In this day and age Christians are viewed as hypocritical, judgmental, and legalistic, and there is certainly a reason why. People fear walking into a Christian church building due to the daunting idea of being judged by its members. By attending church once a week numerous “christians” have given themselves the entitlement to judge other people because they do not meet their standard of “holiness”. Humans mistakingly think they can shut the door of salvation on other humans because of their past or present sin. Luckily, our salvation has nothing to do with what we do, but has to do with what has already been done. If the salvation of the human race was dependent on our individual holiness, then we would all burn in the pits of hell. Human beings fall ineffably short of the glory of God. So, Christians, what are we missing? We are missing the simplicity of the Gospel. We are missing the one word that summarizes the gospel. We are missing grace. Grace is a supernatural power, a gift to the universe, an omnipotent force that emanates only from Jesus Christ.
We can attend church multiple times a week, serve, and know the Bible inside and out, but if we do not have a personal relationship with our Savior, we have nothing. That is the difference between knowing Jesus from the head and knowing him from our hearts. God is gargantuan and far beyond our comprehension. He is an omnipresent, omnipotent, deity that we try and put in a box. By trying to understand him we limit his immensity and power. His love is not made to be understood by a human brain. He is so much greater than anything we could concoct in our imaginations. The love He has for his children is unmeasurable. So, how do we begin to understand our creator that is so big? We fix our eyes on his son. Jesus Christ is the bridge that crosses the river of sin. Apart from this bridge we are dirty and untouchable by a God so holy. On calvary Jesus Christ revolutionized the relationship humans have with their creator. The Father no longer sees us as sinful. He sees us as pure, because He sees His son in place of our sin. Like a Father holding his first born in his arms, God is exceedingly, abundantly more swooned by what He has created. He smiles ear to ear at his children in utter adoration. He handcrafted His sons and daughters so meticulously and for a very particular purpose. Daily, we fill our spaces with worldly things, when everything we could ever want is in Him. The Lord loves broken people, He loves sinners; so He sent His son so we can spend eternity with Him. As believers in Christ we are called to love the way The Father loves. He loves the rapists, the murders, the liars, and the prostitutes. Jesus is the redeeming force in the universe, He uses broken people to create art. Jesus removes the stains on the Canvas and then The Lord proceeds to use his cosmic paintbrush to recreate a masterpiece. He dips his brush in the paint, creates impeccable lines, and smiles in awe of His creation. He is an artist. By his grace we are repainted, recreated, and reborn.
I am currently in India and I have noticed a highlight of legalism in the Church. They talk about what not to do and the repercussions of sin, but they very seldomly mention the purpose of Christianity, the freedom found in the grace of the Father. Their focus is primarily on attendance rather than the hearts of the people. By no means am I encouraging people to take advantage of the cross. I am encouraging people to dig deeper into the unfathomable grace of God. Grace and law are not fulfilled without one another. Grace holds the hand of law. Because when we receive the grace offered by Jesus we can also give it. By giving this grace we experience the freedom of the spirit and a glimpse of what it feels like to love people well, the way The Father loves us. While loving someone means calling them higher it first means loving them where they are at. Due to unfortunate human tendencies, we set unrealistic expectations on the people in our lives. When they do not meet these expectations we are met with an enemy named bitterness. To eliminate the bitterness in our lives we must evaluate our motives. Are we loving people from our hearts or are we loving to be loved back. God, The Father, loves us not because of anything we do. His love for us cannot be diminished and cannot become greater. His love is dancing in whimsy on the road of infinity, a place where our minds are unable to reach or understand. He is able to love us because He has grace on us.
God is a craftsman and is very proud of all that He has created. He placed colors on the Earth to bring admiration, joy, and raw emotion. He desires for his children to fall in love with the mountains, oceans, flowers, trees, and critters that roam the Earth. Laughter is music to His ears, He deeply desires for his rebel-children to have a life of fulfillment. In all his creation He says, “I love you.” Generously, He placed His spirit within you. He yearns to take the weight of the world off your shoulders and carry it Himself. Because of the sacrifice of Christ, a life and eternity with Jesus is at our feet. In our desperation we find our creator through his son, Jesus. By knowing the grace that God has on us everyday we can then have grace on ourselves; furthermore, on the people around us. I am undeserving, selfish, and sinful but because of Jesus Christ I am pure, whole, and loved by my Father. For the rest of my life I will experience more of Gods love. I will never have the capacity to understand something so immense. But I will spend the rest of my life uncovering the mystery of God’s love so I too can love people well. The Lord tells me to love the unlovable and tell them they are loved by Him.
