So I’ve written about what led me to apply for World Race and why I later chose to accept my spot on the squad, but I haven’t talked to you all about the most important factor in my World Race equation – Jesus.
Jesus isn’t just a wise teacher or a cool guy (although I do think He’s pretty cool). He is my friend, my father and my Lord and Savior.
What I’m about to tell you is what people call the Gospel or the Good News, and it starts with love.
“God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him” (1 John 4:9).
OK, so you might be thinking, “Elisa, this doesn’t really make sense.” And you’re right. God sent his son into the world? What does that even mean? Eternal life? What, like “Tuck Everlasting?” How can a person give you eternal life?
Let me explain.
God is eternal – He goes on forever. “Eternal life” means living and being with God forever. This is what God wants for us. He wants us to be with Him forever. He wants to know you on a personal level (John 17:3). That’s actually the reason He created us. He was perfectly satisfied with the rest of creation saying that all of it was “good” (Genesis 1). He didn’t have to create humans, but He did. He wanted us.
So He created us to have a personal relationship with Him, but there’s a problem – sin.
We are broken. We do things we shouldn’t, say things we don’t mean. We are hot messes. The word “sin” is commonly associated with horrible acts like murder or abuse, but the truth is, sin is much more commonplace and relevant. Sin is anything that misses the mark of perfection.
“But no one is perfect!” Exactly. Only God is perfect. No matter how hard people try, they will not be able to reach the perfection of God (Romans 3:23). And we can’t be in the presence of perfection when we ourselves are not perfect. This is the consequence. Romans 6:23 says that the price of sin is death. If eternal life means life with God then death means separation from God. Sin separates us from God.
But God doesn’t want this. He wants a relationship with His creations. This is where the “sending His son into the world” part comes in. In response to our broken condition, God sent His son Jesus to bridge the gap between Himself and humans. How did He bridge the gap? Jesus died in our place (1 Peter 3:18).
I struggled with understanding Jesus’ death for years. If Jesus was who He said He was – God (Colossians 1:15) – then couldn’t He have found some other way to bridge the gap? He lived a perfect, blameless life. He definitely didn’t deserve to die.
But the price of sin is death. Jesus died on the cross to pay the debt of all past and future sins. He could only do this because He didn’t have any debt of His own. He only could do this because He didn’t deserve it.
After three days, Jesus came back from the dead and returned to be with his Father, proving He was God and that He lives on (Acts 1:3). Crazy right?!
Because Jesus bridged the gap, the only way to get to God is through Jesus (John 14:6). The only way to have eternal life is to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
Ephesians 2:8-9 says that we have been saved by grace through faith and not by our own works. This parts hits home for me because I was a perfectionist for so long and put all my worth in what I could achieve. But there’s nothing I could or could not do to earn being saved. Grace means getting something you don’t deserve. In other words, God has given a free gift in the form of His son and it is up to us to accept that gift or not.
To accept the gift, all you have to do is tell God you accept it. Tell Him that you want to know Him personally and that you want Him to know you. Tell God you recognize your brokenness and you’re sorry for your sins. Thank Him for sending Jesus to die for you. Agree to turn away from your old life and follow Him through a new one.
Following Jesus means living in the reality that He saved you – living with a heart of thankfulness and a heart that seeks to please and obey Him and listen for His voice, a heart that puts Him first, a heart that loves. That’s what it means to be Christian.
In Matthew 28: 19-20 (The Great Commission) Jesus says to go and share the Gospel with all the nations. This is the core, the heart of my World Race trip. It’s not about traveling, it’s not about having adventures, it’s about sharing Jesus with people. And I know I will get distracted by wanderlust, by building relationships with my squadmates, by food even, but I pray that God would keep what’s most important at the forefront of my mind and heart – Jesus.
