Afterward
As a student of history, I’ve observed that history does, in fact, repeat itself. This isn’t the first time in the history of humankind that a society has decided that a certain segment of its society was being oppressed and needed protection from another segment of that society. Our own nation’s overthrow of slavery is an obvious example. Hitler’s Nazi movement was another. In the first case, the evil of human slavery was brought to an end in a society; in another, the evil of genocide was birthed and carried out to exterminate the Jews, the Gypsies, and many others. There are many other historical examples on both sides of the equation. One lesson to be learned from this is that sometimes a society facing such circumstances makes the right choice, leading to justice and freedom, and sometimes the wrong choice is made, often leading to heinous crimes against humanity.
As we, in our own times, face the increasing call to address issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, where will our society end up? Will we make the right choices that lead to freedom and liberty, or will we be deceived by the so-called experts into embracing a path that simply helps the abused and the abusers switch places, continuing to do evil under the guise of justice?
But these struggles, important as they are, are the symptoms of a deeper issue, the issue of humankind’s need for a higher power to help guide our way, to deliver us from what is rotten within ourselves—within each one of us—and set us on a path that leads to true inner peace. It is only from this place that we will ever have the clarity of vision and purpose to correctly address the evils of our—or any other—society.
It is toward that end that I write these words to you now. I have discovered in my own life that I am often deceived about myself. I often attribute good motives to my thoughts, beliefs, and actions only to see with time and God’s grace that I was wrong, that my motives weren’t pure, and my beliefs were in error, producing the exact opposite of the good that I had intended. Thankfully, through a relationship with a very real and present God, I have been on a decades-long journey of transformation from the person that I once was to someone who is progressively learning to walk in more truth, less deception, and more love. I am more quickly ready to examine my own beliefs and actions in the light of God’s truth than ever before and short-circuit the cycle of deception and misguided action on my part that contributes to the madness.
What I have discovered about myself in this regard I can also see in my fellow human beings. Humankind, simply put, is not capable of lovingly guiding itself into a just and righteous future. It turns out that each of us needs saving from ourselves. It turns out that each of us needs a Savior.
So, if you are ready to admit the truth that you, too—not just the crazy nut-job on the other side of the political or social aisle from you—need saving, then allow me to introduce you to someone. Allow me to introduce you to the only person (I am convinced by personal experience) who can fulfill that job description.
Many eons ago, long before humankind or even the very planet we call home existed, God existed. He was without equal and without adequate companionship. It was at this point that He decided to create companions for Himself that were made in His very image, with the ability to create and love and to have free will. He decided to create humans.
God’s decision to give us free will is where the difficulty came in. In order for God’s plan to work, humans needed the ability to choose to love Him. He didn’t want automatons, robots that had no choice in the matter. He wanted a being that could reason, with its own wants and desires, and that could—if it chose to—reject Him instead of love Him.
And so God created humankind, both male and female, the two of which, together, reflect the very image of God.
But there was a snake in the garden.
God, you see, has enemies, too. And his greatest and oldest enemy is the fallen angel named Satan. Satan saw what God was doing and how all of His love and attention was going towards these two new creations of His, and Satan wanted nothing more than to destroy what God had created in such a way as to break God’s heart. And so Satan set out to deceive the two humans and get them to turn against God.
While the rest of the story is quite interesting, it’s beyond the scope of this writing, and I’m afraid we need to jump forward a bit to reach the intended goal. Let’s just say that Satan succeeded in getting both the man and the woman to choose their own path and reject God’s good plan for them, and their joint decisions have resulted in pain, heartache, and misery for all humankind ever since. And every time we choose selfishness, or to hurt someone else, or to act out in anger and do something harmful to another human being or ourselves, we continue to follow the path that Satan—the great deceiver—set us up to pursue.
But God had a plan to save us from ourselves.
He had a plan to restore the old order—the perfect world He had created—and to restore the man and the woman to a place of wholeness, to un-do all the damage they and their children and Satan had done. And His plan was to send a Savior to Earth to accomplish this. And that Savior’s name . . . is Jesus.
Jesus, simply put, is God’s only unique Son. He is co-equal with God and is the exact representation of God in every way. Whole essays have been written to explain the finer details of this arrangement, but for the purposes of this writing, I’m hoping you’ll forgive me for moving on from this point.
So, here was the plan. All of the bad things that you and I have ever done have created a gulf between God and us. And since evil cannot exist in God’s presence, that put a kink in God’s plan of spending eternity with us. In order to rectify that, to cleanse us of the stain of our bad choices—our sins, something had to be done to balance the scales, to essentially do something so good and pure that it would erase the results of our sins. And Jesus was sent here to do just that.
And here we reach another point in our re-telling that I must summarize for brevity’s sake (you can read the whole account in the Bible in the Gospel of John later if you desire). Jesus came to earth, born to a human mother named Mary, and miraculously lived a sinless life even though He was subjected to the same desires and temptations that face us all. He was then tried for a crime He didn’t commit and murdered on a criminal’s cross. And His death balanced the scales, brought justice for every wrong humankind had or ever would commit, and paved the way for us all, once again, to be able to enjoy a relationship with a real and loving God—our heavenly Father.
But there were still two problems. Problem #1: we all die. Problem #2: God could not force us to accept this great salvation or else He would be un-doing one of the reasons he created humankind in the first place and denying our free will.
What to do, what to do?
To solve problem #1, not only sin had to be defeated, but death as well. So, three days after Jesus had been murdered for a crime He didn’t commit, God raised Him from the dead. Over 500 people saw him after His resurrection, and His twelve closest followers would proclaim this truth for the rest of their lives—all but one dying martyr’s death for refusing to deny it. Hardly something one would do for a lie, is it?
Problem #2 was somewhat more difficult to solve. In order for us to receive forgiveness for our sins and be welcomed once more into close fellowship with God Himself—destined to live with Him in heaven for eternity when our earthly life is over, we would need to make a conscious decision to turn away from our own way of doing things, admit our sinful life was wrong, and declare our allegiance to Jesus, God incarnate.
Perhaps, as you’ve been reading this, dear reader, you have begun to sense a stirring in your soul. A longing, if you will, to believe this amazing story and take advantage of God’s generous offer. If you do, don’t ignore it. This story is true—every word of it—including God’s offer to deliver you from your sin and help you find peace and eternal life in God, and to empower you to learn to live free from your sinful tendencies.
You can find salvation right now if you will invite Jesus into your life to be your Savior and God. Below is a sample prayer you can pray right now, either saying the words out loud or repeating them silently in your heart, and—if you are sincere—be forgiven of your sins, receive eternal life, and begin your own great journey with God:
“Jesus, I confess that I have sinned, and I realize that this sin keeps me from experiencing Your love and purpose in my life. I ask You to forgive me for my sins and come into my life and be my God so that I can begin experiencing Your love, peace, and purpose for my life.”
God wants to be a continual part of your life starting right now. You don’t have to wait until you die to experience God’s love and purpose for your life. He wants to communicate with you every day. You can communicate with Jesus by simply talking to Him as if He were right next to you.
But how does God talk to you?
God speaks to us in many ways. One of these ways is through the Bible. In this book, God communicates to us about how we should live our lives in order to continually experience His love, freedom, and purpose.
If you have just made a commitment to Jesus as your God, you should begin reading this book and meditate on the truths that it teaches every day. A good place to start reading is in the section called “John”. This section tells about Jesus’ life here on earth and clearly tells us why He came, what He did, and how we can experience His love and purpose in our lives every day.
When you accept Jesus as your God and ask Him to forgive you of your sins, you can be sure that He has forgiven you and accepted you as His child, regardless of how you feel emotionally. Don’t rely on your feelings to confirm your decision; instead, rely on God’s Word—the Bible—and the commitment that you have made to follow God no matter how you may feel at a given moment. Feelings change; commitment doesn’t.
Talking with God daily, reading the Bible daily, and getting together frequently with other people who believe in Jesus will help you continue to experience God’s love and power to help you live your new life. Following God is not always easy, but the rewards of experiencing His love, power, and purpose in our lives are well worth it. Remember, when you need help, just ask Him, and He will help you.
I hope you will choose to follow Him as I have.
