All men have been separated from God because of Adam’s disobedience. ( Romans 5:14, 1Cor 15:21)
God put a rescue plan into effect immediately and to make it plain established an earthly pattern of it in the Old Testament. The Bible is the inerrant history of the Creation, the Flood and God’s revelation of Himself to mankind in words. (Heb 4:12, Eph 6:17)
The Law of Moses was designed to show man his true state and to point him back to God. Jesus Christ’s character and purpose are revealed in the Old Testament through the examples of Jacob, Joseph, Daniel and Moses. Israel was a type of fallen man. By their own efforts they could not remain reconciled to God. Only by repentance and following God by strict observance of His laws could they be blessed. (Hebrews 8:5, Psalms 32:5, Lev 26:40-42)
Jesus Christ surrendered His rights as Creator of all things in order to implement the rescue plan and become a human being, born of woman and the Holy Spirit. He lived in the form of man at just the right time, when God, through the Roman Empire, had prepared the peoples of the known world with a common language as well as roads and highways that were to enable the spread of the Gospel. (Romans 5:6, Phil 2:8))
Being tempted in every way that fallen man is, yet without any sin Himself, He willingly allowed Himself to be debased, treated shamefully, mocked, tortured and bloodied, and then suffered a horribly painful death at the hands of those He came to rescue. As promised, He arose from the dead after three days and nights, and appeared to hundreds of people alive from the dead to prove that He had power over sin and Death. He then imparted to these disciples His Holy Spirit and the promise that He would be with them always and empower them through His Spirit. (Heb 4:15, Matt 28:2-10, Luke 24, Mark 16, John 20)
These followers, being simple and unlearned men, turned the world upside down with the news of this Rescue Plan. They believed what they preached and all but one of the twelve apostles died a martyr’s death for the very thing they preached to others. (Acts 2, 8, 10 )
It is commanded by God that men everywhere should believe this Good News, repent of their rebellion against their creator, and be baptized into the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit by water immersion, having been baptized into His spiritual body, the true Church by confessing Him as the Son of God, Savior of all mankind. (Matt 28:18-20, Mark 15:15-16, Luke 24: 46-51, John 20:29)
All who have taken the name of Christ as their Lord are empowered and given the desire to live righteously and to love others as God does. Love is the defining attribute of a true believer. Any who claim the name of Christian and do not try to love every person as Christ did are not His! (Gen 17:1, Psalms 101:2, Phil 1:10, 1 Tim 6:3, 2 Peter 3:11)
As believers, we are possessors of the great hope of immortality through Christ Jesus, which will be our reward for continued faith in Christ and perseverance in doing good to all people. This immortality will be our portion at the Last Day, the Day of the Lord, which will occur in a visible fashion with a shout from the Archangel and a trumpet blast. Time will end and so will this present world at Christ’s appearing, which will be observed by every living being. (Matt 24:30-31, John 5:28-29, 1 Thess 4:16, Heb 9:28)
Only those who are truly in Christ will receive immortality. All people will be judged at this time, including all the dead and the living, at the Great White Throne Judgment. Only those found written in the Lamb’s Book of Life will continue on into the new Heaven and new Earth. All those who are found faithless and unbelieving in their wickedness will be destroyed forever. (Matt 10:28, Romans 2:6-7, 2 Tim 1:10)
Prodigal's Knots - Untied? 
Posted by memnan on September 29, 2008 at 6:58 pm
“Any who claim the name of Christian and do not love every person as Christ did are not His!”
Ouch! Still trying on this one…
Posted by ProdigalKnot on October 10, 2008 at 8:31 am
Me, too! But what matters is that we know and are trying to do the will of God. If we care, then we love, even if it is imperfectly!
Posted by Dr. James Galyon on December 11, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Amen!