Why trust Jesus

[Hoofer]

I watched a video of some youngster, saying he was brainwashed, and using his own logic, debunked the Great Flood, Noah, etc.  Said the water couldn't cover the earth, there wasn't enough food to feed Elephants and all those animals in the Ark... yeah, I heard it before - sorry, I'm not buying the debunkers.

Luke 17:26 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. 27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.

Matthew 24:37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, 39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

The youngster pulled out a stack of books, several which I've read - but, none of them mattered much, it was interesting reading the Science behind the flood.  They tried to present a plausable explanation for how the events could have taken place - but, they weren't there, neither was the debunker kid - the earth could have been completely different than it is *now*, and it was.  No matter, I settled that question, a long, long time ago, with a couple of observations.

1.  Jesus made a lot of claims, more than I can site, and fulfilled a lot of prophetic scripture, from the old testament.
2.  During the time Jesus walked the earth, he demonstrated He *was* equal with God, the Son-of-God, sent by God, and SAID ... He would suffer, die and 3 days later, rise from the dead.
3.  Jesus died on the cross, in front of believers and non-believers, just as He said He would, He DIED, there was no life left in Him, He was DEAD.  (for our sins, BTW).
4.  Jesus resurrected HIMSELF from the dead, just as He said He would - He has the ultimate power, LIFE over death.

Here's the problem - Jesus believed the account of the Great Flood, as given in Genesis. And, He went on to say, the next great event (Rapture) will be similar in nature, people will disappear.

The Apostle John, proclaimed, Jesus is the CREATOR of life... Long quote - it is LITERAL, not allegory.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

In case you *missed* it - Jesus was the WORD of God, without a beginning, the literal Word-of-God, the same Words which spoke the world into existence, the same Word that Adam & Eve, disobeyed (and sin entered the world).  The same Word, Adam heard as he walked with God in the cool of the day.

Jesus is the Creator of LIFE.  Nobody has the power of life & death, but Jesus.  All power has been given to Him - He does not, nor will not share that with anyone else.  Jesus is the ONLY One Who went to the grave, rose again as He said he would, and said He has taken (or nullified) the power of death.

Who told Noah... there was gonna be a great flood?  Who is the voice of God (hint, the same person by Whom everything that was created, was created).  The same Word-of-God, before He became flesh and dwelt among us.

I find it *easy* to take the word of the Person who WAS there, for the Genesis Flood, Who talked about it during His earthly ministry, who could raise & lower mountains, Who could still a raging storm on the sea, or open the "fountains of the deep" and drain the heavens ... He has the power of life & death, the resurrection, settles it all for me.  Why is that *so* hard to grasp...?  Hard to explain, but if He created it, is His creation going to somehow have *power* over Him?  Snap your fingers, Jesus, still the raging sea.  Faith of a mustard seed, and a mountain is tossed into the sea.  We're talking about God, the Creator - not some construction company, taking 10 years to build some edifice.  Because someone can't explain in bullet-proof explanation "how it was done" - doesn't alter my belief in the least, I'll get the rest of the details in Heaven - I can wait!

I do wonder what those people thought, knowing the earth was watered with a midst, and suddenly it starts to rain for the first time ever.  Will it be kinda like that when Believers are Raptured, or the earth is judged by fire?  None of that's happened before... other than Sodom & Gomorrah, they were probably *surprised* too!?  If Jesus the "Creator" of heaven & earth, life & death said He could "do it"... this isn't no changing water into wine thing.  It's easy for me to believe *everything* Jesus said as the ultimate Truth. 

IMO, we are the last generation before the Rapture.  For the first time, both the Church and Israel exist together.... providing the "transition point" for the Rapture, "we leave" the focus of God returns to Israel, and the Jews.  Christians are *expecting* this, because we see the birth pangs, the environment Jesus described, the end would be like, just before the Rapture.

[Hoofer]

The Gospel is so simple, yet, we try to *add* something to it, sort of like pay a little, leave a tip, or maybe many thanks will get us a better 'seat in heaven'.. right?  But it's a gift, any only needs to be received, simply.   I call this the A-B-C of salvation, or the Gospel.

A - Admit you are a sinner.  God already knows it, He's seen every one of your sins, no sense in denying the obvious, as it says in Romans 3:10 "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:" and again in Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;"  Nobody is *good enough* to be allowed into heaven - remember, this is GOD'S house, not ours, we enter on HIS terms, not ours.  Unless HE says, "Come on in" - we're not getting in.

B - Believe Jesus actually died on the cross for YOUR sins.  Romans 5:8 "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
9 "Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him."
10 "For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life."  That's right, we're sinners, yet, before we even *knew* about Jesus Christ, He... went to the cross and paid the "sin debt" the payment for our sins.  Believe that because you sinned, you deserve spiritual death, hell, lake of fire... nothing like heaven - BUT, Jesus paid the debt, right...?

C - Confess & Call upon God, just two things.  Romans 10:9 "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."
10 "For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."
11 "For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed."
12 "For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him."
13 "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
You believe Jesus rose from the dead?  That means He has power over life & death, He is TRUSTWORTHY, and it also means, God accepted the death on the cross as full payment for your sin debt.  He actually died in YOUR place.  All that's left is to make that CALL.

What kind of loving God, would ever make that kind of "deal" with His Creation? 
A God Whom is so pure, He cannot tolerate sin, so loving He did the ultimate in mercy, to reconcile His creation - so He could fellowship with us again, as He did with Adam, before the first sin.

God LOVES each one of us.  He's brought it all down to FAITH & TRUST.  Many of us grew up in a church, full of tradition, so what I've written is nothing new.  Except for one thing.  It's that "transaction" we personally make with God - knowing about facts, and believing in, a moment in time, when we make that faith transaction, like Abraham did. 

Romans 4:4 "What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?"
2 "For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God."
3 "For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness."
4 "Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt."
5 "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness."
6 "Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,"
7 "Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered."
8 "Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin."

That's quite a deal, Abraham went on to commit sins, after he believed God in Genesis 15:5 "And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be."
6 "And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness."
(Abraham was +90yrs old, well beyond making babies, but, he believed GOD could create life when there was none).  God declared that BELIEF, in that moment of time to Abraham "righteousness".  That is a transaction of FAITH & TRUST.  Before that moment, it was knowing, God spoke to Abraham.  Abraham *believed* God, and God put "righteousness" on Abraham's account.

Throughout Scripture, we find several accounts of people making that "faith & trust" transaction with God. In the Gospels, we hear Jesus say, "according to your faith" - and while they grew up with much more teaching about the Old Testament than we - they also KNEW the facts, but never had made that "transaction" with God.  I look back to a specific day & time, when, by myself, I asked Jesus Christ to forgive me of my sins & to be my Savior.  That night, I accepted the Gift, God had for me, and quit hoping my best efforts would be good enough.  I put my faith in the resurrected, Jesus Christ, and called on Him to save me.  We, make that same transaction, Abraham and millions of others have.  If you're not sure - have doubts, or was like me, "you know it, you've been raised in it, you just know..", you know you'll never been good enough, so make that faith transaction & be saved.

Some people pray something like I did:
"Lord, I've tried to live my life my way, and I've only messed it up.
Come into my heart and save me - whatever's left of my life, it's yours.
I'll only mess it up again, so come into my life and change me, whatever's left is all yours."

God keeps His word, if He can do it for me, a chief of sinners, His blood shed on the cross is powerful enough to pay for your sins too.  If you have trouble believing *me*, put God to the test, open your Bible, New Testament (we're in that church age), starting with the Gospels, ask God to show you, whether or not this is TRUE - start reading.  That's what I did.

[Hoofer]

Was reminded of this Series of movies, 4 movies.  "The day of wonders" portrayal of Revelation is absolutely mind blowing.

Satan will work miracles.  But the dialogue Satan in the movie by Nick Mancuso brings to the movie, is very believable.   Promises, have everything you always wanted, just trust in, believe in satan, tell the Son-of-Man (Jesus) He has no place in your heart, worship satan as the one, true god... he works miracles to convince people of his power and deity.

Only a foolish person would think they could somehow outsmart, or outlast this final 7 years of Tribulation, the two players for the souls of mankind, Jesus Christ vs Satan.  Making your choice is EASY now, after the Rapture of the Church, God's attention will be on Israel, the Church Age is over.  Then it gets "real", and Faith in Jesus will carry a death penalty.

Revelation 13:16,17 - He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark in or on his right hand or in or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name.  666.

IF - you can get a chance, these movies, even with the all-star cast - are pretty cheesy, but Nick Mancuso delivers it.  The "Day of Wonders" stuff, how they envision the use of Artificial Intelligence, fascinating!

1. Apocalypse I (Apocalypse: Caught In The Eye Of The Storm) (1998)
2. Apocalypse II: Revelation (1999)
3. Apocalypse III: Tribulation (2000)
4. Apocalypse IV: Judgment (2001