Resurrection Sunday April 11, 2020
God is trying to get your Attention, because He loves you
• On November 08, 2013, A Typhoon hit Haiyan in central Philippines, killing nearly 6,000 people and displacing more than 3.6 million Filipinos . We looked on as news reports frightened us, but America refused to even thank God and acknowledge that He was taking care of us.
• By the year 2014, Ebola was ripping through West Africa. A total of 11,310 people died. Americans watched from a distance in shock, but we continued with our lives as if nothing happened, not even thanking God for His protection and His mercy.
• On April 25, 2015, a 7.8 magnitude-earthquake struck Nepal, killing more than 8,800 people. We were horrified at the devastation but there was no national call to seek God in America to pray for our safety.
• By 2016 after almost nine years, bloody civil war in Syria had left more than 380,000 people dead. This shook us up but not enough to cause us to pray for mercy.
• Next came 2017 when over 250,000 people in East African nations such as Sudan, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Somalia died of starvation. We were saddened greatly by this catastrophe, but we did not cry out to God or change our ways.
• In 2018 America experienced widespread disasters; Hurricanes Michael and Florence on the East coast, Flooding in Maryland, Mudslides, and Wildfires in California that took lives and destroyed billions of dollars of property. We saw these things and were disturbed but still the United States of America was not listening to the voice of God. Like Pharaoh in Egypt our hearts were even more hardened to God as we reveled in the putrid gutters of sinful idolatry, immorality and outright rebellion against God.
• Then in November 2019, there was an Outbreak of 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in Wuhan, China, killing hundreds of people daily. We knew about it but never dreamed that in April 2020 we would be hoarding hand sanitizer, bleach, food and toilet paper, unable to attend church, school or work, wearing gloves and masks, locked up in our homes and seeing television reports that more than half of a million Americans are Coronavirus positive and over twenty-thousand have died already and many more may die. It is an evil that we may want to think had come upon us without warning, but that is not true, God has been speaking to us, God has been calling us, God has been trying to get our attention to tell us that He has a better way for us to live on this planet. We have been running away from Him for far too long. So, now we are forced to stop and to listen. Many people do not even reverence or respect God or His name. Some only use the name of God in swearing and joking and for text messages, like, OMG. For some people, they only went to church for a wedding, a funeral, Mothers’ Day, Christmas and Easter, and Easter used to be just a time to dress up and go to church to keep up the religious act. But there is no going to church this Easter, this is now between you and God. We are following the rules and staying at home because we want to live. You may be ready to live, but are you ready to die?
Is your heart right with God? Have you confessed your sins and made your peace with God? You may say, “I’m fine, I never killed anybody, I live a good life. I am not a sinner.”
Listen to me for a few minutes:
The Creation
The Bible tells us that God created the heavens and the earth and placed the first humans, Adam and Eve in the Garden in Eden. These two people enjoyed sweet daily fellowship with God and one another and all the plants and animals in a perfect environment. God gave them one restriction and that was not to eat the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. If they ate that fruit God told them they would die.
The Fall
After some time, they were tempted by satan in the form of a serpent and their heart desired the fruit more than they desired God. The fruit became an idol to them, and they longed for it. Eventually they ate the fruit and fell into sin. Their lives changed immediately. They became subject to sickness, the environment became harsh with freezing cold, blistering heat, earthquakes, tornadoes and the animals turned violent and fierce. The bugs and insects became destructive and the ground grew thorns and thistles. Adam and Eve became mortal or doomed to die and worst of all their descendants were separated from God because of their sin.
The Rescue
But thank God, He orchestrated a plan to rescue humanity from sin and from the fall. God first killed animals and covered the naked bodies of Adam and Eve. In doing so He shed the blood of the animals and that blood symbolized the Blood of Jesus, God’s Son, that would shed His Blood and die for all Adam and Eve’s descendants. So about 2,000 years ago in Israel, God sent His Only Son into the world. He was born miraculously to a Virgin woman named Mary and lived on earth for almost 33 years. At age 30, He began preaching and teaching the people of Israel of the Kingdom of God and of the love of God. Some believed Him but others did not and they killed Him by crucifying Him on a wooden cross. As He hung on that cross, suspended between heaven and earth, the Just dying for the unjust that He might bring us back to God, He freely gave His life for you and for me. There is no greater love than this that a man would give His life to save another. When Jesus died, God gave us His very best. In the Bible these words are written: “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. There is none that does good, no not one. All we like sheep have gone astray we have turned, everyone, to our own ways. For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Jesus said “Come unto Me all you that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest…. Behold I stand at the door and knock: if any man hears my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever (that means you and me) believe on Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
The Restoration
Humanity is like a person trapped in a quicksand pit and the harder she tries to get out the deeper down he goes. But God has sent His Son, Jesus, to rescue you from that pit called sin. The danger with continuing to live in sin is that it will drag you down into hellfire where the flames are not quenched and the worms, that eat the bodies of those that are there, never die. To be rescued what you need to do is as easy as ABC.
A—Admit that you are a sinner and that you need God to save you from the power of sin and eternal damnation in the fires of hell.
B—Believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He died on the cross of Calvary in your place as a blood sacrifice.
C—Confess that you have accepted Jesus as your Savior and Lord.
God wants to save you or place you in the right relationship with Him. He wants to restore you to fellowship with Him. He wants to make you twice His child, by creation and redemption. All you need to do is repeat this short prayer to accept Jesus as your Savior and Lord.
Place your right hand on your heart and repeat these words:
“Dear God, have mercy upon me because I am a sinner and I need your salvation. I am sorry Lord for the sins I committed and ask you to forgive me of all my sins, cleanse me with the blood of Jesus, make me pure and holy in Your sight. Lord, I turn away from sin and I turn to You. I open my heart and accept Jesus Christ as my Savior and confess Him as my Lord. Thank You Jesus for coming into my heart and saving my soul. With Your help, I will live for God every day of my life until I see You, in Your name I pray. Amen!”
Now, this is my prayer for you: “May God deliver you from everything the devil tries to put on you. May you be lifted and blessed. May your life be refreshed by the dew of heaven and your soul be nourished by the Bread of Heaven. May you ever live close to God and enjoy the bountiful blessings of heaven as daily you learn to love God more. May you be healthy and strong, brilliant and loving, kind and compassionate, peace-loving, righteous and holy. May your family be blessed. May all of your possessions be blessed. May everything you put your hands to do prosper and may you please God with your life each day in Jesus name. Amen!”
If you prayed this prayer and received Christ as your Savior, you are ready to die, and if you die you will spend eternity in heaven with your loving heavenly Father…
