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YOU BELONG
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You can get to know God personally just like you know a close friend.
I walked into the religious instruction classroom in a secular school and, with tongue-in-cheek, wrote in large letters across the blackboard "I hate religion."
"Man, in this class, you'll get shot," gasped one student in amazement.
"But I'm sold on real Christianity," I responded.
"What's the difference?" half the class chorused.
God's Purpose
The point is one can be religious without necessarily being Christian. Let me explain. True, Christianity is a religion, but it's much more than that. It's also much more than believing a creed. It's a relationship with God and people. It's knowing God personally, experiencing His divine love and forgiveness, and communicating this to every life we touch.
We start by realizing that no matter what we have ever done or have failed to do, God loves us and is vitally interested in our total life--both for this life as well as the next. In fact, Jesus said, "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16). And again, "I came that they may have life, and have it to the full" (John 10:10).
The greatest thing in the world is to come to the realization that God is not out to punish you for wrongdoing but that He loves you unconditionally and does indeed have a wonderful purpose and plan for your life.
Man's Problem
Unfortunately, it is our wrongdoing or sin that blocks out our experiencing God's love and receiving the full and abundant life that He has for us. And let's face it, "We have all sinned and fallen short of God's standard" (Romans 3:23). Sin, of course, is not merely doing wrongful acts. It is anything that falls short of the perfection that God envisioned for us--including our damaged emotions, negative attitudes, and mixed motives.
Punishment for sin comes from the wrongdoing itself. Sin has its own self destructive consequences--first spiritual death and ultimately eternal death (Romans 6:23); that is eternal separation from God, the Author of all love and life.
Like a burned out electric light bulb that cannot respond to its power source, man being spiritually dead cannot respond to God's love and power without His help. God's love and power are constant. As sinners we're dead to it.
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