Suddenly, he picked up a hammer and shattered the glass. Shards flew everywhere! He then expressed with deep compassion how the glory of God was shattered from mankind. He asked, “Have you ever met someone who is a little rough around the edge?” as he pointed to the sharp glass fragment still in his hand. Then he picked up more pieces off the floor and remarked, “Have you ever met someone who is edgy and impatient with people? Have you known someone who cuts others down with their words, always finding fault?”
Since sin entered the world with the fall of man, it doesn’t take long to look and see what this professor was illustrating. The more someone has experienced sin, the more they typically develop a sharpness and anger toward people. Whether a person is watching sin through media or experiencing it personally, it is like someone is taking the person’s heart each time and pouring sludge into it. The more sludge the heart is filled with, the more the enemy is able to work through a person to try to destroy them and those around them.
Even though God’s glory and perfection were all shattered in the life of man through sin, Jesus came and made a way for God’s glory to be fully restored in us when we choose to receive and walk with Him. Since we still live in a fallen world, how can we love others from a pure heart like Jesus loves us?
This is a question many people have had. Occasionally when we share the love of God with someone and invite him or her to accept Jesus, they may say, “Oh, I can’t do that! I’m too big of a sinner. I could never live my life right, the way I would have to in order to be a Christian.” Or they may say, “I think God is mad at me. He wouldn’t want me after all I’ve done.” What these people are really saying is, “I know God is holy and I also know in my own strength and ability I have major imperfections, so I don’t think He would want anything to do with me.”
The reality is, God gets great pleasure in taking someone the world considers a failure and making them into a great success! He enjoys showing Himself strong in the life of anyone who will look to Him for help. God loves people! It makes no difference to Him who we are or how bad we are failing. But remember, God is a true gentleman. He doesn’t force His love or ways on anyone. He patiently waits for us to give Him an invitation to our party. When He gets an invitation, watch out! He shows up quickly and He always brings presents! He’s always ready and waiting to freely impart His grace, love, and wisdom into anyone’s life who will call on Him.
Let’s look at how we can simply receive His goodness or you could say His “holiness” in our own heart. When we looked up holiness, one description we found says, “The holy people of God are called to holy living precisely because they have been made holy in Christ. Not as a means to that holiness.”Therefore, holiness is not something we earn, but rather something we receive. The Bible tells us that God alone is holy. (See Revelation 15:4.) Therefore, we can only be holy as He is holy through having a relationship with Him and receiving this by faith. It sounds deep, but it really is simple.
When we enter into this relationship by repenting of our sins and asking Jesus to be the leader of our life, we freely become partakers of His goodness. In other words, His holiness is a gift when we invite Jesus into our heart. As a result of His holiness living in us, we have the power to daily make the choice to live our life for Him.
I pray God reveals His goodness to you in a fresh new way,
Pastor Shaun
