What is meant by that?
It is like this. For a person who has not taste buds, all things would taste the same – BLAND!
Try describing or explaining to that person the tastes of saltiness, sweetness, bitterness, sourness and you would be wasting your time [1 Corinthians 1:18-23]. You can do that until kingdom comes and that person would still be ignorant. Is that person to blame? No! That person remains ignorant because of the lack of taste buds.
It is the same with the things of God. The natural man needs to be renewed in his inner man, The Spiritual Man, his real self before he can ever begin to appreciate the goodness of God. How to do that?
Invite and receive Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour. At that very moment, you receive Eternal Life [John 3:16] (the spiritual taste buds) to enjoy the things of God. In that magical and miraculous moment, you become a New Creation [2 Corinthians 5:17]; a New Race. In a flash, you become a part of God's big family!
Jesus Christ is your Brother and the Almighty God, the Creator of the Universe, is your loving Father [Romans 8:15-17, Galatians 4:5-6, 28, 1 John 4:6 ].
The fact that you are still reading this means Jesus has chosen you [John 15:19]. Receive your taste buds RIGHT NOW! If you enjoy good food, then you would appreciate the importance of taste buds.
Food glorious food! What is the use of a gourmet spread before you if you have not taste buds to enjoy?
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO RECEIVE ALL THAT JESUS HAS DONE FOR YOU, AND MAKE HIM YOUR PERSONAL LORD AND SAVIOUR, JUST TELL HIM:
Lord Jesus, thank You for loving me and dying for me on the cross. Your precious blood washes me clean of every sin. You are my Lord and my Saviour, now and forever. I believe that You rose from the dead and that You are alive today. Because of Your finished work, I am now a beloved child of God and heaven is my home. Thank You for giving me eternal life, and filling my heart with Your peace and joy. Amen!
I cannot begin to tell you all the good things our Brother Jesus Christ has in store for you and I. The good things He had purchased for us with His life! [ John 1:16]
He willingly laid down His life for us [John 10:11]! He gave up all Godliness in Him to come all the way down to earth to become a mere human being [John 1:1, John 1:14]. He endured all forms of sufferings, tortures, mockeries, ridicules and insolences from mankind. Eventually, He was treacherously betrayed to be flogged until His entire body became one gigantic open wound before His cruxificion on the Cross [Matthew 27]!
He shed His precious Blood to ratify a New Covenant [Matthew 26:26-28, Mark 14:22-24, Luke 12:15-20, 1 Corinthians 11:24-26] – a Covenant that paid for ALL things for you and I [Romans 8:32, 2 Corinthians 8:9, 1 Corinthians 3:22, Philippians 4:19] ! It is like walking into a shopping mall and taking anything you like because ALL things have been paid for. And the receipt is His resurrection from the dead [Romans 5:10].
By His Death, Burial and Resurrection, we are Destined to Reign in life and to enjoy His Unmerited Favors [Romans 5:17]! It is interesting that the scripture reference for reigning in life contains the numbers 5 and 17. In Bible numerics, “5” is the number of Grace and “17” that of Victory. So, Grace gives us Victory!
We have all been ransomed [kidnapped] by satan the moment Adam (the first man and representative of all mankind) surrendered his dominion to satan. With that, sin [a noun – place, person or thing] entered into the world and reign over all mankind, who has since then been cursed [Romans 5:1-21]. But praise be to God for sending His only Beloved Son Jesus Christ Who conquered satan with His sacrificial death on the Cross [ Colossians 1:13, Colossian 2:13-15]. He rose from the dead three days later on a Sunday morning after defeating satan in the place of perdition. The shedding of His precious Blood on the Cross, with Him hung on a tree, had redeemed us from all curses [Galatians 3:13]! Jesus' Blood is the ransom money that had redeemed us [ 1 Corinthians 1:30, 1 Timothy 2:6, 1 Peter 1:18]!
The Almighty God, the Creator of the Universe, did all that through His only Beloved Son, Jesus Christ to tell and prove to you and I one thing – He loves us [Roman 5:8]!
What would you do when you are head over heels in love with someone? We guys love to boast of digging our hearts to prove our love. We talk only as a figure of speech. To me, God did just that! [1 John 4:10]. And God's kind of love is described in 1 Corinthians 13.
The Bible : Word and Food
I heard a sermon from my Senior Pastor Joseph Prince of New Creation Church that as we behold the glory of Jesus Christ, we become transformed according to His image [2 Corinthians 3:18]. That got me really interested.
I remember my schooling days as a sprinter and long-jumper. I would stare at posters of my favourite athlete then – Carl Lewis. I would watch tapes of him in action ; his sprinting style, his double-cycle-in-the-air for the long jump. Then, I would imagine myself doing exactly the same. And I would feel confidence bursting forth from within me. But alas, it was but a feeling!
So I believe it is the same with beholding the glory of Jesus Christ. The only difference is that the blessed Holy Spirit is the power of that transformation.
The Bible has been to me a coconut; hard and dry on the outside. But since that sermon, I have been cracking it open and I have been taking bits of the sweet meat and juice.
I can now understand what Roberts Liardon was writing in his three volumes of God's Generals. Why people would give up their lives to preserve the Word and to meet underground.
Proverbs 4:20-22 is indeed the Truth!
My Father God blesses you with grace and peace through my Brother Jesus Christ by the power of the blessed Holy Spirit. Amen!
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