Hover over Romans 1:20-22 for proof of God's existence, and over Matthew 5:27-28 for Judgment Day’s perfect standard. Then hover over John 3:16-18 for what God did, and over Acts 17:30-31 for what to do.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Back to Luke

15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord has made known unto us.

In the middle of his unspeakable distress, Job cried, "Oh that I knew where I might find him!" (Job 23:3). Sometimes it takes life’s trials to bring us proud sinners to our knees. We don't think of God in our prosperity. We all know that He exists because of the testimony of creation and the human conscience, but where is He that I might find Him?

That was the question I asked as a child, and as I grew in to maturity I moved into rather asking, what it was that God required of me? Which religion was the right way? Should I become a Mormon, a Jehovah’s Witness, or join some particular church?

I was lost and searching for the right way. This is why I so appreciate the fact that Christianity isn’t another of the many religions that man invented. It is something that God created and made known to us.

We are the lost ones, not God. He seeks us when we think that we seek Him. Scripture makes it clear that biblical salvation starts and finishes with the grace of God. He is "the author and the finisher of our faith" (see Hebrews 12:2). He reaches out to the lost sinner; He softens the heart, unstops the deaf ears, opens the blind eyes, and draws us to Himself.

When we finally understand the gospel--that through it God grants everlasting life to those who repent and trust the Savior--no longer is the preaching of the cross foolishness. We had as much to do with the new birth as we had to do with our natural birth: "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:12-14)