I hear what you’re saying. It’s much the same thing I said for most of my life. You say “it’s not about you being perfect, but that Jesus is” and I agree completely. The difference between my view of God and yours is that for you, it’s “Jesus… plus what I do”. For me, it’s just Jesus.
My point is, as long as I am part of the equation, I can never trust that the relationship is perfect… because I am not perfect. As long as any hope I have in God has anything to do with me (making me ultimately responsible), it is tainted with my humaness. I know I can’t be trusted with that kind of responsibility. I know I will fail.
I can only have hope and assuredness if I give Jesus all the credit, and allow myself to believe that He reconciled me to the Father without any input, permission, acceptance, or belief on my part. He did it all, and that’s the most wonderful thing anyone can do for their friends!
What’s even more amazing, though, is that the more I understand what he did for me, the more I am drawn into Him! I am not required to believe, but this story is so good, I find myself believing whether I want to or not! I don’t have to accept it, but as I am pulled more and more into the heart of the Father, there is nothing to NOT accept!
I think that Jesus IS the Messiah foretold by the prophets of old. They said that a savior of the world would come. They said that One would come who would redeem the world to the Creator. I think that is who Jesus is. If he is, then we are redeemed. If he wasn’t, then we are still waiting for a savior! It’s as simple as that!
You’re right! It IS very simple… but I think, much more simple than you will admit. You want to take all the reports, commentaries, and opinions of the new testament, and form them into a single picture (like a building a jigsaw puzzle with pieces from many different puzzles) with pieces that don’t fit! They were never meant to fit. Jesus fulfilled the “scriptures”. He didn’t come to make new ones! Look at the scriptures (the scriptures that Jesus referred to as the “scriptures”) and see what they say. If he is the fulfillment of the law, the psalms, and the PROPHETS, then He is much, much, much greater than traditional christianity claims!
Search the scriptures and see what they say about Him!
Friend, I ask you the same questions that someone asked me a while back. If we remove ourselves from the equation, what do we have left? Problem is, we don’t trust God… we only trust ourselves and our ability to make the “right” decisions! Woe to us! We will never find peace with God as long as that “peace” is up to us. We’ve tried through all of history to make peace with God through our actions, and peace has never come! We knew the only hope we would ever have is if God would make peace with us… and He did. On the Cross, he died for us, His friends, in one awesome, final, complete act of love the world had never before seen, and will never see again!
Believe it or not, God has made peace with you! Sadly, you still think you have made peace with Him. Unfortunately, that faith you have in yourself will someday fail you… probably when you most need it.
I have no faith in myself… only in God. And that is the only thing I can count on.
Peace!
