DID GOD DIE FOR YOU?
Q. That’s a very unusual question. Why would it be necessary for God to die for me?
A. The reason for this is because the Bible tells us that due to mankind’s sin, all men are subject to death—the second death of eternal destruction:
And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
Genesis 2:16,17
For the wages of sin is death;…
Romans 6:23
In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
2 Thessalonians 1:8,9
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Revelation 20:14
And all people would die for their sin if it were not for God developing a plan of salvation in which He has determined to save some (not all) out of the human race, by taking their sins upon Himself and dying in their stead. He therefore becomes their substitute. Amazingly, the Gospel of the Bible declares that God took the sins of certain rebellious sinners and paid the penalty (from before the foundation of the world) equivalent to each one of them perishing forever:
…for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
Isaiah 53:8
And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Revelation 13:8
God (in the Person of Jesus Christ) experienced terrible shame and punishment for sin on behalf of certain elect individuals chosen by God to salvation. As a result of Christ’s substitutionary work, these elect people will never have to be eternally destroyed themselves. Christ’s atoning death completely satisfied the demands of the Law of God:
He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
Isaiah 53:11
Once the sin debt is paid in full, there is no longer any possibility that the people of God will have to answer to the Law of God for their sins. They are freed from the penalty of the law:
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Romans 8:1
Q. Well, I think it is an amazing idea to contemplate God “dying” for some people; but before that, I must admit that I do not even know if He exists. How can anyone really know if God exists?
A. Some men do make the claim that there is no God; or, that they are not sure if He exists. However, the existence of God does not rely on man’s opinion at all. The Bible states as an undeniable fact that God is absolutely real:
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Genesis 1:1
The world around us is continually testifying to the fact that there was (and is) a Creator who made and sustains all things. Nature is loudly proclaiming to each one of us that there was a Master designer behind it all:
The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.
Psalm 19:1-3
You see, deep down within, each human being knows there is a God; and they also know that they are in trouble with this God:
Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.
Romans 1:19,20
Q. I have to agree with you that as I have seen beautiful flowers and wonderful creatures, I also have thought from time to time that a god must have made all this; but often, I puzzle over the question, “Which god?” Many religions claim their god is true. Which god is correct?
A. You have asked an excellent question. The world is full of religions and their particular gods, and many of their ideas about the nature of God conflict. But the Bible does teach us that we can know with certainty the One and only true God:
I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: that they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I Am the LORD, and there is none else.
Isaiah 45:5,6
Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save... And there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. Look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.
Isaiah 45:20-22
The Bible declares that Jesus Christ is this only possible Saviour:
…by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,… Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
Acts 4:10,12
Q. Are you saying that Jesus is God?
A. Yes! The Bible clearly teaches that Jesus is the God of the Bible, manifested in the flesh:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh , and dwelt among us,…
John 1:1,14
Q. But isn’t Jesus called the “Son of God”? And if he is a son, then there must be a father. How many gods are there?
A. Yes, it is true that Jesus is called the “Son of God”. However, the Bible unquestionably declares that Jesus is eternal God. The Bible also teaches that the Father is the eternal God. The truth is that the Person of God is too complex for us mere men (since we are creatures of limited intelligence) to try to figure out:
But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever:
Hebrews 1:8
God reveals Himself as three Persons, yet He insists that He is only One God:
For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
1 John 5:7
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD.
Deuteronomy 6:4
Q. You seem to refer to and quote the Bible a lot for what you say, but I’ve heard that the Bible is just a very old book written by men?
A. It is true that the Bible is an ancient book, but it is absolutely not the word of men. God moved prophets to write down words directly from His own mouth. In this way, God utilized these men as scribes to record His communication to mankind:
Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
2 Peter 1:20,21
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
2 Timothy 3:16
Thus, the whole Bible is the Word of God. Every Word of God is pure and holy and can be trusted entirely. The Bible is the ultimate and final authority in all that it declares.
Q. To tell you the truth, I really do not understand—since I am not that bad of a person—why it would be necessary for God to die for me?
A. The terrible reality is that all men have fallen into sin and have broken the Law of God. You see, according to God’s Lawbook the Bible, all men are desperately bad and wicked:
They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Romans 3:12
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
Jeremiah 17:9
God is perfect, just, and holy—He demands absolute obedience to all of His commandments. Failure to obey even one is enough to bring upon us His awful wrath:
For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
James 2:10
If we are honest with ourselves, we must admit that we (along with every other person) have sinned:
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
1 John 1:8
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Romans 3:23
…the soul that sinneth, it shall die.
Ezekiel 18:4
As we saw earlier, the Biblical principle is that the penalty for sin is death; and the death that God has in view is the second death of being eternally destroyed in the lake of fire.
Q. Do you really think that God will destroy people in the lake of fire?
A. Yes. Sin is extremely offensive to God. Sin is so ugly to the infinitely holy God that He must eternally destroy those who disobey His Laws:
And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
Revelation 20:15
For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
Malachi 4:1
Q. Are you saying that a person given the sentence of Hell will be destroyed and cease to exist forever?
A. Horribly, we must say that the answer is yes! The Bible teaches that God’s judgment process will include destroying this world and mankind along with it. Man will be completely obliterated by the wrath of the Almighty God:
But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the LORD shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away.
Psalm 37:20
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
2 Peter 3:10
Q. The way you talk about God is alarming. I thought Christians believed in a kind and gentle God who loved everyone. Is God as frightful as you describe?
A. God is loving and merciful; but He is also holy and just and holds men created in His image accountable for their transgressions against His Law. True Bible believers desire to warn others, because God indeed is to be feared:
Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men;…
2 Corinthians 5:11
God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies.
Nahum 1:2
For our God is a consuming fire.
Hebrews 12:29
Fear ye not me? saith the LORD: will ye not tremble at my presence,…
Jeremiah 5:22
The idea of a smiling, docile Jesus, happy with all people, is presented by many churches today. But that idea is totally false. Jesus Christ is angry with the sins of mankind and it is He who will condemn the ungodly and bring to pass the final judgment of an everlasting destruction:
…God is angry with the wicked every day.
Psalm 7:11
And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Matthew 10:28
Q. I know that from the sound of it, I would very much like to avoid the penalty of Hell. What do I have to do to not perish forever?
A. You must understand that mankind’s situation is not good. Because of our sin, we cannot respond sufficiently to the Gospel call to repent and believe. We are spiritually dead and therefore incapable of performing any work that could bring us salvation:
And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins:
Ephesians 2:1
…for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
Galatians 2:16
Actually, the Bible indicates that salvation is completely impossible for men to obtain by their own doing. Only God can save a sinner:
When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.
Matthew 19:25,26
Q. Are you saying I am going to perish regardless of what I do. Is there no hope?
A. Yes there is hope. The hope rests in God. He must do all the work in the matter of saving you:
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.
John 3:16
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: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
John 1:12,13
Q. I don’t think that I understand very well how God saves people. Who are those that He has mercy on? And how can I be one that receives this mercy?
A. God developed a salvation plan according to election. He chose one here and one there, solely based upon His own good pleasure. It is not man’s good works that save him, but it is the completed work of the Lord Jesus Christ that saves him:
According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
Ephesians 1:4,5
Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you,…
John 15:16
(For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
Romans 9:11,13
Q. How do I know if God has chosen me to be saved?
A. You may be one of God’s chosen (elect) people or you may not—only God knows those He intends to save; therefore we have to leave the question of “election” completely to the sovereign will of God. We may, however, go to Him in prayer. God does permit us to approach Him humbly (acknowledging our sins and our condition of being under His wrath) in order that we may enter a plea for pardon:
And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
Luke 18:13
Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
Hebrews 4:16
Sinners should be encouraged by the Person of God. He is a God of mercy. Crying for mercy is a privilege that God allows us. Just as a rebel condemned to die, we may beseech the glorious King of Heaven for a pardon for our sins (only for Christ’s sake):
…he retaineth not his anger forever, because he delighteth in mercy.
Micah 7:18
And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, thou son of David, have mercy on me.
Mark 10:47,48
Jesus heard the blind beggar’s pleas for mercy and gave him his physical sight. This lets us know that Christ is most compassionate and merciful towards sinners.
Q. Will crying for mercy then save me from destruction?
A. We have to be careful. There is no formula to obtain salvation. It is in His hands entirely:
For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
Romans 9:15
Q. I think I will go to God and ask Him for mercy. How long do you think it will be before God answers me?
A. We cannot set any time limit upon God, my friend. God will save an individual (if it is His good pleasure to do so) in His own time and manner:
I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.
Psalm 130:5
It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.
Lamentations 3:26
Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the LORD our God, until that he have mercy upon us.
Psalm 123:2
We must wait upon God to do the work of salvation. However, as you wait on the Lord to save you, be aware that salvation is an urgent matter. This is because none of us know the day of our death. Our days may be very few. Also, many true believers are learning from the Bible that the time has grown extremely short for the return of the Lord Jesus Christ and the destruction of this world.
Q. Do you think the world will end very soon?
A. Yes! We will see the Lord’s return on May 21st, 2011 and the end of the world itself on October 21st 2011:*
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-18
And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, …that there should be time no longer.
Revelation 10:5,6
Q. Can it really be that there is so little time left?
A. You are correct that there is not much time left for man to live in this world. But be encouraged that it does not take God much time at all to save a sinner, we see this most especially as Jesus saved the thief on the cross right before our eyes:
And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.
Luke 23:42,43
Q. Should I find a Christian church and begin attending services while I wait for God to save me?
A. Absolutely not! God is finished with the churches and congregations of the world because the age of the church has come to an end. We are living at a time of great tribulation when God’s judgment is upon all denominations—whether Catholic or Protestant—all churches everywhere in the world are under the judgment of God for their failure to obey God’s Word:
For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God:…
1 Peter 4:17
In fact, God is commanding all Christians everywhere to come out of the churches:
When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
Matthew 24:15,16
God is not saving anyone within the churches today. So the last place a Christian would want to be today is in a church. But He is saving a great number of people outside of the churches during our day:
After this I beheld, and lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people,… …These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Revelation 7:9,14
Q. If I do not go to a Christian church, then how can I find salvation?
A. It is through the Bible that God works out His salvation. Therefore we want to be reading the Bible as much as possible. He saves individuals by the hearing of the Word of God:
It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
John 6:63
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Romans 10:17
O how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day.
Psalm 119:97
It is through the reading of the Bible that we can come to know if God has indeed died for our sins. May God use the Scripture found in this pamphlet to richly bless you with His salvation.
*For more information on the rapture of the elect people of God in May 2011, and the final destruction of this world in October, 2011, please contact us by one of the ways listed below:
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DGDFY-2008.10.23-web