What is life about?

What is life truly about? What if there is no rhyme or reason for existence? Perhaps, justified are those who say something like, “you only go around once and then you die, so make the most of it.” This is a philosophy that many hold to today, forsaking any notion that there is an accountability ahead, or that a day of reckoning is coming. Delusional yet convinced though many may be that life simply ends with with the last breath and nothing will follow, an intimate relationship with honesty and truth will certainly lead one to draw a very different conclusion. Accountability is an intrinsic part of the fabric of any culture. This fact alone should teach humans that if accountability to one another is not only natural, but necessary, then accountability to a Superior form of life should be expected. Of course this point alone is not enough to satisfy everyone’s answers related to questions about god or gods, but it does say something of the origin of the human race, or at least says something about the “stuff” out of which we are made. Given that accountability is and will be a part of our existence both in this life and in what is to come, then it behooves the human to know something about the standards by which he will be held accountable or judged.

The law of God provides the bases from which our lives are measured. When a person, who has been created in the likeness of God, violates the law of God, immediately and intuitively that person identifies himself with guilt and condemnation. This may be what the Apostle Paul was getting at when he wrote in I Corinthians 15:56 “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.” (ESV) Understood this way, the law is certainly not a means of redemption. Rather, the law is what gives sin its power because the law reminds the sinner of their condemnation and of their slavery to sin. When confronted with real guilt a human being responds in any number of ways. Some will attempt to justify themselves. Others, of course, will deny that they have done anything wrong. This strategy has many different forms. Others might respond with anger leading to further rebellion. Some will respond with feelings of despair and will try and offer the necessary sacrifices to the gods in hopes of avoiding punishment, or at least limiting it. All responses to guilt, apart from what follows below, will do nothing to change the condition. A person condemned remains condemned until the sentence is served or until death. Since the violation of God’s holy law has a sentence of eternal death the condemnation can never be relieved. “But GRACE...”

Grace is the free gift of God offered to the condemned in exchange for their life. Verse 57 from the passage quoted above affirms this, “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” When one condemned looks into the mirror of the law the reflection he sees is utter guilt. The more he looks into the law , perhaps hoping one day to see himself innocent, the greater his sense of condemnation and the greater the power of sin over him. But, when the sinner looks to Jesus, what he sees is innocence, and not only the innocence of Jesus, but also the innocence of all whom Jesus represents. This is why redemption must be connected with an innocent person. This person (JESUS CHRIST) must be, himself, free from any guilt or condemnation. He must be able to look into the law of God, to understand every aspect of this holy law, and unequivocally know himself to be innocent of even the slightest violation. Not only this, but the innocence associated with “keeping the law” has much more to do with simply refraining from “doing” evil things, it has even more to do with “being” a certain way. Jesus, because of His innocence, was perfect in his love for His Father and even more astonishingly, was perfect in His love for condemned and rebellious human beings. Repentant sinners are able to identify with and find in Jesus their own personal forgiveness, innocence and perfection, BECAUSE, He was willing to identify His holy and innocent self with the guilt and condemnation of fallen humanity.

Jesus truly is a wonderful SAVIOR. He accounts for the repentant rebel. He represents the penitent person.  He becomes the innocence of the guilty and the freedom of the condemned.  Rescue can be found in no other person. This life “is not all there is.” This life is a testing ground for eternity. Determined in this life is whether or not a person is wheat or chaff, light or darkness, salt or insipid. To pass the test one must resist the temptation to deny accountability, and accept the fact that judgement is unavoidable and that it is strict and severe, and condemns the guilty to a sentence of eternal death. But honestly accepting the truth about accountability turns out to be the ironic path toward redemption. It is when condemnation and guilt seem to be the unchangeable reality, that God’s grace through Jesus Christ shines the brightest. It is in Jesus Christ that grace is truly grace; it is in Jesus Christ that victory over condemnation and death is overcome. Enough praise cannot be offered, enough thanksgivings cannot be given, enough worship cannot be proffered for all that God has done for His Saints through Jesus Christ.

What is life about? It is about GRACE. It is about REDEMPTION. It is about believing that God’s love for sinners is so great that HE sent his SON to be condemned, in order that those who are condemned but who BELIEVE are made innocent.

Serving a GREAT SAVIOR

Pastor Gibbs

JUDGMENT IS NOT OURS

Why is it so easy, or seemingly natural, for one person to judge another? Where honest and objective consideration is employed the notion that one person can accurately pass judgment upon another person becomes scandalous. Accurate and honest judgement of another requires, not only complete and accurate information related to the person, but also the one passing judgment must possess an unbiased and untarnished character out of which to judge. Is this ever the case when human beings are involved? Are humans ever in a position of understanding all of the facts? If even that were possible is there a human being whose character is entirely untarnished or whose judgment completely unbiased? The answer is obviously, no. Yet, people find it easy, even natural, to quickly pass judgment. This condition betrays the truth about humanities bondage to sin. Perfectly sane and sinless creatures would find it impossible to pass judgment upon other creatures, for it would be unnatural for them to assume the position fit only for the Creator, who alone possesses all of the facts and is also entirely fair and just. Where creatures have ascended to the seat of judgment from which to presumptuously judge other creatures, the cruel reality of a rebel's heart is exposed.

So why are people so quick to pass judgment upon someone else based on limited information gained from very imperfect sources? The answer lies in that people, from the fall of mankind to the present, have been in the conundrum of trying to play god. When humanity broke fellowship with the Creator and in fact sided with the enemy of God, mankind vacated their position as recipients of God's leadership and provision, and were forced to lead and provide for, themselves. This,of course, opened the door for an infinite number of false gods, false ideas and false assumptions; it left the door wide open for creatures to take the presumptive position of becoming gods over one another. 

If the holiness of God is not in doubt (and it is not, unless we are all ready to be undone) then all judgment must be left to Him, for he alone possesses the character to perfectly and justly sit in judgment of his creatures. God alone is capable of making accurate evaluations regarding his creatures. Creatures were never designed to sit in judgment of each other.

So, if people truly believe that they are the standard from which all else is to be measured, or more clearly, if people behave in such a way as to indicate that they feel justified in sitting in the seat of Judgment then their deception is great. Under the spell of the evil one, they have concluded that their own sins are past finding out, and that they are qualified to judge others. 

Matthew 7:1, in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus says, "Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you." Jesus' point is to remind His people that all judgment belongs to God, and that humans do not possess the character, apart from HIM, to be blameless in their judgment. 

Learning to Trust in HIM

Pastor Gibbs