Not too long ago while I was sitting in traffic, I noticed a Scripture reference on the back window of another car. It just read, 2 Chron. 7:14. I wasn’t familiar with that reference, so when I got home I looked it up. The quotation it was referring to is in the second book of Chronicles, which reads:
‘If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.’
I thought it was so perfect, so prophetic for the times we are in. The Lord is reminding us that although we are living in a time of great evil, our only hope is to turn back to him, to acknowledge our sinfulness and to ask for his forgiveness.
‘If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.’
The message of Christianity is very simple: God created us out of love, to live in his presence and share in his joy and that is what our first parents had. But then they rejected what God told them and lost what God had given them. That sin was passed on to us. So the human race was no longer in the state that God had originally intended for us.
It says in the creation account in Genesis that before the Fall, Adam and Eve walked in the garden with God. They were in God’s presence, totally fulfilled. But because of the devil’s envy, he tricked them into rejecting God’s word and as a result they lost what God had given them. They lost paradise, which is what God wanted for them, for us. God’s desire for us is that we would be completely happy and fulfilled in every way.
The worst part of the Fall, was that they had no way of undoing the damage by themselves. But because God loves us, He would not leave his creation in that fallen state and so God the Son took on human nature in the person of Jesus and through his self-sacrifice, He atoned for that sin and reopened the possibility of heaven for us. Now God offers that possibility to us once again.
When the angel Gabriel told Mary that she would conceive, she also told her that she must name the child, Jesus (See Luke 1:31). The name means, ‘Who Saves.’ He would save his people from their sins.
Imagine a project that you worked on for years, maybe a dream home, or a company that you built up, or a great tapestry, or work of art. It took years of meticulous work to create. Then someone came along and wrecked it. Would you just leave it in its ruined state, or would you try and rebuild it? More than likely you would try and rebuild it. This is what God did with his creation. He reopened for us the possibility of life with God, which would mean total happiness and fulfillment in every possible way. This is what God has done for us through the death and resurrection of Jesus and now God offers that life to us, but we must choose it. It is not a given and it is possible to lose it. It is only through Jesus that this happens.
“I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” (Jn 14:6)
“I am the Gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved…” (Jn 10:9)
“I am the Good Shepherd…”
“I am the Bread of Life. Whoever comes to me will never hunger. Whoever believes in me will never thirst.” (Jn 6:35)
Heaven is real and it is where we want to go when our time on earth is complete, but hell is also real. In the Gospels Jesus speaks of hell 23 times. The loss of God is a real possibility and one we must take seriously. Heaven doesn’t just happen. We must choose it and we choose it primarily by the way we live. If we say we love God then we must do what He commands us to do and not just in a vague kind of way, but exactly as He asks us to. God tells us what to do, but we have to choose to do it or not. God has given us that freedom and we will have that freedom right up until the day we die. But now is the time of choice. What you are doing with you life right now, is what you are choosing for eternity. Am I living by the ways of God, or by my own desires only. If you presume everyone goes to heaven when they die, then you should read the Gospels. Not everyone will go to heaven, which in itself is a very frightening thought.
It is sad to see so many people today who are obviously lost, in the sense of not knowing what the purpose of their life is. And so they are pulled in different directions by the different voices of the world. There is only one place we will find fulfillment and that is in Jesus. He is the doorway to heaven, the doorway to what all of us long for. We will only be fulfilled in God. No human being and no earthly thing is going to fulfill us. Only God can do that. That’s why it is so important to listen to what God tells us to do, because God is telling us how to reach that happiness. He shows us the path, but we must decide to follow it or not.
I think many people have a sense that we are in a time of decision. Our world and country are becoming more polarized all the time. We need to choose which side we are on. If we are to choose God, then we must be careful about how we live, because God tells us exactly what we must and must not do. ‘If you love me you will keep my commandments.’ And I will ask the Father and He will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth. (Jn 14:15-16). God doesn’t just leave us to our own devices, but constantly guides us and shows us what we need to do. The turning back to God that is needed begins with me. We must also pray for our country, for all the people around us, that they will have the grace to turn back to God as well.
‘If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.’
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