Goals, Salvation, Sanctification, and Eternal Rewards

 

What is your goal in life? Some say things like “make money.” A better answer is ‘help people.” Today’s world scares people. We can help by sharing our relationship with Jesus. We have hurdles with some, though. They have had poor relationships and wonder if Jesus is better?

God values each of us. We are very important to Him. Often bad relationships stem from one person not valuing the other. They were only in it for what they could get.

God is different. He gave His all for us. His commands are always in our best interests. Part of that is giving us freedom to choose Him. It’s hard to understand why bad things happen – we have old shows on that you can listen to at gcyouthquake.org, the Quest for Truth page. For now, suffice it to say His ways are always better than the world’s. (Note - you can search for that at archive.org under Greater Canton Youthquake in radio archives.)

Jesus is God in flesh. He chose to leave His throne in a perfect Heaven to come to this sin-stained world. John 1:10 says “The world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not.” He made it perfect. There was no sin. People chose to turn away from God. That sin messed everything up. That messed up world is the one Jesus came into.

So, people don’t need to worry about hiding their problems from God. He loves them and wants to help them through. He’s seen it all and knows it all. He values us each even with our flaws. “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:8)

Yet, He loves us too much to let us stay as we are, with our brokenness and pain and sin. He wants us to humble ourselves and let Him change us.

This is where your life goal comes in. We should want to serve God by being a good listener, helping the hurting, showing our love, kindness, etc.. But, we should also serve Him by standing for Biblical truth. We should want to please God. But, it’s not because we have to. It’s because we want to, as a way of giving thanks for what He did for us.

God’s desire to help us is why the world hates God. Others get drawn in,. For instance, I mentioned Marxism. Marxist (and Socialist and other) leaders still keep all the money they can get and don’t share. Yet, they rile people up to destroy things. World leaders don’t always have our best interests at heart. Their life goal is money, power, etc.. The world’s goal is to unite in false peace, whatever name they give it. They ignore problems when they want, like when Christians are massacred in Nigeria, or women are treated horribly in strict Muslim countries, or human rights abuse in China.

Consider that choice. God, who loves you and always wants what’s best for you, who gave Himself as a sacrifice to pay the price for your sins. Or, a world system where people are worse off and being lied to by leaders who don’t sacrifice but who still take everything for themselves, and who turn totally away from Jesus’ love and don’t let people worship Jesus.

The goal of the one-world government which Revelation says will happen is a world without Jesus’ love, hope, and peace. John 10:10 says the thief (devil) is the one who wants to destroy, while Jesus wants to build others up. Jesus gives life here on earth and life forever in Heaven. Marxist countries don’t let people worship Jesus, though many do underground.

We have something special to tell people that the world doesn’t have. It’s not just religion. It’s a relationship with God Himself. We need to help the hurting; have patience and listen; etc.. Our witness helps, but the Holy Spirit does the work. That’s why prayer is so vital. The Spirit can move even the unsaved to make them Christlike. We can help but only God can fully help them. (That’s why we need to pray for leaders even if we don’t like them, so God works in them.)

So, make your life goal being a Godly example, serving Him, sharing that everlasting relationship others can have with Jesus, where God always has our best interests at heart. Also, pray people turn back to Jesus, especially this election. Psalm 33:13 says “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD.” It’s in caps, since it’s the same as Jesus’ “I AM” statements. Pray for leaders who make the Lord Jesus Christ their God and follow Him despite all opposition(and for our nation to, also), so we can be blessed.