(Note: This is a largely evangelical post.)
There is a cultural phenomenon that has been going on for quite some time now which I have only recently become hip to. (HA, and there's some 60s slang I only recently got hip to.)
There is a particularly pernicious lie people have fallen for: that the only thing you can know is yourself, your own emotions, and your own mind, and therefore you oughtn't try to know other's similar qualities but instead lead such a fun and happy life doing all the things that please you so that when you're old and dying and about to no longer exist, you can look back and say "Wow, I really enjoyed myself. I guess I don't feel so bad now that I'm not going to exist anymore." There are those who act as if this is a sort of hard thing to accept.
The problem people have here is not with suddenly not existing. In fact, it wouldn't be so bad to suddenly stop existing, if you think about it, because you certainly wouldn't be around to know it. The problem here is that no one wants to be accountable for everything they've ever done.
But we are, whether we believe that or not.
One day you will have to give an account for every action, deed, and word ever to come out of you. Every. single. one. And when you get there, you'll either have an intercessor who is the Worthy One, Jesus Christ, or you will have only your wits and your long, incriminating history of sin, after condemning sin, after condemning sin. Did you think that you could get away with not having to do this simply because you don't believe in it?
God does not need your consent to exist. He does not need your permission, your belief, your faith to still judge you. But then again, why should He judge you? After all, He hasn't lived your life.
I'll tell you why. He created you, and the only reason He hasn't completely wiped the whole of the human race off the face of the planet yet is because He is infinitely patient, loving, faithful, and hopeful. I know if I were God, I would have gotten rid of the whole rotten lot of us long ago.
You have no rights before God. You are a created being who has trespassed against the statutes and laws of the all-powerful, all-perfect, all-deserving God, and therefore you forfeit any argument you had against Him doing as He pleases with you.
At this point some people may be getting fidgety and tell me that this sort of blog post, which really doesn't mince words, and makes them feel terrible, is a bad example of Christianity, and that's exactly the reason they don't want to be a Christian. Well, my friend, Christianity is all about love, but you've got to give up your old ways at some point, and someone has got to tell you do it at another.
Haven't you noticed by now, though, that this materialistic, self-absorbed, selfish lifestyle really isn't as fulfilling as you thought? Don't you ever get tired of watching other people suffer while you sit in comfort and do whatever floats your boat, whatever you feel like doing, whatever think will stroke your self-esteem the most? This world has got problems, and much as we all would like to ignore them, we can't.
We've got those friends whose parents got divorced when they were 8, and now they don't believe in "love," or "happiness" anymore.
We've got those friends who are suicidal, or self-injurious, or something else because they feel like the world's better off without them. Because they doubt the very attribute of God that makes Him God: Love.
Or how the bigger problems, all around the world? Disasters, explosions, people preying on other people, horrible hate, discrimination (in the true sense), etc. How on earth could a loving God do this to us? How can He let this happen? I once heard someone say "If there is a god, he must be a very indifferent one."
Did you ever think you'd brought this suffering down on yourself? (Now, in the case of mental illness, I know that's not something that someone can just will themselves out of, much as they might like to.)
When you succeed, you say it's all because you're so excellent at sports, or you inherited your dad's MENSA tendency, and that's why you're a child prodigy, or the reason everyone likes you so much is because you have such a winning personality. You, you, you, you. You've got it all.
Until something goes wrong. Then God is the first to get the blame. In the world, God is always the last to get the glory and the first to get the blame. If you can have so many achievements, why can't you have just as many failures? Maybe, just maybe, God allows these things because we are sinful creatures who need desperate, desperate help. The world's going you know where, and whose fault is it? Not God's. Certainly not God's. When He created the world, He pronounced it good. Very good, in fact. And then guess who came in and gummed everything up. Man, woman, the devil, whomever you like to blame, they all had a part in it and they all blamed someone else, usually God. "That woman you gave me, God, she told me to eat that stupid piece of fruit. I would have never done that if You had given me a better wife, or maaaybe if you're such a good God, how come you let this happen in the first place? Why don't you stay true to yourself, and not let any of this evil stuff happen?"
Oh, the depravity, wickedness, pride, and self-absorption of man. The depths of sin and evil we can fall to, to blame our very Creator for the problems His creations make. You didn't want Him to make you into a robot, did you? You want your own free will. You cannot have it both ways. So God gave everyone a free will, and now we all use it to serve ourselves, to hurt others, to gain glory and prestige for ourselves, while we along with the rest of the world slowly spiral down the drain of sin into destruction.
Isn't there a way out? Can't we do good things to make it all up? Live a good life, serve others, love people? No, not in ourselves, and you know it. Self-reform inevitably ends in despondency and failure. Why? Because in the Garden of Eden, while man and woman and devil were blaming each other and ultimately God, man and woman separated themselves from God. God is the only one from Whom come all good things. Is there happiness in the world? Thank God. Is there a good turn anywhere? Praise God. Has your "faith in humanity" been restored from a post on Facebook? Glory to God, real humanity had nothing to do with it.
You see, God, in His never-ending mercies, has provided a way to impart His Goodness to us. You've heard it. The very Son of God Himself climbed down from His throne in heaven to live as a man and die as a man, only do it perfectly, so that death might swallowed up in victory. And whosoever believes on Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.
There it is where you will find your true satisfaction, your true purpose in life, and you may even look forward to the end, when you will see your God face-to-face. And instead saying He never knew you, He will say, "Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into rest." Oh, that the entire human race could know this eternal rest.
1 Corinthians 15:51-58
John 3:16-17
