The Good News That Gives Rest To The Weary
Fear can do strange things to you.
Things that just don't make sense.
This child, struggling with all this fear, suddenly just can't go to sleep anymore. He checks doors over and over again. He checks windows. He locks the car with the remote 12 times. He asks for me to pray, please will you pray? Again and again I do but this fear just keeps holding on.
After sleepless nights, all these nights up with a child that just can't sleep, he finally says it.
He says, "I think part of what I was afraid of is, well, what if Jesus comes back and I don't go? I mean, I think I am afraid that I am going to be left behind."
What?
"Why are you afraid of that? I mean, why would you be?" I probe. This child knows the verses. He has memorized them again and again in Awana. He knows the truth of redemption. He's prayed the prayer of salvation and been baptized. We talk gospel everyday of his life. Where is this coming from?
He shrugs.
"Well, let's go find the truth." I grab my Bible and open it to Romans.
He sits. Looks over my shoulder at the pages all underlined in so many colors. We read it together.
"There is no one righteous, not even one. That's Romans 3:10 and it says that we all sin. We all have fallen short of God's standard. None of us get it right, ever. We get it wrong everyday. Over and over again, we get it wrong. No one, not you , not me, can call themselves righteous on their own."
"Yeah, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." He's remembering. The God-words imprinted on his heart.
"Yes, now look at verse 19, 'now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law,so that that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore, no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.'
See, God gave us His law to show us how much we mess up every day. We constantly break God's law, and when we see what is really expected of us in God's law, it shuts us up because we see how get it wrong over and over again. We see that we are not good. We were given the law to see how sinful we are and how much we need a Savior. But it says in verse 21, 'now a righteousness apart from the law has been revealed to which the law and Prophets testify. This righteousness from God is by faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. ' Do you believe this?"
"Yes, I believe that Jesus died for my sins on the cross and rose again so I could go to heaven."
"Then, do you go to heaven because you do lots of good stuff?"
"No."
"Then are you not going to go to heaven because you sin?"
He hesitates. "No...because everyone sins. You only go to heaven because you believe that Jesus died for your sins, not because you are good. It is by faith, by his grace."
"Yes."
"Then, that is really good news," He says through tears.
"The best news. When we repent and confess that we are sinners and need his forgiveness, he wipes out our sin as if it never was. We want to serve God and do good because we are thankful for His gift of grace, not because it makes us good or gets us into heaven. But even though we put our trust in Christ, sometimes we still sin but that doesn't mean we are not going to go to heaven, it just reminds us that we need Jesus every day and thankfully we have Him."
"I think I knew all that, I just think the enemy was lying to me again."
"I know. That's why we need to remember the truth, read it over and over, preach it to ourselves daily, this good news, it changes everything."
It changes us from sinners who could never get it right, into sons and daughters of God, made right by His sacrifice when ours would never do.
Before this truth of grace even fear flees.
Isn't fear always based on a lie?
And when the lie is exposed, and truth comes in, we see, really what is there to fear?
Death and hell have been conquered, fear driven out and
faith, it takes us back to the grace of the God of love that gave it all for us.
This child, he's sleeping better now. Resting on the truth, that God came down to this earth as a baby, lived, and died on a cross for his sins so that he can live forever with God. His relationship with God or getting into heaven isn't based on his performance or all the good he does or doesn't do, but on the grace of God through Jesus, so none of us can boast, because none of us deserve it. It's all grace.
And that is the best news ever. The kind of news that can give rest to the weary and hope to the hopeless. And sleep even to the fearful.
Things that just don't make sense.
This child, struggling with all this fear, suddenly just can't go to sleep anymore. He checks doors over and over again. He checks windows. He locks the car with the remote 12 times. He asks for me to pray, please will you pray? Again and again I do but this fear just keeps holding on.
After sleepless nights, all these nights up with a child that just can't sleep, he finally says it.
He says, "I think part of what I was afraid of is, well, what if Jesus comes back and I don't go? I mean, I think I am afraid that I am going to be left behind."
What?
"Why are you afraid of that? I mean, why would you be?" I probe. This child knows the verses. He has memorized them again and again in Awana. He knows the truth of redemption. He's prayed the prayer of salvation and been baptized. We talk gospel everyday of his life. Where is this coming from?
He shrugs.
"Well, let's go find the truth." I grab my Bible and open it to Romans.
He sits. Looks over my shoulder at the pages all underlined in so many colors. We read it together.
"There is no one righteous, not even one. That's Romans 3:10 and it says that we all sin. We all have fallen short of God's standard. None of us get it right, ever. We get it wrong everyday. Over and over again, we get it wrong. No one, not you , not me, can call themselves righteous on their own."
"Yeah, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." He's remembering. The God-words imprinted on his heart.
"Yes, now look at verse 19, 'now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law,so that that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore, no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.'
See, God gave us His law to show us how much we mess up every day. We constantly break God's law, and when we see what is really expected of us in God's law, it shuts us up because we see how get it wrong over and over again. We see that we are not good. We were given the law to see how sinful we are and how much we need a Savior. But it says in verse 21, 'now a righteousness apart from the law has been revealed to which the law and Prophets testify. This righteousness from God is by faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. ' Do you believe this?"
"Yes, I believe that Jesus died for my sins on the cross and rose again so I could go to heaven."
"Then, do you go to heaven because you do lots of good stuff?"
"No."
"Then are you not going to go to heaven because you sin?"
He hesitates. "No...because everyone sins. You only go to heaven because you believe that Jesus died for your sins, not because you are good. It is by faith, by his grace."
"Yes."
"Then, that is really good news," He says through tears.
"The best news. When we repent and confess that we are sinners and need his forgiveness, he wipes out our sin as if it never was. We want to serve God and do good because we are thankful for His gift of grace, not because it makes us good or gets us into heaven. But even though we put our trust in Christ, sometimes we still sin but that doesn't mean we are not going to go to heaven, it just reminds us that we need Jesus every day and thankfully we have Him."
"I think I knew all that, I just think the enemy was lying to me again."
"I know. That's why we need to remember the truth, read it over and over, preach it to ourselves daily, this good news, it changes everything."
It changes us from sinners who could never get it right, into sons and daughters of God, made right by His sacrifice when ours would never do.
Before this truth of grace even fear flees.
Isn't fear always based on a lie?
And when the lie is exposed, and truth comes in, we see, really what is there to fear?
Death and hell have been conquered, fear driven out and
faith, it takes us back to the grace of the God of love that gave it all for us.
This child, he's sleeping better now. Resting on the truth, that God came down to this earth as a baby, lived, and died on a cross for his sins so that he can live forever with God. His relationship with God or getting into heaven isn't based on his performance or all the good he does or doesn't do, but on the grace of God through Jesus, so none of us can boast, because none of us deserve it. It's all grace.
And that is the best news ever. The kind of news that can give rest to the weary and hope to the hopeless. And sleep even to the fearful.
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