I Am A Christian... Now What?

I am a Christian! … Now What?

2/28/04

Introduction.. I am a Christian! …….. I am ….

I am happy to say that I have been born again as the Bible specifies in John 3:3

I have been purchased with the blood of Christ Jesus as shows in Revelation 5:9,

I have been saved by grace as the Bible emphasizes in Ephesians chapter 2 among other places….

Jesus is preparing a place for me in heaven as stated in John chapter 14…

Many people have seen the Movie this week entitled “The passion of the Christ” .. it is a tremendous portrayal of the physical agony that Christ endured on my behalf… not to mention the mental and spiritual suffering he underwent which was the worst of all……

If you didn’t see the movie, maybe you have read the book….

If you haven’t read the book, maybe you have heard the Story in Church, In Sunday School, from your parents…

In John 1:14 The Bible says that the word became flesh and made His dwelling among us….

Jesus Christ left the glories and splendor of heaven and came into this sinful and diseased world… He became flesh by allowing himself to be born unto a virgin…

HE did that for YOU….

Jesus Christ lived that physical life for 33 ½ years during which time he knew the trials and felt the same temptations that we feel in our lives… as shown in Matthew and Luke chapters 4 and verse 1 among other places….

He lived a perfect and absolutely sin free life… as stated in 2 Corinthians 5:19…

That same verse among others shows that Christ lived this sin less life and then took Our sin upon himself….

And He took our sin upon himself as He was being crucified….

Because of MY SIN… He was betrayed… He was accused… He was spit on…. he was mocked and taunted…

Because of Our sin… He was beaten….

Because of MY sin, he was scourged and the flesh was torn from his body to such a degree that He was virtually unrecognizable…

Because of OUR sin He was Crucified… the most horrible form of torturous execution ever dreamed up by the sadistic mind of a human being…

He took the sins of the world from histories beginning to end…. And he willingly placed all the wickedness of mankind upon himself..

In John 10:18 Jesus himself said that NO ONE is taking his life from Him, but He is laying it down of His own accord….

1st John 2:2 tells us that Christ became the atonement… He became the propitiation… He became the replacement for me… He became the sacrifice on the alter of God….

He paid the penalty that was laid down for mans sinfulness…

“Jesus paid it all…. All to Him I owe…..

The Gospels tell us that Jesus defeated death and rose on the third day..,

Christ has paid the penalty… and offered the free gift of eternal life to any who would trust in him, and call upon his name just as the Bible states in Acts 2:21….

And Jesus is alive and well and sitting at the right hand of the Father

We are told this all throughout the Bible, but I like the way the author of Hebrews put it in Hebrews 12:2 when he said…

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Christ did all this for you… Christ did all this for me…

I am a Christian… I have a home in heaven waiting on me…

and if you are here today and you have never called upon Christ… if you are here today and you are not a Christian… then you will be given the opportunity to make a commitment to Him before we leave here this morning…

If you so desire, I will help you understand HOW to call on the name of the Lord, I will help you understand How to be saved….

So ,,,,

I AM A CHRISTIAN

…………… NOW WHAT?…………..

Now what?

Do I just look back upon the day of my salvation… a glorious wonderful day, do I just look back on that day and say Thank God I am saved…

I mean, I know we are to live this life in the knowledge and expectation of the eternal glories we have to come…

I know that even through all the trials and troubles we face, we are to look forward to the blessed hope and assurance that we have because of the sacrifice Christ made…

But is that IT?

As we walk through this life, are we to only look back upon our day of salvation, and look forward toward the day of our heavenly reward?…