"He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." - God, 2 Corinthians 5:21
"For God So loved the World that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life." - God, John 3:16
My wife always has a way of saying things that make me think. One time particularly stands out in my mind. She and I were invited to attend an open forum on religion at a state University. For two hours we heard various representatives of different prominent world religions stand up and give answers to life's toughest questions. As we walked out at the end of the session my mind thought back to each individual's answers. I thought about the different philosophies and compared them to one another. Then my wife said, "Well one thing's for sure. They definitely all agree that man is separated from God." She was right. Irregardless of religious creed man feels the effects of a broken relationship with God.
When one gets down to it there are really only two different roads in this whole separation predicament. The first is our work. Basically this is the approach where we try our best to be good, get rid of evil desires, better ourselves, and improve our relationships with people and with God. We sometimes get tired and sometimes don't make it, but we hope that soon we will renew our determination. We also compare ourselves with one another to see where on the scale our work measures up to all the rest of humanity. Many of our decisions go directly against what God has said. Ultimately we find that our past and our work push us farther from God, and that we can't even keep the rules we invent for ourselves. It's our record of actions and our relationship with God. It's our stuff and It's our life. Some of us follow religion and pray in hopes that we can fix our broken relationship and make up for our mistakes. Others of us decide to say we just don't care. Either way guilt is either excused, ignored, joked about or managed. Death and hurt are the forever consequences of this. What we do is mediocre at best, and "who we are" turns out to be just broken people some of us are just better at hiding it.
The second road is God's work. This means that God knew that we have no ability to help ourselves. So He decided to do what seems contradictory. He made a judgement call and in one instant pronounced us incomplete and helpless and at the same time totally loved by Him. He made a way for us to have a relationship with Him. God the Father sent God the Son to earth as Jesus Christ. He lived in right relationship with God (cause He's God). He lived in right relationship with people (cause He's God) and then God the Father punished him for it. The Father did this because Jesus willingly took our broken track record and our broken relationships as His own. God punished Jesus in our place. Jesus offers his record of life and right relationship with people and God to us, forever. He did this so that we could know Him intimately. This is called grace.
God punished Jesus for us, in our place. He made Jesus to be sin on our behalf so that we could be called righteous and clean. If you're like me you ask how God could do that to His son. Punish Him like that? But He knew something we didn't. He knew that Jesus could not only take the punishment, but conquer it. Jesus didn't just take the punishment one time. He got rid of it forever. In fact God says in the Bible that because of Jesus there remains no more punishment for our guilt. Jesus died but did not stay dead, so that we would not have to endure death forever. No more Guilt. No more Death. Through God's work our past, present and future is forgiven. We are made innocent. We are made whole, free, and guiltless - forever. Not because of our work, but because of God's. We follow Him not in hopes of receiving anything, but because He's already given everything.
So you have a choice today if you hear God speaking to you through these words. Your work, your past, your identity, your life, your stuff, your relationships with others, your relationship with God or Jesus' Life, Jesus' relationship with God, Jesus' track record, Jesus relationships with others. The gift that God offers is to exchange your life for that of Jesus. Everyone regardless of religion is either depending on "God's work" or "Their work". Which one are you? Who determines your relationship with God and people? You or Jesus? Do you have a real realationship with God? Are you simply just trying your best and hoping for the rest?
If exchanging your life for Christ's is something you'd like to do today God simply asks that you admit that you and your work are broken and that you are unable to fix your relationship with God and others. He asks that you believe that His work in Jesus on the cross is enough and stop holding onto your life. Ask Him to forgive you for trying to do it on your own. Surrender your authority to live your way, and submit (hard word) to God's love and authority. Believe that through the life that Jesus offers you can have a relationship with God. Allow Him to do what He wants to do in you. He promises to do it. God is seeking people. Do you hear Him pursuing you?
In a verse in the Bible God says, "See, today I place before you life, and death. Choose life. For I the Lord am life."
We at Soma Community Invite you to choose life.
For more information or for questions about what you have read please contact Dave Black
We want to provide an opportunity to explore our new space together and get a feel for what to expect week to week. For this reason we will be setting up together and participating in a trial run. We will begin regular use of the YMCA in the month of June. Please see the calendar below for gathering information. While some people have specific... continue »
