(L. B.)
Man is essentially a spiritual being, and deep with each one of us is the feeling that our existence has a more transcendent meaning than simply being born, growing, reproducing and dying.
That was not certainly the will of our Creator. He made us to live, not to die. Out of his great love he created our first fathers as perfect beings, shaped in his image and able to relate and communicate directly with him. As Creator he conferred man the unique gift of power of choice. This nice intimate companionship between a God who "is love" and his creatures could never have been expressed on the ground of fear, or an inevitable fidelity, so God gave to men the beauty –that he himself possessed– of the free will, the power of free choice, right up to the power even of choosing to rebel against his Creator, as was seen in that unfortunate day when man chose to distrust God and gave learning to the cunning suggestions which lead him to an unrealistic greed for autonomy and independence from God "who alone has immortality" (1 Tim. 6:16).
The result was suffering and death, something that was not part of God's original plan for us; something that constitutes our daily and painful experience, that fills our existence with shadows and uncertainties.
Very soon Cain, first son of Adam and Eve, gave up to hatred, and became a murderer. The first born child in the earth! The human race seemed condemned to kill and to die, condemned to an ephemeral and miserable existence. But God didn't abandon man to chance or luck. He went –as we can see in Genesis 3:9– in search of man.
Here we have in essence the drama of our world. Man, in a totally unjustified way chooses to rebel against his Maker. God continues loving man; but man who previously had delighted in listening and talking with God face to face, now perceives him as something strange and uncomfortable to be with, like a hostile and undesirable visitor.
Man hid from God; he felt shame and guilt, that deepened still this abyss that separated him from his Creator. Finally, when he agreed to dialogue with God, it was not to recognize himself as being guilty, but to accuse his companion (Eve), the snake, and even God himself for the terrible despoil he suffered.
Unfortunately so it continues today –the same parallel feeling is the condition of many. It is not necessary to explain to anyone the meaning of shame, guilt and fear that are a part of the bitter experience that is common to us all. In a certain way this is also a great problem for God, because he still continues loving man as much as before. The new situation of his creature produces in him an immense pain, just like a father feels for his child who is injured or ill.
In his character of love he gave everything –in fact all– to redeem him. Effectively, he went in search of us. But here again lies the drama: this sick creature now perceives him as his enemy whom he shuns. This sad choice of man didn't leave him in the same situation as before; whereas previously where reigned trust, happiness and love, now there is only an atmosphere of distrust, fear and malaise. Where there had been abundant life, now the principle of death is at work. It has produced a rupture that is totally unilateral, but profound.
Such then, is the result of the rebellion against God, which the Bible calls SIN. Man, in this condition, is incapable of going in search of his Creator; he founds it impossible. But God knows and still loves and seeks man, even at an immense price which man himself is unable to comprehend in its fullness.
The essence of all pagan religions is that man has to make an effort to look for God. This is the reason why ancient civilizations preferred to establish their places of worship in elevated enclaves. Frequently in the peaks of symbolic mountains.
In its modern forms it pretends to develop and foster the good that is supposedly inside of every man. The pagan concepts lay also in the penance and sacrifices based system of worship. The popular belief presents God mostly as an authentic angry tyrant who requires us to approach him offering (at the very minimum) evidence of our amendments. But the Bible exposes the raw truth that we, by ourselves, are absolutely incapable even of doing this.
In the language of the Ancient Testament, we read, "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil" (Jer. 13:23). "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately corrupt: who can understand it?" (Id., 17:9). "The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it; but bruises and sores and bleeding wounds; they are not pressed out, or bound up, or softened with oil" (Isa. 1:5,6). Jesus Christ Himself defined thus the quality of the inner man, "For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, fornication, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile a man" (Mark 7:21-23). So it is not deep inside ourselves that we have to look, to find help. The Nazi holocaust, the Inquisition, wars, injustice and violence in all its forms are an striking display of the "good" that is inside man. But the Bible brings us good news of great joy (Luke 2:10). It's so good that very few have come to realize its marvelous significance. It's so extraordinary that few have believed it.
One can go through the whole Scriptures from beginning to end but we would never find a parable where the lost sheep had to go in search of the shepherd. What we do find, instead, is a precious parable where the good shepherd went in search of the lost sheep. Not only that; he searched it until he found it (Luke 15:4). "For the Son of man came to seek and save the lost" (Id., 19:10). We are not given to know how, but the fact is that God is looking for you with so much kindness and love as if you were the only one on earth. The apostle John said of Christ that he was "the true light that enlightens every man" (John 1:9).
God knows well our situation, so the divine remedy for our restoration doesn't consist of giving us a long list of obligations to achieve, but something much more sublime (and still practical): he gave himself to us in his beloved Son Jesus Christ. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16); "in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them" (2 Cor. 5:19).
What more could he do? What more could he give? God has done everything necessary so that we can know that he is in no way our enemy, but our loving Father, our Redeemer. The love of a mother for her son is but a faint reflection of the unconditional love God has for us, his sons by creation and by adoption. He tells us through the prophet Isaiah (49:15) "Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you".
In contemplating Jesus on the cross, it is our privilege to feel the security of pardon. God is not asking us to do something so that we can get near to him, but wants us to appreciate the form in which he came in search of us and put all our enmity, rebellion, shame, all our sins on his beloved Son. "The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all" (Isa. 53:6). Then, he tells us, "Return to me; for I have redeemed you" (Isa. 44:22). First of all, he gives us unequivocal evidence of his restoring love to invite us later to receive and enjoy it. The Ancient Testament contains more than a hundred times expressions like this, "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage".
"Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other" (Isa. 45:22). "And you, who were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses" (Col. 2:13).
Haven’t you ever felt condemned for your sins as if you have to "pay" for them one way or the other? The Bible has some excelent news for you: Christ has already paid fully for them. The debt was absolved! On that cross, he received the full payment of all your sins. It doesn’t matter how many or how serious they could have been, they are not threateningly flying around your head unless you choose to scorn your crucified Savior who has already taken them "in his own body on the tree" for you. The only sin that cannot be pardoned, the only thing that cannot be reversed for those who will be lost al last, is despising and rejecting what Christ has done for them. "He who believes in him is not condemned; he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgement, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light" (John 3:18, 19).
And so, although we firmly believe in the reality of a true Church of Christ on earth, we don’t presume now to invite you to join any club or organization. Even don’t suggest any particular creed or dogma to adhere to. Neither is it our intention to present to you our Savior. Our desire is to point to you the One who is already your Savior, "the Savior of the world" (1 John 4:14), "Behold your God!" (Isaiah 40:9). Will you now personally accept him? We wish to point to you your heavenly citizenship that is already an established fact according to the divine will. You can accept or reject it, but it is important that you recognize that Jesus didn’t wait to see if you and I would accept Him or not; he died for us, and he tells us that "he who believes has eternal life" (John 6:47).
"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit" (Rom. 8:1-4).
But the plan of God for men has never changed, and in accordance with His original design, He goes seeking for men with the necessary condition than man accepts freely being saved. Only thus can He save him from sin as a true MAN, as the free being he intended to be men from the beginning. In the case of saving with force, against his will, man would stop being man and would be degraded to a mere automate being –no matter how eternally safe–. What kind of pleasure then would he find in his future existence? What type of trusting relationship would he have with his Creator?
In Matthew 1:21 we read, "you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins". Jesus only saves us from our sins counting on our consent. It is against his character to force anybody. He wants to restore us as authentic human beings in full and voluntary exercise of this freedom of choice that he gave us at the beginning, and that we rejoice now, as the fruit of the grace freely given to all men: "I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life" (Deut. 30:19). It is our privilege to exercise this gift by faith in Christ, thus receiving the full blessing (John 8:32-36).
Jesus said, "I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself" (John 13:32). The goodness of God leads us to repentance. Jesus Christ is not buried in the Middle East, but resurrected "for our justification" and ascended to heaven. We have there a representative, One who is not ashamed to call us "brethren". "This same Jesus" lives today and is powerful to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Christ, and "he always lives to make intercession for them" (Heb. 7:25). Before ascending He promised, "I am with you always, to the close of the age" (Matt. 28:20). "I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Counselor, to be with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth... I will not leave you desolate; I will come to you" (John 14:16-18).
The Holy Spirit that he sent, convinces us of sin and takes us to the foot of the cross, and there we become restored while we contemplate Christ, while we receive his word and his life, from the manger to the cross. It is there that this blood shed out of love cleanses us of every sin, and makes us detest our pride, our selfishness, changes our hearts and motivates us to live with gratitude and appreciating the immense gift of pardon, the price of our salvation.
It motivates us to live as his children, "for the love of Christ controls us, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. And he died for all, that those who live might live no longer for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised" (2 Cor. 5:14, 15). Seeing that he considers us as if we had never offended him, we are restored, learning from him to see others as if they had never offended us, "... as we also have forgiven our debtors".
So we are effectively receiving his "expiation", or reconciliation, by "beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed". Then, the kingdom of God comes to us, because his will is done on earth as it is in heaven. Where before reigned hate, shame and fear, it returns love, trust and happiness. "Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 5:1). Then, the plan of redemption is being fulfilled in us.
As a fruit of that terrible suffering which made Jesus sweated drops of blood and broke his heart, he sees finally a people that learnt to love him, and to love their neighbors. Yes, "he shall see the fruit of the travail of his soul and be satisfied" (Isa. 53:11). Zephaniah saw it this way, "The Lord... will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing as on a day of festival" (3:17). Can you imagine Christ singing of joy because of your eternal salvation from sin? You can indeed have now a foretaste of what it means to "enter into the joy of your Master". Are you prepared to be such "people"?
Receiving Christ we become ready for "heaven" because in receiving Christ, heaven is installed in our heart, even "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col. 1:27). We are prepared to enter in the enjoyment of our Savior, and to live in happiness this marvelous companionship based in the recognition and appreciation of our God for what he is, and "God is love" (1 John 4:8).
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