GOOD NEWS FOR FALLEN MAN
By Pastor Max Solbrekken, D.D.
Dr. Max preaching in Soviet Union, 1989
By Pastor Max Solbrekken, D.D.
"Tell
me the story of Jesus
Write
on my heart every word
Tell me
the story most precious
Sweetest
that ever was heard.
"Tell
how the angels in chorus
Sang as
they welcomed His birth
Glory
to God in the Highest
Peace
and good tidings to earth.
"Tell
of the cross where they nailed Him
Writhing
in anguish & pain
Tell of
the tomb where they laid Him
Tell
how He liveth again.
"Love
in that story so tender
Sweetest
that ever I see
Stay,
let me hear while you whisper
Love
paid the ransom for me.
"Tell
me the story of Jesus
Write
on my heart every word
Tell me
the story most precious
Sweetest
that ever I heard."
--FANNY
J. CROSBY
In
summing up my worldly achievements in more than 60 years of life, I
am at a loss to find anything worthwhile to report, except that which
I have done to make Jesus Christ known, pointing people to the
World's ONLY Saviour, Healer and Deliverer!
I am
convinced that all else - higher learning, social standing, wealth,
political aspirations and good deeds - pale into insignificance when
compared with the "cross-work" of Jesus!
Like St.
Paul, I am persuaded that all else is "dung" and that
life's most important accomplishment is to believe, accept and
propagate the Gospel of Christ to "fallen man", for the
glory of God.
To be a
"vessel of honor" and a channel of God's
blessing ministering His grace, goodness and power to a lost, sick
and suffering world is mankind's greatest achievement!
All else is
vain and for naught, when examined under the scrutiny of God's Word
and in the light of eternity!
Taking into
consideration the many things I have seen and experienced, people I
have met, together with all the books and journals I have read during
30 years of "world evangelism", I still wonder at the
grace of God to me.
I join the
hymn writer in humbling myself - in His presence - with this
confession:
"Nothing
in my hands I bring
Simply
to Thy cross I cling
Oh,
take me as I am
My only
plea, Christ died for me
Oh,
take me as I am."
There is no
one as wonderful as Jesus. Everyone who hears His gospel and is
impacted by His power, must realize that He was, is and always shall
be WONDERFUL!
We stand in
awe as we consider His supernatural conception, birth, life, death
and resurrection. As well as the outpouring of the Blessed Holy
Spirit upon His Church for the past two thousand years!
The words
of the prophet - uttered 700 years before His birth at Bethlehem -
under the inspiration of God - should not surprise us.
"His
name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting
Father, Prince of Peace..." (Isaiah.
9:4)
Max Solbrekken
Edmonton, 1995
CHAPTER 1
THE WORLD'S GREATEST LOVE
STORY!
"For
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. That
whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting
life". (John 3:16)
The
story of God's great redemptive plan is without equivocation, the
greatest love story ever told.
No human
drama - ever so tender, touching and grand - could even begin to
compare with God's love for mankind.
As a child
I heard a gospel song that made a profound impact upon my young
heart. Here are the words:
Into a
tent where a gypsy boy lay,
Dying
alone at the close of the day
News of
salvation we carried. Said he,
Nobody
ever has told it to me!
Tell it
again! Tell it again!
Salvation's
story repeat o'er and o'er
Till
none can say of the children of men
Nobody
ever has told me before.
Did He
so love me a poor little boy
Send
unto me the good tidings of joy?
Need I
not perish-my hand will He hold?
Nobody
ever the story has told!
Bending,
we caught the last words of his breath
Just as
he entered the valley of death
God
sent His Son-Whosoever said He
Then I
am sure that He sent Him for me.
Smiling,
he said as his last sigh was spent
I am so
glad that for me He was sent
Whispered,
while low sank the sun in the west,
Lord I
believe! Tell it now to the rest."
Tell it
again! Tell it again!
Salvation's
story repeat o'er and o'er
Till
none can say of the children of men,
Nobody
ever has told it before.
The urgency
conveyed by that song, which I learned at Daily Vacation Bible School
- at our Lutheran Church in rural Saskatchewan - made a
profound impact upon my young heart.
I remember
weeping as we children drove our horse and buggy home from church
that summer day, so many years ago.
Even then,
I secretly hoped that one day, I would be able to preach the gospel
to other little gypsy boys.
Throughout
the years, it has been my great privilege to proclaim the glad story
of Jesus to this world's unfortunates, gypsies included. And
presently (1992), I am preaching in Russia, Ukraine, Latvia
and other Eastern European countries.
How I thank
God!
The
world was hopelessly doomed and condemned to an eternity without God.
Then, Jesus came to “seek and to save” that which was lost.”
(Luke 19:10)
The Bible
says, "For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn
the world, but that the world through Him might be saved".
(John 3:17)
Only the
great love of The Eternal, and Jesus Christ's sacrifice on Calvary
was able to free us from Satan's grasp. There was no other way!
Isaiah
made it so clear: "But He was wounded for our
transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement
of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes are we healed."
(Isaiah 53:5)
Messiah
Jesus died upon Golgotha's hill - between two thieves as a
common criminal - just like Jewish preachers had prophesied centuries
and even millennia earlier.
No wonder
Zechariah ben Joseph (John the Baptist) cried out, "Behold
the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world",
when he saw Him. (John 1:29)
Just like
the sacrificial lambs which had been slaughtered on Jewish altars for
centuries - a type of the coming Lamb of God - Jesus died on
the cross, for the sins of the entire world.
This
classic song tells it like it is:
"Oh
love of God, so rich and pure
So
measureless and strong
It
shall forever more endure
The
saints and angels song.
"Could
we with ink the ocean fill
And
were the sky of parchment made
And
every man a scribe by trade
To
write the love of God above
Would
drain the ocean dry
And
could the scroll contain the whole
It
would stretch from sky to sky.
"When
hoary time shall pass away
And
tongue and pen of men shall fall
When
wicked men refuse to pray
Upon
the rocks and mountains call
God's
love so pure shall still endure
The
saints and angels song."
It's hard
to fathom God's love. It is past finding out. His grace is
unlimited and His mercy reaches out to all men everywhere...even to
those who hate and despise Him and His gospel. It encompasses the
entire world!
His great
love engulfs even those who persecute His emissaries and blaspheme
His great, holy and lovely Name. It encompasses the entire world.
It is no
wonder we sing songs like:
"This
is why I love Him
He gave
Himself for me
To
purchase my salvation
They
nailed Him to the tree
At last
He cried 'Tis finished'
He
bowed His head and died
Oh,
what a sight for sinners
My
Jesus crucified.
"What
an awful price He paid
To
pardon you and me
When in
death He fully paid the cost,
O Soul
so far astray, Come & plunge today
In the
blood that stained the old
rugged
cross."
It is small
wonder that St. John, overcome by the goodness of God, exclaimed, "We
love Him because He first loved us". (1 John 4:19). AMEN.
NOTE:
This is the first chapter of the book, written in 1995. We will
share more in this blog. m.s.
