So God, What’s Next? (Pt. 1)

I set out to write something that has been on my heart.  However, I realized that many of you, my friends, are not Christians and it may be a confusing concept.  If this is you, thanks for stopping by and checking it out.  I split my idea into two parts to better help you understand where I am coming from.  This first part is meant to preface the second part by quickly telling you who I am and what I believe:

I believe that Jesus Christ is who He said He is when He came to earth.  He is God.   I believe that he did what he said he would do.  He came down, not to condemn the world and humans (John 3:17)-we were already condemned because we have ALL rebelled against our creator and have rejected His presence and authority in our lives.  If the world was a kingdom, God is the King and we are rebellious subjects who rejected Him that we may be our own King.  As rebellious subjects we deserved to be banished from the kingdom-forever.  Jesus did not come to condemn us or make us guilty-We took care of that ourselves.  Instead, because He loved us, He came to offer forgiveness for our rebellion.  When you hear ‘forgiveness’ you may think of this exchange: “Jesus, I am sorry.” “I forgive you. Come back.”  No-Jesus came to earth not to accept people’s apologies, but to die in their place! He forgave them their debt, not by “forgetting about it,” but by paying the full price.  While we were still rebellious (Romans 5:8), Jesus paid our debt and made a way for us to come back into the kingdom (John 14:6).

So will we give up our vain coup and surrender!? Will we hand the reigns of our life back over to the One True King and live under His merciful, sovereign, perfect reign!? We do not need to live life our own way for very long before coming to the conclusion that we are not the best candidates for King.  We will not be fully satisfied until we surrender and live life the way that is best for us.  He designed us, and knows that we will be most satisfied living for this single purpose: To live under His kingship, making much of Him and to honor Him. (If that sounds like a selfish King to you, I would love to talk to you more personally! I used to think the same.)

I am convinced that this is the only satisfying way to live.  God loves me, He sent His son to make a way for me to come back to Him, and I surrendered and decided to return home.