I'm Sorry (part 2)

Relationship

We have broken our relationship with our God. Our selfishness, our disobedience, our anger towards Him and our rebellion against His Word have built insurmountable walls between us. We have built these walls; yet God still loves us; they need to be taken down.

He wants to be part of our lives so much, yet we constantly turn Him away. His desire is for us to come back to Him. He wants to restore our relationship with Him; as it was in the beginning. He desires to give us a much better, more fulfilled life than we have at present; but we need to come to Him and say we are sorry, to restore things, as Bill did. It is that simple; but not possible by our own efforts! ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope’ (Jeremiah 29:11 NASB).

What does God offer us?

He offers a wonderful plan for our life; He offers hope; He extends His love and forgiveness; He offers a future; He offers healing. He offers all this for now, today and forever! He offers the good news that we can be reconciled with Him through His Son, Lord Jesus Christ.

‘For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes’ (Rom. 1:16).

How did God do this?

He gave His only Son, Jesus, to die for us. ( John 3:16) so that we will be released from the power that evil has over us and be free to return to God. The result of the sacrifice that Jesus made for us is that we are washed and cleansed of all this evil; and being clean and set free, we can come back to God. Our part in this is to accept and believe in Jesus, as the Son of God and invite Him into our life as our Lord and Saviour, in effect to come before Him and say we are sorry, receive His forgiveness and in His power turn away from the things in our life that caused this separation in the first place.

‘The law of Moses could not save us, because of our sinful nature. But God put into effect a different plan to save us. He sent His own Son in a human body like ours, except that ours are sinful. God destroyed sin’s control over us by giving His Son as a sacrifice for our sins’ (Rom. 8:3).

What does that verse mean? Simply that the Ten Commandments and God’s laws and commands in the Old Testament were given only as a guide to how we should be living our lives. These laws can never make us right with God, they can never forgive us for our selfishness and disobedience to God. God knew this but He had an ultimate plan, which began with Abraham, and these laws were put in place waiting for the final act of love when God, in His Son, Jesus, would Himself come to earth and die for us, destroying the power of evil by His resurrection and enabling us to come back to Him.

‘God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son [Jesus]. He who has the Son [Jesus] has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life’ ( 1 John 5: 11,12 NASB [my paraphrase] ).

What did Jesus do?

He died for us, making it possible for this to happen. Should we reject all the good things He is offering? We can search and do all the ‘good works’ we can find to do. Donate thousands of pounds to charity, participate in all the ‘good causes’; but without Christ, they will only ever be just that: good works. They benefit our self and others; but not our soul. They can never be a way back to God, although subconsciously we may seek that. The desire in our hearts to do good works, whether we believe in God or not, is a revelation to us from God. It is to be applauded and encouraged. Yet it does not make us right with God.

Bruce Milne, in his book ‘Know the Truth’ explained this awareness of doing good as a revelation from God about Himself which is in the heart of every single person who has ever lived. We all know the difference between good and evil.

‘Biblical references confirm that God has revealed Himself to all in the conflicts of our moral experience. God has not left Himself without testimony - we all have some awareness that the sense of obligation to do good and to spurn evil reflects the will of an ultimate Lord to whom we are finally responsible. Everyone is confronted by God [at some point in their lives] and therefore carries responsibility for the lack of a true relationship to Him’ - ( Know the Truth, Bruce Milne. Inter Varsity Press: Ch 2 [my explanation] ).

‘They demonstrate that God’s law is written within them, for their own consciences either accuse them or tell them they are doing what is right’ (Rom. 2:15).

Why did Jesus die for us?

The answer is simply this: so that we can be reconciled to God and receive His wonderful plan for our life. His sacrifice to death opened the way for us to come back to God. God loves us so much that He died for us; because that was the only way He could restore our relationship with Him. We cannot do it. He did it for us. It is His gift to us. We can accept this truth, or reject it; it is our choice. Does it matter? Yes, more than anything else in your life.

‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me’ (John 14:6 NASB).

How is Jesus the way back?

If you desire to restore your friendship with God, you need to seek Jesus and receive God’s forgiveness through Him. In faith you must accept Him in your heart as the Son of God and say you are sorry for the things you have done that you know are not of God and then pledge to turn away from them. Through Jesus your relationship with God will be restored, everything will be forgiven by God through Jesus Christ. You will receive a new life, an eternal life. Your past, no matter what it has been will be forgiven by God and forgotten by God.

‘Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ’ (2 Cor. 5: 176,18 NASB).

Your guilt will be removed. God already knows everything about you anyway - so what can you hide from Him? We all instinctively know how we have wronged God, we might deny it; but we know it.

‘But God shows His [wrath] from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who push the truth away from themselves. For the truth about God is known to them instinctively. God has put this knowledge in their hearts - so they have no excuse whatsoever for not knowing God’ (Rom. 1:19,20).

‘For we are each responsible for our own conduct’ (Gal. 6:5).

Does Jesus matter?

This answer is really up to you. I can only give you the truth from Scripture, you must decide the action to take. It is because of our actions that we break our relationship with God. He is grieved at this breakdown.

‘It broke His heart’ (Gen. 3:6).

You can change that though, right now; by coming to Jesus; remembering the things you have done wrong, saying you are sorry and asking Him to help you and become part of your life. God has offered His hand to you through His Son, Jesus. He died so that you can come back to Him.

Why did God do all this?

Because He loves us. Eventually Jesus will return to the earth, this time to judge everyone. The earth, the world we live in, will pass way. All that we treasure in our lives today: our possessions, money, home, career, will be gone. There will be a new heaven and a new earth.

‘Behold, I am making all things new’ (Rev. 21:5 NASB).

This is the hope God gives us: a new wonderful plan for our lives now and for our future. This is why it is important that why we must seek Him now before that day. In the days of Noah everyone was ignoring what God had said through him until the flood came and it was too late. So today we can continue to ignore and reject God’s message through Jesus; and one day it will be too late. Gods wants none to be lost but all to be saved. He is patient and we may think that the message is gone and finished; but it is not. God has set a day for the return of His Son.

‘The Lord isn’t really being slow about His promise to return, as some people think. No, He is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to perish, so He is giving more time for everyone to repent. But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise’ (2 Peter 3:9).

‘For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, they were marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so shall the coming of the Son of Man be’ (Matthew 24:37-39 NASB).

‘..so also Christ died only once as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again but not to deal with our sins again. This time He will bring salvation to all those who are eagerly waiting for Him’ (Heb. 9:28).

Jesus has made it possible. You are invited to come to Jesus, receive His forgiveness, say you are sorry; or reject Him.

I just noticed an advertisement in a mail shot I received today. It said, ‘When life takes a wrong turn who can you trust to protect you?’ There is only one answer. Trust Jesus. He has promised to help you; and He is more than able to. He is not a fairy story. He is truth.

‘Anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’ (Rom. 10:13).