Christ the Redeemer

The eyes of the World are presently on Rio de Janeiro where the Olympic Games have just taken place. These games provided a wonderful spectacle of athleticism and entertainment. The televising of the opening ceremony was in itself spectacular, particularly the dominance of the Christ the Redeemer statue illuminated on the skyline, commanding attention.

Wikipedia gives us much information about this enormous statue. For example, including it’s pedestal it is 38 metres tall (two thirds the height of the Statue of Liberty) it’s outstretched arms are 28 metres from finger to finger, indicating the welcome of Christ to Himself. 

A direct quote says,‘The statue weighs 635 metric tons (625 long, 700 short tons), and is located at the peak of the 700-metre (2,300 ft) Corcovado mountain in the Tijuca Forest National Park overlooking the city of Rio. A symbol of Christianity across the world, the statue has also become a cultural icon of both Rio de Janeiro and Brazil, and is listed as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.  It is made of reinforced concrete and soapstone, and was constructed between 1922 and 1931’    

At the illuminated location of the statue it gave the impression that Christ was looking over the city and the stadium where the opening ceremony took place. In reality, and not in concrete, that is true, God sees everything, He is omniscient. For the present, Proverbs 15:3 says,  “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.” For future judgement Zec 4:10 reads,  “For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth.”

Television brought spectacular pictures to screens worldwide. What did people see? They saw a brilliant presentation of choreography and colour, breathtaking scenes presenting a journey of life in Brazil from the beginning.  Unfortunately the producers of the programme based their storyline on theory and not fact. They embraced the evolution line to present carnival type creatures coming up out of the sea, more like a pantomime fantasy of sea creatures evolving into animals and then to homosapiens.

Millions, possibly billions of people saw this and swallowed the lie of evolution; I trust that you did not! It was a contradiction of the Man whose statue overlooked the proceedings. Jesus Christ is not only the Redeemer; He is the Creator of all things.

Some think that if there is no creation as revealed in Genesis chapter 1, the first Book of the Bible, then there is no God to answer to at the end of life’s journey. One can live as you want, do as you like and when you are dead that is the end of it. But is it?

Some rest their head on the cushion of the Big Bang theory, but this cushion is not flame retardant and has no genuine certification and one is not safe to trust it. Millions of people have bought the Oxford Professor’s book, ‘The God Delusion’ and embrace his view that in the beginning there was a bit of dust on a table and that all matter was in its condensed form in that one piece of dust. That cushion needs hovering and the dust bag emptying. Some scientists find their cushion of ‘Intelligent Design’ more comfortable to live with among their fellows, but the makers name is not n the cushion. One can only rest securely on the Makers name of Jesus Christ, The apostle John wrote in ch.1: 3, “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” This is one of many scriptures in the Bible that tell us that all matter and life was created by God, and Jesus is God the Son.

Christ is not only the Creator He is the Redeemer. The statue ‘Cristo Redentor’ (Portuguese) at Rio has outstretched arms, not only inviting people to come to Him and trust Him for their soul’s salvation, but reminding us of the cost of redemption. The arms of Christ were spread out on the cross and it was His death and His blood shed that paid the price for redemption. Peter tells us, Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,” John continues this thought in Re 5:9  “And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.”

The Book of Ruth tells us a wonderful story of redemption. The widow Ruth had no hope of herself to be numbered among the people of God because she was a Moabite and they were not permitted to come into the nation of Israel until ten generations had passed. The story hinges on the fact of her faith in God, she said to Naomi, “Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.” Her personal faith in God brought her into relationship with a man who could redeem her. The man Boaz was a mighty man of wealth and he redeemed Ruth. The story does not end there, if you read the first chapter of Matthew’s gospel you will find that Ruth’s name is in the genealogy of Christ. Jesus Christ is the redeemer of all who put their faith in Him; His precious blood is the price of a sinner’s redemption and opens the way as a Belonger among the people of God.

The eyes of the world cannot miss the statue of Christ the Redeemer at Rio. Whatever your thoughts, don’t miss Christ as your redeemer. Receive Him today and you will be a winner, better than gold. 

Written by a guest blogger:

For more information text the word INFO to 07747 101352 

To access podcasts and videos explaining the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ visit www.seekthetruth.org.uk

This site will give you access to Bible Teaching Audio's and Video's as well.

All posts have the aim of pointing people to Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour or to aid Christian growth and development.

“Rio 2016 – the biggest sporting event on the planet”

“Rio 2016 – the biggest sporting event on the planet”. That’s the strap line if you have a look at the Olympic Games website. It’s quite a claim, however the set up is impressive.

Over a 17-day period 306 medal events will take place in 32 different venues spread across the 4 regions of the city of Rio De Janeiro.

10,500 athletes from 206 different countries will participate in 42 different sports with 136 women’s events, 161 men’s events and 9 mixed.

 Every four years the Olympic Games takes place. The host nation has a platform from which to show to the world their organisational skills, their high levels of efficiency and their hospitality. It’s a matter of national pride to get it right! In Rio it will take 45,000 volunteers, 85,000 outsourced staff and 6,500 employees and a lot of money and management to get the desired result.

The Rio Olympics have to be right – the stakes are too high. Much will be done to ensure that everything goes smoothly.  

 Can I remind you of another event which was planned and organised for a long time before it took place. I am talking about the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you have read this far and are about to bin this leaflet or file it please bear with me. Read a little more before you decide what you think!

The death of Jesus was to rid the universe of evil in every form. Jesus’ death was a full and final payment for evil to demonstrate that God is still holy and that we humans can be forgiven and be right before God. Are you still with me?

Evil is in the world in a general sense but evil is also in the heart of the individual. You might agree with the former comment and disagree with the latter! The Bible says ‘the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it,’ Jeremiah 17:8. Please keep reading! You may be thinking – is it actually possible or realistic to rid the world of evil? This world has grappled with the problem of evil since the earliest days of planet earth.

Evil did not evolve! The question is where did it come from and why is it so normal? The bible explains! The reason why evil exists and has such a devastating effect on the world is given in Romans chapter five verse twelve -  ‘by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin so death has passed upon all men’. The first human being, Adam, was well warned! God had told him the rules and consequences of disobedience. ‘For in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die,’ Genesis 2:17. And so that's what happened.

Evil is so normal we use a variety of words to describe it. Sin, imperfection, failure or shortcomings. Evil exists in every department of life. It affects the environment, the financial world, relationships, health, education, politics indeed everything.

Preparation has been made to avoid the effect of evil at the Olympics. Athletes will take drug tests, volunteers will undertake security checks, police will be on standby to control the crowds, and paramedics will be ready to cope with illness, tragedy or any intentional campaign to infect the local population. In fact much will be going on behind the scenes to prevent disaster and tragedy because it's the only way to cope with the evil that is so normal in society. It has ever been so; this is not a modern phenomenon!

                           

God’s plan of salvation was triggered when Christ died for our sins. The effect of what Christ has done can only be felt personally at the moment. Individuals can benefit from the blessing of forgiveness and be saved when they repent (turn from) their sin and ‘believe the gospel’, Mark 1:15.

In the future (after the Lord Jesus returns to Earth as promised) God will deal with evil on a wider scale. God has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness, Acts 17:31 but for now he is holding back his judgment and offering salvation to anyone who calls upon his name, Romans 10:13.

In the Rio Olympics there will be a lot going on behind the scenes to ensure people’s safety and the success of the event. So God is working behind the scenes to bring eternal blessing into your life.

Will you entrust the salvation of your soul to Him?

For more information text the word INFO to 07747 101352 

To access podcasts and videos explaining the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ visit www.seekthetruth.org.uk

This site will give you access to Bible Teaching Audio's and Video's as well.

All posts have the aim of pointing people to Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour or to aid Christian growth and development.

Being a good citizen

What a fantastic day! It was really hot in Liverpool. I had been out on the streets of St Helens preaching at a Street Meeting with a couple of friends. We have a life changing message. If we do not get out and tell people about it we would be very selfish. Not everyone sees it the way we do. Some people on the streets think that we are imposing our views on them. Others are not really interested in anything apart from what they can see. Do you think that we should be going out to tell people the message from the Bible or do you think we should just believe what we believe and keep it to ourselves?

If I had a cure for cancer I would be a very selfish person if I did not make it available to all cancer sufferers. If you were in financial danger and were not aware of it (and I was) I would be very selfish if I did not talk to you about it. Good news and solutions to problems should be shared. One of the downsides of the busy modern age is that we have become very impersonal. Community and family in the past meant we shared a lot more and helped each other. There are still as many nice people in the world now but we tend to keep ourselves to ourselves. On occasions this has developed to the stage where we are not aware of others needs and we fail to raise the alarm when we spot people in difficulty.

I believe that as a citizen I should be responsible and responsive when I see people in need. The need might be as small as helping them in a shop or smiling when I meet them; it might be as big as being there when disaster strikes in some way in their lives. This is what being a neighbour and a responsible citizen is all about. However I also believe that this principle applies in the realm of beliefs and spiritual health. The entire human race is mortal and we all need to face up to our personal mortality. The Bible has been given to us to communicate the way of salvation and eternal life. The creator God has revealed salvation in His Son, Jesus Christ. Christ died to pay the price for our sin and was raised to life again to establish God’s satisfaction that the price for sin has been made in full. It is a foolproof salvation but if people are ignorant of the danger that they are in and we do not tell them they will face the ultimate eternal disaster – ‘the second death’.

Search the scriptures to find the truth, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.

E-mail me at stepcar61@gmail.com if you need more information.

Going on holiday - a wonderful feeling!

Many of you will now be on holiday. It's a great feeling to be off but often anticipation of the holiday is half of the enjoyment. I always look forward to going on holiday. For weeks and often months I dream of the mornings when I don't need to be up at the crack of dawn, when I can have lie in (and not feel guilty), when I can read my book and not think 'O no, look at the time' I'd better get to sleep'. Then the holiday comes and goes in a flash and it's back to 'brass tacks' (I don't know where the saying came from but I know what it means!).

I really enjoy my holidays. I like the time to reflect, meet my friends, discuss 'everything under the sun', eat, read, walk and doing lots of other things as well. The Bible teaches the principle of 'taking time out'. The Lord Jesus told his disciples to 'come apart' and 'rest a while'. When God made the earth he rested on the 'seventh day'. It all adds up to the fact that we need to time to think, reflect, rest and enjoy the results of what we have been busy doing.

Do you take time out? Or is time to think and reflect wasted time in your reckoning?

I encourage you to take some time to think. Think about life, why we are here? What is it all about? Ask the dangerous questions! Read the Bible (the Word of God) and discover God who has the answers.

God made us!

We will meet him one day!

He sent his Son, Jesus, into the world so that we could get to know Him.

He understands that our sin and disobedience bars us from knowing Him personally. Like a good Father He holds us to account for our wrongdoing but unlike most, He is willing to pardon our sin because His Son, Jesus, took the punishment for us when he died on the cross.

Take time out today and learn the truth about you and your life. Read and thing about John 3:16 in the Bible, turn from your sin and trust the Lord Jesus for salvation.

John 3:16 says  "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life"

For more information text the word INFO to 07747 101352 

To access podcasts and videos explaining the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ visit www.seekthetruth.org.uk

This site will give you access to Bible Teaching Audio's and Video's as well.

All posts have the aim of pointing people to Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour or to aid Christian growth and development.

Famous Last Words

Sooner or later it happens to all of us. The time comes for us to draw our last breath and pass from this life into the next. Over the years history has recorded some fascinating "famous last words"....

• "Oh, my poor soul, what is to become of you? Where do you go?" Cardinal Mazarin
• "Don't let it end like this. Tell them I said something." Pancho Villa, Mexican Revolutionary
• "All my possessions for a moment of time!" Elizabeth 1, Queen of England.

These words were expressed by men and women at the point when they were about to leave this world through death. Some people are prepared to die; they have made their peace with God. But others are completely caught off guard. They are not ready to go. Their last moments are filled with uncertainty - even fear and dread.

There is hope for every human being! God sent his Son, Jesus, from heaven to earth ("The Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world" - the Bible - 1 John 4:14) so that we might have real life and that the fear of dying might be removed (The Bible - Hebrews 2:15).

How about you? 

Do you know the peace of God? 

Do you know the God of peace? 

You can know both today if you would pray to him telling you need his forgiveness.

For more information text the word INFO to 07747 101352 

To access podcasts and videos explaining the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ visit www.seekthetruth.org.uk

This site will give you access to Bible Teaching Audio's and Video's as well.

All posts have the aim of pointing people to Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour or to aid Christian growth and development.