Enjoying Life Under the Sun

Christ's ascension into Heaven is also to my advantage because from there He lives and rules for my advantage.  First, He is my Advocate in heaven before His Father. For the Bible Tells Me So... Romans 8:34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.  1 John 2:1 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. Second, I have my flesh in heaven as a sure pledge that He, my Head, will also take me, His member, up to Himself. For the Bible Tells Me So... John 14:2 “In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.”  John 17:24 “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundati...

Q. Is Christ, then, not with me until the end of the world, as He has promised me?   Christ is true man and true God.  With respect to His human nature He is no longer on earth   but with respect to His divinity, majesty, grace, and Spirit He is never absent from me. For the Bible Tells Me So... Matthew 28:20 “…teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.  Matthew 26:11 “For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always.  John 16:28 “I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father.”  John 17:11 “Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.”  Acts 3:19-21  “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshin...

Q. What do you confess when you say, He ascended into heaven?  That Christ, before the eyes of His disciples, was taken up from the earth into heaven, and that He is there for my benefit until He comes again to judge the living and the dead. For the Bible Tells Me So... Mark 16:19 So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.  Luke 24:50,51  And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them.  Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven.  Acts 1:9-11  Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.  And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel,  who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you i...

Q. How does Christ’s resurrection benefit me?  First,  by His resurrection He has overcome death, so that He could make me share in the righteousness which He had obtained for me by His death. For the Bible Tells Me So... Romans 4:25…who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.  1 Corinthians 15:16-20  For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen.  And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!  Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.  If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.  But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.  1 Peter 1:3-5  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,  to...

Q. Why did Christ descend into hell - the state of death, the grave?  A. In my greatest sorrows and temptations I may be assured and comforted that my Lord Jesus Christ, by His unspeakable anguish, pain, terror, and agony, which He endured throughout all His sufferings...  For the Bible Tells Me So... Psalm 18:5,6  The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me; the snares of death confronted me.  In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, and my cry came before Him, even to His ears.  Psalm 116:3 The pains of death surrounded me, and the pangs of Sheol laid hold of me; I found trouble and sorrow.  Matthew 26:36-46  Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.”  And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.  Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrow...

Q. Since Christ has died for me, why do I still have to die?  A. My death is not a payment for my sins, but it puts an end to sin and is an entrance into eternal life. For the Bible Tells Me So... John 5:24 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life….  Philippians 1:21-23  For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.  But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell.  For I am hard pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.  1 Thessalonians 5:9,10  For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,  who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. Q. What further benefit do I receive from Christ’s sacrifice and death on the cross? ...

Q. Why was it necessary for Christ to humble Himself even unto death?  A. Because of the justice and truth of God For the Bible Tells Me So... Genesis 2:17 “…but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” ...satisfaction for our sins could be made in no other way than by the death of the Son of God. For the Bible Tells Me So... Romans 8:3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh,  Philippians 2:8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.  Hebrews 2:9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.  Hebrews 2:14,15  Inasmuch the...

Q. Why did He suffer under Pontius Pilate as judge?  A. Though innocent, Christ was condemned by an earthly judge, For the Bible Tells Me So... Luke 23:13-24  John 19:4, 12-16  Pilate then went out again, and said to them, “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, that you may know that I find no fault in Him.” … From then on Pilate sought to release Him, but the Jews cried out, saying, “If you let this Man go, you are not Caesar’s friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar.”  When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha.  Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, “Behold your King!”  But they cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!”  Then he deliver...

Q. What do you confess when you say that He suffered?  A. During all the time He lived on earth, but especially at the end, Christ bore in body and soul the wrath of God against the sin of the whole human race. For the Bible Tells Me So... Isaiah 53  1 Timothy 2:6 …who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.  1 Peter 2:24 …who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness; by whose stripes you were healed.  1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit. Thus, by His suffering, as the only atoning sacrifice, For the Bible Tells Me So... Romans 3:25 …whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed.  1 Corinthians 5:7 ...

Q. What benefit do you receive from the holy conception and birth of Christ?  A. He is my Mediator,  For the Bible Tells Me So... 1 Timothy 2:5,6  For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,  who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time…. Hebrews 9:13-15  For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?  And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. and with His innocence and perfect holiness covers, in the sight of God, my sin, in which I was conceived and born. For the Bible T...

Q. What do you confess when you say: He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary?  A. The eternal Son of God, Who is and remains true and eternal God,  For the Bible Tells Me So... John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  John 10:30-36  “I and My Father are one.”  Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.  Jesus answered them, “Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?”  The Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.”  Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods”?  “If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken),  “do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?  Roma...

Why do I call Him my Lord? Because He has ransomed me, body and soul, from all my sins, not with silver or gold but with His precious blood, and has freed me from all the power of the devil to make me His own possession. For the Bible Tells Me So... 1 Corinthians 6:20  For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. 1 Timothy 2:5-6 For, there is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity - the man Christ Jesus. He gave His life to purchase freedom for everyone. 1 Peter 1:18-19 For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors.  And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. Colossians 1:13-14 For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son,  who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins. Hebrews 2:14-...

Q. Why is He called God’s only‑begotten Son,   Since I am also a child of God?  Because Christ alone   is the eternal, natural Son of God. For the Bible Tells Me So... John 1:1-3  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.  John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.  John 1:18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.  John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”  Romans 8:32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all thin...

Why am I called a Christian? Because I am a member of Christ by faith and thus share in His anointing, 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ, For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body; whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free; and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. Joel 2:28  And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. (cf. Acts 2:17 where it is quoted in reference to Christ) 1 John 2:27. But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him. So that I may as prophet confess His name, as priest present ...

Why is he called Christ, meaning "Anointed"?  Because he has been ordained by God the Father, and anointed with the Holy Spirit, to be my chief Prophet and Teacher, who has fully revealed to me the secret counsel and will of God concerning my redemption; For the Bible Tells Me So... Psalm 45:7  You love righteousness and hate wickedness; Therefore God, your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions. (cf Hebrews 1:9 where it is quoted in reference to the Son) Isaiah 61:1 "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound..." (cf Acts 3:22 where it is quoted in reference to Christ) Luke 3:21-22 When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, a...

Q. Why is the Son of God called Jesus, that is, Savior?  A. Because He saves me from all my sins, For the Bible Tells Me So... Matthew 1:21 “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.”  Hebrews 7:25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. and because salvation is not to be sought or found in anyone else. For the Bible Tells Me So... Isaiah 43:11 I, even I, am the Lord, and besides Me there is no savior.  John 15:4,5  “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.  I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”  Acts 4:11,12  “This is the stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone...

What does it benefit me to know that God has created all things and still upholds them by His providence? A.  I can be patient in adversity, For the Bible Tells Me So... Job 1:21,22  And he said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”  In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong.  Psalm 39:10 Remove Your plague from me; I am consumed by the blow of Your hand.  James 1:3 …knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. Thankful in prosperity, For the Bible Tells Me So... Deuteronomy 8:10 When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land which He has given you.  1 Thessalonians 5:18 ...in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. and with a view to the future I can have a firm confidence in my faithful God and Father that no creature shall separate me from Hi...