My Dear Prayer Partners,
I feel as though I would begin to wind down my prison letters since we are all praying for a real quick release now. I must be mindful that I am in my last stage of writing from prison, although I hope the Lord continues to give me ministry from home and I can still write.
In this writing it's a little like writing the last chapter of a book. Through these last three years I have shared a lot of disconnected thoughts and my readership has increased so that I don't know the heart condition (spiritual condition) of all who read this. I would like to think that some day all my Duluth friends will read this and I would like to pull everything together now so there is no confusion on God's call, plan, and purpose for this writing and your reading.
What I have learned and would like to reflect on is that God has a unified plan for all of history. That is why in one of my recent writings I began laying out God's view and purpose for creating the world.
1. God enjoyed creating. God loves pleasure.
2. God created man for his own pleasure and made him the crown of creation.
3. God was in an unbelievable loving relationship with man. This relationship was possible because of God's holiness and man's sinlessness. God, being holy can not look on sin.
4 Satan deceived man causing him to fall, destroying the relationship with man. This must have been the saddest day in the universe. God cherished his relationship with man more than any of us can understand. Even our best closest relationship on earth is only a shadow of what God and Adam and Eve's relationship was. Now it was gone.
5. God could no longer look upon man because of man's sin. Man was cursed, the earth was cursed.
6. God in his graciousness announced he would make a provision to restore man and restore the relationship with God.
7. This provision could not compromise God's holiness, so it took God's only son who could pay the price for man's sin.
8. Since the announcement in Genesis, animal sacrifices and ceremonies were required. They all pointed to the coming Messiah who would take away the sins of the world, or all who would meet him at the cross.
9. The sacrifices and ceremonies were only symbols done by faith, it was the faith that was required to connect with the coming Messiah.
10. Jesus, born as a baby, grew as a man, suffered , taught, healed people, he performed miracles, was seen, known, and witnessed by many people. He was judged for sins he didn't commit, suffered and died for sins we committed, he went to the grave and was dead for three days. God could not look upon him during that time because our sins were upon him and God cannot look upon sin.
11. Jesus rose again from the grave, walked taught and ate with people. He was not a spirit. He was in the flesh. He ascended straight up into heaven.
12. As he went he said he would send a comforter to come and live with us, right in our presence.
13. Jesus taught the apostles all he wanted us to know about him so we are to study the teaching of the apostles as the foundation of the church with Christ as the cornerstone.
14. To get a clear account of how to become a Christian you should read the book of John, focus on John 3.
15. If you have been around church a long time, or have believed for a while you should think and meditate on this question. "So what is the difference in the way I believe in Jesus and God, and the way Satan believes in Jesus and God?" Is there a difference? What is it? If you need help read (John 3:5) What did Jesus mean by that?
I want to leave you tonight with these thoughts. Tomorrow I would like to talk about looking back.
Your Brother in Christ,
Bob
Bob
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