Above All ~ Obtain Wisdom
Navigating skillfully in a treacherous world
Whose Life Is It, Anyway?
Posted on Tue, May 20 2008, 12:51pm
If you are reading this, the fact that you are alive can't be disputed. But, have you ever stopped to wonder why in the world you are alive? I'm not particularly concerned with the physical reasons why you breathe, think, move, talk, etc. No, what I want to know is whether or not you've given any thought as to your origin and purpose for living. Why is this so important? Because where and how you spend eternity depends on it.
The Bible (God's Word to mankind that reveals who He is, and how we, His creation, should relate to Him) tells us that God created this universe and everything in it in six, literal, 24-hour days (Genesis 1-2). God spoke the universe into existence and all mankind, beginning with Adam & Eve, were and are fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God. Initially, all that God created was all good--there was nothing wrong with anything that God had made, including mankind. However, that image was marred when Adam willfully chose to disobey God, plunging himself and all mankind after him into sin, ushering in sickness, sadness, death (both physical and spiritual). (Romans 5:12, 19; Revelation 20:14-15; 21:8)
God, in His perfect justice (Genesis 18:25c), judges your sin and and mine (Romans 3:10) with an eternal spiritual death sentence (Romans 6:23). However, in His perfect mercy, grace, and love, He has also done for us what we could never do for ourselves--He provided a way for us to avoid serving this sentence by sacrificing His Son Jesus Christ as the perfect, sinless payment for our sin debt (Romans 5:8; 1 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:24).
If I were to look you in the face and ask you where you would rather spend eternity, in heaven or in hell, you would most likely choose "heaven" because you associate heaven with pleasantness and hell with punishment. If I were to then ask you what it is that you are depending on to get you there, what would you say? That you've done more "good" than "bad"? That you are a better person than most? That you haven't done anything really terrible to deserve hell? That you're a church member or that you go to church? That you were baptized as a baby? That your parents are "good" people? Or, maybe you would even say that because Jesus died to pay for sin, then that covers you, along with everyone else.
Remember that choice that Adam made to willfully disobey God? In like manner, you and I must make a willful choice to depend on Jesus' sacrifice to be applied to our account. It is not enough to intellectually acknowledge your sin and Christ's payment, or to emotionally agree with the fact that you have a need. You must also exercise your will in the matter--you must choose to depend on Christ's payment for your personal sin. The payment has been made, but you will not realize the benefit of this gift unless you willfully receive it as your own (John 1:12). This is what the Bible calls "repentance" and "faith" or "belief" (Acts 20:21; Romans 10:13-14). Recognizing this truth reveals the inadequacy of anything or anyone else that you might be depending on to get you to heaven.
With this understanding, let's look again at our original question--Why in the world are you alive? God created you to honor Him, serve Him, and to have fellowship with Him (Revelation 4:11; 1 Corinthians 10:31; Psalm 16:11). You cannot do this while still living in your sin and depending on yourself. The only way you can fulfill this purpose is to depend on Christ's payment alone for your sin. In other words, you are alive to please God and you can't do it in your natural-born, sinful condition. You must willfully depend on Christ to give you new life so that you can then willfully please God with your life (Galatians 2:20; 2 Corinthians 5:17). Nothing else will do, and after you have died it will be too late.
Our entire ministry here at First Baptist Church, including our teen youth group, exists to proclaim this message to our community. We would love to talk to you personally and help meet your need.
-- Posted by Pastor Steve
Welcome to the New FBCLO Youth Group Web Site!
Posted on Fri, Feb 29 2008, 8:34am
Hi! I am Pastor Steve Sanders, Youth Pastor here at First Baptist Church of Lake Orion. As we launch our new Youth Group web site, I invite you to interact with us via this Blog Post, which is intended to be a forum for thoughts and ideas to be shared amongst our Youth Group and others. We will gladly entertain questions and comments from teens, parents of teens, and others who visit our web site. We take seriously our scriptural mandate to be an influencial force for the truth in the community in which we serve. Just as importantly, we realize our God-given responsibility as a local assembly of the "church of the living God" to be the "pillar and support of the truth"--God's revealed Word, the Bible (1 Timothy 3:15).
I will regularly post information and thoughts to this Blog Post, but I welcome your interaction. Sometimes the post will feature info from our current Wednesday study in the book of Proverbs. Other times, I may reflect on a passage of Scripture that I have been reading and studying. Feel free to comment, respond, and ask questions. I always welcome dialogue centered on the truth of God's Word.
Thanks for taking the time to check out this Blog Post and our First Baptist Church of Lake Orion Youth Group web site. I trust that you will visit often and that you will find benefit through interacting with our ministry of God's Word. -- Posted by Pastor Steve
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