"I deserve better."
This statement is widely used. We tell ourselves and other people:
- I "deserve" friends
- I "deserve" to be liked
- I "deserve" to be treated good
- I "deserve" to be loved
The list can go on forever, can't it? In our minds we deserve so much. I am constantly telling myself I deserve this or that, or that life hasn't been fair to me.
You know what I've learned? I don't even deserve the air I breathe. I don't deserve friends, to be liked or loved, I don't even deserve to be treated decently.
The very meaning of a Christian is to be Christ-like, meaning we are to be like Christ, have His love, behavior, forgiveness, mercy, etc. But we can't be like Christ. We are sinners and are unworthy of anything "good" in our lives.
It is not humanly possible for us to do anything good with our own power. We are sinful and the only thing we "deserve" is an eternity in hell.
Life sounds very depressing when knowing those things. Some say "well that's not fair, I deserve better than that. I've done some good things in my life." But the honest truth is that nothing is truly good without God being in the middle of it.
Because of the sin on this earth, the only way to wash it all away was to have a blood sacrifice. That's why people used to sacrifice animals on alters. Sacrificing animals for eternity wouldn't have really done much, though. There had to be a life given for a blood sacrifice. We should have been the ones who gave our lives, since we are the ones who have sinned.
" For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."
If you're breathing, this is you. You have sinned, I have sinned, the man in prison and the preacher at the front of your church...we have all sinned.
Here's the good news: We are told that God's love is endless and that He gave up His only Son to be the sacrifice for our sins so we could have a cleansing of our sins and have life everlasting.
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." -John 3:16
Some say He came to condemn people and simply judge them. No, He came to save us all from our own sin.
"For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him." -John 3:17
This is a great gift! It clears us of our sins if we accept this sacrifice.
"He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
-John 3:18
So this last verse is good news and bad news. His gift means our sins will be washed away and when God looks at us He no longer sees sin, but the perfect Lamb of God and His blood covering us and we will not be banished to hell one day. His gift is open to all who will believe; that means adulterers, liars, thieves, murderers, those who have places other gods before the One and only God, druggies and drunkards...anyone can come and receive His gift.
However, those who reject that gift will suffer greatly. They will spend eternity in a lake of fire, hotter than the human mind can imagine, and there they will burn, and burn, and burn...not dying, but simply burning. This is a scary place to put yourself in. Where God is the only way to heaven, you allow yourself to be sent to hell if you refuse His gift.
The bible says God doesn't want anyone to be sent to hell.
"The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance." -2 Peter 3:9
Here on earth, the price for breaking the law is prison or death (depending on your crime). Judges decide your sentence and punishment. There are times, however, when you can pay a fine, amount set by the judge, and get out of jail.
God, also, has a judgment. He is the only righteous judge and all will come before Him. Unfortunately for us we only have one option for breaking His laws: Hell. Death. We don't get a few years of community service and then let off the hook. You break the law and refuse to "pay the fine" then your sentence is death. The thing is, we can't pay our own fine so we would be lost anyway. But imagine someone coming into the courtroom right as you were being drug away, unable to pay your fine, they tell the judge "I will pay his fine for him." That is precisely what Jesus did when He died on the cross.
The choice is yours, you have the freedom to decide. Either way, it will be the biggest decision you ever make.
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