The Reality
Our world and our own hearts are filled with discouragement, disappointment, frustration, confusion, and evil. We are constantly searching for meaning and significance, and we fill our lives with all kinds of things to give us the peace we are lacking. We deaden our pain with entertainment to escape. We project a certain image to the world and pretend we are OK.
Few people have any clue as to what the real problem is. Instead of thinking much about this, most people just go on with their lives, trying to find some meaning in their jobs, families, friends, or recreation. But people cannot escape the feeling of emptiness that haunts them day by day.
The Problem
We live in a world that defies explanation apart from God’s word, the Bible, and God tells us that our greatest problem is our sin. Sin has brought all kinds of consequences, including the aching emptiness we experience. But the most serious consequence is our separation and alienation from the God who has created us for Himself. We all experience guilt. That is actually a good thing because it is our God-given monitor called the conscience telling us we have violated God’s law.
The Remedy
The gospel, God’s good news, is His answer to our greatest need. The gospel is actually bad news before it is good news. God's Word teaches that everyone is born a sinner. We don’t think we are so bad because we compare ourselves to others and come out feeling pretty good about ourselves. But this is a false standard. God will measure us by His perfect standard, His holy law, and on that basis we all fail. “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
We have broken God’s law in thought, word and deed. And because God is holy, He must punish sin. We wouldn’t consider a judge to be a person of integrity if they turned a blind eye to grievous wrongdoing.
But God is not only holy, He is gracious and desires to forgive sin. However it must be on His terms. God’s only way of forgiveness is Jesus Christ. He is God’s answer to our greatest need. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God in the flesh, truly God and truly man, two natures in one person.
Because He lived a perfect life, He is the perfect sacrifice for sin. God the Father accepted His shed blood as the only way for sin to be forgiven, the only way for us to be reconciled to God. In His death upon the cross, He took upon Himself the punishment that our sins deserve. The Lord Jesus Christ is the way to God. In Him is eternal life (John 17:3).
Other Paths?
Many people believe that it doesn’t really matter what we believe as long as we follow our own hearts. “Be true to yourself” is today’s motto. But if we think we are good, then God and the gospel will be irrelevant to our lives.
Many believe we can do something to win God’s favor. We can’t. The gap between us as sinners and a holy God is too great to be bridged by anything that we can do. It all has to be done by God. And it has – in sending His Son to die in the place of sinners for the punishment we deserve. That is great news!
Christianity is not about my finding what I think is the “moral” thing to do. It is not my subjectively deciding what is “truth.” It is not hoping that by doing “good,” by living a moral life, then when I die, I will go to heaven. There can be no true peace or happiness in that.
The Only Life of Meaning
Dear friend, you are not safe outside of Christ. We all stand before God condemned for our sin. Ever since the first man, Adam, chose to find his meaning and purpose without God, every one of us seeks to do the same. Originally, we were created to have a relationship with Him. God alone is the source of meaning in life. He alone can fill the emptiness and right the injustices.
People don’t understand the freedom the gospel offers them because they don’t understand the bondage they are in to sin. Will you continue to seek meaning in your life without God? If you answer yes, you will one day enter the unspeakable horror of “outer darkness” and eternal emptiness, because this is your way of life now. If you answer no and turn away from your sin to Jesus Christ in faith and repentance, you will have a life full of meaning that will last forever.
Charles Spurgeon said that the man who clings to his own righteousness is like a man who grasps a millstone to prevent himself from sinking in the flood. Only as we see the depth of our need and hopelessness will we begin to see Christ as precious, as an all-sufficient Savior.
As Tim Keller has said, “The gospel is that we are more sinful and flawed than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.” Do you see your greatest need? And do you see your only hope?
Our world and our own hearts are filled with discouragement, disappointment, frustration, confusion, and evil. We are constantly searching for meaning and significance, and we fill our lives with all kinds of things to give us the peace we are lacking. We deaden our pain with entertainment to escape. We project a certain image to the world and pretend we are OK.
Few people have any clue as to what the real problem is. Instead of thinking much about this, most people just go on with their lives, trying to find some meaning in their jobs, families, friends, or recreation. But people cannot escape the feeling of emptiness that haunts them day by day.
The Problem
We live in a world that defies explanation apart from God’s word, the Bible, and God tells us that our greatest problem is our sin. Sin has brought all kinds of consequences, including the aching emptiness we experience. But the most serious consequence is our separation and alienation from the God who has created us for Himself. We all experience guilt. That is actually a good thing because it is our God-given monitor called the conscience telling us we have violated God’s law.
The Remedy
The gospel, God’s good news, is His answer to our greatest need. The gospel is actually bad news before it is good news. God's Word teaches that everyone is born a sinner. We don’t think we are so bad because we compare ourselves to others and come out feeling pretty good about ourselves. But this is a false standard. God will measure us by His perfect standard, His holy law, and on that basis we all fail. “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
We have broken God’s law in thought, word and deed. And because God is holy, He must punish sin. We wouldn’t consider a judge to be a person of integrity if they turned a blind eye to grievous wrongdoing.
But God is not only holy, He is gracious and desires to forgive sin. However it must be on His terms. God’s only way of forgiveness is Jesus Christ. He is God’s answer to our greatest need. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God in the flesh, truly God and truly man, two natures in one person.
Because He lived a perfect life, He is the perfect sacrifice for sin. God the Father accepted His shed blood as the only way for sin to be forgiven, the only way for us to be reconciled to God. In His death upon the cross, He took upon Himself the punishment that our sins deserve. The Lord Jesus Christ is the way to God. In Him is eternal life (John 17:3).
Other Paths?
Many people believe that it doesn’t really matter what we believe as long as we follow our own hearts. “Be true to yourself” is today’s motto. But if we think we are good, then God and the gospel will be irrelevant to our lives.
Many believe we can do something to win God’s favor. We can’t. The gap between us as sinners and a holy God is too great to be bridged by anything that we can do. It all has to be done by God. And it has – in sending His Son to die in the place of sinners for the punishment we deserve. That is great news!
Christianity is not about my finding what I think is the “moral” thing to do. It is not my subjectively deciding what is “truth.” It is not hoping that by doing “good,” by living a moral life, then when I die, I will go to heaven. There can be no true peace or happiness in that.
The Only Life of Meaning
Dear friend, you are not safe outside of Christ. We all stand before God condemned for our sin. Ever since the first man, Adam, chose to find his meaning and purpose without God, every one of us seeks to do the same. Originally, we were created to have a relationship with Him. God alone is the source of meaning in life. He alone can fill the emptiness and right the injustices.
People don’t understand the freedom the gospel offers them because they don’t understand the bondage they are in to sin. Will you continue to seek meaning in your life without God? If you answer yes, you will one day enter the unspeakable horror of “outer darkness” and eternal emptiness, because this is your way of life now. If you answer no and turn away from your sin to Jesus Christ in faith and repentance, you will have a life full of meaning that will last forever.
Charles Spurgeon said that the man who clings to his own righteousness is like a man who grasps a millstone to prevent himself from sinking in the flood. Only as we see the depth of our need and hopelessness will we begin to see Christ as precious, as an all-sufficient Savior.
As Tim Keller has said, “The gospel is that we are more sinful and flawed than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.” Do you see your greatest need? And do you see your only hope?