The first time I heard the saying, "Eternity is a long time to be wrong," it was my friend and co-author Orrin Woodward saying it. I was immediately struck by the truth of it.
Life is interesting how it blinds us. We can cruise along through days and weeks and even months and somehow ignore our own mortality. We know deep down in our hearts that we are only here for a moment, that our lives will end in death, and that everything we see and feel and do will be gone. But somehow, the glitter and complications of life keep us occupied, and keep our minds far away from thoughts about our reason for living, our purpose in that life, and our destination afterward.
I would encourage everyone to figure out what they believe about these great truths, and to clearly examine why and how they have these beliefs. Getting the "eternity" part of your existence into proper framework is absolutely critical. What is this life all about? What happens when it's over?
The Bible holds the answers to this. And I'm not talking about "religiosity" or "churchianity" here, both terms which describe how turned off I was about any "religion talk" from people. What I'm talking about is the truth. Man was created by God, fell into sin, and therefore separated himself from God. Jesus Christ came into the world as a man, lived the perfect life none of us could live, died the death of punishment (the spiritual punishment from God the father on the cross was infinitely more severe than the physical suffering) that we should have received, then rose again from the dead, proving he was the only begotten Son of God.
Heard it all before? Turned off by people who profess to believe in Christ but don't glorify Him with their lives? I know how you feel, I was there myself.
But just because I had heard it all before didn't make it any less true. And just because God's people struggle with sin, and some profess him falsely, doesn't make his saving Grace on the cross on my behalf any less true!
What I couldn't deny is how I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I was a sinner. I also knew I was powerless to do anything about it on my own. And I knew that at the end of the struggle with sin I would die in my sins. Only Christ has the power to save me from this dead end street. His finished work on the cross is salvation.
Along the early days of my spiritual journey, I was given great spiritual guidance by some key people. I was also fortunate enough to be handed some incredible books, in addition to the Bible, of course, that helped me tremendously. I would like to recommend a couple of them to you:
1. Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, Martyn Lloyd-Jones
2. Evidence that Demands a Verdict, Josh McDowell
There are many more I will recommend on future Sundays. Believe me, these are plenty to begin with (both are thick!) I pray that they will help you on your journey of getting the real questions of life answered. After all, it's the most important thing you can do. Everything else comes second.
Welcome to Chris Brady's Blog 
Leave a reply to 1john 5:13 Cancel reply