“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and
all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33).
It's popular to talk only about God's unconditional love for humanity but not of His hatred of our sins. We can even gaze upon paintings or statues of Jesus nailed to the cross without being repentant. The horror of His crucifixion may stir up emotions of sorrow for all that Christ suffered, but do we put ourselves there among those scoffers on Good Friday demanding His torturous death? Most people are hopeful they will enter heaven because they believe they have lived a pretty good life; never seeing themselves as God's enemy who is separated from Him because of their sinful nature. It's easier to put other people into the category of criminals as we falsely believe we have earned our entrance into paradise.
Not long ago I was one of those people; desperately striving to pay my own way and judging other sinners more harshly than myself. In my eyes my good deeds far outweighed the bad and my sacrifices and rituals erased my shortcomings. Praise God for saving me from myself--what a hypocrite I was! It is only by His grace and His Holy Spirit that I was able to understand what Scripture tells us in John 14:6-7 when Jesus says, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes
to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father
as well. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him.”
One of my favorite stories is the conversation
Jesus has with the criminal beside Him on the cross in Luke Chapter 23.When Jesus was crucified He hung on His cross between two
criminals. In verse 39 one criminal hurled insults at Him saying: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and
us!” This thief wasn’t sorry for his sins. He just wanted Jesus to rescue
him from the agony of crucifixion. The other thief acknowledged he was a sinner
and deserved punishment, but proclaimed Jesus was perfect and did not. This
criminal feared God and in verse 42 he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” In verse 43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me
in paradise.”
Why do I like that story? Because of the message of hope that Christ has paid the price for our entrance into paradise (heaven)
with Him if we place our trust in His finished work on the cross. There was no
time left for that repentant dying criminal to do anything (no good works) that
would make him worthy of being in paradise (entering into heaven immediately
upon his death) with Jesus. The only thing he did was to believe that Jesus
died for his sins. This is the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! It’s
all grace.
On this Easter weekend if you died today would Almighty God welcome you into His heavenly kingdom? There's only one way to be sure--acknowledge your sinfulness and that Christ is your Savior. Until you bow before Jesus in adoration and repentance at the foot of the cross you will never walk beside Him in paradise. “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and
all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33).
Your fellow herald for Christ,
Mary
