Before Time Began-Our Redeemer Lives

In the booklet God's Eternal Purpose-we saw how Adam and Eve had forfeited their place

as the created beings through which God would live or express His life. The cataclysmic

rift created between man and God due to the partaking of the tree of knowledge of good

and evil by Adam and Eve would not be a permanent condition of mankind. For our God is

an omnipotent God and no one can compare with His wisdom and understanding. God

would not allow the rebellious act of his creation to thwart the very reason for their

creation. Before time began our Lord had began to implement His plan for mankind's

redemption. He had in mind a plan which would restore His creation back to Himself.

In the book of Isaiah our Lord proclaims His intention towards reconciling man back to

Himself through His Son Jesus Christ. He knows mankind's character and capacity to

doubt and therefore prophesied centuries in advance through His prophet Isaiah the

promise of our Redeemer-Jesus Christ. "Behold the former things have come to pass. And

new things I declare; Before they spring forth I tell them to you.” And so throughout the

prophetic book of Isaiah we see our Savior Jesus Christ spoken of and described in great

detail, so that those of us today would draw confidence and increased faith in who Christ

is. This great revelation of Christ is made hundreds of years ahead of time because God

had known about our need for a redeemer before man was even created. Hallelujah

At this point I would like to take a moment to allow God Himself through His words to

prophetically describe and declare Jesus Christ our redeemer.

Isaiah 42:1 "Behold my servant whom I uphold. My Elect One in whom my soul delights:

I have put My Spirit upon Him. He shall bring forth justice to the gentiles."

Isaiah 53:2-5.....He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, there is no beauty

that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and

acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and

we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our grief and carried our sorrows; Yet we

esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our

transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon

Him. And by His stripes we are healed

Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born. Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be

upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Our redeemer indeed lives as proclaimed by God centuries in advance and His name is

Jesus!

Jesus-The only Way

I think that the subject of Jesus Christ as the only way of redemption is the most

misunderstood and criticized aspect of Christianity and salvation. Christians are

increasingly coming under fire today because of their belief that Jesus Christ is the only

way to get into heaven. They are often put on the defensive by those who are offended by

this assertion. Those of us who profess Christ as our savior are often labeled as bigots and

narrow minded.

My hope is that this devotional will help answer the question of why Jesus Christ is our

only way to eternal life. I pray that many would understand why this is so and come to a

saving knowledge of Him as their Lord and Savior. Jesus Himself makes this statement

about His role in redeeming mankind back to His Father in the following verse John 14:6

"I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. This

is an incredible statement for sure and one which if not for it's accuracy would be the most

devastating statement in human history. However it is true! It is true based upon who

Christ is and His relationship with God and man.

To help us understand these two issues let us look at the verses in the bible which speak to

who Jesus is from an eternal point of view and how He fit into "Gods eternal purpose."

Our starting point would be Colossians 1:15-17 He (Jesus) is the image of the invisible

God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven

and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions of principalities

or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things

and in Him all things consists.

So we see in the bible that Jesus is Himself the reason for our creation and is also the

author of our creation. Therefore it would stand to reason and be most logical that He

would be the answer and solution to the separation of mankind from the Father. He and

only He would have that ability to heal and repair mankind- on both the physical level and

the spiritual level.

In Philippians 2:6-8 we are given the reason why Christ is qualified to be our Savior. "who,

being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made

Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant (willing slave), and coming in

the likeness of men , and being found in appearance as a man (although He was still God's

Son), He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the

cross. Then we are further told in Ephesians 1:7 "In Him we have redemption through His

blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace. Finally in Colossians

2:14-15 the word of God tell us that (Jesus) "having wiped out the handwriting of

requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us and He has taken it out of the

way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers. He made a

public spectacle of them (by showing Himself to over 500 men and women for 40 days after

His crucifixion), triumphing over them in it.

Christ is a "life giving spirit!" It is He who has conquered death as recorded in the

scriptures and is the original creator and it is only He who can redeem man back to God

and Himself. This is a spiritual matter solved by a spiritual Christ in the likeness of man.

Adam was the first Adam created by God and the Son so as to live a life which expressed

the life of the Son. His fall in the garden made it necessary for the Son of God to provide a

way of life for His creation. To do so it was necessary for Him to be the spirit of life while

in the form of man. Thus He became the last Adam (I Corinthians 15:45) and the firstfruit

(first of the new creation), who would have access to eternal life. For this loving and selfish

act-God has highly exalted Him.

Philippians 2:9-11 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name

which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of those in

heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under earth, and that every tongue should

confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Amen

Jesus then is the only way to get into heaven not based upon my or other Christian's

beliefs but based upon who He is and what He has done! This is not a competition between

religious leaders or people's rights to believe what they choose to believe. After all man

was created with a "free will" to choose to believe in whatever they want and to live as they

please. However, that "free will," does not negate or reduce the reality of Christ and who

He is. Our human opinions and thoughts about that are meaningless in light of what is at

stake. "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the

world through Him might be saved." John 3:17

If after reading this your heart and spirit is leading you to believe that Jesus is the only

way-please read the following verse.

Romans 10:9 "that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart

that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. for with the heart one believes

unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Just tell God that you believe that His Son died for you and that His death covers your sin

and that you receive the free gift of salvation that He has provided to you out of love.

Thank Him for it and begin to live a life of faith in Christ Jesus.