Every Tuesday and Friday I am part of a small team of people who run a street meeting in Liverpool City Centre telling people about the message that God is still communicating to the people of the world in the Bible.
Yesterday I had quite a chat with a really nice guy, he was interested to find out more about God and life after death, why I believed it, how you can be sure etc..
One of the things we agreed on was that no one is perfect. I thing you would agree with this statement as well. It has almost become a strap line and possibly an excuse on occasions when we know we have done wrong but don't feel that we could have behaved any better. I know that it is not a popular way of putting it but the Bible simply calls it sin. That is not making the grade, not reaching the target or not being perfect.
Who sets the standard? Why do we feel imperfect? Are we just conditioned by our parents? I don't think so and the Bible definitely doesn't teach it that way. The Bible says that God is the law giver and he sets the standard. Interestingly enough the Bible actually states that God has imprinted His law (standards of right and wrong) in our hearts (Romans.2.15). That is whatever the culture or the time period human beings are aware of right and wrong and have strong views about it. What is different is the fact that from time to time people harden their hearts and sear their conscience so that their sensitivity to right and wrong is reduced. But amazingly enough when are a person is confronted with their wrongdoing their conscience is reignited and they feel guilty.
All degrees of sin are wrong but the punishment is scaled according to the severity of the disobedience - Revelation.20.12. Sin first raised its ugly head in our world through a simple act of rebellion by the first man, Adam. God tested him and he failed (Romans.5.12).
The reason for my blog is share with you the good news that God is not finished with us. He is not currently in the business of condemning us (John.3.17) but he wants to rescue us and save us. The Bible states that, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners (1.Timothy.1.15). Essentially the wrong that we have done by disobeying our creator and the punishment attached to it is greater than we can deal with. So God sent His Son, Jesus to this world. He alone (as everyone else had sinned and were personally guilty) was qualified to take our punishment and satisfy the legal demands of heaven. Jesus did this when he died on the cross. The Bible teaches 'Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures' (1.Corinthians.15.3,4) and as a believer I know this to be true. One day I turned from my sins, admitted to God I was guilty, confessed that he was right and I was wrong and accepted the gift of God which is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans.6.23).
You could do that today and I am praying that you will. If I can help further please e-mail at stepcar61@gmail.com or listen to my podcast at www.seekthetruth.org.uk.
May you allow God to bless you today, Stephen
No comments
Post a Comment