Embracing the Transformative Power of Receiving Christ

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Imagine if you were asked to recount how you became a Christian. Would your story be one of gradual realization, or a moment of clarity where you tasted and saw that the Lord is good? The essence of receiving Christ is not about complicating the process but acknowledging who He is, why He came, and what He has done. [00:01:09]

Consider the story of Zacchaeus, who, upon encountering Jesus, came down from his tree and welcomed Him gladly. This act of immediate acceptance and joy is a model for us. We may not know everything, but we know enough to recognize our need for a Savior and the greatness of God's grace. [00:03:16]

The story of the Gospel is not clean up and he might accept you; the glory of the Gospel is accept him and watch him clean you up, and the clean cleanup operation is right here in this pudding off and in the pudding on. I testify in the Lord that you aren't to be walking in the way that you used to walk. [00:04:46]

The holy anger of God is disclosed from Heaven against the godlessness and evil of those men who render truth dumb and inoperative by their wickedness. It's not that they do not know the truth about God; indeed, he has made it quite plain to them. [00:06:10]

The trajectory of humanity when it rejects the truth of God, when it says no, there is no God, atheism is a choice. It is a decision: I refuse to believe in God. I took the baby in my arms and I refuse to accept the creative handiwork of God. [00:09:40]

The inevitability that flows from that is described in the second part of Romans 1 and also here, and you'll notice without I don't need to belabor it, but you will notice the elements that are involved in it: the trajectory. Look at if your Bible is open, look there what it says. [00:11:10]

The fool has said in his heart there is no God. He's not describing somebody who got 200 on their SATs. He's not describing somebody that doesn't have intellectual capacity. It is a statement concerning not the absence of intellectual acumen but an expression of ethical or moral revulsion to the truth of God. [00:12:22]

The wisdom of God, God has planned it in such a way that man through his wisdom will not know God, that there is no intellectual road to God, that you can't think yourself through to God. You can think every apologetic thought you like, but you will never bow your stubborn will down before almighty God. [00:13:27]

Today, if you hear his voice, don't harden your hearts because if you hear his voice, you may be sure it's his time, and now is the time, and now is the day of salvation. You see, Steph Hawking is a genius, but he's marked by the futility that is here. [00:20:30]

The plot has got into such a tangle that it's not a God, but it is the God, the Living God, the only God in the person of his son who has come to untangle the naed rigar roll of life lived outside of him. While Jesus came and stopped underneath Zacchaeus' tree. [00:21:09]

Jesus comes and stops at your seat and says, will you do what Zacchaeus did? Will you get out of your seat and welcome me gladly? Will you receive me to believe in me? [00:21:51]

The grace of God is what sets us apart. We are called to live differently, not returning to the futility of our former ways. The world may be filled with brilliant minds who deny God, but true wisdom is found in acknowledging our need for Him. [00:14:11]

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