This leads me to my next point. God
is infinitely good. It is easier for myself and others to see this when
things go well and you can feel his special favor and blessing over your life.
However, even in the dark times of questioning, when evil things happen
to innocent people for instance, God is still good and still sovereign.
Free will is the only path to true love, both a love for the Creator as
well as for His image-marked humanity and His beautiful and stunning creation.
Along with free will came the fall, and from that point forward we have
been separated from a most holy God who cannot have sin come into His presence.
For this reason Jesus was sent, that we might be reconciled to God
through the sacrifice of His Son. Not only His death but more importantly
His resurrection from the dead, for that is where we place our hope for
eternity. When given free will, you are ultimately left with two very
different choices. You can either choose to die to yourself and as a
result live more fully for Christ, or you can live for yourself and the desires
of this world. The first leads to a head start on eternal life, the
second similarly to a head start on eternity, only resulting in very different
destinies. You will either be lifted up into His glorious presence when
you pass from your earthly existence, or you will be separated from the God of
the universe and every good gift that comes from Him forever, including beer, in an answer to a rather famous book title that states he hopes they serve beer in hell. Rest assured they will not haha. Forever is
a very long time, something that must be contemplated as we try and fumble our
way through the few moments that we are granted breaths on earth. Many
self-help books and motivational speakers as well as pastors have said it
before and it warrants repeating now. Begin with the end in mind.
As my campus pastor said once, what do you want to have engraved on your
tombstone. A very sobering thought to be sure among newly independent
young adults desperately trying to find out who they are apart from their
parents for the first time, but one that has always stuck with me and I'm
positive with many others during his long and impactful tenure as a campus
minister. We must contemplate what we want our legacy to be to
generations after us before we're able to move forward with wisdom. Do we
want our lives to count for something? Do we want to be known as someone
who made a difference in whatever place they found that God had placed them in?
If so, then we must live with an ever present and continual prayer that
God may honor us by using us for His kingdom and His glory.
His Name is
the only One worth praising, and it is our duty as believers to share this
infinitely good news to the ends of the earth. My brother, Nathan, once
questioned me on why I was going on a mission trip to Kenya. He informed
me that it was no place of mine to tell other people they were destined for
hell, to which I explained I rarely use that method when sharing the gospel
with others. Usually promising a more purposeful life does the trick. However,
as I get older and read the Bible again and again, I'm confronted with the idea
that perhaps we are misrepresenting God and Jesus at some primary level.
We must arrive at the place where we acknowledge that yes, He is
all-loving and slow to anger, but simultaneously He is also the Great Judge who
will eventually judge the earth's inhabitants for their actions while they
lived on the earth. As I once relayed to a new acquaintance during my
student teaching experience, I truly believe there will be more people who end
up in hell as opposed to heaven where everyone likes to comfort themselves by
believing their loved ones are there even though they had no evidence in their
lives of submitting to the only One who can bridge the chasm between ourselves
and God. While this may be of some temporary relief and comfort, we
should not waste such an opportunity to share the gospel after having walked
alongside our friends and family in the midst of their grieving. This
must be done delicately, with much grace and as stated before only after having
walked alongside someone in their grief. All the same it is upon us as
our responsibility and response to the gospel and our salvation that we are
compelled to share the love of Christ with our loved ones. This looks
different according to whatever circumstance a believer might find themselves
in, what is good news to this people group might look differently in one place
as opposed to another place, however we are called to point others to Christ,
in action as well as word and truth. For one people group that might mean
you start businesses with the intent on providing much needed jobs for locals.
For another people group it might mean you challenge them to search out
the meaning to life, can it really be found in wealth and material things?
Or is there more to life than meets the eye? Regardless of the
circumstance we find ourselves in, we are all called to share the gospel and
make disciples. For some reason the church of the 20th century in America
did a great job at making converts and a less than stellar job at making
disciples. This must be turned from and repented of in the 21st century
if there is any hope of revival in America and other post-Christian societies.
We need to understand and share a more holistic picture of the gospel,
otherwise we do God a great disservice and make ourselves unworthy of the
calling that He has called us to.
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