I think every human being understands that being human also means being imperfect, and that being imperfect includes our ability and propensity to sin. When we look honestly at our own lives, we each can point to things that we've done that are wrong. We know they're wrong because God created us with some understanding of right and wrong.
Most people acknowledge that there is a God, though we also invest a lot of time and energy denying Him. Why is that? I believe it's because, while we are created in God's image, we are also imperfect, so we often attempt to be our own god. We want what we want and, like a child, we often ignore what is good and right to pursue our own selfish desire.
In our hearts, we also appreciate that a God powerful enough to create the universe and everything in it also knows us for what we are. The majesty of God's creation convinces us that God is beautiful, and that beauty attracts us. We also know He must be perfect, for if He was flawed, He wouldn't be God.
We recognize that there is a great distance between God-- the author of everything-- and us. We sense His presence, we often feel His love, but we also feel a great distance separating us from Him.
What can we do to close this distance? What can we do to "get right" with God?
All of the world's religions answer this question in one of two ways. To distinguish between these two very different answers, it's helpful to use a metaphor. Imagine that you are standing high on a riverbank. Before you is a raging river, with white water rushing by at high speed. The river is wide. On the other bank, you can make out a beautiful place, a place that you know is God. You want to be there with Him. You are drawn to the peace, beauty and the promise of this far land across the river.
All human religions give you a guidebook on how to cross that river. There are specific exercises that you must do. There are routines that you must follow. There are programs-- a regimen of "do's and don'ts"-- that prescribe what you must do to get in shape. You must focus religiously on implementing this improvement program. Said another way, you have to clean up your act and make yourself presentable to God.
Think about that rushing river as a picture of human imperfection-- let's call it sin-- that separates us from a perfect, sinless God. The river is wide, the current swift and, because we are human and therefore sinful, we keep adding to the width, depth and the speed of it. Even with the improvement plan that human religion offers us, we realize that the distance is increasing, the river even wilder. We know that if we step into that current, we'll never make it to the other side. Not on our own strength. We will be swept away. It appears impossible, because it is impossible.
Jesus Christ offers a different solution. Imagine yourself still on the bluff overlooking the river, longing for that far shore yet knowing you cannot get there. Jesus approaches you, picks you up in a fireman's carry, and enters the raging waters. He doesn't ask you for help; doesn't ask you to lose a few pounds first, or kick with your feet, or flail with your arms. He tells you simply to rest in Him... that He can carry you, and that He will carry you, to the other side. All you have to do is trust Him. You have to let go of that self improvement plan. Just believe Him.
You stare at the river, and realize that it is a river of human creation. And yet, here is the Son of God, offering to face its onslaught... offering to immerse Himself, to expose Himself to this deluge, just for you. He's ready to carry you home, crossing the river to His Father's place.
So you allow yourself to be picked up. You don't fight back. You don't struggle. You quietly trust Him. Jesus enters the raging river and, as He promised, delivers you to the other side. He pushes you up on the bank. But in that rescue-- in saving you-- He is swept away, drowned in the process. Because of you. Because of me. He loves us so much, He is not only willing to die for us, but He actually does.
That is the message of Christianity. That is the message of the Cross. That is what differentiates the Christian faith from all other faiths. The Christian is called to accept that he or she is not capable of crossing that river, of bridging the gap between himself or herself and the perfect God. The Christian needs a savior. Not just for part of the journey... for the distance.
It is not an easy message to believe. It is completely outside the way any human would write it. A human author would build in a role for his audience. After all, we all want to be part of the solution. All human religions give mankind a big part to play in getting right with God. In that way, we also get to take some of the credit for the journey. And let's face it folks, as humans we like to get credit.
That is one of the reasons we know the gospel to be true. Only God could author such a beautiful plan of redemption. We just have to trust it. Believe. Accept Him. Climb up on His back.
Chris Joyce
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