BAD TO THE BONE
From my experience, most people really don’t think they need Jesus.
I think the (mostly subconscious) thought process goes something like this…
“Yeah, I’m sure I’ll go to heaven when I die. After all, I’m a pretty good person. I don’t cheat on my taxes (much) or my wife. (Though thank God that woman in that movie last night doesn’t live next door! Whew!) I work hard, (at least harder than the other schmucks at the office!) and I almost never lie. (Except when my wife asks if that dress makes her look fat - but, then… that’s for my own self preservation!) I’m a law abiding citizen, (everyone goes 5-7 mph over the speed limit!) and I love my country. (When the guy I voted for is in office.) Yep. When I die I’m sure I’ll go to heaven because, all in all I’m really a pretty good person, and God knows that. In any event, I’m WAAAAY better than THAT guy!”
We think this way because we COMPLETELY don’t understand who God is. (Honestly, I’m totally okay with not understanding everything about God… I mean, if I could understand God with my tiny little brain, then He’s not very much of a God - and I need a MUCH bigger God than that! *laughing*)
And that’s just the thing. We think God is just like us.
Only a little smarter.
And a little bigger.
And a little wiser.
And a little better.
But that is completely wrong.
Frank Wedekind, a German playwright in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, is credited with saying, “God made man in his own image, and man returned the favour.”
But God is NOT like us.
We are made in His image, but that doesn’t mean God is like us. That’s kind of like saying if you’ve seen a photograph of Yosemite, or the Grand Canyon or Crater Lake then you’ve experienced it. But anyone who has ever BEEN to one of these places knows full well that no photograph could ever capture the awesome majesty of these places. We are made in His image, but, even in all our “goodness" we are a far cry from being as good as God. Even the best person we can think of falls short of His perfection.
I heard it explained once like this…
Let’s say you write the name of the best person you can think of (besides Jesus) on one card and the name of the worst (most evil) person you can think of on another. The best person’s card you take to the top of the highest building, while you place the evil person’s card on the sidewalk below. Let’s say the best person is that much “higher” than the evil person.
But God’s goodness is past the furthest star in our universe…He’s THAT much “higher” than even the best person we can think of. And again, that’s a lot for my little brain to comprehend.
God tells us in Isaiah (55:8-9) “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,”declares the Lord.“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
And, being perfect, our sin cannot come anywhere near Him. We literally would burn up in His presence, like a piece of lint in a fire.
But again, we think, we’re not THAT bad. We’re basically pretty good.
J.D. Greear (in his AWESOME book, Not God Enough,) used the analogy of getting a blood transfusion and finding out 1% of the blood you received was infected with HIV. Are you any less infected because it’s only 1%???
The same is true with sin. There’s no percentage… you’ve either got it, or you don’t. And trust me… we’ve ALL got it! It’s in our blood. We are all bad to the bone! And there is nothing WE can do to improve our condition.
And THAT’S why what Jesus did is called the Good News!
God KNEW we would never be able to cleanse ourselves… no matter what we do or how hard we try. We are infected and the only thing that can truly cleanse us is new blood.
His blood.
And, THAT’S the Good News! He’s already given it for us.
For all of us.
For free.
All we need to do is accept it.
And THEN the awesome adventure begins!
In Him!
(I encourage you to go to aBranchOnTheVine.com and read “Come To The Cross… But Don’t Stay There!” and “If I’m Following God, Why Is My Life So Hard?” next!)