If I Live Right
Dear Champions,
The short excerpt is from Tim Keller, and the scripture is Matthew 5:45 God causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
Over the years I have seen people getting completely destroyed by the troubles in their lives. And here's why. There's a premise underneath our lives that's so deep that we don't even realize it is there. And the premise is this. "If I live right, my life should go right." So if your life goes wrong, you either say "Something's wrong with me. I hate myself, because I must be a failure." Or the other possibility is, "I hate God, because He's not treating me like I deserve." Then, every mode of the experience is either going to lead you into self-hatred or God-hatred. If that becomes a sustained theme in your life, you will be poisoned. Something has to destroy the premise.
Jesus Christ was a perfect, loving man anointed with the Spirit. He went into the wilderness where He was tested and tried. He was absolutely obedient, and He did it for us. He was living the life we should have lived. Years later this perfect Man ended up on the cross. He says, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" That's the only time in His entire life when He doesn't call God Father because on the cross He was losing His Sonship and relationship with His Father. He was getting the punishment we deserved, so we can have it.
We are accepted not because of the life that we have lived but because of the life that Jesus lived. We must come and say, "Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to the cross I cling." We must not come saying, "I have lived a pretty good life, and you owe me." Instead, we have to say, "You have every right to send me to Hell, but I want your mercy because of what Jesus Christ did.
Champions, have a great week!-David Vining
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