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Jesus is not just the Savior FOR the world. He is the Savior OF the world, and that includes you!
God has loved, forgiven, accepted, redeemed, and embraced the whole wide world! They just don't all know it yet!
Grace Church believes that the heart of Christianity is that God's love and grace has forgiven the entire world through Christ. Through Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection, God has pronounced the whole world forgiven, redeemed, and accepted by God! Yet most don't know it! Many people think that God is angry and out to get them. Thousands of religious folks have the idea that God is looking down on them from heaven with judgment and condemnation. Such is not the case! You are forgiven and accepted by God, whether you know it or not!
Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, God Himself come to earth in human form; He came to show us the true image of God. God is love. He loves you. He loves the whole world! God is a God of love, grace, mercy, compassion, goodness, kindness, acceptance, and inclusion. He is not looking for ways to keep people out of His presence! He is desiring that everyone comes to know that His presence and love are for all! No one is excluded from the love and salvation of Jesus Christ!
The work of the Church is to share and demonstrate that good news in our world, by the power and life of God's love and Spirit! As people accept that they are accepted, everything in life changes for the better!
On this page, through the weeks to come, many Scriptures from the Christian New Testament that show the great truth that God has forgiven and redeemed the entire human race will be posted for study.
SCRIPTURES ON GOD'S UNIVERSAL LOVE AND GRACE....
"For to this end we toil and struggle, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe." I Timothy 4:10
"Therefore just as one man's trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man's act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all. For just as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous." Romans 5:18-19
"I do not judge anyone who hears my words and does not keep them, for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world." Jesus in John 12:47
"And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." John 12:32
"...Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world." I John 2:1a-2
"The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, "Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." John 1:29
"Now we believe because we have heard him ourselves...He is indeed the Savior of the world." John 4:41 NLT
"God did not send His Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it." John 3:17
"For he must remain in heaven untill the time for the final restoration of all things, as God promised long ago through his prophets." Acts 3:21
"For God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, no longer counting people's sins against them." II Corinthians 5:19
"So that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Philippians 2:10-11
1) If the whole world is loved and accepted by God, why do you preach Jesus and the Gospel?
The gospel of Jesus is good news. Christ told us in Mark 16:15 to share the good news with everyone everywhere. Our message is that you are forgiven and accepted by God because of Jesus. Even if you do not believe it, it does not change how God feels about you. BUT when you accept that you are accepted, and believe that God believes in you, the positive effects will transform every area of life! The world has heard so much negative stuff about God and Christ, they need to hear the truth! God is love and He loves you!
2) What do you believe about Jesus?
We believe that Jesus is the God of unconditional love and grace come to earth to show us what God was really like. We believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Savior of the world, the Son of the living God. Everything we should believe about God, we find expressed through Christ. He is the revelation that God is good, kind, merciful, gracious, not out to condemn or judge, but to bring good news of God's love and acceptance of everyone!
We believe that God has forgiven, accepted, and redeemed the whole world through Jesus. When Jesus died for you and rose again, God declared you forever forgiven. We believe that Jesus was the pure God of unconditional love come to earth to reveal to us the truth about God. Jesus reveals a God of forgiveness, grace, mercy, and compassion. Any image of God that does not line up with the unconditional love found in Christ is not correct. God is love. Nothing else is real!
3) Does Grace Church welcome people of differnt religions and lifestyles?
We are a Grace Church. Grace teaches that ALL people are loved and accepted by God. Christ's Church is a "whoseover will' Church. We welcome and include into our family of faith ALL who desire to know and experience God's unconditional love. This includes people from all faiths, all religions, all lifestyles, all classes, etc. There is no one who will be turned away or made to feel unacceptable by God at Grace. If He loves and accepts all people, so should His Church!
4) If God loves and accepts us all no matter what, does that mean we can live anyway we want and still go to heaven?
God loves everyone. Nothing you do good can make God love you any more. Nothing you do bad can make God love you any less. God is love. He cannot not love you. So in that sense, yes, God's love for you does not decrease, even if you make choices that are not good.
But, having said that, when you understand the love God has for you, when you see how good and wonderful Jesus and His love really is, that love will begin to bring your life more into harmony with God and His love. When you know that nothing you do can separate you from the love of God, this will increase your love for God. The more you love God, the more you know He loves you, then every area of your life will begin to reflect that love.
Love is the law for the Christian life. Christ told us that there was one great commandment. Love God with everything within you. This can only be done once you accept that God loves YOU with everything that is within Him! So while you are free to make any choice you wish about your life, the great love of God, when properly understood, is the greatest motivation to live in a positive and life giving way.
Our goal at Grace Church is to so present and reflect the reality of Jesus and His love that everyone desires to live a life of love that brings glory and praise to the God of grace! Growing in love and Christlikeness is a lifelong process. Our calling is not to condemn and judge anyone, but to uplift and encourage everyone in the good news of God's amazing grace!
My question is, why would anyone not want to follow and be like Jesus, once they see how good and loving He really is?
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The great truth that the whole world has been forgiven and accepted by God is as old as the Christian faith. Christ came bringing good news of God's love and salvation for all. Following are some great links to other sites that will help you in your study of this great good news. While we do not always agree with every statement on every site, there is a ton of good stuff here to learn from. More sites will be added, so check back often.
bravenet.com