(All references are to the Holy Bible)

All is not well with our world. The Bible tells us that the relationship between God the Creator and us, His creation, has broken down. The problem is that we have gone our own way and have rebelled against Him and His right to rule over us.  

Unfortunately this is very evident from the way the world around us goes from one crisis to another. 

There is much that is good in our world, but there is also so much unhappiness, brokenness, suffering, conflict and cruelty. Everything mankind tries to do that is good seems to be spoiled or tainted. Good intentions go wrong; attempts at international harmony fail. Self-centredness abounds and there is evidence of wickedness at work everywhere. Millions of people are dissatisfied and lack any good purpose in their lives. Many actually feel lost. Why is this? The fundamental problem is that we have declared ourselves independent from God who gave us our life. And God holds us responsible! 

So, is there an answer to this? Can God be known? Can human beings actually relate in a meaningful way to the Creator of the universe? The Christian Bible declares that we can. But do not be surprised to learn that this relationship must be on God's terms, not ours - after all He is God and we are His creatures! 

The Bible declares that God - the great 'I AM' is 'compassionate, and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin'. (Exodus 34:6,7) If we are prepared to listen to what God has revealed to us, then we can approach him and find forgiveness, release and rest for our souls. But He is also a God of justice who will not overlook wickedness and sin for ever. Let us explore what has been revealed to us in the Bible .......

So what is the problem?

According to the Bible, the first human beings (Adam and Eve), lived in perfect harmony with God in a perfect world (the Garden of Eden). God entrusted to them the task of looking after His world. This harmony is described in Genesis 3 where God ‘walked in the garden in the cool of the day’.  At first, Adam and Eve were righteous. They lived perfectly under God's rule. If we could live perfect lives acknowledging God's rule over us, there would be no problem about God’s relationship with us, or ours with Him. He would be involved with us and bless us. Then our world would be perfect.  

But our first ancestors rebelled and tried to make themselves God. So God shut them out of the Garden, signifying that the harmony between Him and them was now finished. This disobedience was the first 'sin' and we have all been committing it ever since. We have all inherited this rebellion against God. Small children do not have to be taught to do bad things: but they need to be taught what is good. We are all the same: it is fundamental to our very nature.

We are self-serving and do not live in obedience to how God has told us to live. We are all spiritually dead. We want to live the way we want to. We don’t want God interfering. We ought to live our lives with God our Creator as our Ruler, but we don’t. God has even given us the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17) to show us what He expects, but all they do is to show us how far short we fall from God’s standard. Unless we do something about it, each of us will have to answer to God for it.

So what can we do about it? 

(a) Many people think that we just have to do our best and God will overlook our failings. But what sort of god would that be? A god without standards, who thinks that some sin and evil is permissible? A god who is not by nature and essence, totally good. This not the God of the Bible.

That sounds impossible! We cannot achieve that. But wait, God's plan is better.

(b) Others who have been introduced to the Christian Faith, think that they are saved and reconciled to God by believing in Christ's sacrificial death plus the addition of their own good deeds. But this provides no certainty. Under this solution, how is it possible to know whether we have done enough good deeds? This would not be freedom and rest, it would be a new slavery.

In any case, neither (a) nor (b) is what Jesus Christ and His Apostles taught!

(c) In fact, the Good News of the Christian Gospel is far better than that. It tells us that we can be reconciled to God, not by working for it, but as gift. It is possible to know now what God's verdict on us will be on Judgement Day. We can be sure today that we will go to heaven. And none of this is the result of what we do, but of what God has done for us. 

Let's work our way through it ... 

In the New Testament we discover that God has taken the initiative to give us a way back into His favour. He achieves this through His Son Jesus Christ. There is a famous verse in the Gospel of John which goes like this:

As we examine this verse we will discover what the issue is and what God has done. Let's go through the verse phrase by phrase.

'God so loved the world ...' 

'that He gave His one and only Son ...'

'that whoever believes in Him ...'

'shall not perish ...'

'but have everlasting life.'

Forgiveness and reconciliation with God are a gift from God to all who believe in Jesus Christ. We do have to add to it with our own good deeds. Jesus Christ's sacrifice is so great that it completely overwhelms anything we could try to add. Our good deeds are trivial by comparison. His sacrifice for us is complete and perfect. And it is finished: we can add nothing.

(1) The Spirit's first role is to keep us focussed on Jesus Christ and to maintain us a Christian and take us to heaven -  'Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession - '  Ephesians 1:13

(2) The Spirit's second role is to help us to live a life worthy of God and the salvation we now enjoy. It is unbelievable that a person who has surrendered to Jesus Christ and has eternal life, would then go on to live carelessly as if sin did not matter. The sin that sent Christ to the cross is not appropriate to a Christian's life.  Because we are sinners and remain as forgiven sinners until we reach heaven, Christians will always struggle against temptation and sin. But Christians are forgiven sinners. Listen to Paul instructing Christians 'What shall we say then? Shall we go on sinning? By no means. We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? .... Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires... but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life ...'  Romans 6:1,12,13.

So how about you? Have you taken advantage of the wonderful way God has planned to rescue you, to forgive you when you believe in Christ, to be reconciled to you and you to Him, to be in your life with you through His Holy Spirit, to welcome you to heaven? Pray to Him for forgiveness now and claim Christ as as your Saviour and Lord. Remember Christ said 'Whoever comes to me I will never drive away'.

What next? Find a church that teaches the Bible (not all do). Join a fellowship of other Christians who believe this good news of forgiveness and reconciliation. If there is no church you can go to, email this website and we help you - thebible@coekin.freeserve.co.uk 

God bless you

* To see more about God's Grace go to the page on this website called 'A Summary of the Christian Faith on ONE WORD' Click here.