One of the best analogies I've seen to explain Christ's death for all and how we choose to accept His sacrifice. �No Bible verses, not sure if this is true or not, and do not know the author. �It's a little long...
*****
�There was a certain Professor of Religion named Dr. Christianson, a studious man who taught at a small college in the western United States.�� He taught the required survey course in Christianity at this particular institution, a required course for all freshmen.�
� Although Dr. Christianson tried hard to communicate the essence of the gospel in his class, he found that most of his students looked upon the course as nothing but required drudgery. � Despite his best efforts, most students refused to take Christianity seriously.
� �One year, Dr. Christianson had a special student named Steve.� Steve was only a freshman, but was studying with the intent of going on to seminary for the ministry. Steve was popular, he was well liked, and he was an imposing physical specimen. He was now the starting center on the school football team, and was the best student in the professor's class.
� One day, Dr. Christianson asked Steve to stay after class so he could talk with him. "How many push-ups can you do?"
� Steve said, "I do about 200 every night."
"200 push-ups.� That's pretty good, Steve, " Dr. Christianson said.� � "Do you think you could do 300?"
� �Steve replied, "I don't know.... I've never done 300 at a time."
� �"Do you think you could?" again asked Dr. Christianson.
� �"Well, I can try," said Steve.
� �"Can you do 300 in sets of 10? I have a class project in mind and I need you to do about 300 push-ups in sets of ten for this to work. �Can you do it? I need you to tell me you can do it," said the professor.
� � Steve said, "Well... I think I can...yeah, I can do it."
� � Dr. Christianson said, "Good! I need you to do this on Friday.� �Let me explain what I have in mind."
� Friday came and Steve got to class early and sat in the front of the room. When class started, the professor pulled out a big box of donuts. �Now, these weren't the normal kinds of donuts, they were the extra fancy BIG kind, with cream centers and frosting swirls. Everyone was pretty excited it was Friday, the last class of the day, and they were going to get an early start on the weekend with a party in Dr. Christianson's class.
� �Dr. Christianson went to the first girl in the first row and asked, �"Cynthia, do you want to have one of these donuts?" �
Cynthia said, "Yes."
� �Dr. Christianson then turned to Steve and asked, "Steve, would you do ten push-ups so that Cynthia can have a donut?"
�"Sure!" Steve jumped down from his desk to do a quick ten.
� �Then Steve again sat in his desk. Dr. Christianson put a donut on Cynthia's desk.
� Dr. Christianson then went to Joe, the next person, and asked, �"Joe, do you want a donut?"
�Joe said, "Yes."
�Dr. Christianson asked, "Steve would you do ten push-ups so Joe can have a donut?"
� �Steve did ten push-ups, Joe got a donut. And so it went, down the first aisle, Steve did ten push-ups for every person before they got their donut.
� �Walking down the second aisle, Dr. Christianson came to Scott. � Scott was on the basketball team, and in as good condition as Steve. �
�When the professor asked, "Scott do you want a donut?"
� �Scott's reply was, "Well, can I do my own push-ups?"
� �Dr. Christianson said, "No, Steve has to do them."
�� Then Scott said, "Well, I don't want one then."
� Dr. Christianson shrugged and then turned to Steve and asked,
� "Steve, would you do ten push-ups so Scott can have a donut he doesn't want?"
�� With perfect obedience Steve started to do ten push-ups.
� Scott said, "HEY! I said I didn't want one!"
� Dr. Christianson said, "Look!, this is my classroom, my class, my desks, and these are my donuts. Just leave it on the desk if you don't want it." And he put a donut on Scott's desk.
� Now by this time, Steve had begun to slow down a little. He just stayed on the floor between sets because it took too much effort to be getting up and down. You could start to see a little perspiration coming out around his brow.
� Dr. Christianson started down the third row. �Now the students were beginning to get a little angry.
�� Dr. Christianson asked Jenny, "Jenny, do you want a donut?" �Sternly, Jenny said, "No."
� Then Dr. Christianson asked Steve, "Steve, would you do ten more push-ups so Jenny can have a donut that she doesn't want?" �Steve did ten....Jenny got a donut.
�� By now, a growing sense of uneasiness filled the room. The students were beginning to say, "No!" and there were all these uneaten donuts on the desks.
�� Steve also had to really put forth a lot of extra effort to get these push-ups done for each donut. There began to be a small pool of sweat on the floor beneath his face, his arms and brow were beginning to get red because of the physical effort involved.
��Dr. Christianson asked Robert, who was the most vocal unbeliever in the class, to watch Steve do each push up to make sure he did the full ten push-ups in a set because he couldn't bear to watch all of Steve's work for all of those uneaten donuts. �He sent Robert over to where Steve was so Robert could count the set and watch Steve closely.
� �Dr. Christianson started down the fourth row. During his class, however, some students from other classes had wandered in and sat down on the steps along the radiators that ran down the sides of the room. �When the professor realized this, he did a quick count and saw that now there were 34 students in the room. He started to worry if Steve would be able to make it.
� � Dr. Christianson went on to the next person and the next and the next.�
� ��Near the end of that row, Steve was really having a rough time. He was taking a lot more time to complete each set.
� �Steve asked Dr. Christianson, "Do I have to make my nose touch on each one?"
� �Dr. Christianson thought for a moment, "Well, they're your pushups. You are in charge now. You can do them any way that you want." �And Dr. Christianson went on.
� ��A few moments later, Jason, a recent transfer student, came to the room and was about to come in when all the students yelled in one voice, "NO! Don't come in! Stay out!" Jason didn't know what was going on.
� �Steve picked up his head and said, "No, let him come."
� �Professor Christianson said, "You realize that if Jason comes in you will have to do ten push-ups for him?"
� �Steve said, "Yes, let him come in. Give him a donut."
� Dr. Christianson said, "Okay, Steve, I'll let you get Jason's out of the way right now. Jason, do you want a donut?"
� �Jason, new to the room, hardly knew what was going on. �"Yes," he said, "give me a donut." "Steve, will you do ten push-ups so that Jason can have a donut?"
� �Steve did ten push-ups very slowly and with great effort.
� �Jason, bewildered, was handed a donut and sat down.
� �Dr. Christianson finished the fourth row, and then started on those visitors seated by the heaters. Steve's arms were now shaking with each push-up in a struggle to lift himself against the force of gravity. By this time sweat was profusely dropping off of his face, there was no sound except his heavy breathing; there was not a dry eye in the room.
� ��The very last two students in the room were two young women, both cheerleaders, and very popular.
� ��Dr. Christianson went to Linda, the second to last, and asked,
� �"Linda, do you want a donut?"
� Linda said, very sadly, "No, thank you."
� � Professor Christianson quietly asked, "Steve, would you do ten push-ups so that Linda can have a donut she doesn't want?"
� � Grunting from the effort, Steve did ten very slow push-ups for Linda.
� �Then Dr. Christianson turned to the last girl, Susan. �"Susan, do you want a donut?"
� �Susan, with tears flowing down her face, began to cry. "Dr. Christianson, why can't I help him?"
� �Dr. Christianson, with tears of his own, said, "No, Steve has to do it alone; I have given him this task and he is in charge of seeing that everyone has an opportunity for a donut whether they want it or not.
� � When I decided to have a party this last day of class, I looked at my grade book. Steve here is the only student with a perfect grade. � Everyone else has failed a test, skipped class, or offered me inferior work. Steve told me that in football practice, when a player messes up he must do push-ups. I told Steve that none of you could come to my party unless he paid the price by doing your push ups. He and I made a deal for your sakes."
� � "Steve, would you do ten push-ups so Susan can have a donut?"
� � ��As Steve very slowly finished his last push-up, with the understanding that he had accomplished all that was required of him, having done 350 push-ups, his arms buckled beneath him and he fell to the floor.
� � � Dr. Christianson turned to the room and said, "And so it was, that our Savior, Jesus Christ, on the cross, plead to the Father, 'Into thy hands �I commend my spirit.' With the understanding that He had done everything that was required of Him, He yielded up His life. And like some of those in this room, many of us leave the gift on the desk, uneaten."
� � �Two students helped Steve up off the floor and to a seat, physically exhausted, but wearing a thin smile.
� � �"Well done, good and faithful servant," said the professor, adding, "Not all sermons are preached in words."
� � Turning to his class, the professor said, "My wish is that you might understand and fully comprehend all the riches of grace and mercy that have been given to you through the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior�Jesus Christ. He spared not His only Begotten Son, but gave Him up for us all, for the whole world, now and forever. �Whether or not we choose to accept His gift to us, the price has been paid."
� �"Wouldn't you be foolish and ungrateful to leave it lying on the desk?"
Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them. For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches.
But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. Then you will say, �Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.� That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree.
It is your choice to accept or reject...God laid out His simple plan of salvation, simple enough for a child to understand.
I' m glad others saw the value in the object lesson...it was shared with me a while back and I enjoyed reading through it again as well as applying Scripture to it.
Some plant the seed, some water, and some reap the fruit...
9Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
And such was some of me. But I am washed, I am santified, I am justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of my God.
Let anyone tell me Im not and you either. Anyone????
Anyone want to tell me I wasnt washed, santified, justified in the name of Jesus my Lord and by the Spirit of my God???????
9Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
And such was some of me. But I am washed, I am santified, I am justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of my God.
Let anyone tell me Im not and you either. Anyone????
*** I saw this else where...and it is powerfull..Preach it brother....for that which is within us is the Spirit of the Holy GOD...Amen! AMEN!!!...xo
Anyone want to tell me I wasnt washed, santified, justified in the name of Jesus my Lord and by the Spirit of my God???????
Thanks for the parable, Teach, I've heard it before, but that was written much better. Romans 5 really sums up the whole matter for me. We have access to the grace of God thru faith in Jesus Christ, who died and brought life to all those that were brought under death by Adam's sin. That's everybody. We're all sinners, death has been passed to us all, but where sin and death abounded, grace and life abounded MUCH MORE. Praise God!
Romans 5
1Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 4And patience, experience; and experience, hope: 5And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
6For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 8But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. 10For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. 11And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.
12Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: 13(For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.
15But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. 16And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. 17For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)
18Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. 19For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. 20Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: 21That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
2 Peter 3:9
9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
