Psalm 24:1 The earth
is the LORDs and the fullness thereof; the world,
and they that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the
seas, and established it upon the floods.
God created the heavens and the earth. Jesus Christ is the King of kings, and
therefore everything belongs to him. He is in control of everything. Colossians
1:16-17 says, For by him were all things created,
that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they
be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created
by him and for him: and he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
Because He is in control of everything, we know that all things work together
for good to them that love God, to them that are the called according to His
The earth is the Lords and they that dwell
therein. God created man and gave him life. Man sinned and rebelled against
God. Because of this, God sent His only begotten Son. John 3:16, For God so loved the world, that He gave his only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have
everlasting life. Everything in this world belongs to Jesus because He
is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end; the faithful Creator.
Jesus said, What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul or what shall a
man give in exchange for his soul. In the fullness of the earth there
is nothing God values more than the soul of a man. What shall it profit a man
if He gain the whole world and lose his own soul?
Because God is so powerful, because He is the
Almighty, because everything belongs to Him, He has used his power to provide a
way of salvation for men. Only an all-powerful, Almighty God could do such a
thing. It is vital to understand and keep in mind that God is the Almighty
because of the evil forces that will attack you and because of your own
sinfulness. Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.
Psalms 24:3-5, Who
shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up
his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the
blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
Human effort cannot bring a man into a relationship with Christ. Salvation is
by grace through faith and not of works. It is the gift of God. Jesus did all
the effort when he came to the earth some 2000 years ago born of a virgin and
lived a sinless life and then died on the cross and rose again the third day
ascending into heaven. Who shall ascend into the
Hill of the LORD? Or who shall stand in his
holy place? He who draws nigh to God by faith in
Jesus Christ. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.
Faith begins when a person receives Gods Word and the Holy Spirit touches
their heart so that they understand the scripture and they repent of their sins
and turn to Jesus.
John 6:26, Jesus
answered them and said Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye
seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves,
and were filled. Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth
unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath
God the Father sealed. Then said they unto him, what shall we do, that we might
work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This
is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. First
Thessalonians 1:3, Remembering without ceasing
your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience
of hope in our LORD Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father. This could be called the Work of Faith, or you
could say the will to believe. The relationship between God and man should be
100% the will of God and 100% the will of man submitting unto the will of God.
Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. The strength of your
faith is partly determined by how much of your will is given towards believing
Gods Word. It takes an effort sometimes to cling to the promises of God. Gods
Word is true. How badly do you desire to believe those promises?
Who shall ascend into the hill of
the LORD? Or who shall stand in his holy place? Psalms 24:4 says, He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn
deceitfully. This verse explains for us what repentance is. Repentance
is not simply feeling guilty for what you have done. He that hath clean hands
and a pure heart is a penitent person. Hands symbolize what we do and the heart
symbolizes what we desire. If what you are doing is wrong, then change what you
do and start doing what is right. This is repentance. If what you desire in
your heart is wrong, then repent and start desiring the things of God in Christ
For a person to be saved from their sins, they
must repent of their sins and trust in Jesus. Make sure that when you repent,
your repentance is sincere repentance. Dont just say you repent and then
continue on doing the same things. But give an effort to not make the same
mistakes again. who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. Oddly enough the word lifted up here is elsewhere in the
Bible translated forgiven. Isaiah 33:24 says, And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell
therein shall be forgiven their iniquity. Forgiveness comes through repentance.
Man does the repenting, Christ does the forgiving. But sometimes even though
Christ wants so badly to forgive men, they simply refuse to repent of their
sins. It is important that you examine your own heart carefully and make sure
that you are not deceiving yourself but that you have true repentance. Jesus said in
Matthew 7:21, Not every one that saith unto me, LORD, LORD, shall enter into the kingdom of
heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Repentance is a change of mind. If you
are repentant, then what you are doing is admitting what you do is wrong and
that it should not be done, asking Christ to forgive you where you have failed,
and trying to rely upon the promises of God with the intention of doing what is
right in the future. It is possible to fail over and over again and make the
same mistake 1000 times. The important thing is that you always return to the
LORD with a heart of true repentance. The goal, of course, is to not sin in the
first place. Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? First John 1:9, If we
confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse
us from all unrighteousness.
Sometimes men fall into great
wickedness. Sin is like quicksand. And it will slowly pull you in deeper and
deeper until it seems impossible to escape. This is why Jesus said, ...Suffer
the little children to come unto me... (Mark 10:14). It is much easier for
a young person to be saved than an adult, because years of unrepentance
can be hard to escape from. However God can soften the hardest of hearts. The
riches of the grace of God cannot be measured. But we can know the riches of
his grace by turning to him for redemption and for forgiveness of our sins.
There is a difference between a lost
person being saved out of great wickedness and a saved person who has fallen
into great wickedness being renewed unto repentance. The difference has to do
with how much truth a person has received into their mind and heart and then
turned away from. It is much harder to repent, the harder your heart is and the
more truth you have rejected. Hebrews 6:4-6 says, For it is
impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly
gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word
of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew
them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God
afresh, and put him to an open shame.
There is a difference between a saved
person (someone who has trusted in Christ as their Savior but has become
shipwrecked in the faith) and someone who is an unsaved person (one who has
blasphemed the Holy Spirit, whose heart is so hardened that they have
completely rejected any and all truth, and who is completely in opposition to
the Gospel of Christ). It is better to be the saved person than the unsaved
person because a saved persons eternal destiny will be heaven instead of hell.
Shall we continue in sin that grace
may abound? God forbid. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, then you
especially should consider carefully the consequences of turning away from the
truth. First Timothy 1:18-20 says, This charge I commit unto thee, son
Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by
them mightiest war a good warfare; Holding faith, and a good conscience; which
some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck: Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan,
that they may learn not to blaspheme. Learn to repent of your sins and
confess them to Christ as soon as your conscience pricks you. Psalms 24:5, He shall
receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his
The result of repentance and
forgiveness is salvation. The blessing is righteousness. To be forgiven of sin
is the greatest blessing that anyone can receive. Sin causes suffering. Sin
ruins relationships. Sin destroys opportunity. Sin brings shame. Sin causes
destruction to society and to mans flesh. Sin destroys the soul and separates
man from God. In the end sin results in eternal damnation in the fires of hell.
What a horrible fate it is to become like the rich man in Jesus parable of the
rich man and Lazarus where one dies and is cast into hell and must suffer
forever in a state of repentance without finding forgiveness. To be forgiven of
sins is to be given salvation and eternal life and to be made clean and whole
from spiritual disease. There is no greater blessing than to be forgiven of
sins. So few people there are in this world who truly turn
from their sins to Jesus and who do not swear deceitfully.
He that hath clean hands shall receive
the blessing of the LORD. Ephesians 1:3, Blessed be
the God and Father of our LORD Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.
Psalms 24:6 says, This is the
generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face,
O Jacob. Selah. Today is the day of salvation. Do not put off tomorrow what you
can do today. In fact do not put off for one hour later what you can repent of
right now. In every generation God always has some who have faith in him. The
number may be few, but until the moment of the rapture when Christ takes His
believers from the earth this will be the generation of them that seek him.
Draw nigh to God, and He will draw
nigh to you. (James 4:8) This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face. To behold someone face to face is to
stand close to them, to be in their presence, and in a fellowship that is very
personal. True religion is a personal and an intimate relationship with God the
Father through Jesus Christ the Son. First John 3:2 Beloved, now
are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we
know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as
he is. This is the reason that a relationship with Christ is based on
grace through faith and not of works lest any man should boast. All our
righteousness is as filthy rags. But
Christ is Holy. Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God of Hosts. The whole earth is
full of His glory. When Moses asked God if He could see His glory, God said to
him in Exodus 33:20, And Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me,
Psalms 24:6 says, This is the
generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face,
O Jacob. Selah. These are the last days. The day is coming when we will no longer
walk by faith but by sight. In that day we shall see Him as he is; face to
face. His presence will not only be with us everywhere we go, but we shall see
Him as He is. Ephesians 1:3, Blessed be the God and
Father of our LORD Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ.
There is no greater blessing than to
be forgiven of your sins, to have eternal life, and to have intimate fellowship
with God. Just think of how wonderful it will be in heaven when we shall see
Him as He is. If you have not turned from your sins and turned to Jesus, do so today. This is the generation of them that
seek him. Are you part
of this generation?
Copyright; 2012 by Charles
F. (Rick) Creech
All Rights Reserved