 The Best Story
Ever wish that the world wasn’t so messed up? Ever wish the world could be a place of peace; where life is meaningful and balanced; a world where people actually care about each other and the environment in which they live?
Well, Christianity proposes that there actually WAS a world like this. God originally created our world as a place of perfect peace and balance. Humans were in a love relationship with God, with one another and with the world in which they lived.
But Christianity also recognizes that our world is not like this now. Our world is presently filled with poverty, natural disaster and disease, and these blemishes scar the world in which we live.
In addition to this, we have a really hard time getting along with each other. The nightly news is crowded with stories about murder, war and oppression.
And not many of us seem to be all that concerned about our environment. We seem to care more about our immediate comfort than we do about the long term effects of pollution and neglect.
Wouldn’t it be great to be able to do something about the mess we are in? We all agree that there are problems, and we all want to do something to change our world. But where do we begin? Well, part of our dilemma is that we have been focusing on the wrong problems in the first place! We put on our glasses and see the problems but fail to recognize their source!
Christianity teaches that the biggest problem we face is right within our own heart. Most people care more about themselves than their neighbor. And we either rebel against the possibility that God actually exists, or we rebel against the truths that are written on our heart. We all know what we ought to do, but NONE of us is able to consistently DO what we ought to do.
We have a heart problem. We know we don’t have to teach ourselves how to be impatient, selfish, greedy or self-centered. We start off this way from infancy. There is something in the heart of humanity that needs fixing. Christianity teaches that our biggest broken relationship is not with the people in our world or with the environment itself. Our biggest problem is our relationship with the God who sits outside the created world. We don’t have a horizontal problem or an internal problem; we have a vertical problem! We are separated from God by our continuing desire to do what we know we shouldn’t do.
This predisposition to make a mess of things is simply called SIN (our desire to rebel against God and His standard for our lives). If we are really honest with ourselves, we’ll have to admit that all of us want to do things our own way, and we pretend that God either doesn’t exist or doesn’t care about us. Our biggest problem starts in our rebellious heart. Our problem is our broken relationship with God. And this rebellion comes with a price; our moral rebellion will ultimately be judged, and the penalty for our sin will be punishment and separation from God. That sounds pretty harsh, but Christianity also teaches that God came to this world as Jesus, offering us forgiveness and offering to pay the price for OUR disobedience. He simply asks that we stop rebelling, stop denying his existence, stop resisting his call. It’s going to require us to change the way we think. It’s going to require us to CHANGE OUR HEART.
When we place our faith in Jesus, God forgives us for all our rebellion; He forgives our sins. Instead of trying to please God with our own efforts, we now trust that Jesus represents us before God and has already repaired the broken relationship completely. And when we accept that Jesus, as God, offers us forgiveness for our sins, something amazing starts to happen. God begins to change our heart. And guess what: inner change can’t help but result in outer change. It’s not long before we want to emulate the Savior who has forgiven us. We find ourselves living out the change in our hearts, not because we have to, but because we WANT to.
And it doesn’t stop there. The people in our world will also see the change in our own lives. We’ll find ourselves sharing the truth that has changed us and we’ll begin to treat people in a very different way. We’ll be more forgiving. It’s easy to give away a $1,000.00 if you have just been given $1,000,000.00. In a similar way, a heart that has been given incredible forgiveness and joy finds itself giving forgiveness and joy to others.
And it won’t be long before we’ll recognize that we are related to more than the people we already love. It won’t be long before we’ll see the interconnectedness of the entire world and everyone in it.
It’s God’s power that begins the process. It starts in the hearts of individuals. It’s an ‘inside – out’ power. God’s power changes everything. You may have noticed that the messed up condition of the world has not been completely erased in our diagram. Sure, we CAN create change in the world around us, but it’s important for us to realize that even as our hearts are changed and this change is reflected in our lives, relationships and our world, Christianity maintains that we will NEVER completely heal the planet. In fact, Christianity teaches that the world is ‘running down’.
The law of entropy is in effect. Order is slowly moving toward disorder. Our solar system and planet are aging, and we all suffer the effects of aging and death. This world is quickly passing away. That’s why the Christian Gospel is truly “Good News”. It’s not just about life here on planet Earth. We’re not just called to rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic. Jesus offers us safe passage off the ship! The forgiveness of Jesus allows us to be reunited with a perfect God in a perfect life beyond the grave and beyond this messed up world.
We are all eternal creatures bound for an eternal life after this finite physical existence. Jesus offers us a way to change our future and be reunited to a life of peace, harmony and balance. Jesus offers us a way to TRANSCEND this life and be reunited with God on a New Earth and a New Heaven. So, what’s your situation today? What is your focus? Are you still here, focused on the world's problems and feeling small and powerless in your effort to change the world on your own?
Are you here; still focused on your friends and family and struggling to improve your relationships? Are you still convinced that this is the root of our problem?
Are you here; still convinced that it’s just a matter of personal effort? Are you still trying your hardest to be a better person and clean up your life, as if your outward behavior alone will solve the problems of the world?
Or are you ready to experience true change and address the real problem that is facing us? Are you ready to place your trust not in your own effort to clean up your life, repair your broken relationships or heal the planet, but trust Jesus instead for personal forgiveness? Are you ready to accept the one thing that will truly change your heart and your future in the blink of an eye?
Where are you in this journey of transformation? Are you ready to take on the problems of the world by first recognizing that our personal sin problem lies at the core of the dilemma? Where are YOU?
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