by Rev. Jack Barr

Mr. Barr;

Could you ponder upon how you would describe the "Main Message Of The Bible' which obviously will involve several seperate topics while setting forth Gods coammands that Salvation can and will be lost through disobedience of His word.

(snip)

If you can help me on this request of of assistance in this explanation I would really, really appreciate this.

Thank you very much.

xxxxxxxx

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Hi xxxxx,

Here is the answer which my Lord God has given me in answer to your question.

What is the main message of the Bible?

The Main Message of the Bible is that Man is Special!! And God wants Man to be with Him.

Of all the creatures created by God, man is very special. Unique among all the creatures created by God.

1. Man is made in God's Image. (Gen. 1:26)
2. God has a desire to have fellowship with man, not a need, but a desire. (Gen. 3:8-9)
3. Man will sit in the throne with Jesus Christ. (Rev. 3:21)
4. Man will be Priests. ( 1Pe. 2:5,9; Rev. 1:6, 5:10, 20:6)
5. Man will be Rulers. (Rev. 5:10, 20:6)
6. Man will worship God by choice, and not by design, as are all other creatures created by God. (Deut. 26:17, 30:19; 1Ki. 18:21; Josh. 24:15) (The only other creature who has been given a choice, are the Angels. )
7. Man is the only creature who has been granted the right to Repent for our sins against God. (Isa. 65:2; Ezek. 18:21-22, 27-28; 33:19)
8. Man will be placed directly between God and the Angels. Man will judge the Angels. (1Cor. 6:3)

Choice

Only two creatures were given the choice of worshipping, serving, and obeying God, or the choice of refusing to worship, serve, or obey God.

The Angels were given this choice, but those who chose to refuse the worship of God, who chose to refuse to serve or obey God, were never given the right to turn back from that choice. Once they chose to not worship, serve, and obey God, there was no returning, no turning back, the choice once made was final. (2Pe 2:4; Jude 6)

Man, on the other hand, was not only given a choice to worship, serve, and obey God, or to not worship, serve, and obey God, as we choose, was also given the Greatest Gift of all. Man was given the right, and privilege, of repenting, and to return to God after turning away from Him, Of all the billions upon billions of creatures created by God, It is only Man who has been given this gift of repenting of our sins against God. (Isa. 65:2; Ezek. 18:21-22, 27-28; 33:19)

Faith

The Angels have all stood before God, and has seen God in all of His Glory. So the Angels know exactly what they were turning away from, when they rebelled against God.

But Man, who spoke with, and walked with God in the Garden of Eden, has never again been allowed to see God in His Glory, since Adam sinned against God in the Garden of Eden. Man must accept, serve and obey God on Faith. The Faith that God does exist, and that God desires us to be close to Him. The Faith that God has given us His Word, in writing, telling us How to worship Him, and how to behave on this Earth. The Faith to believe that God sent His Word (himself) to this Earth in human form (Jesus Christ) in order to lead Man back to the fellowship with Himself that He desires. The Faith to believe that Jesus Christ did pay the price for our sins when he died on the cross. The Faith to believe that Jesus did rise from the dead on the third day, and now is sitting at the right hand of God the Father in a place we know of as Heaven. The Faith to believe all that God has told us, of the gifts, and glory, that God will bestow on all those men who have chosen to Worship, Serve, and Obey Him. (Ro. 1:17, 3:22; 2Cor. 5:7; Gal. 3:27; Heb. 10:28)

Faith is believing Every Word that God has given us. Faith is believing every Promise that God has made to man throughout the history of man since the beginning.

The Promises and Commands

And that leads us to the promises God made to man, and tied to the promises, are the Commands which God has given to man.

God started out in the Garden of Eden telling man, Obey Me, OR ELSE!! --- Do not eat of this tree --- If you do, you Will die!! A simple test of obedience. Yet, God wishes us to obey and worship Him willingly, because we want to, because we love Him and want to please Him, and not because we are afraid of Him. To Love Him because He Loves Us, and not just for the good things that He can give us.

God has continued throughout the written Word, the Bible, with the same kind of message, over and over again. If you do this, then I will do that (to you, -- for you). Everything hangs on man Obeying God. If you Obey, you will be blessed. If you will Not Obey, then you will be Cursed. We have a choice. We can choose blessing or curses. The choice will always be ours, for God will not force us to do anything.

Heaven or Hell

For while God wants fellowship with Man, that fellowship will be on His terms, and not on ours.

The Almighty Lord God Jehovah has made man to be special in His Kingdom. But God will NOT tolerate rebellion, or disobedience to Him. Such rebellion, or disobedience to God will lead to punishment. (Lev. 26:14-39; 1Sam. 12:15; Isa. 1:20) God is long suffering, and will put up with a lot from man, always giving man the time to repent, and to return to Him. Mankind is like the Prodigal Son who left home, but will return one day, as the proper true son that God wants to be with.

We see by God's word that God has prepared a place of torment for those who are disobedient, and rebel against Him. That place is called the "Lake of Fire". The place called Hell is only a temporary holding place of torment, which will itself be thrown into the "Lake of Fire," at the final Judgement.

What then is the salvation that Christians speak of?

By the very nature of man, every man rebels against God, and thus all men deserve the punishment which God has decreed and prepared for all creatures which rebel against Him. This includes both of the creatures which are allowed to rebel by their choice, the Angels and Man.

For the Angels which rebel, there is NO Salvation!

For Man, those men who by their own choice, turn to the Almighty God, repenting of their sins, repenting their rebellion against God, and accept the Son of God, Jesus Christ, as our Lord, God, and Master, obeying all that God commands us, will not be thrown into the "Lake of Fire", or into the "Fires of Hell". This then is Salvation! Being saved from Hell and the Lake of Fire that will last forever.

For those who have accepted this Gift of Salvation, they will be taken into God's home, as His adopted children, to have fellowship with God for all eternity. (Ro. 8:15; Eph. 1:5)

The question arises, "Can man give up this Gift of Salvation once he has the gift?" The answer is yes. (Ezek. 18:24- 26, 33:18; Rev. 3:5) Just as man can choose to refuse the gift of Salvation, so it is that man can choose to reject, and throw away, the gift later. For just as God will not force any man to worship and obey God, So it is that God will not force any man to keep his salvation, if that man no longer wants it.

What then of the Future?

God tells man that He will destroy this planet and all the heavens that you see, and will create new heavens and a new planet. And that there will be men who will have human bodies just as we do now, with the exception that there will be no death, so these men will live forever. These men will never again rebel, or disobey God. For God says that He will let them see down into the "Lake of Fire", each and every time they come before God to worship Him, where they will see the torments being suffered by all those who had rebelled against God. (Isa. 66:22-24)

What then? It is for you to choose! Will you choose to sit in the throne with Jesus Christ, or will you choose to be in that Lake of Fire?

Choose now, this day, this hour, this second. For only God knows if you will still be alive 30 seconds from when you read this. You have only to say from your heart, forgive me, I want to be yours God, At that moment you will have accepted the salvation which Jesus died on the cross to give you. Then believe, and obey God in all that God tells you to do. From that point, God will lead you ever closer to Himself.

With the Love of Jesus Christ

Rev. Jack Barr