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Need a Fresh Start this New Year?

Why not think about something new this New Year? 
Think about this question with me. 

Are You Good Enough to Go To Heaven? 

I know.  It is a big question isn’t it?  Maybe you have never thought about this before.  I think it would be worth thinking about today!  The key two words in this question are “good” and “enough”.  Many people think they are pretty good.  We do a “good” job comparing ourselves to other people to make ourselves feel better about ourselves, but let’s be honest.  How good are you?

 There was a man in the Bible who was wrestling with this same question.  He had an appointment with Jesus on the road.  The story is recorded in Luke 18:18-27.  It says,

18 A certain ruler asked Jesus, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 19 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 20 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’” 21 “All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said. 22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 23 When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy. 24 Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! 25 Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 Those who heard this asked, “Who then can be saved?” 27 Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”

 
The real question the man was asking is “What do I do to inherit eternal life?”  This is an important question, but the man should have been asking another question.  Apparently, according to Jesus, some will get eternal life and some will not get it.
 
Do you want to get eternal life?  That is in part to spend forever in heaven without pain, suffering, full of peace, love, joy?  There will be no more “drama”, tension, miscommunication with relationships in perfect harmony again (like the Garden of Eden in Genesis 1-2).  And God is there.

This is what this story in Luke 18 is all about.  The man says, “What must I do to get Eternal Life?”  Or what must I DO to get heaven?  This man does not come to Jesus with humility or open handed, but with pride and arrogance.  He thought he needed to DO something.

 Jesus gives this man a little review of the Ten Commandments.  Do you know the Ten Commandments?  Have you heard of the BIG TEN?  They come from a book in the Bible called Exodus in Chapter 20.  It says, “And God spoke all these words, saying: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.”

Here are the Big Ten on the heart of God with some questions for all of us to contemplate.

1.     You shall have no other gods before me.(Have you made God First in your life?  Do you love God with all of your heart?) 

2.     You shall not make for yourself any carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. (Have you ever kind of made a god to suit your own desires?  Make god into who you want him to be rather than who he really is) 

3.     You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.(Have you ever used God’s name as a swear word?) 

4.     Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. (Do you take a day of the week and set it aside for worshipping God?) 

5.     Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you. (Have you always honored your mom and dad?  Would they say you are always respectful and loving toward them?) 

6.     You shall not murder. (Have you ever murdered someone?  Jesus said that if we hate someone in our heart, God calls us a murderer?) 

7.     You shall not commit adultery.(Anyone cheated on their spouse here?  Jesus said if you look at a boy or girl lustfully, you have committed adultery in your heart) 

8.     You shall not steal.(Have you ever stolen something…even a small something?) 

9.     You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. (Have you ever lied?) 

10.  You shall not covet. (Have you ever wanted someone elses stuff – iPod, Car, Video Game, House, Outfit)? 

This man was saying, “I am not perfect Jesus, but I am pretty good.  I have kept these pretty well!”  Jesus was deeply concerned that the man had broken just one of these commandments.  I think I have broken all of these commandments many times!  That’s right.  I am guilty!  The Bible says that if anyone has broken these commandments one time than they can’t go to heaven!  Did you see that?  If you are guilty of one commandment, one time, you are fully guilty and can’t go to heaven having eternal life.  We can’t compare ourselves to others on the imaginary “good scale”, but we must compare ourselves to God and his standard (i.e. the Ten Commandments).
 
Have you kept the Ten Commandments perfectly?

Paul says in Romans 3:23 that, “All have sinned and fallen short of the Kingdom of God.”  We all fall short of God’s glory of perfection.  He is Holy.

 Have you ever lied?  Stolen?  Used God’s Name as a cuss word?  That makes you (and I) a lying, blaspheming thief.  Strong words, but true.  If you and I have done these things, does that make us innocent or guilty before God?

 Guilty! 

 If I ran a red light, got pulled over by a police officer and given a ticket, am I innocent or guilty?

Guilty!

 God came up with this list of Ten Commandments to show us that we need help, that we fall short, that we are in trouble.

 God requires that we be perfect (or righteous) to have a relationship with Him!  None of us is perfect. Right? So, we ask the same question the disciples asked Jesus when they said, “Who then can be saved?”  Jesus answers, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”

 The Bible says that if we are guilty before God, we will not get to go to heaven and we will not get eternal life with God forever.  This puts us outside of heaven and inside a very real hell because we are guilty before God.
 
Let me ask you another question, “Do you like justice?”

If a person who murdered someone came before a Judge and the Judge decided to let him go free, no jail time, no community service you would say, that is crazy!  That is not justice.  That is right.  There needs to be justice.  We tend to like justice when it is for others, but have trouble when we are the one who is guilty and this time we are guilty before God.

 In the same way, we can’t be declared innocent, not guilty of our mistakes against God.  He can’t set us free just because.  Love can’t just set us free because we are still guilty of our sin against Him.  There needs to be justice!  Don’t you think?

 Maybe you would say, but I am not as bad as that person over there.  You should hear what they have done.  Okay, maybe I am not perfect, but I am not as bad as that.

 When I was in high school, my friend figured out how to get all the answers for the English Final Exam.  The Teacher gave us the test ahead of time to study in class.  We were to turn the test back in at the end of the class and come back next week for the test.  My friend took one of the tests, dropped it out of the window on the second floor, after school picked it up, took it home to study and aced the test.  He stole and cheated.

 I had another friend and before he came to know Jesus, he murdered someone.  That’s right.  He took someone else’s life and was in deep darkness.  He had to go to jail for his crime.

Now, which is worse stealing, cheating or murder?  The answer is…they are all the same in God’s site.  They all broke God’s law (the Ten Commandments) and fall short of God’s perfection.  There are no little and big sins to God.  Did you know there was a man in the Bible named Paul who was a serial murderer before he came to know Jesus as his Savior.

 If you were honest in your heart, you would say that you have sinned against God.  Does that concern you?

If God is just, he has to punish our sin. 
If God were loving, he would have to help us out of this predicament.

AND THAT IS WHAT GOD DID BECAUSE OF HIS GREAT LOVE FOR YOU!

His Son, Jesus Christ came to earth, lived a perfect life, and died as a perfect sacrifice for our sins on a cross as your substitute.  He took your place.  You deserved to die for your sins, but Jesus paid the ransom for you.  He did not sin, but he took our sins on him offering forgiveness to us.

This is free!  You don’t need to clean up your act, get a little better, and become good before accepting this free gift of grace.  Come as you are.

If we Believe in Jesus and Receive His forgiveness for your sins as your substitute, you will know for sure that you are saved going to heaven for all of eternity.  Now you are in a right relationship with God and that makes you righteous! 

God has to punish our sins against Him.  God had to have a perfect person take our place.  Jesus did it.  It is like God the Judge asked for a payment and Jesus paid our price for us – FOR FREE.

Unfortunately, the Rich Young Man in our story did not believe and receive Jesus, but turned and walked away.  Don’t do that!  Humble your heart and come to God!

All we need to do is Believe and Receive this Free Gift of Jesus to have your mistakes against God forgiven!  If you have never believed Jesus as your Savior, would you like to now as this New Year starts! 

Just tell him you believe in Him, you want to receive him as your Savior so your sins against God are forgiven.

Grab this great grace and run into the New Year.

If you have believed and received Jesus as your Savior, now keep coming back to this blog for spiritual help and growth.  Do a search for topics you would like to learn about on this blog and keep growing.  Join a healthy Bible believing and teaching church like Foothills Bible Church.  Blessings on your journey with him.

As always, if you have comments or questions, just let me know.  I would love to talk with you.

Happy New Year!

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