If the Scriptures are correct, a day is coming that will be the greatest of all judgment days (Acts 17:30,31). Until then, the worst mistake we can make is thinking that because the sun is still shining in our lives, sin must not be a problem for us.
We may admit to having made some mistakes or having some dysfunctional habits, but we don’t see ourselves as sinful people who need the forgiveness of our Creator. We think of ourselves as good people who might profit from a little improvement.
The thing that is wrong when we sin is not merely that we do something that gives us subjective feelings of guilt — it is that we transgress an actual standard of right and wrong, one that originates in the mind and character of God Himself.
It is encouraging that God is always at the door of our hearts, wanting us to open up and accept His gift of life. But it should sober us to know that if we refuse, He will remain outside — and if we die in our rebellion, we will be lost forever.
How should we respond to the truth that God gave His Son to save us? If we are to do more than just admire the beauty of the gospel, we should be OBEY it. How could we not say “Yes!” to a Father who has paid such a high price to bring us back home?
Material prosperity breeds a false confidence in ourselves and deludes us into thinking that we are self-sufficient. Like candy which makes us think we don’t need any food, physical comfort tends to push our spiritual needs into the background.
None of us can figure this world out and control it. That’s the message of Ecclesiastes, and it prepares us for the gospel. It denies that we are the masters of our own destiny, and if it defeats us in that way, a great victory will have been won.
What we lost in sin was not just biological life, but the life we would have had as “sons of God.” Jesus taught that this “eternal” kind of life can be given back to us — and His teaching is the only path to that life. We should pay attention!
What had to happen for us to enter God’s kingdom was the forgiveness of our sins. The means whereby God was able to do that was the death of His Son — and His grace consisted in the giving of that gift, thereby making our salvation possible.
