Livingforjesus2's Blog

What Is Missing In Our Lives?

September 28, 2011 at 4:55 am | Posted in Christian Living, Christian Teaching-, Encouragement-, Inspiring-, Spiritual Growth- | Leave a comment
Tags: Christian Living, FAITH, freedom to choose, God, Grace, Jesus Christ, Personal Relationship-, Salvation..., Searching..., Spiritual Growth-

PURPOSE – MEANING – A REASON FOR LIVING…  These are all things we desire and search for in life. Despite steps each one of us takes to find purpose and meaning in life, we still feel empty, unfulfilled. That’s because there is a spiritual emptiness in each of our lives. We each have a hole in our heart, a spiritual vacuum deep within our soul; a “God shaped blank.” Possessions nor success will fill this hole. Relationships and morality cannot satisfy this emptiness, and even religion cannot fill the void in our heart.

There is only ONE way to effectively fill that void. This way will not only help us to have a life full and rich on this earth, but more importantly, will give us the absolute hope of spending eternity in the presence of God. But before we can truly appreciate this good news, we need to understand the bad news, which is a serious problem we all have.

t h e  p r o b l e m:  s i n…

The Bible clearly identifies our serious problem as sin. Sin is not just an act, but the actual nature of our being. In other words, we are not sinners because we sin. Rather we sin because we are sinners!  We are born with a nature to do wrong.

In Psalm 51:5, King David wrote, “For I was born a sinner—yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.” Because we are born sinners, sinning comes to all of us naturally. That’s why it is futile to think that the answer to all of life’s problems comes from “within.” NLT

According to the Bible the problem is within.

Scripture tell us in Jeremiah 17:9, “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?” NLT

We are not basically good; we are basically sinful. This sinfulness spills out into everything we do. Every problem we experience in our society today can be traced back to our refusal to live God’s way. Clear back to the Garden of Eden, Adam made his choice, and he suffered the consequences of it, setting the pattern that all humanity would follow.

The Bible explains in Romans 5:12-18, “When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. Yes, people sinned even before the law was given. But it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break. Still, everyone died—from the time of Adam to the time of Moses—even those who did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did. Now Adam is a symbol, a representation of Christ, who was yet to come. But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ. And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ. Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone.” NLT

“That’s not fair!” you may protest. Why should we suffer because of what someone else has done? Yet, given the opportunity, each one of us would have done the same thing as Adam. In fact, not a single day passes that we do not face the same test that was set before Adam. God has given us the freedom to choose between two separate paths: the path that leads to life and the path that leads to death.

The Bible says in Deuteronomy 30:19, “Today, I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!” NLT

w i t h o u t  a  l e g  t o  s t a n d  o n…

Someone may say, “But I live a good life. I try to be kind and considerate to others. I live by the Ten Commandments.” But the truth of the matter is that the Ten Commandments, or the law, as they are called in the Bible, were not given to make us good but to show us how bad we are.

The Bible tells us in Romans 3:20, “No one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.”NLT

The purpose of the law is to make us realize how sinful we are. You might say that God’s law was given to “shut our mouths” and show us that we desperately need his help and forgiveness for our terminal condition as sinners. Look at the passages below to get a better understanding of the nature and seriousness of sin.

1. We Have All Missed the Mark (see Romans 3:23). Romans 3:23 says, we have all sinned. For those who would claim to be the sole exception to this eternal truth, verse ten of this chapter plainly says, “No one is righteous—not even one” (Romans 3:10). Another word for righteous is good. The word righteous means, “One who is as he or she ought to be.” When the Bible says that no one is righteous, or good, it is not so much referring to behavior but to inner character. What exactly is “God’s glorious standard” that Romans 3:23 says we have failed to meet? God’s “glorious standard” is absolute perfection. Jesus said, “But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). In other words, anyone who is not as good as God is not acceptable to Him. One definition of sin, derived from the Greek word hamartia, is to “miss the mark.” As far as the mark of perfection goes, we miss it by a mile. Although our sinful nature makes it impossible for us to live up to God’s standard, we cannot blame sin on our nature alone. Sin is also a deliberate act.

2. Sin Is a Deliberate Act (see Ephesians 2:1-3). Another word for sin in Ephesians 2:1 is transgressions or trespasses. This word speaks of a lapse or deviation from truth. In contrast to simply “missing the mark,” this is a deliberate action. Because sin is a deliberate action, we cannot blame our sin on our society or our environment or our mental or physical state. Everyone has chosen to do what was wrong. If we protest this point, “we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth.”

1 John 1:8 says, “If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that His word has no place in our hearts.” NLT

3. The Ultimate Penalty for Sin Is Death (see Romans 6:23). According to the Bible, we have offended a Holy God. We have not done this once or twice, but so many times that we are unable to keep count. Romans 6:23 says, “The wages of sin is death…” Wages are something you are paid for work rendered. In other words, you earn your wages. Because we have all repeatedly sinned, we have earned the penalty of death, which is eternal torment and punishment in a place called hell.

Amid all this talk about sin and death, there is some good news. God has given us a way to escape the penalty of our sin. He has made it possible for us to have a relationship with Him and enjoy the hope of eternal life without punishment.

t h e  s o l u t i o n:  J e s u s  C h r i s t

God understood our problem and knew that we could do nothing about it. Because God loves us, He sent His own Son, Jesus Christ, to earth to bridge the chasm of sin that separates us from Him.

See  H O W  Y O U  C A N  K N O W  G O D  to find out H O W. . .

Taken from the New Believer’s Bible New Testament                                                           http://files.tyndale.com/thpdata/FirstChapters/978-1-4143-0257-7.pdf