What do we want?
As humans, we are pretty simple. We have a bundle of desires, and we will do whatever we can to get them. We want our basic needs met: food, drink, sleep, health, a place to go to the bathroom. We want contentment and peace in ourselves. We want to be secure from things that might endanger us. We want some pleasure in our lives. We want to be connected to other people, feel a part of them. And we want to be respected. Pretty basic stuff. Not complicated.
What God wants
God is our father and he sees what we want. He created us and so He knows what we want, because he made these desires in us. They are good, and he wants to see them fulfilled. He wants us to do what we can to get these needs fulfilled. But he also doesn’t want us to hurt ourselves or others. And so many times, we are like toddlers—we don’t see what’s wrong with touching the stove, or hitting our friends. God knows, and he wants to protect us from harm. Also, he recognizes that He is the most important One in our lives, our parent. So He doesn’t want us to drift away from Him. He wants us not to give to other people or things or ideas what belongs to Him. He wants us to love Him and to acknowledge Him as the most important One in our lives.
Who are we?
We are just like complicated toddlers. When we see what we want, we go for it. We change want we want with every hour, at one moment wanting something, and the next wanting the opposite. Some of this has to do with the bodies who make up a part of who we are. Our bodies are flooded with hormones and get trapped thinking in a certain way. Some of this mutability has to do with the society we see ourselves in—our family, friends, entertainments, co-workers, and the environments in which we live are all offering us different options and ideals for us to live up to, and we have a hard time resisting any of them. Also, though, we are influenced by spiritual powers. Most of the powers around us are trying to get us to ignore God. They want us to do anything, to think about anything except God, our Father, who loves us and wants to care for us. They want us to focus on money, on greed, on lust, on revenge, on obtaining power. They want us to focus on this because all of these things cause our ultimate destruction, as if we were a pointless message, doomed to self-destruct in a twisted version of Mission Impossible.
What Jesus came to do
God, our Father, sees our plight, and so he sends us Jesus. Jesus comes to tell us the truth about God, and to help us focus on Him again. Jesus doesn’t do this because God is a great guy, but because it is best for us. Jesus’ ultimate goal is to make our lives better. So he displayed again and again that God will help us with what we really want. While God may not give us money or revenge or power, He will meet our needs. God will give us health. God will give us security. God will give us joy. God will give us a society. God will grant us respect. Jesus demonstrated that on common people, just like you and me.
But it isn’t enough for Jesus to give us a good life through God. He recognized that we aren’t just made up of ourselves, but that God is in competition with other people and spiritual forces for our best interests. So Jesus had to create a place—a nation, rather—where we could live for God. So he told everyone that he was planning on establishing a nation where that could be done, and doing this through God’s power alone.
What happened to Jesus?
But there were people who didn’t see Jesus’ goals as noble. They felt that they already were living for God and that they already had a nation where people could live for God. Jesus, however, pointed out to them that they weren’t actually honoring God at all, but money, greed, lust and power. And he let them know that he was taking over. Because Jesus had many people following him, these political leaders thought that Jesus posed a threat—so they killed him.
What Jesus did for us
God, the Father, saw all this and decided it was time to step in. He raised Jesus from the dead to demonstrate for everyone that Jesus was right and the ones who killed him were wrong. He showed everyone that you can’t claim to be of God if you are really focusing on money, greed, power, and lust. And then God did something else: he appointed Jesus as head over the new people of God—the new nation of God’s people. Included in this nation is freedom—freedom from the many distractions that keeps us from God. Free from the spiritual forces that are trying to force us into molds of corruption. Freedom to live our lives as God intended—meeting our needs without destroying ourselves.
What is Jesus offering us?
1. He offers us a chance to be separated from our old lives of corruption
Through Jesus, we can be forgiven for trying to forget God and His ways. God is willing and enthusiastic to take us back.
2. He offers us a new community to be involved in
Through Jesus, a new community who strives to honor God in every way exists. We can take part of that community, and so find it easier to live for God.
3. He offers us an opportunity to ask God directly to meet our needs
Through Jesus, we have an open channel to God. Even as Jesus prayed and was answered, so we can do the same.
4. He offers us the Holy Spirit who will encourage us to be who we need to be in God
Jesus grants those who follow Him a friend who lives inside of us who will encourage us to seek God and to honor Him with all of our lives.
Taking Advantage of Jesus’ Offer
Sounds good? Well, then just follow up on what Jesus asks us to do:
A. Jesus wants us to acknowledge Him as the Ruler of our lives
Pray for him to take over. Look below for a sample.
B. Jesus wants us to find one of His communities and join it
Find a church that welcomes you and demonstrates Jesus in their lives, and be part of it.
C. Jesus wants us to get baptized as a life-long commitment to Him
Get baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit to show that you are in Jesus’ nation and will never leave it.
D. Jesus wants us to get to know Him and His ways
Begin by reading the book of Matthew—the first book of the New Testament in the Bible.
You can pray this prayer:
Jesus, I haven’t done a great job of trying to rule myself. Please, take over my life. I want you to be in charge. Please, lead me to your people who will help me live for You. I love you and want to live my life for You. Thank you so much for dying for me so I can have this opportunity. Amen.
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