also a member of the Pharisee sect , one of the religious sects who  persecuted Jesus and demanded for His execution by crucifixion.
As a Pharisee , Nicodemus was well versed in the letter and the laws of the Jewish religion . 
He came under the cover of the night  for an unforgettable encounter with Jesus ; to check out Jesus' doctrine  of which he  had heard a lot of stories . 
That night Nicodemus received the  word of life , directly from the King of Kings Himself
John 3 : 1-21.
 The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God unto Salvation to every one that believe. Romans 1: 16.
When the wise get this revelation , they rejoice , embrace it and they apply the  wisdom  to order their paths . 
 Nicodemus had a life-changing encounter with Jesus Christ  and he went away convinced enough to become a disciple of  Jesus Christ.
 After the death of Jesus Christ  on the cross , it was Nicodemus who supplied the burial spices and joined hands with Joseph of Arimathea  to take away the body of Jesus Christ and to prepare Him for burial. 
John 19 : 38 - 42.
 You say you believe that there is one God and that , for you is the end of the story ?
 Not really the end. Anybody can believe that  there is one God.
 Even devils believe that there is one God  and they tremble at the knowledge. James 2 :19.
Your belief in one God is not enough to satisfy God's purpose for you to receive eternal life.
Also it is not enough to know that Jesus Christ is the spotless Lamb of God who was slain  to take away the sins of the world .
When the wise receive the Good News about Jesus Christ , it not just another "knowledge" for their archives . They take the most important step in the path of wisdom by embracing the Good News to the letter. 
They that are wise would receive and believe  the revelation  of  the Gospel thus : 
1. Accept that they have sinned and come short of the glory  of God and so they need a Saviour  to take away their sins. Romans 6: 20 -23. 
2. Believe in their hearts that for this reason in ( 1 ) above Jesus came to the earth .
The blood of Jesus was shed for the remission of sin . Jesus was crucified , He died , He was buried and Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after His burial.
Jesus is alive today and He lives and reigns for ever more as Lord , Saviour ,  and King in Heaven and on this earth .
 3. The wise would come to Jesus today prayerfully  confessing their sins . The wise would tell Him they have accepted Him as their Lord and Saviour and hand over to Him their burden of sin .
Now is the moment  to do that . Come  to Jesus and  He will accept you , cleanse you and make you whole again .

 3. People who had received the miracle of salvation would rejoice that they are saved unto eternal life ; and  the wise do not keep the Good News to themselves, they would tell others about it .
May your life be transformed by the power and the glory of Christ 's  resurrection as you live the  life of a daily confession of Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour . Amen.
^"" But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
That 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 ".
For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed ".
 Romans 10:8-11.

This is Your Life

“ Therefore when they were  gathered  together ,Pilate said unto them, Whom will ye that I release to you ?  Barabbas, or Jesus  which is called  the Christ ? Matthew 27:17.

      "Then cried they all again saying , Not this man , but Barabbas . Now Barabbas  was a robber”. John 18:40.

  Strange ,  is it  not;  that  any one  would  prefer  Barabbas  instead of Jesus Christ , who went about doing good , preaching love, forgiveness , peace and deliverance .

  Barabbas was a Jewish  dissident who opposed the  Roman  Occupation  of  Israel. Barabbas  and  his  band  of armed  dissidents resorted to highway robbery and surprise attacks against the Romans  to fight  for  Jewish  independence  from  Rome. Eventually , Barabbas  was  arrested  by  the  Romans. He was tried and sentenced to death by crucifixion . Barabbas  was  awaiting  execution  in  the  same  prison court yard in Pilate's  palace  where  the  Lord  Jesus  was  taken  to after  His  arrest  in  the  Garden  of   Gethsemane .

Maybe,  like  the  other  prisoners  and  guards Barabbas   joined in mocking Jesus as He was being  tortured . 
Barabbas could have joined in taunting  Jesus ; laughing  over His  claims  of  being " a King”!

“ Look at him ; he says he is the Messiah , also , he is  the king of some invisible kingdom. Ha , ha ! In your dreams , mate ! ”

The  Bible  has  no record  that  Barabbas recognised who Jesus was or that he even acknowledged Jesus  as Lord  and Saviour  during  their  brief  encounter  at  Pilate's  court .

Jesus  of  Nazareth  took  his  place  on  the  cross.
Barabbas must have seen his escape from execution as the greatest miracle of his life! 
 He, his family and friends must  have gone home with great jubilation ; thanking God for escaping a horrible and shameful death on the cross.

The Prince of Peace is alive forever!

^1"Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them.

 ²And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre.

 ³And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.

 ⁴And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments:

 ⁵And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?

 ⁶He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee,

 ⁷Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.

 ⁸And they remembered his words,

 ⁹And returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest ". Luke 24: 1-8.

5. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

 ⁶Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

 ⁷But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

 ⁸And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

 ⁹Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:

 ¹⁰That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;

 ¹¹And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Phillipians 2:5-11.