 Do you love Jesus? Why?

- I love Jesus because He first loves me. It is difficult not to love Jesus. The
love I have for Jesus grows as I get to know Him better through the Scriptures.
We learn who He is: what He is like, what He taught, and what He has done
for us. Perhaps I most love Him because He is willing to, and has, forgiven
my sins, my continuing shortcomings and failures and mistakes, and even
those things I cannot seem to keep myself from doing. I love Jesus because He
secured my eternal salvation. I deserve to die, but He died for me and paid the
price so I do not have to die.
 Reflection of the book “The nature of Christ” by Roy Adams. Provide any references or
bible evidences to your statements. (100 words)
- There are two points where I would personally differ with this splendid book by Dr.
Adams. First, as with many modern theologians, Roy does not like to speak of
mankind inheriting guilt from Adam. I believe that Romans 5:12, 18-19 teaches the
corporate solidarity of human guilt. This is because all humans sinned in their
representative, the first Adam. Just as surely as we all sinned in our representative
Adam, we all suffered in our second representative, Christ, the last Adam. I believe
the Scripture teaches clearly in Romans 5 that the sin of Adam was imputed to the
whole human race, for we were in him seminally. None can rightly complain of this
as unjust. As surely as all are counted in the first Adam and thereby accrue guilt, so
all by the mercy of God are counted as being in the second Adam, Christ (Romans
5:18-19). We are therefore justified by his atoning death at Calvary. As sin and guilt
are imputed through the first Adam, so righteousness and acquittal justification are
imputed through the second. The first none can avoid. The second is a matter for
choice. By faith we choose Christ's justifying work on our behalf. Second, Dr. Adams
takes the popular Adventist view (found in Ellen White) that the destiny of the
human race hung in the balance when Christ came to earth. There was no absolute
certainty that Christ would overcome and conquer and successfully complete the
Atonement. In other words, Christ could have sinned. It is clear that Christ was
absolutely free. That much is true. That means he had the ability to sin. But Christ is
divine. It was impossible for him as God to choose evil. Scripture declares that God
cannot lie. Similarly, God cannot do anything contrary to his nature, and Christ was
God in the flesh. The salvation of the human race did not hang in the balance when
Christ came. Success was absolutely certain. Success had been predicted with all
assurance-Christ's provision of salvation would, indeed, eventuate on behalf of the
whole human race. Christ did not come to seek to save that which was lost. Christ
came to seek and save that which was lost. And he did it. It was never in doubt for a
moment. Let me use a crude illustration. Could I murder my mother? If you mean
am I stronger than she is and do I know how to do it, the answer is, "Yes." If you
mean is it possible for me to do it psychologically, the answer is, "No." Could Christ
fail? Because he was free, we are forced to answer, "Yes." Because of who Christ is
 we must say, "No." There was no chance, no possibility, no likelihood, no
potentiality or prospect, that Christ could fail to accomplish our salvation.
 Reflection of the article “The Meaning and Message of the beatitudes in the sermon on
the mount” by Ranko Stefanovic (not less than 2 pages)
- This article deals with what is recognized to be the best known of Jesus’
teachings recorded in the Gospels. The Sermon on the Mount was
originally addressed to the disciples as they were about to be sent by Jesus
to proclaim the message of the Kingdom. The Twelve are portrayed in the
Synoptics as a group of Galileans whose association with Jesus was much
motivated by popular motives and an aspiration for “greatness” in the
Kingdom.  In this first sermon, Jesus showed them that the greatness and
blessings of the followers of Jesus is not found in the popular and
conventional empty ambition, but in the inner happiness and blessing
granted to those who choose to follow the Master.  The disciples are not
only called to be different from the world, but they are also to be the salt of
the earth and the light of the world. Their happiness is built on the rock, a
symbol for God, and, as such, is permanent and stable and will stand to all
the future storms and uncertainties in life.

Matthew 5:1-2 shows that Jesus spoke the Sermon on the Mount primarily
with his disciples in mind as they were about to be sent to proclaim
the Message of the kingdom (Matt. 10). The purpose of this paper is to
explore the Meaning of the Beatitudes in connection with the couplet of
metaphoric parables of salt and light in Matthew 5:13-16 in light of the
structure of the Sermon on the Mount and the Message they originally
communicated to the disciples. The Beatitudes (5:3-12) The Sermon on the
Mount begins with an introductory section consisting of eight (or nine)
pronouncements that are commonly known as the Beatitudes , each beginning
with the Greek adjectival plural maka rioi. The word beatitude comes from the
Latin beatitudo which corresponds to the Greek makarismo/ from which the
Anglicized word macarism ( happiness ) comes. The term denotes a literary
form that was commonly used in the ancient world commending or praising a
person for favor received in In the classical Greek, the adjective maka rio is a
longer form of the older word ma/kar ( blessed, happy ). The word ma/kar was
first used by poets to describe the transcendent happiness enjoyed by gods
who were referred to as the blessed ones (oi maka re ). The word
4 Beatitudes probably originated in Egypt and were adopted by Greeks.  It is
particularly significant in the Matthean Two things may be observed in
the Beatitudes .First, Jesus radically changes the conventional concept of
happiness. Those who are maka rioi are not blessed according to the
conventional Meaning of the conferral of blessings experienced in life in
terms of good fortune and a life free of hardships, which is ephemeral and
fickle. They are maka rioi not so much because of [hardships in life], as in
spite of [hardships in life]. True happiness is not attached to wealth, to having
enough, to a good reputation, power, possession of the goods of this world.
 The maka rioi might possess nothing, be hungry, humble, afflicted,
humiliated, endure hardships, and be persecuted; the circumstances of life
may turn against them; yet life cannot take that happiness from them because
life has not given it to them. In such a way, the Beatitudes in the Sermon on
the Mount depict a reversal of all human values. This true happiness is not to
be understood as a mental or emotional state or in relation to ones feelings,
but rather as the result of a divine act in human lives. God is the true source of
happiness. The disciple is in a state of happiness when he/she is aware of God
s special blessings regardless of whether he/she is experiencing good fortune
or hardships in life. In such a way, what constitutes life as it was intended to
be lived stands in stark contrast to conventional wisdom in which happiness is
something which is dependent on the chances and the changes of life,
something which life may give and which life may also destroy.
In Jesus teaching, maka rio describes that joy which has its secret within
itself, that joy which is serene and untouchable, and self-contained, that joy
which is completely independent of all the chances and the changes of life.
Second thing that may be observed is that, in contrast to the Old Testament
and the conventional concept where y rVvAa or maka rio respectively refers
to ones present well being, the eds.The obvious exemption are the first and
last Beatitudes in which the o ti clauses use the present tense pointing to the
experience in the kingdom of heaven here and now. Beatitudes go beyond the
present situation to the future, in the fashion of Jewish apocalyptic While
maka rioi are blessed and, as a result, happy now, the visible conferral of such
blessings will not be experienced ultimately until the future realization of God
s kingdom on the earth. Thus, in the Beatitudes , the present and the future
are related. This futuristic character of the Beatitudes , however, is not to be
understood, as U. Becker rightly observes, in the sense of consolation and
subsequent recompense.The promised future always involves a radical
alteration of the present. The disciples are not happy because they are free of
hardship in life, but rather because they are citizens of the Kingdom by
following Jesus as they go through hardship in life. Their lives
have Meaning in light of the future realization of the kingdom. It is the future
that provides strength for the disciples in the present. In summary, the inner
happiness spoken of in the Beatitudes is God s gift of blessing granted to
those who choose to be disciples. This blessing is a result of the realization of
a person s spiritual poverty (5:3) and an acknowledgment of one s total
dependence on God (5:5).
 What is pre-existence? Explain in just 100 words and provide biblical evidences or
references.
- The pre-existence of Christ is a central tenet of mainstream Christianity. It
explores the nature of Christ's pre-existence as the Divine hypostasis called
the Logos or Word, described in John 1:1–18, which begins:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into
being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.
— John 1:1–3, NRSV
 In Trinitarianism this "Logos" is also called God the Son or the
second person of the Trinity. Theologian Bernard Ramm noted that "It has
been standard teaching in historic Christology that the Logos, the Son,
existed before the incarnation. That the Son so existed before the incarnation
has been called the pre-existence of Christ. In the words of the Nicene
Creed, Christ "came down from heaven, and was incarnate." Douglas
McCready, in his analysis and defence of the pre-existence of Christ, [4] notes
that whereas the preexistence of Christ "is taken for granted by most
orthodox Christians, and has been since New Testament times", during the
past century the doctrine has been increasingly questioned by less orthodox
theologians and scholars. James Dunn, in his book Christology in the
Making, examines the development of this doctrine in early Christianity,
noting that it is "beyond dispute" that in John 1:1–18, "the Word is pre-
existent, and Christ is the pre-existent Word incarnate, but going on to
explore possible sources for the concepts expressed there, such as the
writings of Philo. Some Protestant theologians believe that God the
Son emptied himself[8] of divine attributes in order to become human. Others
reject this.

 sa iyong sariling pag-unawa sa tekstong ito, naniniwala ka ba na ang lumalakad sa

daan ng katuwiran at katapatan ay nagkakamit ng buhay at karangalan? ipaliwanag
ang iyong kasagutan. magbahagi ng isang karanasan. F
ang lumalakad sa daan ng katuwiran at katapatan ay nagkakamit ng buhay at karangalan.
- Oo, naniniwala ako sapagkat kung ating sundan ang daan ng katuwiran at
katapatan, ating makita ang tunay na kahulugan ng buhay – kung ano talaga
ang mga layon ng ating buhay na hindi magiging basehan ang kung ano ang
gusto nating mangyari sa mga buhay natin kundi mas ikasiya pa natin ang
kung anong tunay na kahulugan nito dahil ito talaga ang idinesenyo ng
Panginoon sa ating buhay. Sa ating paglalakad sa daan ng katuwiran at
katapatan ay siyang makamit rin natin ang buhay at karangalan dahil tangi
kang Hesus lang natin makikita ang daan ng katuwiran at katapatan at siya rin
ang tanging nagbigay sa atin ng buhay at karangalan. Gaya nalang ng buhay
ko dati na walang-wala talagang matatawag na Panginoon, isang magulo-
walang naging direksyon, masalimoot, walang karangalan sa sarili at maging
sa Panginoon. Oo, may kinikilala akong Panginoon ngunit hindi sapat ang
kilala ko lang kundi ang patuluyin siya sa aking buhay na siyang nagmamay-
ari nito. Nang unti-unti kong natutunan ang tanggapin Siya sa buhay ko, ang
maglakbay at sumunod sa Kanyang maliwanag na daan, unti-unti ring
nagbabago ang buhay ko. Ang dating walang-wala ay nagkaroon ng buhay,
ang dating magulo at masalimoot na buhay ay nagkaroon na ng direksyon at
aking matanaw ang kapayapaan sa sarili at sa buhay ko. At ang buhay ko dati
ay biglang nagkaroon ng karangalan ngayon – hindi man sa kasikatan at kilala
sa buong mundo ngunit alam kong sa Panginoon, buhay ko ay nagkaroon ng
karangalan sa Kanya.