December 2008 Newsletter

Explanation by an eight year old!

THIS ONE IS FABULOUS!!!

It was written by an 8-year-old named Danny Dutton, who lives in Chula Vista, CA. He wrote it for his third grade homework assignment, to "explain God." I wonder if any of us could have done as well.

EXPLANATION OF GOD:
One of God's main jobs is making people. He makes them to replace the ones that die, so there will be enough people to take care of things on earth. He doesn't make grownups, just babies. I think because they are smaller and easier to make. That way he doesn't have to take up his valuable time teaching them to talk and walk. He can just leave that to mothers and fathers." God's second most important job is listening to prayers. An awful lot of this goes on, since some people, like preachers and things, pray at times beside bedtime. God does not have time t o listen to the radio or TV because of this. Because he hears everything, there must be a terrible lot of noise in his ears, unless he has thought of a way to turn it off." God sees everything and hears everything and is everywhere which keeps Him pretty busy. So you shouldn't go wasting his time by going over your mom and dad's head asking for something they said you couldn't have. “Atheists are people who don't believe in God; I don’t think there are any in Chula Vista. At least there are not any who come to our church. “Jesus is God's Son. He used to do all the hard work, like walking on water and performing miracles and trying to teach the people who didn't want to learn about God. They finally got tired of him preaching to them and they crucified him But he was good and kind, like his father, and he told his father that they didn't know what they were doing and to forgive them and God said O.K. "His dad (God) appreciated everything that he had done and all his hard work on earth so he told him he didn't have to go out on the road anymore. He could stay in heaven. So he did. And now he helps his dad out by listening to prayers and seeing things which are important for God to take care of and which ones he can take care of himself without having to bother God. Like a secretary, only more important. "You can pray anytime you want and they are sure to help you because they got it worked out so one of them is on duty all the time." You should always go to church on Sunday because it makes God happy, and if there's anybody you want to make happy, it's God!
Do not skip church to do something you think will be more fun like going to the beach. This is wrong. And besides the sun doesn't come out at the beach until noon anyway."If you don't believe in God, besides being an atheist, you will be very lonely, because your parents can't go everywhere with you, like to camp, but God can. It is good to know He's around you when you're scared, in the dark or when you can't swim and you get thrown into real deep water by big kids." But...you shouldn't just always think of what God can do for you. I figure God put me here and he can take me back anytime he pleases. And...That’s why I believe in God."








The Gospel
God had an immediate plan for redemption, which was revealed when He cursed the devil right after the fall. “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel” (Gen. 3:15). God said there would be a struggle between satanic forces and humanity. The offspring of the woman would begin with Cain and his natural descendants. Out of this offspring would come the Christ. Satan would cripple mankind (strike his heal), but Christ would deliver the fatal blow (crush Satan’s head). The offspring of the serpent would include his demons, and anyone who serves in the kingdom of darkness, those whose spiritual “father” is the devil (John 8:44).
In preparation for the coming of Christ, God established a conditional covenant (Exodus 19), which served as the basis for the Mosaic Law. The law was moral, ceremonial and civil and provided for a temporal means by which the fallen inhabitants of this world could relate to God and each other. However, the law was powerless to give life and therefore righteousness could not be based on the law (Gal. 3:21). See Breaking The Bondage of Legalism (Harvest House, 2003). The law was a tutor that would eventually lead us to Christ who is the only name given under heaven by which we can be saved (Gal. 3:24; Acts 4:12). Ezekiel prophesied what God was going to do in order to save his fallen people (Ezekiel 11:19,20):
I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God.
The gospel provides far more than the forgiveness of sins. Paul wrote, “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23). Jesus had to die on the cross in order for us to be forgiven, because, “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Heb. 9:22). But the cross represents only half the gospel. Because of Christ’s resurrection we have new life in Christ. Jesus came to give us life and put a new heart and a new spirit within us. When we are born-again spiritually, our soul/spirit is in union with God as it was for Adam in the original creation. This wonderful truth is most often conveyed in Scripture with the prepositional phrase, “In Christ,” or “In Him.”. After commissioning Timothy, Paul wrote, “He will remind you of my ways which are in Christ Jesus, just as I teach everywhere in every church” (1 Corinthians 4:17 emphasis added, NASB).
What Adam and Eve lost in the fall was life (spiritual life). What Jesus came to give us was life (John. 10:10). Eternal life is not something we get when we physically die. John writes, “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:12). If you don’t have eternal (spiritual) life before you physically die, all you would have to look forward to is hell. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even when he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die” (John 11:25,26). In other words, every born-again believer is spiritually alive and will continue to be so when they die physically. Jesus is the “Bread of life” (John 6:35), “The way the truth and the life” (John 14:6), and every Christian has their name written in the “Lamb’s book of life” (Revelation 13:8, emphasis added). By Neil Anderson
His Birthday (then): He gave up the best for us instead of receiving a GIFT!
His Purpose: : To demonstrate the highest extent of His love to bridge the divide between God and man.

His Birthday (now): What is the best we can give Him and give up for Him?
Our Purpose: : What is the purpose of our life?