Five Things Christians Need To Know

by Jason Davis

I. God is the Creator

A. This is where God starts – Genesis 1; Job 38 & 39; and in the Ten Commandments, his own writing (Exodus 20:11)!

B. This is where Satan starts today; saying “there's no Creator.”

1. Evolution – no need for a God…natural causes.
2. Man is set as the highest existing creature – we become gods.

C. WHY is this important?

1. Paul begins Romans 1 with the wrath of God poured out on mankind who ignores Him as creator. It is important to God!
2. If there is no creator, no God, then we have only the natural law to follow. Man is the highest authority and violates the first two commandments!

II. God is righteous and man is not!

A. God declares himself holy and commands us to be holy because he is holy (Leviticus 11).

B. The heart of man is wicked (unrighteous) and deceitful (Jeremiah 17:9). ALL have sinned and fallen short of God’s righteousness (Romans 3:23).

C. Our unfaithfulness or unrighteousness will not nullify God’s faithfulness and righteousness (Romans 3:3).

D. WHY is this important?

1. Man is without excuse (Romans 1:20).
2. We will not escape God’s judgment (Romans 2:1-6).

III. God is in control and has a plan!

A. God’s plan has always included Christ; his death, burial, and resurrection.

1. We were chosen in Christ before the very creation of the world (Ephesians 1:4). The sin of Genesis 3 was not a surprise!
2. His plan started with the promise to Eve in the Garden, continued with His promise to Abraham for a nation; continued with His promise to David of an heir that will be the forever King; which lead to Jesus birth, life and ministry on earth, and finally to his death and resurrection.

B. WHY is this important?

1. Because God’s ways are higher than our own (Isaiah 55:9)!
2. The plans of the Lord are firm forever (Psalms 33:11)! It is the plans of the Lord that will prevail, not man’s (Proverbs 19:21).
3. God’s plan is to prosper us, not bring harm; and to give us hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11)!

IV. God loves you!

A. God made man in His image and it was “good”. God did not make a mistake. Psalm 139:13-16 tells us that he knew us before we were born!

B. God wants us to live an abundant life! A full life!

1. He planed for us (Ephesians 1:4);
2. He sacrificed for us (John 3:16);
3. He wants to give us life where the devil wants to steal it (John 10:10).

C. WHY is this important?

1. Unlike other religions, we can have a personal relationship with God!
2. Unlike other religions, Christianity is based on love! God is love; we are to love God with all our heart, mind and spirit – this is the greatest commandment; and the other commandment is that we love others!
3. The greatest thing in the world is love (1 Corinthians 13:13). It is the driving force behind God’s greatest achievement: the sacrifice of Christ on the CROSS (John 3:16)!

V. Christ is coming back soon!

A. In Acts 1 we are promised that Jesus will return as they saw him leave: in the skies! And Jesus himself promised that He would return after leaving (John 14:2,3). The witness of two is enough!

B. God made a promise (a covenant) with David that his heir would sit on the throne of Israel forever (2 Samuel 7:16). No earthly man has ever sat on the throne of Israel forever, at least not yet. Jesus claimed to be the messiah, the king, but he did not establish his throne when he was on earth the first time. Israel is not even a kingdom in this day and age, but someday Jesus will rule there as king (Revelation 20 and 22). It is an important note to see that Israel is back as a nation after 1900 years of expulsion from the land….hmmm.

C. WHY is this important?
1. His return should be an encouragement and a reminder of hope (1 Thes. 4:13; 5:1-11).
2. It is a reminder of what is important: that there will be a time when the Book of Life is closed and no more are added. We should be warning all we can of this impending time of judgment. Jesus himself tells John in Revelation that “Yes, I am coming soon!”

Conclusion

Why these five things? Because the world has busied itself telling us:

Evolution -- There is no God; but if there was one He is not the creator and has no grounds for making the rules of life.

Humanism -- Man is the highest achievement of nature and we are subject only to our own regulations. We judge ourselves and if God does, He uses our rules.

Naturalism -- Events of this world are not structured or connected. They are random collections of circumstances that are the result of individual decisions – not a well orchestrated plan which has purpose or meaning.

Environmentalism -- We are under the threat of destroying the world, implying that God could stop us if we wanted to. And it also denies that God has final authority of saying “now is the end of all things.”

Universalism -- That we all have truth in us, and no one truth is truer than another (that’s a mouth full). But we know that Jesus Christ alone is “the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through” him (John 14:6)!