It never ceases to amaze me how people perceive God and Heaven. I hear preachers say that almighty God, the creator of the universe is pleading with you to give up the life that you live and follow Him. This leaves the idea that God is some beggar that depends on you for salvation. It leaves people with the notion that Jesus might have died and resurrected and God is just hoping that you will come to Him. This God that saved 8 people and two of every kind of animal in the Ark, this God that parted the sea to save the children of Israel, this God that stopped the Sun in its tracks for an hour, this God that sent His Son in the flesh to save us from our sin. This great God that holds the earth in its place is pleading and begging His people to come to Him.
I am sorry, but the God I see from Scripture is an awesome, powerful God that sets nations in place and has authority over all.
Psalm 22:28
28 For the kingdom is the Lord's, and He rules over the nations.
Psalm 33:10
The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing, He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect.
The God of Scripture breathed the breath of life into His creation, no leader leads, and no nation exists without God's allowance and approval. But we leave this image with people of a God that pleads and begs for you to come to Him. The apostle Paul might plead, I, as a preacher, might plead, but God set this entire plan in motion and He has certain expectations for salvation. He has made the way and He has paid the price, He built the bridge and He offers the way into His kingdom, but the God of the universe never has before and never will in the future go begging. Jesus said it much better than I can.
Matthew 7:13-14, 21-23
13 "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.
14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Then again a few verses later Jesus says:
21 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
22 Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?'
23 And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you, depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!"
Make no mistake about it! Jesus loves you and He died a terrible death to give you eternal life, but He isn't a beggar at the door. He is the creator of the heavens and the earth, He is alpha and omega, He is the one that gives us every breath that we breathe and the life that we live. Love Him for who He is and what He has done, but don't think for a minute that this all powerful God goes wanting for anything. You aren't smarter than everyone else because you follow Jesus, it isn't your intellect that brings you eternal life.
Ephesians 2:8-9
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God,
9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
I want people to come to Jesus just as much as any other preacher. I want them to kneel before Him and offer their life to Him. But I don't want them to come thinking for a moment that they are doing God a favor. He is God and we are His creation. His love for us is mighty and never ending. But it is because of who He is and what we are that this whole death and sacrifice things is so unbelievably awesome.
He is everything and He created everything, yet He loved us enough to come to us and die for us. We come to Him because this remarkable God is too wonderful not to love, not because He has to beg us. We should fall before Him, not stand proud before Him.
Thank you Jesus for your love for Me!
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