God-Talk 51

A weekly challenge to think a bit!

The Christian message is an enormous relief for those who understand it, especially where religion had told them that they had to improve in order to be acceptable with God or to reach a higher level of humanity. Many people have tried their whole life and have put themselves under a lot of stress, saying, “I want to live a life that God can be satisfied”, “I want to be more patient and control my anger”, “I want to control my dirty thoughts”. But they have failed and are discouraged or even desperate about themselves.

For these the Good News of Jesus Christ provides a thorough liberation: I am acceptable with God, not because of what I have done, but because of what Jesus Christ has done for me. I am loved even when I fail, because Jesus has paid for every failure and God sees me as being absolutely perfect through him. I don’t ever have to feel separated from God, because I have been adopted as his child who has always access to the Father. Many have mistaken the Christian message for a system of morality. What it truly is, is a new kind of life through a new kind of relationship with God! Even Isaiah predicted the future ministry of Jesus to us:

Isaiah 61,1: "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound."