Our human penchant is to trust in our
self-righteousness, natural talents and basic good heart to earn us a place in
heaven, or at least to ensure that we are reincarnated to a higher life form.
The problem with this thinking is that our heart
is deceitful and basically wicked (Jeremiah 17:9). Even our best day falls
short of God's holiness and glory, which is the standard for residence in
Heaven (Roman 3:23).
When we repent of our sin, ask for God's
forgiveness and surrender our life to Him, He gives us the righteousness, which
can only come from Jesus Christ.
Jesus then abides within us by His Spirit (John
15:4). He raises our spirit, which is dead in sin, to walk in a whole new life
(2 Corinthians 5:17; Romans 6:4; Colossians 2:12). This secures our place in
Heaven.
That is why God sent the perfect Lamb, who
never lived a moment in sin, to take on the sin of the whole world and to make
us righteous like God through the sacrifice of His life (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Jesus
willingly laid down His life for us (Luke 4:29-30). He made the choice in the
Garden of Gethsemane, on the night before He was betrayed, to carry out God's
will (Luke 22:42).
Jesus submitted
to the excruciating scourging and death on the cross, not due to human
weakness, but according to the spiritual strength He received while considering
the glory that lay waiting for Him in Heaven (Hebrews 12:2).
The grace of God transforms us into a Temple
made without hands, a dwelling place fit for a King (1 Corinthians 3:16). He uses
what the world considers as foolishness to carry out the work of His Kingdom (1
Corinthians 1:27).
Our only
honorable response to this is to submit to His will in our life, so that we
will also be counted worthy to dwell with Him in His glorious Kingdom for
eternity (Luke 21:36).
God
created each one of us for a specific purpose (Ephesians 2:10) and will judge
our works in this life in order to reward us in the next (1 Corinthians 3:13).
Prayer:
Father God, many people do not comprehend the elaborate tapestry You
have woven over millennia of time in order to bring about the fulfillment of
all things (Ephesians 1:10). They do not understand that You never send
judgment without first sending warning.
The flood, the annihilation of generations of people and their
possessions in Canaan, the crucifixion of Your own son and other judgments are
puzzles and a stumbling block, which prevent people from surrendering their life
to You. Yet, before all of these events, You gave mankind plenty of warning
that You are a holy and righteous God and nothing unholy may dwell in Your
presence.
Thought for the Day:
Jesus had no thought for Himself, but only love for a dying world lost
in sin's degradation.
