God's Plan

Look around you. It's clear to all but the most willfully blind that we live in a created universe. The balance, variety and complexity of life is infinitely greater than anything that could even remotely be possible apart from the work of an omnipotent designer.

So the universe cries out that there is a God. If an artist is found in the expression of his work, what kind of being would you imagine is behind the wonder that you see all around us? A fair representation would be a being that is so vast in intelligence, goodness, creativity and other attributes as to be in fact, beyond imagination.

But how do we begin to approach the unimaginable? Obviously, we can't find the answer within ourselves. The logical one to turn to would then be God Himself; to look to Him to provide a way. To carry this thought forward, He would have to reveal Himself to us in understandable ways. While the creation itself reveals much about God, and we also believe that the God chose to speak to us through men moved by His Spirit to record His revealed Word. These writings are encompassed in the bible. This is another invaluable source of God's revelation of Himself. But He went even further to make Himself know to us. Jesus Christ provides the ultimate revelation of the person and character of God in answering the question the no longer hypothetical question, "If God took on the form of a man, what would He be like?" So does it not make perfect sense that the path to relationship with God would run through the one who has manifest the person and character of God on earth? Yes, but not for this reason alone. There's more!

You see, there's a bit of a problem. How do you reconcile a sinful men to a perfect God? Because of the perfection of His character, there is no way that God can "look the other way" and still be perfectly just, anymore than an earthly judge would be considered just to ignore the law and let the guilty go unpunished.

We're all in the same boat, you see: "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Is there anyone who has never spoken a regrettable word, or taken something that was not theirs, or thought a lustful thought? I could go on, but I think you get the idea. And if God ignored sin, then heaven would be populated with unrepentant sinners. No heaven at all! In fact, no different from what we have here on earth. So you see, the standard must be perfection, not relative good. A minor sinner is still a sinner and heaven cannot be heaven if it contains sin.

Sin requires punishment, and the bible tells us "the wages of sin is death". So herein lies the dilemma. We all owe with our lives, so we cannot provide just payment. To provide the payment is to lose the life. Sin separates us from God, but God desires eternal relationship with us. How can sin be justly punished, and completely eradicated while preserving free will without which there can be no true love relationship?

The answer is found only in Christianity, because Christianity is in fact God's answer to the dilemma. God knew we could never meet the standard of perfection, and He proved that by giving us those standards embodied in the Law (the Torah or Mosaic Law). By giving us this measure of specific commandments, it's easy to see we don't match up very well at all. Especially, when Jesus tells us that murder and unjust anger, for example make us equally guilty for they both stem from the same evil heart. One is simply further advanced. Same for lustful looks and adultery. (Matthew 5) If you even begin to think that you've somehow escaped the external law, then look to your thought life and the impurity of the human heart and know that God sees it all.

So what is God's answer to the dilemma? To send His Son to pay the unpayable price for us. Our part? Out of a sincere desire for relationship with God, to accept the free gift of salvation by surrendering our sinful lives to God and receiving in return an eternal life in Jesus Christ through a spiritual birth (read John 3 for more on this).

He is the only one who can pay the price because He is the only one who lived a sinless life. Therefore, He has a life to give. That's why salvation is only in Jesus Christ. Our free will remains intact because we must choose to believe and accept God's solution. God's justice remains intact because sin is indeed punished. The full wrath of God was poured out on the Jesus who gave Himself freely to stand in our place. "For He has made Him who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Corinthians 5:21.

The symmetry is perfect because as the bible tells us, sin entered the world through one man (Adam), and salvation comes through one man, Jesus Christ. The plan is admittedly a bit complex for us and not at all what one would expect, which simply speaks to its credibility; that it's origin is not in man, but in God.

The process, however, is simple enough for a child. In fact, at its essence it's likely easier for a child. All that is necessary to receive this free gift of salvation is to pray a simple prayer out of a sincere heart. The power is not in the exact words, but rather in freely and truthfully admitting you're a sinner, telling God you desire to turn away from sin and embrace a relationship with Him, and accepting the free gift of eternal life by receiving Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord.

The hard part is coming to that place where we can pray such a prayer out of a sincere heart. God doesn't look to the outward appearance. He reads the heart, and He will know if you truly desire to turn your back on sin and enter into relationship with Him. Our flesh will tell us we shouldn't surrender to anybody (as if we were doing such a great job of running our own lives that relationship with a perfect Father would be a negative) or "look at all the things you'll have to give up" (as if giving up bondage to sin is a bad thing)! It's easier for a child to be sincere, because a child doesn't have all the negative baggage we adults have trying to get in the way. But if you have the desire, God will meet you in an eternal, loving embrace. Don't worry about being "good enough". He's already told us none of us are, so you don't have to worry about that! There's nothing here to earn; only receive.

So what is the good news? God created us for relationship with Himself. Even though we rejected Him, He didn't abandon us without hope. In His love and His patience, He provided a means of escape from the bondage of sin and death and a door to eternal relationship with Him through His Son, Jesus Christ.

If you have come to that place in your heart where you're ready to embrace relationship with God, we invite you to pray a simple prayer, or one like it, to take that step. Such a prayer is commonly known as the sinner's prayer, and you can find it here. As those who have taken such a step before you, we can assure you there is no greater thing that you can do in life, and no more certain step to true fulfillment.