So, the questions raised in the title kind of says it all. Why believe in God? Why choose Christ? I believe to some extent the real question on the mind of people is why choose to impose the restrictions God has (seemingly, we will discuss this more later in another post) arbitrarily dictated upon my life?
This is a question I have wrestled with for most of my life. It always invariably led me to ask: what can God do for me? For the longest time I fought with God. I was angry, bitter and resentful. I was the center of all things. I was the betrayed, heartbroken, persecuted heir apparent to a throne that was never mine. So, I was disgusted God, Jesus, didn't see my pain and grant me the power to make it right.
So, I continued to suffer. Not sure if I even believed in God. I knew the Bible and it's teaching and scoffed. Jesus promises poverty, lonelines, persecution, and self sacrifice going unrewarded and what will seem to be unappreciated in the here and now. His one comfort was that we would have indescribable eternal joy in the next immortal life.
I wondered what good was that to me now? Why should I suffer now for some mysterious reward that wasn't me centered?
Looking at the world now I see the chaos and the hopelessness. The confusion and contradictions based on a philosophy of self. Even when people are doing good for others or trying to lift people up it is all centered on self. I give to charity and accept the adoration while accusing others of greeed. I work to empower the minorities or non-Christian groups by preaching to them hatred and the theology of "what can you do for me?". We have unleashed a poison unto the world and see it, but insist that the cure is just more poison. In a twisted way it is a cure. The poison in our system now is only making us sick and if we take more it will kill us, therefore we are cured of the illness infecting our culture, thoughts, deeds, and beliefs. This poison has a name. This poison is pride. The original sin. It is also sin in general. And as the Bible warns: the wages of sin is death. The world spirals downward increasing its descent and the blind, those who live in the darkness, deny what they see (spiritual blindness people). Goodness still exists in the world and that is true, but it is being increasingly strangled by the evil and unrest in the world. A spirit of restlessness has invaded the world.
So, what does the questions raised previously about God and Jesus have anything to do with our world falling apart at its seams? Another sign of the times I suppose. In recent history the answer to the question would be apparent. I, like so many others today, was consumed with the faith in self. Our world is empty. We are empty. We are the creatures obsessed with the created. An empty glass doesn't fill itself. I realized that God promises so much more than just pain, suffering, and an obscure promise of eternal life and joy. Following His commandments requires the sacrifice of our will and want for ourselves. It will cause pain, yes, at first and be a struggle at times. It's not easy having God's Light shine in your life revealing to you the evil and emptiness in your heart. The good news is that when you get that Light shined in your life you know God has taken it upon His shoulders and erased it and replaces it with Himself. (When I speak of emptiness I am speaking of no true substance or answer to the problem at hand)
Still, the question remains how is it related to the world. The world can be described as a system. A system is what? Essentially it is the sum total of its parts. It could also be described as a machine used to produced goods. The system of parts working with each other (notice not for self) produce the goods the creator of that machine intended. Right now our machine is broke. The parts are working for themselves and not producing anything close to what its Creator intended. The Creator has shown the way to be fixed and it's just putting aside our own will and accepting His Will. He has the plans and the blueprints. He is the Cure we all ache for, but we just can't see the forest for the trees. We long to see and be out of the darkness and yet we shield our eyes from the Light.
Putting the tried and failed self will aside and accepting God's Will is the only way. Why God, why Jesus? Because there is no other way. God promises a lot of strife and an unseen afterlife, but He offers so much more. He wills that we put away ourselves and love Him with our entire being. That we love eachother. That we follow Him and care for the unfortunate, sick and lost. That we love our enemies and pray for those that persecute us. It is family, friends, community. We forgive those who have sinned against us. We work together with the blessings of God to shine His Light wherever we go. Do this and be amazed at what He can do.
I see how small and petty I was. So pathetic and obsessed with self. It was only when I realized how vacuous and how void I was of answers. The same void is rampant throughout the world. The hatred, offense, bitterness, and resentfulness. People who can't put away themselves and put God and others in the center. Until we can learn to do so we will remain broken, poisoned, and blind. God promises one more thing. One day He is returning to fix it all. He came once to show us the way. So that we have a chance to follow His Will in the world to make the world a better place. The second time he comes is to judge. The mockers and scoffers. The self absorbed and persecutors will be made to answer for not following His Will. For being part of the reason why the world suffers. And what excuse will they offer when Christ illuminated the way. So, the choice is left up to us. We can either kneel and rejoice in the beauty, genius, perfect wisdom and love of our All Powerful Trinity or be knelt in absolute horror and disgust with our self. So, taken as a whole lies the answer to the question of why God and why Jesus.
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