THE PATH TO THE CROSS
PART: 1 Jesus Is the One Who Is Eternal Life
He was revealed to us and was with the Father and then He is the one who is eternal life. to you that proclaim and testify was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we life itself This one who is 2 . He is the Word of lifewhom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. ,beginningWe proclaim to you the one who existed from the 1
3 We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy. 1 John 1:1-4 (NLT)
Eye Witnesses to Eternal Life
The early followers of Jesus were first known as,The Followers of The Way. These earlier followers were astonished as they began to discover who this Jesus is. Jesus said, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. John 11:25 Jesus also said, And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth. John 17:3
As His ministry grew He transformed the lives of many. Lives that were once deeply seeded in religious tradition and lawful adherence. Jesus' teachings led His followers down a different path of living and their attitudes, actions and beliefs began to resemble the one they were following.
These followers were eye witnesses to Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, the one who brings life in it's fullest and the source for real purpose and fulfillment meant for all people.
Purposeful Prayer
What a wonderful acclimation, Lord Jesus. You are one who existed from the beginning, from eternity, before the world existed. You are the WORD OF LIFE, the Christ, the son of the living God—who is the ETERNAL LIFE given to us and the source of forever life with You. A life that is more than mere existence and lasts forever.
Jesus, you were REVEALED from the Father as having the same essence and nature as God in human flesh. The scripture gives eye witness testimony that You lived with them, walked with them and they saw the Glory of God the Father in You.
You were real and they saw You and heard Your message and now share that same message to us through your word, that we may have fellowship and share joy together with You. Now we can partner together and share the same benefits as the Children of God, with the Father and Jesus Christ, that our joy may be overflowing - Amen.
Debbie Fredrickson
Ministry of Faith & Encouragement
PART: 2 Jesus, The Only Way to the Father
I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. 6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. John 1:1-9 (ESV)
Jesus, God in Human Flesh
Jesus spoke and the world came into existence. Jesus was in the beginning with God and was God, having the same nature, essences and character as God. He is the creator of everything that exists in heaven and on earth. Not only did He give existence to this world and this universe - He is LIFE ITSELF. He is the one who gives us our existence - and life to its fullest. He is the LIGHT that shines in the darkness, the one who made His entrance into the world, God spoken in human flesh who was revealed to us. The true light that gives ETERNAL LIFE to everyone. This is the testimony of those who lived with Him. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:12 (ESV)
Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. John 1:12 (ESV)
We Can Become the Children of God
This one who is Eternal Life, the creator of all the universe - God incarnate - invites us to become children of God. That anyone who receives Him, takes possession of Him, the Son of God, and makes Him their very own. Those who believe by trusting in, clinging to, and relying on His name, all have the right to become children of God.
The WORD that traveled through history to this time and place is spoken as Jesus. This one who is the Word made Flesh, the Devine, who became human flesh, who lived among men to show everyone who the Father is and is the only way to the Father. Jesus said to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6
He is our only way to know the Father and the way to eternal life. This is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth. John 17:3
What a privilege it is to be invited into the family of God and inherit all the benefits as the children of God, the sworn promises of God to all His children. That when we receive and believe -- having faith, trust and acceptance, of the truth of God's Word. The Word, who is God and who is Life.
Purposeful Prayer
Wonderful Lord Jesus. We are awesomely aware of all your glory and grace, come to give us the WORD to know the Father and the WAY to know eternal life. May we come to a full understanding of what it is - to KNOW YOU. To have that intimate, personal relationship with you that is closer than - to know ones' self. To know you is the way to the Father.
Please give us the power and strength to give you complete faith and trust. To be able to lean on you, grab hold, and let go. You are The Way. The path you chose for us - the Way of Eternal Life. A life eternal that begins with our first - TRUST IN YOU.
Thank you for the right to become YOUR CHILD OF GOD. This is a marvelous privilege, also with which comes great responsibility. To trust you is to let go of our power to control the course of our life, and give you FULL CONTROL. For our life now belongs to you and we will inherit all the benefits as children, which are wrapped up in THE PROMISES OF GOD.
Thank you and all glory, honor and blessing to you - Amen
Debbie Fredrickson
Ministry of Encouragement and Faith
Part 3:The Good News for All Mankind
From Eternity it was God's plan to send Jesus, the Holy, Righteous, Son of God, to endure the penalty of sin for us, by His death on the cross. (Jesus speaking) And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. Mark 8:31 Jesus knew the path that lay before Him and accepted the Father's will that He would die for the sins of the world. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
Why Must Jesus Die?
Jesus was prepared to endure the cross to suffer the guilt and shame of sin, which separates us from our Holy God, to be poured out on Him for us. ...your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear. Isaiah 59:2 Jesus accepted the Cross as God's redemption plan that He become God's perfect sacrifice, for the pardon of death's penalty for sin. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Romans 3:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. John 3;17
Our Holy God, Our Rescuer
Jesus makes it possible for us to experience a personal relationship with Him that lasts for eternity. So our Holy God stepped out of eternity and put on Human flesh, to rescue us from eternity lost by us, because of sin that separates us from our God. He is the one who took God’s wrath against our sins upon himself and brought us into fellowship with God; and he is the forgiveness for our sins, and not only ours but all the world’s. 1 John 2:2
What Is Forgiveness' Gain?
For he made him, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him 2 Corinthians 5:21 What a marvelous plan, that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. All praise and Glory to Christ for this marvelous gift. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:8-9 Because of God's marvelous grace, Jesus came to rescue us once and for all from sin, and put us in right standing before God. God's perfect plan of reconciliation became reality through the power of Christ's resurrection from the dead. who was declared the Son of God with power, by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.Romans 1:4 Our forgiveness gain is the power of the resurrection working in us and through us to transform us and make us new and ready for a long lasting relationship with God. Living life through faith and trust in our God and His power to provide an abundant life because of our new life in Christ. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. John 10:10b if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. 2 Corinthians 5:17
That according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.Ephesians 3:16-19 ESV
Purposeful Prayer
Our glorious God and creator, I thank you for all your marvelous blessings in Christ Jesus. Thank you for your perfect plan to make it possible for us to become the children of God. Thank you that you chose to love us so much to send Jesus, to be the perfect sacrifice for sin on our behalf. Thank you Jesus, for your selfless sacrifice, to endure the suffering of the cross, and the shedding of your blood, that we may have the forgiveness of sin. Thank you for being the way to the Father and the way to an abundant life and forever life with you in heaven.
I thank you Jesus, for making us your CHILDREN OF GOD, and the power to live a life of faith, trust and hope. And the power of right standing before you. As CHILDREN OF GOD help us to continue love you with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and live a life of love through the power of your spirit.
Debbie Fredrickson
Ministry of encouragement and faith
Music Video - Children of God, by Third Day
