If you've been paying attention to the letters, you probably have a good idea what the word is we've been spelling out on your fingers. F-A-I-T and now H, which stands for Heaven and Hereafter.
If you remember when we talked about 'F is for forgiveness,' the verse I mentioned was from Ephesians, Paul's letter to the church he had visited in the Greek town of Ephesus. A little later in his letter, Paul told the Ephesians about FAITH:
"For by grace are you saved through faith; and not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works (performance), lest any man should boast." Ephesians 2:8 & 9
So the answer to the original question - how can a person get to heaven - is by faith.
"Well, that sounds good, but I have a feeling this involves going to church several times a week, wearing a tie, and actually staying awake during the sermon."
Before I respond to that, I just have one more question for you: if you were to die tonight, where would you end up?
(long pause)
"I'm not really sure. I'd like to think that I would go to Heaven, but I just really don't know for sure. Can anyone REALLY be sure? I mean, don't we all have self-doubts? Don't we all wonder if we've done enough or if we've really ticked off God so much or ... something like that?"
When you look in the mirror, what do you see? Your reflection, of course. After a person trusts in Christ as their Savior, do you know what God sees when He looks at them? His Son. He sees Jesus when He looks at us. He no longer sees our sin, which He can't bear to look at. Remember how I said it is impossible for God to allow sin into heaven, and we're sinful, so how can sinful man go to Heaven where God allows no sin? That's how we can get there. We go in with Jesus, and when God asks if He has a guest, He will say, no - a brother! A joint-heir with Jesus. In Galatians Paul told the church that "If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." And he also said to them, "Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father.'"
This is why Christians are different: they have the Spirit of God - the Spirit of Jesus! - in their hearts, filling that God-shaped space. His spirit joins with our spirit - our soul - and together we make a new creature, a super-man. Our new spirit calls out "Abba, Father," which means daddy or papa. If you go to Israel, you will hear little children calling out to their daddies, "Abba! Abba!" Daddy! Daddy! God sees a new creature who is a child of God - one of His own. What daddy doesn't welcome his own children when they come to him?
"It just sounds too simple. I've always heard people talking about working to get into Heaven, and getting their reward. Reward for what? I assume it's a reward for doing good."
And do you think you could ever repay Jesus for what He did for you? Do you think you could ever do enough good works - feed the poor, clothe and shelter the homeless, care for the sick - to make God say, "Hmmm. This guy has done so much, it doesn't matter that Jesus died in his place. He doesn't need Jesus to get to Heaven."
"I don't know. Isn't it possible?"
What could you or I possibly offer the God of the Universe who spoke the our world into being? I don't think He needs something from us like a lawn mowed or groceries delivered? And what could you or I do to make up for the life given by His Son?
"Hey, man. I've read the book and seen the movie. It was the Jews who killed Jesus and they're supposed to be God's chosen people. What's up with that, anyway?"
It was a combined effort, Jews and non-Jews alike, because Jesus died for everyone, regardless of race, color or religion. The Law of Works was made impossible intentionally so we would have nowhere else to turn for salvation except Jesus. He said, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except by Me." He told this to His disciples on the night before He was arrested and taken away to be crucified.
"So, if God doesn't need us for anything, why does He keep us around? Why is it important for us to believe in Him? Why did He send His Son down to live with us if we were just going to kill Him?"
God made us to be His friends. Back in Genesis, He used to walk through the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. Someday, we'll walk with Him again and enjoy being in His direct presence. He loves us as friends and children, even though we turned our backs on Him and disobeyed Him. The only way to fix that was with blood - our blood. We had to die for what we did. Jesus stepped in and took our punishment for us. When He hung on that cross and said, "It is finished!" what He was saying was that the price had been paid in full. It is completed. It - the separation of God and man - was over. Christ stretched out His arms on that cross and made a bridge for us to be able to get together with God again. It was all part of the plan to bring us back into fellowship and friendship with God again.
"I've always had a kind of mental picture of God with white hair, robes and sandals and angry. You know, lightning bolts in each hand and really ticked off, watching from a cloud, ready to spank us or squash us or something bad like that. You're saying God wants me to be His friend?"
Amazing, isn't it, and kind of hard to grasp. But let me try and explain a bit to see if I can make it a little clearer. You love your kids, but sometimes they need discipline, whether to teach them something important or because they did something you told them not to. God is our spiritual Father, but just like our earthly father - and just like us in our role as fathers - sometimes we need to be thumped on the head or put in timeout or firmly told to get back on the right path. When you punish or discipline your children, you don't stop loving them, do you? Of course not, and neither does God stop loving us when we disobey Him or go off on our own instead of following His instructions.
And have you noticed that "discipline?" We get the word "disciple" from the same root word. God needs to correct us to disciple us. That's part of where we get the "angry God" image. And, truth be told, He was angry sometimes in the Old Testament when His chosen people just couldn't get it through their heads what He was telling them. Or they were dissatisfied with what He gave them. Starving in the wilderness, He sends them bread from the sky - manna - every day. Give us our daily bread ... But they said, "Where's our meat and veggies? We want something else!"
"I understand why He got angry. My kids are the same way sometimes. (Pause) So how do I become God's friend?"
He wants to be your friend and a father to you, someone you can tell anything to, and someone who will help you through every situation that life throws at you. He's been waiting your whole life for you to ask Him to be your friend.
Have you ever heard the expression, "A picture is worth a thousand words?" I have something here I'd like to show you ...
No comments:
Post a Comment