What is the gospel?....Northern version |
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The Bible says it should be obvious that God created the heavens and the earth, but maybe, as I was, you're misled by the likes of Charles Darwin. So consider a digital camera... I could start with ore and chemicals to make metals and plastics; or, be generous enough to start with the metals and plastics themselves, but Ill be really generous. I'll start with digital camera parts. Let's take the parts, and put them in a container. Next, we'll shake the container. We can shake it gently or vigorously, add energy to the ingredients. Light energy, sound, radiation, heat, you name it. We can do all this in a gravity free environment, if you wish. Do this for 1000 years, and you'll not have a correctly assembled digital camera. This is just the hardware aspect, not the software. One might object by saying that this comparison jumps to a complex life form, not a single cell. But a single cell is very complex. It has been shown that some cells have little electric motors, which are used to propel them through liquids. Cells have systems for moving nourishments and wastes. These systems have storage areas, gatekeepers, and instructions for what goes where. Then there's also the complexity of how a cell replicates itself with DNA and RNA. Besides, moving the analogy back to the level of the single cell means starting with chemicals and ores. So, camera parts won't assemble themselves into a camera, neither will chemicals in a pool of water make a living cell, much less a man, a man that can build cameras, use them, write about them, or, hold the camera in one hand while drawing it with the other. This is the gospel, as I understand it:The amazing things around you were made by God. He has also revealed himself in the Bible. This is a collection of books containing prophecies that have come true. The biggest message of the bible shows up in many of its books. That message is that all people have sinned, and separated themselves from God. The only way to be reconciled to Him is by being born again. This is to count the cost of being a Christian, it's your whole life. It means quiting sin (which He will help you do), and having a new Christian life. You ask God to forgive you, believe that when Jesus died on the cross, he was paying the penalty for your sins. This believing part is really important; some people mistakingly think that believing God exists is good enough, but the devil believes that. Believing is faith, it's to trust that God will keep His promises. He promised that if you will trust that Jesus died in your place, and confess it with your mouth, you will be saved, saved from hell, the penalty of your sin. |
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