“And when He comes, He will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment. The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in Me.” (John 16:8-9 NLT)
At the end of time – every single human being who has ever lived, will stand before the God of Creation to give an account of their lives. Imagine, as the spouse standing before the stranger at her door in day before yesterday’s post, standing before a god you imagined, but is, in fact, not the One in front of whom you now stand.
So, here’s the bottom line: Is the God in front of whom you imagine standing at the end of your life, the god of your imagination or the God of the Bible? This has tremendous implications with which we must come to terms while there’s still time, if we have any hope of a home in heaven with the Jesus of the Bible.
Jesus believed the Bible, not only what He’d written through the hearts and minds of His chosen authors before He came to earth, but the ones through whom He wrote the New Testament Books from which come much of our understanding of who He was and still is – the Messiah, the Savior of the world.
The Bible is written to give us information upon which we can base our decision to accept or reject the truth of not only who God is, but who we must become as a result. How will we know what we truly believe? It will become apparent by the way we live our life. How so?
Just as each plant has distinct characteristics, each human being exhibits certain traits or identifying marks that will reveal what and in Whom they believe. Just as we recognize an apple tree by its fruit, each of us will be known by our “fruit.” Jesus followers have a language, lifestyle, attitudes, and demeanor that identify us as children of God, often referred to as the fruit of the Spirit.
The plot thickens because humans, by virtue of our sin nature, are easily deceived and can, in turn, too often easily deceive others. Paul warns of false apostles and deceitful workers, even writing that Satan can disguise himself as an angel of light with the express purpose of deceiving as many as possible.
So, how can we know for sure what’s true and what’s not? How do we know what to believe? Can we even know for sure that we’re truly following the Jesus of the Bible? And I assure you, based on the authority and truth of God’s Word, absolutely YES YOU CAN! But how? Paul explains in Romans 8:16-17: “For His (Jesus’) Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. And since we are His children, we are His heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory.”
Folks, let me be real. Look in the mirror of your soul and ask yourself what motivates you? What is it in your life that you most love? What brings you the most joy? What generates for you the most compassion? What prompts you to be most generous? Gives you the most satisfaction? For me it’s Jesus, but if it’s anything other than Jesus for you, if you ever hope for an eternity in heaven, it must be Jesus for you as well.
Let me ask another way. When your heart stops and your eyes close in death, who do you most want to be certain is in the room with you? If it’s anyone but Jesus, first and foremost, you need to get on your face before the Lord and yield your life and allegiance to Him. Because when you stand before the Lord to give an account of your life, which we all must, we’d better be certain that Jesus is the Lord of our life.
If the fruit of your life isn’t pointing to Jesus you need to make certain that you make time now, while you still have time, to make sure your life, the efforts of your whole being, are pointing to Jesus.
Perhaps this brief illustration by Ron Hutchcraft can help. Just click on the link – Bridge to God.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 