God’s Right, I’m Wrong!

If God loves me, what’s the problem?

One of the key truths of our life is God’s unquestionable love for us. He is our Creator. Each of us was designed to live a life of unparalleled fulfillment and joy in a rich relationship with God as our Father and with you and me as His children. Unfortunately, an impasse has arisen between God and mankind. That impasse is called sin. Mankind’s relationship with God was broken by wrong thinking, wrong speaking and wrong doing stemming from our desire to do things our way without Him. Oh, we all know how to be good. Some of us can be “good” better than others, but good is not the standard, holy is the standard. And holy means a perfect goodness that covers what you do and what you don’t do, what you say and what you don’t say, what you think and what you don’t think. Let’s face it, we’ve all hurt someone or been hurt by someone. We’ve all done things that we needed to hide or spin in order to look good. Even if we managed to live a perfectly good life, there is still an impossible impasse. We still have the ability to speak, think or act wrongly, even if we never did it. That “ability” is sin at the core of us. And no one has escaped its influence to do wrong.  There are no exceptions. The Bible says it this way, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” [1]

So what can I do?

The bad news is nothing, but the good news is, nothing. What we cannot do for ourselves, God has done for us through His Son, Jesus. In short, the good news is summed up in two words, “follow Jesus!” This is why Jesus is God’s Way. There is a price to be paid for sin. The price is death. “For the wages of sin is death…”[2] It’s a two part death. Our spirit, that should be able to enjoy a relationship with God, is dead and secondly, one day our bodies will be dead as well. You and I don’t respond well to death. It ends what we call life. However, Jesus, God’s Son, did something remarkable. As God’s Son, He was born without sin and despite being tempted like us, He lived a perfect human life, absolutely and totally apart from the influence of sin. Being God the Son, He chose to offer His perfectly holy life as a sacrificial substitute and ransom for ours.[3] This was accomplished by paying the debt, or price for our sin, on the cross of Calvary nearly two thousand years ago. On His cross, Jesus suffered physically and spiritually and died physically and spiritually so we would not have to. Just so you’re not confused, when I say Jesus died spiritually, I don’t mean His soul ceased to exist, I mean His soul was separated from God.

To prove the complete effectiveness of His sacrifice, Jesus rose from the dead three days after being executed. Physical and spiritual death had been beaten. His resurrection proved that the sin He took on our behalf was truly and completely forgiven, removed, gone. No more impasse! One man, Adam, started sin and unleashed its consequences on mankind while one man, Jesus, ended sin and healed its consequences for mankind.[4]

All I can do is agree with God.

In order for the amazing sacrifice of Jesus to be applied to my life or yours, we have to agree with God, that He’s right and I’m wrong. When we do, He gives us His eternal and holy life, free from sin and its consequences, as a free gift.[5] Agreeing with God is called faith and the result of faith being applied to us is called, redemption or salvation. (I call it a miracle!) This is what saving faith amounts to, agreeing that “God is right and I am wrong.” I am a sinner and I need to follow Jesus. I have failed to live, speak or even think perfectly. In fact, I am capable of doing the worst of things even though I haven’t. God is right. I need a Savior who will forgive me, remove my sin, replace my failed nature with Jesus’ own eternal life of holiness and give my dead spirit new life through a new birth. This is what the Bible says, “God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.”[6] Even though this free gift is available to everyone, it is only available through faith in Jesus Christ. There isn’t another way, another name or another option.[7]

You need to let God know He’s right and you’re Wrong.

Take a moment now to tell God that He’s right and you’re wrong. You know it’s true. You’re guilty of doing wrong and hurting others, even if it was by accident. This may shock you, but whenever you have hurt someone else or yourself as a result of how you live your life, it also hurts God. You’ve not only wronged them or yourself, you’ve wronged God. Tell God you are sorry, tell Jesus you’ve chosen to follow Him. You have chosen to believe that He died and rose from the dead for you. Now ask Him to forgive you and follow Him. Ask Him to make Himself at home in your life as the Lord you need to guide your life’s journey the rest of the way. It’s the best and only option.

Now you can begin your New Beginning.

If you have truly done this, you have been given a New Beginning. Share your decision to follow Jesus with a friend who also follows Jesus. Reading your Bible, especially the New Testament, will help show you what it looks like to follow Jesus.  Talk to God about your life on a regular basis and watch for His direction and answers. This is called prayer. Find a group of Jesus followers that regularly learn how to  following Jesus together by studying the Bible.  And now, join me and other followers of Jesus in serving others. Don’t be afraid to tell others why and how to follow Jesus too. God can’t wait to begin putting His smile on your life.