1 John 3: 1-9

Christ died for us 2000 years ago. Every year we meditate on the seven verses Christ said on the cross. Jesus tries to portray the Love of Christ through this act of crucifixion. Today let us recall the basic reason behind His crucifixion and resurrection.

Firstly, it was for our sins as it is clearly said in 1 John 3: 5 “And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins… “. Christ’s primary purpose here was to lay down His life for our sins so that He can depict the Love of God (Romans 5:8). Leviticus 17:11 tells that atonement of souls is only through blood. Here Jesus laid down His life and through His blood he paid the price for atonement of our sins. Now Jesus came into this world as a human and went through everything possible yet he was sinless. Forty days He was tempted by the devil in the wilderness but He did not commit any sin, He was totally blameless. We too get tempted at every point in our life but we do have a High Priest who can sympathize with us and our weaknesses (Hebrews 4: 15). 1 Corinthians 10:13 says that God will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can take. God knows each individuals limit. Even though we can handle temptations with the help of God, we continue to succumb to temptation because we do not take counsel from Him in order to tackle it. Jesus, when being tempted in the wilderness fought back with the Word and we need to master this skill. Once we accept that God has bought us with the precious blood of His Son, we should realise that we are born of God and “whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him, and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God” (1 John 3: 9). This is the second reason. God has given us an Eternal Life by getting victorious over death and darkness. Romans 6:23 says “For the wages of Sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”.

Our God is a jealous God (and He has said that in many places in the Old Testament) so He would never want us to wander away and so He paid the price for our sins on that old rugged cross and gave us the right to become His own children. God wants us to be His rock on which He can build His kingdom where the gates of hell shall not prevail (Matthew 16: 18).

Are we ready to be this rock and prepare ourselves for His second coming!!!!

“We Believe”

In this time of desperation
When all we know is doubt and fear
There is only one foundation
We believe, we believe
In this broken generation
When all is dark, You help us see
There is only one salvation
We believe, we believe

We believe in God the Father
We believe in Jesus Christ
We believe in the Holy Spirit
And He’s given us new life
We believe in the crucifixion
We believe that He conquered death
We believe in the resurrection
And He’s comin’ back again, we believe

So, let our faith be more than anthems
Greater than the songs we sing
And in our weakness and temptations
We believe, we believe!

We believe in God the Father!
We believe in Jesus Christ!
We believe in the Holy Spirit!
And He’s given us new life!
We believe in the crucifixion!
We believe that He conquered death!
We believe in the resurrection!
And He’s comin’ back again!

Let the lost be found and the dead be raised!
In the here and now, let love invade!
Let the church live loud our God we’ll say
We believe, we believe!
And the gates of hell will not prevail!
For the power of God, has torn the veil!
Now we know Your love will never fail!
We believe, we believe!

We believe in God the Father
We believe in Jesus Christ
We believe in the Holy Spirit
And He’s given us new life!
We believe in the crucifixion!
We believe that He conquered death!
We believe in the resurrection!
And He’s comin’ back,
He’s comin’ back again!
He’s comin’ back again!
We believe!
We believe