Have you ever met someone who changed your life for the good? Someone you can point to who made you a better person? My mother and father gave me life and shaped my life but there are a handful of people I can point to who changed my life. My wife being one of them… Because of her I am a better man.
Jesus came to change people and it’s not because He doesn’t like who we are. He’s not mad, uptight or dissatisfied with us. It’s not because He finds us unappealing or distasteful but because He loves us. After all, we are created in His image. He loves us enough to accept us on the basis of who we have become but loves us too much to leave us in our current condition.
When God created the world, everything was good. You can read about in Genesis chapter 1 and 2. We were designed in His image with the objective of having open communion with Him on a personal basis. In Genesis Chapter 3, however, mankind decided to rebel and didn’t want to follow His lead. From the beginning of time, people have wanted what they want, when they want it and how they want it.
That rebellious streak plays havoc in relationships and caused a breach in our communion with God. You cannot be self-centered, self-willed and selfish without causing damage. Relationship of all sorts will suffer. We were designed for good but damaged by evil.
We are all broken! We are all damaged! There is not one of us who has it all together. But under all the damage and debris, there is an original creation. There is a Real You!
You may have watched the news cast on TV a couple of weeks ago about a man who purchased a $4 painting at a yard sale. A few days later when he was trying to reframe his purchase, he found an original painting by Andy Warhol worth an estimated $5.5 million.
Jesus wants to change you back into your original condition because you are worth much more to Him than that painting is worth monetarily. He wants the real you to be revealed.
He does this by changing four things. He changes our relationship to God. We became His enemy when we rebelled. He didn’t turn on us but we turned on Him. He starts by reconnecting or reconciling us to God because without a genuine relationship with Him, long lasting change is not possible. John 15 tells us that apart from God we can do nothing.
He then seeks to change our character, followed by our relationships with others and ultimately our destiny - both short term and long term.
For those who plug into Him, there waits an eternity with Him after death. There isn’t a long-term plan longer than that! He also changes our short-term destiny. Rather than just survive life and eke out a living, we are invited to change the world by partnering with Him.
In 1983, Steve Jobs was trying to lure CEO John Scully away from Pepsi to come run Apple. Scully resisted Jobs’ overtures, citing his lack of experience in technology. Finally, Jobs asked, “Do you want spend the rest of your life selling sugared water or do want to change the world?”
You can change your world by discovering the Real You! You were created to have relationship with God and be a change agent.
No comments:
Post a Comment