I drive in my car 1.5-2 hours each way. So I get a lot of time to think. Time to converse with myself and with pretend people. You know what I mean: playing out a conversation in your head. Today on the way home from work, I was listening to
The Bible Answerman on
WMCA 570. One of his callers was a reformed catholic. He said he was "born a catholic", which is quite the mindset that these people have, even though they were "raised a catholic". And even that can be quite diverse, usually ending up in disillusionment, a sense of "Christian" hypocrisy, and rebellion.
It got me to thinking about the issue of free will and salvation. God gives us a free will. A will to do what we will. This, of course, doesn't mean we can lift cars over our heads if we want to, but it does mean that we can jump off the ski-lift if we so desire. Have you ever thought that? Been about 50 feet in the air, skis on your feet, soaring along a mountain at about 10 miles an hour and though to yourself: "I could jump here. I could kill myself, or hurt myself. I could do it."
And you could. You could jump there. You could push your partner in the seat out as well. You could put your arm around them and tell them you love them. You could ignore them. You could make fun of their hat.
We all have a lot of choices in life. And we get to make whichever ones we want, because we have free will.
Do you know what sin is? It's not doing the will of God.
Let that sink in for a second. The bible says: "If you know what is right, and don't do it, it's a sin." And clearly doing things that are contrary to what God wants you to do is sin. So it's not just
action which is sin, but inaction can also be sin. God doesn't want you to sin, but he gave you free will, and if he didn't, you wouldn't be able to sin.
Why is there evil in the world? Free will.
You know, Satan means "Accuser". He was cast down from heaven for trying to set himself above God. Essentially, Satan disobeyed God, and God kicked him and his posse (1/3 of the angelic host) out of heaven. And because of Satan and his angel's disobedience, they're going to "burn in hell". Do you know what that's like? Eternal darkness. Weeping. Gnashing, grinding teeth. And that which has always permeated the universe, the presence of God, will be absent there. "The lake of fire" where "the worm never dies." Sucks, eh? A place designed to hold Satan and his demons (the fallen angels).
But you know what? That's where most of humanity is heading too. God is just, is he not?
Satan's like: "Hey, look what you did to me! Look at my punishment for disobedience! Look, these humans are disobeying you too."
And it's true.
Sucks for us.
God has a plan though. He's already put it into play. He decided
He'd take the blame for us. He's our
scapegoat. Our
kinsman redeemer. Our sacrificial lamb. This plan satisfies his justice and expresses his love for us.
He's done some pretty awesome stuff. Chief amongst said awesome stuff is his death. He willingly was tortured and suffocated to death for you. For who? Yeah, that's right. He did it for you. Because he loves you.
This death was prophecied in
Isaiah 53, hundreds of years before he was born. He fulfilled many prophecies. You may have heard this analogy: Fill Texas 3 feet high with silver dollars covering it's entire surface. Mark one silver dollar beforehand. Parachute into Texas blindfolded, reach down, and pick up that one silver dollar that's been marked. That's the chances of Jesus fulfilling just 8 of the many prophecies (hundreds) he fulfilled.
Think about it. Is it hard to think about it? Do you have trouble concentrating on just comprehending what I'm saying here? Tortured, whipped until his spine was exposed, nailed to a special wooden beam naked in front of a jeering crowd. Hours pass and he has to rub his body up and down on the cross just to breathe. And he eventually dies of suffocation, giving up his last breath.
For you.
How would you feel if you did that for someone? If you loved someone so much you'd die like that for them? Just to save them? If you did that for someone and they denied it. They denied you! "Piss off." "Yeah, whatever." "I don't want to hear about it." "That's ok for you, but not for me."
God has already done everything he needs to do for you to be made right with him. For Satan's accusations to be blocked by
his righteousness. Jesus is our advocate. When Satan wants to accuse us, he stands in the gap and says: "Whoah, I took the blame for that, remember? He's with me."
Thank God.
But what about the people who deny him? What about the people who don't want to hear about it? What about you?
I mentioned this scripture in a previous post, and it has great bearing right now:
John 3:16-20
3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
3:17 God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it.
3:18 "
There is no judgment awaiting those who trust him. But those who do not trust him have already been judged for not believing in the only Son of God.
3:19 Their judgment is based on this fact: The light from heaven came into the world, but they loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.
3:20 They hate the light because they want to sin in the darkness. They stay away from the light for fear their sins will be exposed and they will be punished.
Is there a veil over your eyes? A hardness in your heart? A buzzing in your head? Or do you feel a tugging at your heart? A compulsion to thank God for what he's done? A drive to give your life away to Christ?
He does love you, you know. God is real.