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God created us for a wonderful purpose:
that we might live forever with him in joy, love, perfect holiness,
and justice. But the problem is that humans do not know how to live
in perfect love and justice — and even worse, we don't even
live as well as we know we should. And humans ever since the beginning
have disobeyed God and rejected his guidance and friendship.
Even if we wanted to live with God, we are unable to bridge the gap
that is between us. We are not perfect and we are not holy. We do
not deserve to live with God forever. More than that, justice says
that disobedience should be punished. When we rebel against the Author
of life, the natural penalty is cessation of life. We do not deserve
to live forever with God.
But God's plan cannot be thwarted. His love means that he wants to
rescue us from the death penalty we deserve. His justice requires
that the penalty be paid. God's justice requires death; his love seeks
mercy and rescue. How can both be done?
The good news is that Jesus Christ has paid the penalty for us. The
penalty has been paid, so love and mercy can triumph. It is God's
gift to us. We can be saved, if we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior
and Lord.
What must we do to be saved? We accept the fact that we need to be
rescued. We admit that we have done wrong and that we do not deserve
to live forever with God. We accept the fact that Jesus paid the penalty
for us.
We do not want to live the way of disobedience. We turn away from
our old self-centered approach to life and turn toward God, so that
we seek a Christ-centered life. We ask him to live in us by means
of the Holy Spirit, to lead us in our thoughts and actions. We surrender
to his leadership and try to obey what he says, since we know that
he has such wisdom and love that all his commands are for our long-term
good.
If anyone believes in Christ, the Bible tells us, he or she is a new
creation — a new child of God. The Holy Spirit gives us new
life. It's not just us trying to live a good life on our own strength
— it is God living in us, as we allow him. It is a dramatic
change, as a new nature begins to be developed within us — a
divine nature. We do not live for ourselves, but for Christ.
To symbolize the beginning of our new life, believers are baptized
— dipped under water to picture the death of the old self and
the rising of a new life, our sins washed away. We are following Jesus
Christ, our Lord.
Christians want to obey God, but because of our weakness, sometimes
we disobey. The good news is that God continues to love us, for Jesus'
death has paid the penalty of all disobedience. We are forgiven, not
condemned, with the wonderful hope of living with God forever and
ever in incredible joy and love.
Just as Jesus had pain and sorrow in his earthly life, Christians
also have trials and problems in this life. We sometimes struggle
with poverty, disappointment, pain, hurt feelings and persecution.
But in all our trials, we rejoice in the salvation we have been given
in Jesus Christ. We rejoice in the love God has already shown us.
We live the "give'' way of life, willing to serve others, just
as our Savior served us. |
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