Four Undisputable Facts

I will take my text from Isaiah 55:6-7 which says, “Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”

When God created this world in which we live, he put into motion undisputable laws, that still govern it to this day. He declared, for instance, in Genesis 8:22, “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” Many of us have lived a long time and would have to testify to the truth of that statement. The seasons roll around each year, and this lends itself favorably to those creating ‘Farmers Almanacs’ and ‘Yearly Event Planners,’ made by those working in the Chamber of Commerce buildings in our towns, school teachers or church leaders.

We give testimony to these laws each morning when the sun rises in the East and sets in the West. This can be anticipated each morning without fail. Though every year ‘s harvest may not be as fruitful as others, depending on specific weather events, or the seed that was planted that year, harvesttime will roll around, and the cycle will begin again. We all learned about these laws in Elementary school because they have been undisputable since the beginning of time. The simplicity of the water cycle being explained is one such law of nature that always stuck out to me as a child, because of the drawings showing the water on the ground, the evaporation process, and then how it returns to the earth in the form of rain. Quite ingenious, from the mind of our Creator.

As is true in the physical world, these same laws exist in the spiritual realm. The two worlds run in tandem. There are laws of the spirit that have been established that are also undisputable. We will discuss four of these here briefly. I say briefly, because the word of God is so vast that there would be no way to cover it all in one session. Just to throw this into the mix for free. Going to church on a weekly basis is not meant to be your only source of spiritual ‘food’ for the week. Do any of us just eat once a week physically, no, though that might not hurt us for a couple of weeks. Sermons and lessons are just like going to a restaurant to sit down and have an already prepared meal set before you to enjoy, glean nutrients from, and enjoy the ambiance of the setting along with the fellowship around the table. You must then prepare the remainder of your meals at home for yourself and your family to enjoy and be nourished by.

The first undisputable fact is, “God loves you, and offers a wonderful plan for your life.”  The scriptures substantiate that statement wholeheartedly. Starting with a familiar one found in John 3:16-17 which says, “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. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” Jesus again stated in John10:10, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy, I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” These are undeniable, affirmative statements, and promises toward us. It is unfortunate that not everyone is experiencing this abundant life. There are those who claim to be Christians who are not wholeheartedly given to it, because they are living below the privilege they have as a child of the King. They have not yet accepted this first undisputable fact. Others have yet to come to the Lord to experience Him and are still caught in the cycle of the second undisputable fact.

The second undisputable fact is, “Man is sinful and separated from God, thus he cannot know and experience God’s love and receive His plan for their life.” This is not a fancy line I came up with to make a sermon out of my several compiled notes, but we find the sinfulness of man spoken of in scripture as well. Though not as popular as the first fact, we must acknowledge it to find out how to become a benefactor of the love of God and His plan for us. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” This is a direct statement, the place where we all initially find ourselves.

God created humankind because He desired to have personal fellowship with them. This worked for a time, however, when man decided to go their own way as the song written by Paul Anka for Frank Sinatra in 1968, “I did it My Way”, things changed. Their disobedience to his command broke their fellowship with Him. They forgot their place. Just because the Creator wants a relationship with us, does not change the fact that He is the Creator. Therefore, this spiritual law and undisputable fact began with the first man and woman and was thus passed down to all their seed after them. Has anyone heard of DNA? We know that physically we inherit certain traits and genes from our biological parents, however, spiritually we have inherited sin from our forefather Adam as well.

To paint the picture, when man rebelled against God, by disobeying his command, which was not an extensive list of ‘dos and don’ts,’ because only one directive was given, it was sin. The dictionary definition of sin is, “an offense against religious or moral law, a transgression of the law of God, a vitiated state of human nature in which the self is estranged from God.”  It is not a mystery what sin is, it is simply disobeying what God has told us to do. This is the spiritual DNA we have been born with. Because of this degenerate nature we have been born with, we too begin to act like Adam and Eve. We want to do things our way. We can see this even in exceedingly small children who are defiant to our directives as parents. They must be disciplined repeatedly to get the message across that we are serious. Then as adults, we have no regard for the laws of God, we do not care about having a relationship with Him, and this perpetuates the separation from Him.

Though they were created in innocence, the moment they decided to do things their own way, innocence was lost forever, and sin and shame was then the order of the day. Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death…” This death spoken of is the spiritual death, which is our separation from God. Simply put, if we work on our job, we earn a wage from our employer, if we sin, which is disobeying God, we will receive the wage of death, aka separation from Him. The nature of God, contrary to ours, is Holy, and therefore, cannot have fellowship with sin. This is an immutable law.

We are all born with a void that only God can fill; however, those who do desire to have a relationship with God, try to bridge the gap to Him through their own efforts. Examples of this are: Trying to live a good life, being kind to others, maintaining a religious persona and rituals, helping the poor, and doing acts of community service; but these cannot satisfy the demands of reparations by the Almighty, Holy God. Yet, this does not mean that we are without hope. If so, then the first disputable fact of God loving us, would then be disputable. Because of his love, he has made a way for us to come back into fellowship with Him. He has given us the answer; which we will cover in the third disputable fact; notwithstanding, because of the nature of sin, people still try to continue to ‘do things their own way’ thinking it will work. Let me set the record straight once and for all, you cannot come to the Lord by your efforts alone, doing things your way. It will never work. So let us continue to the third point.

The third undisputable fact is, “Jesus Christ is the only way that man can reach God.” Though this was Plan B, with Plan A of course being that mankind would not have sinned to begin with. They would then have lived a blissful life for eternity, without having to navigate through the muck and mire of sin as we have. Coming to Jesus is the only thing that will eradicate our sinful nature and make us new creatures once again. Let us take a closer look at what Plan B looks like.

As soon as mankind disobeyed in the garden, God knew what He had to do. He loves us so much that repairing the relationship with us was not an option. It was not a matter of if, but when. The timing had to be right. His decision was to come to earth and robe himself in flesh as he had given us, walk through this life as we had to, pay the price or wages, which was death, for us, and rise again, so that we too could have everlasting life. He accomplished just that. He sent an angel to let Mary know specifically, that His name would be called Jesus. Why? Don’t parents get to choose their children’s names? Yes, however, He wanted to convey a message through the meaning of that name. It means ‘Jehovah has become my Salvation.’ Another passage states that he would be known as Emmanuel, which means, “God with us.” Remember as you walk through this life, God has everything under control, he specializes in the details, and nothing escapes His watchful eye.

Note that he died and rose again. Only dying would have paid the price for past sins but would not have given us hope of a resurrection ourselves when the end of time comes. Acts 1:3 states of Jesus, “He shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.” And 1 Peter 3:18 says, “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.” The good news of the Gospel is the death, burial, AND resurrection. Here again we see the details, because this good news of the gospel directly correlates with the new birth experience.

In John 14:6 we read, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”  God came in flesh, as the man Christ Jesus so he could by his flesh and humanity, built a bridge for us to get back into fellowship with Him. An ingenious plan, by the Creator once again. It is not something we can earn. The blueprints to Plan B have been offered to us freely, as a gift. We know that we do not pay for gifts, by the very definition of the word gift, which means to give freely without expectation of payment. Paul tells us in the second half of Romans 6:23 “…but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” And in Romans 3:24-26, “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.”

So, as we see God made Plan B, and executed it by coming to earth to save us. To reiterate the nutshell version is that he did this by taking on flesh, as the man Christ Jesus. Lived a sinless life on this earth, died on the cross, shedding innocent blood, in our place, descended into hell, taking back the keys of hell and the grave that Satan had stolen, was buried in a borrowed tomb, rose again on the third day, ascended into heaven, and is now preparing a place for us for the time when we can be permanently reunited with Him. This brings us to the fourth undisputable fact that will make this not just hope, but a reality, for everyone who takes advantage of the offer that has been extended to us by our wonderful Creator.

Last, but not least, the fourth undisputable fact is, “We must each have a personal experience with Christ by applying this good news to our lives individually.” Once we begin to establish this, we can begin to experience God’s love more fully in our lives, and then his plan and will for our lives will begin to be made known to us. This all begins with faith. Ephesians 2:8-9 states, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” John 1:11-14 says, “He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 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. 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.”

To experience the transformation of our lives and Christ living in us, we simply must obey His Word. Ironically enough, that was all that God required of Adam and Eve as well. Let us not fall into the trap of the deception of Satan as they did. He caused them to doubt the word of God first, which led them to disobedience. Let me tell you briefly the steps that you need to take toward the Lord. To restore your personal relationship with Him.

Firstly, as mentioned, you must have faith in God. Hebrews 11:6 tells us, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”  We must then give Him an invitation to come and dwell within us. God is a gentleman and will not force himself upon us outside of our own free will that he has given us. Jesus said in Revelation 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”

We read in John 3:5, “Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” And Acts 2:38 says, “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”  Both scriptures are directives, however, one was the description of what would happen once we obey, as in being ‘born again,’ becoming a new creature, and the other was the directions of how to accomplish this. Therefore, we see that the first thing that is essential is repentance. We must be prepared to not only say we are sorry but be willing to ‘turn from our evil ways.’ We must make a direct U-turn and go the opposite direction in our lives, following His direction, rather than ‘going our own way.’  

Next, we must be baptized in the name of Jesus. By doing so, we are having the blood of Jesus applied to our lives, covering the sinful nature we were born with, the sins we have already committed, and those we may commit in our future. We do not have to continually be baptized through our lives, though we know we will make mistakes, we only need to come back to him in repentance pleading the blood that has already covered us. Afterall, you we do not have to be reborn continually. As there is one physical birth, there is one spiritual birth. Through baptism we are also being buried with him, which is a component of the gospel, the ‘good news,’ which is his death, burial, and resurrection. When we are baptized in his name, we are also becoming the Bride of Christ by taking on the name. God did not leave any detail out. His Plan B was by no means inferior to Plan A. Though it is elaborate and intricate, He has made it simple for us to partake in and fulfill, so everyone can be saved. 2 Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

Lastly, in the born again equation, we must surrender our lives to Him and give him our hearts, and he will fill us with his Spirit. This is known as the Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost, because God is a Spirit and He is Holy. He cannot dwell within us in physical form. We know this is impossible, because of the laws of nature He created and set into motion at the creation of the world. We can also refer to Him as the Comforter. Jesus said in John 14:16-18, “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it sees him not, neither knows him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.”  

His very presence and essence can live within us. According to scripture we can know when this happens because we will begin to speak in a language we have never learned, worshipping and praising God. This is a sign for us to know that something supernatural has happened. Supernatural, meaning that God supersedes or defies the natural laws that He put into place at creation, also known to us as a miracle. His Spirit living with us will lead and guide us into all truth and give us the power to live a holy and pure life before Him and others. How miraculous a changed life is!

So, in conclusion we see that if we are willing to acknowledge these four undisputable facts, we will be able to restore a relationship with God, which has rightfully been ours from the beginning of time. This will also afford us a life with him not only now but throughout eternity.