Eternity
WONDERING ABOUT GOD?
Have you ever wondered about God? Have you ever thought what does it mean to be a Christian?
Take a few minutes and get a clear understanding of God and what it means to be a Christian.
Everybody wants to be happy. People try, primarily in three different ways.
1. Some people look for happiness through acquiring possessions.
2. Some people look for happiness by experiencing pleasure.
3. Some people look for happiness by gaining prestige and power.
The fact is real happiness comes from understanding it is not pleasure, possessions, or power but from understanding my purpose. That is where real happiness in life comes from. Understanding your purpose in life. Why are you here?
Why am I here? What’s the problem with it? What’s the solution? What does God want me to do?
Why am I here?
The Bible teaches very clearly that you were put on this earth for two reasons:
1. God created me and loves me.
God says, “I have loved thee with an everlasting love.” Jeremiah 31:3
Even before the world was made, God had already chosen us to be His through our union with Christ because of His love. God had already decided that through Jesus Christ He would make us His children. This was God’s pleasure and purpose. You were created to be loved by God.
2. We were created for God’s purpose.
God created human beings, making them in His image. He blessed them and said for them to live over the earth and bring it under control. He gave that responsibility to Adam and Eve and then on to us. The benefit is that when we manage it as God’s representative, we get to enjoy it.Jesus said in John 10:10, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” If Jesus came to give us life, then that means we are not really living until we know Jesus.
In fact, you are not living. You are just existing until you know Christ, because you were made to love God and be loved by Him, to know him and be known by Him. When we know and love God, it produces all kinds of positive benefits in our lives. It provides a clear conscious. It provides purpose in life, power, strength, peace, confidence, and fulfillment. He gives us help without weaknesses. He gives us security. He gives us freedom. These are all benefits of having a relationship with Christ. I am not talking about a religion. I am talking about a personal relationship with Christ. This is the kind of lifestyle that God intends for us to live.
Why then are most people not really happy? What is the problem? The problem is sin. The problem with sin is that God is holy. God is so holy that he cannot tolerate sin. Because of our sin, God had to separate himself from us. In the word “sin”, circle the middle letter. The center of sin is “I”. I want to do my own thing. I want to be my own boss. I want to live my own life the way I want to regardless of God. The Bible says we’ve all had this problem.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way.
If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
The sad part is that sin breaks our close relationship to God and it causes us to fear God and to try to live our lives outside His will.
Isaiah 59 says “But your iniquities have separated between you and your God.” Romans 3:23 says “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”
When we have this relationship that we were meant to have with God and it is broken, when we feel this emptiness inside, we do not always know that what we are yearning for is God. So instead of looking to God to fill this emptiness, we try all kinds of things. Alcohol, drugs, an affair, therapy, thrills… They are trying to fill the emptiness in their heart when really what they are longing for even though they do not know is a relationship with God. That is why you were made and nothing will ever satisfy that except a relationship with God.
Even when we know our deepest need is God we often try the wrong ways of getting to know Him: “My mother was a Christian so I must be a Christian.” That is what I call salvation by heritage. That is not very logical. For instance… what if I said, “My mother was married therefore I am married.” I am not automatically married just because my mother was married. I am only married if I make the choice to get married, whether my mother ever married or not. So you are not saved by heritage. “It does not matter what you believe, just be sincere.” The problem with that is you can be sincerely wrong. It takes more than sincerity to get to heaven.
Here is the myth that most people have. They think in their mind that God has a scale and on one side are my bad works, all the bad things I have done, and on the other side are all the good things. If somehow I manage to do more good in my life than bad then God’s going to let me into heaven. That is just not true. In the first place, the Bible says Heaven is a perfect place. Only perfect people get to go there. If God let imperfect people into Heaven, then it would not be perfect any more. You say, “If only perfect people get to go to heaven, then I do not stand a chance.” You are right. You do not and neither do I. God uses our sin and despair to demonstrate His love for us. He sent His son Jesus Christ to this earth to live the sinless life that we could not live. Jesus who was perfect then paid the ultimate price for our sins and was sacrificed on the cross. Three days later, Jesus conquered death and sin when He arose from the dead.
Jesus said. “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no man cometh to the Father, but by Me.” Notice Jesus didn’t say, “I might be the way … I point the way … I teach the way … I am looking for the way.” He said, “I am it!” Then He said, “I am the Truth.” He is the only one who could break the curse of sin. He did what we are incapable of doing. God, Himself, came to earth as a human being bought us back to Himself. “ye are bought with a price….” If any other way would have worked, Jesus Christ would not have had to come. The Way is not a religion. The Way is a Person. God wants you to know Him personally. Jesus has already taken care of your sin problem. “For the wages of sin is death, [that’s the bad news; then the good news] but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” What does it mean to be a Christian? It means to put your faith in Christ.
It means to believe in Christ. God did this for us because He loves us and wants us to know Him. “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” God is on the one side and all the people are on the other side and Jesus is between them to bring them together by giving His life for all mankind. God has already done His part to restore our relationship to Him. He took the initiative. He came to earth. Now He waits for each of us to individually accept what He has done.
Heaven is a perfect place. We are imperfect. There is not a chance in a zillion you are ever going to get to go there on your own good works. You will never be good enough. So God came to earth in the form of Jesus Christ – that is why we celebrate Christmas and Easter. He died on the cross to pay for my sins and He says, “If you will accept Me, you can come into heaven on My ticket. Not only that, you can also begin to experience real life here on earth right now.”
What does God want me to do? Three things:
1. Agree. Agree with God that he is holy and you are unholy. Understand that your sin separates you from Him.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
2. Believe. Believe that Jesus Christ died to pay for your sins and that He rose on Easter and is alive today.
“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”
Circle the word “shalt”. It does not say you might be. It does not say you can hope to be. It says you shall or will. If you truly believe what He says, God will not lie. It does not matter how you feel. Feelings come and go. What truly matters is what God says.
3. Accept. Accept God’s free gift of salvation. Do not try to earn it. Quit trying and start trusting.
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:”
Turn from your sinful self and trust Christ.
To all who receive Him, He gives the right to become the children of God. All we need to do is to trust Him to save us. All those who believe this are reborn. Not a physical rebirth but from the will of God. Once you are His child he will never let you go. We are always His Children.
How can I know for sure that I am going to heaven?
Answer this question:
What makes you worthy to be accepted into the family God?
God will only accept people who have their faith in Jesus Christ. Only through the shed blood of Jesus Christ is all of our sins forgiven. If you put any other answer, God will not accept you.
“I am the way the truth and the life, no man cometh unto the Father but by me.”
Our prayer is that you put your faith in Jesus Christ today!