Many people in the Church seem to be asking ‘What if’ questions. Which started me thinking…
What if…there exists a truth
which is absolute?What if…it is true that
there is a God?What if…this God made
the heavens and the earth?What if…He made humankind
in His own image?What if…the first man and woman
rebelled against God?What if…they died spiritually and became
by nature
children of God’s wrath?What if…you are their descendent?
What if…you too
are a rebel
against God?What if…you,
a child of spiritually dead parents,
are dead in your sins?What if…God still loved the world?
So much that He sent
His Son,
Jesus?What if…Jesus calls everyone
to turn away
from their rebellion
and toward God?What if…Jesus bore
the punishment
for your hatred of God
by dying
on a Roman execution cross?What if…He proved that
He is God
by raising Himself from the dead?What if…He is coming back
to judge the living and the dead?What if…He offers you forgiveness,
and freedom
from your sin?
And His righteousness
put to your account?What if…instead of slavery to sin,
you could have a life of service
to the One who gave His life for you?What if…God caused all of these things
to be written in a book?
So that you could know them?What if…this is absolute truth:
Christ Jesus.
Crucified for sinners.
Raised from the dead.
According to the Scriptures.What then?
Well said brother!
I tried to phrase things that way for a long time. It still offended people!
Hi Paula, thanks for stopping by! Guess we’re going to have to live with the Gospel giving offence:
Daniel – what a great post. I am so weary of postmoderns and emergents with their non-gospel gospel and their talk of “your truth” and “my truth.” There ARE universal truths to which we are all beholden. To say otherwise is as silly as a man standing on top of a 10-story building and saying, “Ha! I don’t BELIEVE in gravity!” and then jumping off. His belief- however sincere it might be- will not keep him from being subject to the effects of the law of gravity…….10 stories below.
The same is true of spiritual laws. We are each beholden to our sovereign Creator God, whether we want to be or not, and whether we “believe” we are or not. Sincere belief to the contrary will not be any protection on the day of Judgment. And sadly, we have all broken God’s laws: we have all lied, stolen, dishonored our parents, failed to put God first in our lives, etc. We are without excuse. And, we are each born with a conscience, which attests to us from within the knowledge of right and wrong; not one of us can say we’re innocent. Our own consciences bear witness to us of our sins, by which we stand condemned. A price must be paid.
And thankfully, a price WAS paid, on the behalf of all who would repent and believe in Jesus, who paid for our sins by his death on the Cross. What glorious news, and what a glorious gospel. But emergents want to trade this precious pearl of the gospel, this supernatural truth, for cheap, man-made trinkets. The best man can come up with is always a system of works by which to achieve righteousness (and thereby ascend to heaven)…..whether that is:
Hinduism/Buddhism – through yoga, meditation, fasting
Islam – through mecca, prayers, Jihad
Wicca – through meditation, energy work, spells
Emergent/liberal “Christianity” – through extrabiblical spiritual disciplines, social justice, going green, etc.
But no rat wheel of “works” will ever be enough to grant a person entry into heaven. No matter how hard a person might try, there would always be the matter of sins already committed. The wages of sin is death. The price must be paid! Will we pay with our own life’s blood? Or will we let the blood of Christ make payment for us? It really is as simple as that.
Amen!