God's Purpose For Us

Last weekend, we celebrated the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Why do we celebrate this event? After all, many have been resurrected before. We celebrate it not because He came back from death, but because He took all our sins away with Him when he died. The importance of the cross isn't the death and resurrection, it's the washing clean of our sins.

You see, God's only desire was to have a relationship with us. Since the fall of man, that's all He ever wanted of us and what He has been working to do with us. But we are sinners and God can't see sin. In olden days, sacrifices were made as a show of repentance and that we desire to turn back to Him. But that wasn't good enough. We couldn't work our way back to Him. So He sent Jesus Christ to be the ultimate, perfect sacrifice. One so pure, that He alone can take all the sins of the world and take the penalty of sin for our sake.

That's the reason Jesus Christ came down from His throne all the way up there, to be born in a manger.He came to die for our sins. Please don't misunderstand this. This is why He isn't just a prophet though He pointed people back to God. That is why He isn't just a good man though He did not sin. He also isn't just a healer though he healed many. For do you not know, but He has granted us the very same wisdom and power, that we also can point others back to God. We can heal many and bring people back from the dead. In fact, the prophets did that before even Jesus came! But what Jesus came to do, was to be our saviour. His purpose in life is to take our sins away, so that we now can come before God; pure and holy.

That's why Christianity is about a relationship with God, not a religion. It's about knowing Him and obeying Him, not following a set of rules. God desires to be with us, guide us and to do life with us. When we mess up, He wants to pick us up again. When we want to let go, He holds on to us, even tighter. And every challenge we go through, every mountain we climb, He is right there with us.

He is so in love with us that everything He does is for our sake. When we are challenged, He builds us. When we are hurt, He comforts us. When we bless others, He blesses us back more. At times, it really can feel like the entire universe is orchestrated for our benefit. Circumstances engineered just for us; so much so that all we can do is take a step back and marvel at the works that He has done.

Which is why it's not about others. It never was about other people. It's not about who they are or what they do. God's only question to us is: "What are you doing?". We give tithe to honour God, not to bless the church. We obey His word, no matter what the other person can return to us.

People hurt us, God asks us to forgive and move on.
People betray our trust, God asks us if we would trust them again.
People let us down, God asks if we would continue to believe in them.
People wrong us, God asks if we would surrender our vengeance to Him.

For it was never about them. It's was, is and will always be about us. God cares about our heart. He wants to build our character, to grow us physically and spiritually. When God speaks to me, it's always "Will you..." not "Will they...".

The best example of this is again, the cross. The very same people Jesus came to save heckled Him. Whipped Him. Condemned Him. Sent Him to die. Even to the cross, God so love us that He would still die for us, even though we let Him down. And after the cross, He still send us to do His will. We make mistakes, we fail. We who rejected Him, left Him alone. He still uses us. He still wants us to be the vessel to do His work.

And it never was about our mistakes or past. You think God doesn't know? He created you! He knows your character, He knows your likes and dislikes. He has seen our past. And He doesn't care. He says, "I have died for you, you are clean now." Your sins? Poof, all gone. Jesus has taken care of it. Your mistakes? Wiped clean. Your failings? God is using them to bring you up and bring others to know Him.

So don't condemn yourself because God didn't condemn you. Don't condemn or judge others, for God has not yet condemn or judge them either. But hold on to God's love and bring it to the world. In the end, that's all God ever ask from us.