All Figured Out
I didn’t see it. A guest speaker at my church mentioned it in his sermon.
The sign in front of a church said, “We’re just trying to figure it out, too.” I think I audibly gasped when he said it. How would this be helpful to a person looking for answers in our culture today? People need the Truth.
I cannot help the people responsible for that sign so let me speak to the person who might be in a church that has this attitude. If you are surrounded by people who do not know (that they know) that the Bible is God’s inerrant Word left for us so that we would have the answers then hear this: the Bible is God’s inerrant Word revealed to us so that we would have answers.
And, if the power of the Spirit of God lives in us we have the ability to apply His Words to our lives!
This is all Good News and worth figuring out!
Start Here
From Genesis to Revelation the Bible is one story about God’s plan for the redemption of man. If we can gain an understanding of the goodness of God in the creation of the heavens and the earth and all that is them, and then the fall of man, leaving us with a sinful (depraved) nature, we have the beginning of all knowledge: God is great, holy, sovereign, and wonderful. Man is depraved and dying in his sin, in desperate need of a Savior.
As we go through the Old Testament and see the patience, the mercy, the grace, and the judgement of God, we see how it is that He deals with His people (He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Hebrews 13:8). Many only see the judgment but the mercy and grace are unmatched by any man ever and far outweigh the judgment.
And then He sent Jesus.
All of the sacrifices that people dutifully made in the Old Testament were pointing to Jesus but useless before God as the people followed idols and bowed to other gods. And they did this while gladly accepting God’s grace.
But, with Christ, God sent the One whose sacrifice would cover the sins of any person who saw her sin and her inability to make a sacrifice that was truly pure and holy.
God sent the Christ to take away our sins (Matthew 1:21; 1 John 3:5). His sinless life was accepted as the sacrifice for the sin of those who believe that God has the authority and power to require a sacrifice for our sin against Him.
OK, so most professing Christians believe all of that.
Now what?
So, we’re saved. That is the bottom wrung of the ladder.
God is so perfect, so majestic, so unsearchable, that we cannot know all there is to know about Him. But, in His grace and for our sanctification, he has left us 66 books of wisdom, instruction, and assurances that we CAN figure out how to live for Him and please Him in this life.
Will we do it perfectly? No. But, His grace is sufficient for us (2 Corinthians 12:9).
What it seems people haven’t figured out is their own sanctification. We grow in knowledge, understanding and even obedience to Christ (which brings blessings) by using whatever skills, talents, and experiences (both positive and negative) to love our neighbors and take dominion of this world for the LORD.
Though good for us, we will not be fully sanctified by doing more Bible study, more church attendance, and putting more Bible verses on Facebook. We will be sanctified by serving others in a way that proclaims Christ to a culture that doesn’t want to hear about Him and bring others to consider their own sin before our Holy God.
God’s Answers
I don’t have everything in this life figured out but I am absolutely positive that God has and He will answer any question we have through His Word. People want real answers to the current issues we face. How could we be proclaiming Christ as “the One with all the answers” to a world in desperate need of a Savior?