Bob Cassell, Messenger
God is the exclusive eternal. He had no beginning and has no end. He has always been and will always be. He was not created from something or nothing; he always was and always will be. However, of a certainty, nothing would exist without his creative power. Apart from Him there is no eternity. “God is a Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). “No man has seen God at any time” (John 1:18). Creation started and continues forever with Him, by him, in Him, and for Him. The whole of the world and all that is or ever will be is indeed in his hands. He is before and after all things. Time has not and will never affect him. He is the root and the offspring of all things completely and at once.
All that is in mankind, all that he produces and possesses is temporal and will perish eventually with the using. It is true that a portion of man’s production endures for a few years, and some things may even remain for centuries, but no temporal efforts or even the best production from mankind will follow anyone beyond the grave. There are no eternal values apart from our Sovereign and Eternal God. Humankind can come into possession of these eternal realities only as they are related to God.
Because of the imputed sin from Adam and personal sins of the entire human race the whole of this race became separated from God and is under his condemnation.
No one from fallen humanity can by means of personal reformation or any personal works return or reconcile themselves to God. You may have heard the following admonitions in some well-meaning evangelistic messages, “come home, return to him, come home to God where you belong, give him your heart!” He gives his righteousness to you he doesn’t need anything from you. He gives, you receive.
If an individual has never received or believed in Jesus Christ as Savior, that person must come to him. However, that individual cannot return to him as if there were a former position that somehow became lost and now must return or be reclaimed. There is no way a non-believer can return to God as the very smoke and fires of hell would accompany that individual, who with every passing heartbeat without Christ is rapidly approaching eternal damnation. “And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment that is stained by the flesh” (Jude 23). Anyone without Christ as Savior is always exposed to destruction as they are standing or walking in uncertain and slippery places and are exposed to falling. “Surely you did set them in slippery places: you cast them down into destruction” (Psalm 73:18).
There is only one way for humans to come to God, and that is through him who came down from heaven and into the world as the exclusive savior of humankind. It is most certainly not accomplished by man returning to God… Adam came to this earth by the creative hand of God then fell and needed to be redeemed by God. So, it is with anyone born after Adam. They are born fallen as his sin nature is imputed to them. Adam fell, and all after him are fallen and cannot possess eternal life without being purchased out from the slave market of Sin.
It is only through the eternal salvation that God offers, in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, that fallen mankind can become related to him and possess eternal life. Jesus Christ expressed it perfectly, “I am come that they (those that hear) might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). This life that comes from Jesus is not a temporal life offered by man; it is what Jesus came to give to humanity, and it is eternal and it is abundant i.e., it is more than enough!
A full and abundant life is proffered by many segments of our society, but every part of the offerings and opportunities are restricted entirely to the material and temporal world. Much of the professing Christian world has amazingly and erroneously become obsessed and dedicated to the giving of material and temporal abundance to the exclusion of the spiritual and eternal needs of the soul.
Human behavior, social programs, and economic solutions have taken the place of a clear and understandable gospel of salvation that God freely offers to this sin cursed human race. This socialistic and Satan led effort is moving at warp speed toward an everlasting separation from God’s perfect plan and all the blessings that flow from it.
Although the need and terms of salvation are presented in various forms, the temporal values pertaining to a reformed life are the most often emphasized. To our shame, it is common to ignore the spiritual and eternal essentials that come to the life of a new believer at the moment of salvation. How many times have you heard, at the point of belief in Christ that the new believer has a new eternal position or standing before God and possesses numerous divine operating assets that may be exercised during the entirety of the Christian way of life.
The emphasis of attempting to lift humanity from its deplorable and low state has replaced eternal values with things or programs that do not endure. For example, better housing, more conveniences, and many of the assets and opportunities that address temporal needs are offered as the human solution. The word of God places the emphasis where it belongs, and that is the problem of human sin with its attendant consequences that result from the rejection of eternal life through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Social reform, welfare, and all moral reforms, however good for the present, do not help anyone beyond the grave as the grave is not the end of human existence. Why? Because humans possess an eternal soul that exists forever.
The salvation that God and God alone has accomplished through Jesus Christ provides for the eternal soul and brings it into an unending glorious reality. No social or moral changes can improve or add to the finished work of our sovereign God. The work of man is relative and limited to his highest and best, but his highest and best is not good enough to merit salvation.
“For we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities like the wind, have taken us away” (Isaiah 64:6).
The work of God is eternal and is the only permanent solution to man’s primary problem.
Throughout history humans have acknowledged an existence beyond the grave wherein mankind either enjoys the blessings of a God or suffers his wrath.
Human behavior in mythology supports this statement. For example: American Indians looked forward to their Happy Hunting Grounds. The people of Norse hoped to be transported to Valhalla. The Chinese worship the spirits of their ancestors. Hindus believe in transmigration where the soul continues to exist in the body of some animal until it is cleansed and returns to God who allegedly is the source of all things.
The overwhelming majority of humans, deep within, contemplate an eternal future existence. This view of such an existence is believed to be determined for each individual while in the present life. When the question of what determines this future state is considered there are many differences.
All world religions, without exception, offer humans a state of eternal bliss or possible relief from suffering as a reward for something that is accomplished or performed. A large segment of Christianity is included in this category. In direct contrast to this false merit system, our sovereign God offers for simple acceptance a free unearned salvation irrespective of human failures, sins, or their greatest successes. Those who accept this so great salvation are assured of eternal life in the presence of God and with all who have predeceased them.
To substitute temporal worth for the eternal richness of God’s so great salvation is to miss the greatest thing that has ever been offered to humankind. A substantial part of the professing church leadership is doing this very same thing. Those who are outside and many inside never hear of the eternal things God freely gives to humankind nor how these things may be acquired.
The majority of informed human beings realize the instability of temporal and material values and long for something that endures forever. But what is the answer to this deep longing? The only answer to this emptiness is found in absolute spiritual truths, in the eternal counsels of God.
By means of God’s so great salvation man can become permanently related to God and possess eternal life. Therefore, salvation must be the most important subject for man to consider.
All that is known about salvation is learned directly or indirectly from the word of God. There is no other source for this great opportunity of deliverance. What the bible teaches must be accepted as God’s revelation to man regarding the meaning of salvation and how it may be acquired.
Regarding the matter of a sure salvation, man’s opinions have absolutely no value. For that reason, all that is presented here is supported by clear teachings directly from the word of God.
The purpose of this message is to present clear and understandable gospel information that is supported by truths from God’s infallible word. You may ask… what is truth? The answer is…
“Sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth” (John 17:17).
And in this holy word something powerful is offered…
“Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises; that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:4).
This infallible and holy word of God offers for those who believe by faith more than 7,000 promises. These promises are designed and available for time here on planet earth. Not a single one of these promises are available or can be claimed in eternity.
Will you ponder the following promise from Jesus Christ personally?
“He that believes on me has everlasting life” (John 6::47).
This can be you, in the privacy of your own soul you can believe on him and trust him to do what he says he will do… and that is to save your eternal soul. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).
To believe on him is to have everlasting life; to ignore or reject him is to be eternally condemned.
“He that believes on him is not condemned; but he that believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:18).
