tHE MOST IMPORTANT THING
Your life is likely filled to the brim with calendar events, decisions, tasks, and challenges. Our inclination is to say "yes" to more than we can handle and it leads us to our breaking point. This was not God's design.
"For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now." Romans 8:22
And sure, there are those moments of beauty between the chaos and brokenness of our world where we see beauty, but they are simply glimpses of hope that glimmer in the sunlight. Broken pieces of hope separated by suffering, injustice, pain, and, ultimately; sin. Sin is what caused this brokenness. But before sin, there was perfection. Sin is a deviation from God's perfect design for us. Imagine a meticulously crafted piece of art, now marred and incomplete. God, as the ultimate Creator, designed humanity with intention and purpose. He created a world where people lived in loving relationship with Him, with each other, and with creation itself. This design included inherent worth, dignity, and the capacity for joy, peace, and flourishing. We were made for connection, for purpose, and for an eternal relationship with our Creator.
"For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well." Psalm 139:13-14
Before you can find hope in eternal life, you must recognize the Creator of this great work of art. There is a God, Creator of all things, that is deeply loving and personal. He knows you and desires for you to not just live in brokenness, but thrive in His perfect design for you. It broke His heart that sin entered into the world. So much that He did something that would change this broken world forever.
"For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Romans 1:20-21
The bad news is that sin affects everyone. No one lives perfectly in God's perfect design for us.
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23
This sin didn't just show up, it was placed in our lives by an enemy of God and of you. An enemy with an insidious desire to steal from you, kill you, and destroy you (John 10:10). Sin separates us, not just from the perfect creation that we were supposed to be, dwell in, and exist among, but from the perfect Creator as well. When sin entered into the world, a perfect picture of hope and peace was shattered into a million pieces; broken beyond repair. Thankfully, our Creator God does the impossible. He mends what it broken, He restores what has been lost, He makes beauty out of ashes. And how He did this was through an impossible act of love and mercy for you: He gave up His only Son, Jesus Christ, to live on this earth just like you and me. But unlike us, He never sinned. Jesus Christ is God the Son that came down to us. He lived a perfect life so that He could die a perfect death. He was nailed to a cross as an innocent man, stayed dead in the grave, but on the third day, raised from the dead and is alive today! He did this to defeat this enemy and the power of sin. The cost of our sins is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through this gift of the life of Jesus. (Romans 6:23)
God loves you so much that He sent His Son to die for you. (Romans 5:8) He asks of us that we call on the name of the Lord and we will be saved. (Romans 10:13) When we call on the name of our Savior, King Jesus, we will be saved and we become part of the beautiful mosaic that is made whole and perfect and complete. We become, once again tethered to the perfect Creator God, His design for us, and the hope of His eternal home for us is secured through Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection. God's plan for you is greater than living in brokenness, He desires to restore brokenness, He desires to illuminate darkness, He desires to make beauty from the ashes; all you have to do is recognize that brokenness in you, believe that Jesus is the only one that could take the weight of that brokenness from you, and commit to living for the glory of God apart from that brokenness.
"because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved." Romans 10:9-10
The most important thing isn't a full calendar, being the most efficient, liked, or successful. The most important thing is finding hope for your broken soul in the arms of the Father.
"For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen." Romans 11:36
"For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now." Romans 8:22
And sure, there are those moments of beauty between the chaos and brokenness of our world where we see beauty, but they are simply glimpses of hope that glimmer in the sunlight. Broken pieces of hope separated by suffering, injustice, pain, and, ultimately; sin. Sin is what caused this brokenness. But before sin, there was perfection. Sin is a deviation from God's perfect design for us. Imagine a meticulously crafted piece of art, now marred and incomplete. God, as the ultimate Creator, designed humanity with intention and purpose. He created a world where people lived in loving relationship with Him, with each other, and with creation itself. This design included inherent worth, dignity, and the capacity for joy, peace, and flourishing. We were made for connection, for purpose, and for an eternal relationship with our Creator.
"For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well." Psalm 139:13-14
Before you can find hope in eternal life, you must recognize the Creator of this great work of art. There is a God, Creator of all things, that is deeply loving and personal. He knows you and desires for you to not just live in brokenness, but thrive in His perfect design for you. It broke His heart that sin entered into the world. So much that He did something that would change this broken world forever.
"For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Romans 1:20-21
The bad news is that sin affects everyone. No one lives perfectly in God's perfect design for us.
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23
This sin didn't just show up, it was placed in our lives by an enemy of God and of you. An enemy with an insidious desire to steal from you, kill you, and destroy you (John 10:10). Sin separates us, not just from the perfect creation that we were supposed to be, dwell in, and exist among, but from the perfect Creator as well. When sin entered into the world, a perfect picture of hope and peace was shattered into a million pieces; broken beyond repair. Thankfully, our Creator God does the impossible. He mends what it broken, He restores what has been lost, He makes beauty out of ashes. And how He did this was through an impossible act of love and mercy for you: He gave up His only Son, Jesus Christ, to live on this earth just like you and me. But unlike us, He never sinned. Jesus Christ is God the Son that came down to us. He lived a perfect life so that He could die a perfect death. He was nailed to a cross as an innocent man, stayed dead in the grave, but on the third day, raised from the dead and is alive today! He did this to defeat this enemy and the power of sin. The cost of our sins is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through this gift of the life of Jesus. (Romans 6:23)
God loves you so much that He sent His Son to die for you. (Romans 5:8) He asks of us that we call on the name of the Lord and we will be saved. (Romans 10:13) When we call on the name of our Savior, King Jesus, we will be saved and we become part of the beautiful mosaic that is made whole and perfect and complete. We become, once again tethered to the perfect Creator God, His design for us, and the hope of His eternal home for us is secured through Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection. God's plan for you is greater than living in brokenness, He desires to restore brokenness, He desires to illuminate darkness, He desires to make beauty from the ashes; all you have to do is recognize that brokenness in you, believe that Jesus is the only one that could take the weight of that brokenness from you, and commit to living for the glory of God apart from that brokenness.
"because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved." Romans 10:9-10
The most important thing isn't a full calendar, being the most efficient, liked, or successful. The most important thing is finding hope for your broken soul in the arms of the Father.
"For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen." Romans 11:36