2- No One Is Everything That They Should Be
In Romans 3:23 we’re told that “…all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”
The word “sinned” used there literally means “to miss the mark” and there’s an easy way to illustrate the meaning of this word. Imagine that an archer is shooting at a bull’s-eye. The archer draws his bow, takes aim and let’s the arrow fly towards the target. The arrow speeds along towards the bulls-eye but unfortunately, the shot falls short and lands in the ground in front of the target. What happened? Well, the archer has missed the mark- he has “sinned” by falling short and failing to hit the target that was set for him.
Here’s the point- just like the archer in our illustration, every human being has also missed the target. Remember that God’s standard for His creation (that’s us) is perfection. But who could ever hope to get close to meeting this standard? No one. Everyone has done something that they knew was wrong or made a mistake or said something in error at some point in their life.
The truth is that everyone has “missed the target” so to speak. Some people may come closer than others perhaps, but everyone, everywhere still falls short. The truth is that no matter who we are, we have all sinned- sometimes without knowing it and sometimes on purpose. For this reason, everyone is facing the death penalty for it says in James 2:10, “…the person who keeps every law of God but makes one little slip is just as guilty as the person who has broken every law there is.”
Now hearing these things may be uncomfortable but it’s important to be truthful about what we’re up against. The fact is that God has seen every secret thought, every hidden motive and anything that you’ve ever done that you’ve been ashamed of. You should also keep in mind that the Bible tells us “…God will judge us for everything we do, including every hidden thing, good or bad” (Ecclesiastes 12:14). Because of these things, The Doctor believes that it’s better for us to be honest about what we’re facing rather than try to pretend that nothing is wrong. Once we are honest with ourselves and admit that a problem exists, we can then look for a solution. Fortunately for us, God has provided one.
This conveniently brings us to our next point which is…
3- God Accepts People Who Come To Him Through Jesus
We can’t be everything that we should be without some real help. This is why Jesus Christ died in our place. Jesus took the sentence that we deserved and satisfied the death penalty rule that we talked about earlier. Jesus’ sacrifice bridges the gap between God’s perfection and our imperfection and rescues us from an eternity of separation from God. As John 3:17-18 tells us, “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it.”
Because Jesus came and acted as our substitute (1 Peter 2:24) we can now have a personal relationship with God by accepting His sacrifice in our place (see Romans 10:9 and 2 Corinthians 5:19).
So what should our response be? Well, that’s number four…
4- Get Right With God Through Jesus Christ
It’s nice to know that you don’t have to do something weird or crazy to get right with God. It actually involves just a few simple things-
- Recognize that there is a God and that His message to us is found in the Bible
- Agree that you haven’t lived up to God’s standards
- Accept Jesus’ death on the cross as the substitute payment for the things that you’ve done wrong
- Ask God to help you live the way that you should
A simple prayer that includes these things might go something like this…
“God, I understand that I have broken Your laws and I accept Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross in place of the punishment I deserve. Please make me the person you want me to be and help me to live in a way that’s pleasing to You. I pray this in Jesus’ name.”
If this is something that you do sincerely, The Doctor can assure you on the authority of the Bible that you will no longer be separated from God. Then as you grow in your faith and read God’s message to you through the Scriptures, you can begin to discover God’s purpose for your life.
Knowing that God truly loves you will help eliminate the fear and guilt that people often struggle with. And knowing that God has an ultimate plan for your life will help provide you with real peace and fulfillment even when the circumstances in your life seem to say otherwise. Best of all, you will never have to worry about what might happen to you after you die, for as Jesus says in John 5:24…