Let's say for your birthday your dad gives you his credit card and says, "Here, go buy yourself one thing from the Apple Store at the Brea Mall for your birthday. Just one thing. You can buy a laptop. You can buy a phone. But it's gotta be from that store."
So you go to the Brea Mall and you buy a phone from the Apple Store. But then on the way out, you spot a clothing store and they have these shoes you really want, so you get the shoes too. Then you see this gaming store and you buy an xbox too and some games. And you also get some food at the food court and some candy. But as you're leaving, you start feeling pretty guilty about what you just did. Then you start to search your pockets for the credit card and you realize, you lost it. You left it somewhere. You are in big trouble.
Let's say, you're not a coward, and you decide you're going to fess up to your dad. What would you need to do to make things right with him?
ONE: Confess what you did. This means to apologize and mean it. Like you're not planning on doing the same thing ever again.
TWO: You need to take the consequence for what you did. So in this case it might mean, you don't get to keep that one item from the Apple store for your birthday. It might mean, you're not allowed to go out by yourself for a month. Whatever your parents decide is the consequence, you'd need to serve that sentence.
THREE: Lastly, you need to make restitution, which means returning the items you shouldn't have bought, and paying your dad back for the food, which you can't return.
Even after doing all these things. What's something you can't make right? You can't replace the lost card. That's something only he can do. You're not old enough and the credit card is in his name, not yours.
Do you realize that this is what all of us have done to God? We have used what he's given us in the wrong ways and we have lost all chance of giving it back to him.
We have been spending our lives as if it were ours for keeps and like we can do whatever we want with it instead of spending our lives like God asks us to do. And we have lost all chance of having a do-over in life. We don't get a second try. There is no reincarnation.
We've messed up big. Yeah, maybe your parents have kept you from doing anything too terrible, but there's stuff you do that your parents don't know about. Isn't there? There's stuff that goes through your mind that no one knows about. No one but you and God.
Well, let's say you're not a coward and you wanna make things right with God. There's three things you gotta do.
One: Apologize and mean it. To mean it, means we're not going to do it anymore.
Two: We've got to take the punishment for our crime. Do you know what the punishment is for someone who spends their life like its their own and not God's? The punishment is to get exactly what you asked for: a life without God forever.
The Bible calls this damnation or going to hell. And it describes it with flames and screams and pain, not because God has made some sort of place with horrible torture devices to punish people, but because life without God is terrible. It's way worse than life on earth. God is still present here on earth and give people many good things here. Life without God is without anything good, beautiful or true: no relief of pain, no comfort, no fun, no joy, no excitement, nothing new. That's our punishment for our crime.
Three: we have to make restitution to God. That means we have to pay God back for the life we should've been living. This means we've got to redo our lives but perfectly now.
Do you see some problems with this plan on how to make things right with God? You should.
First, who can apologize to God and mean that he's never going to mess up again? We're still going to mess up. We can apologize every day of our lives, but it doesn't change the fact that we make mistakes.
Second: who wants to take the punishment for what they've done? Who wants to go to hell? I don't want to do that.
Third: no one can give back to God a perfect, holy life because nobody can live perfectly even if we were given a billion chances.
No one can do it, except....? God himself. Send to earth in the form of Jesus.
Jesus is the solution to our problem here.
First: Jesus made the perfect apology to God on our behalf. When we confess to God that we've been living our lives the wrong way, Jesus who right now is standing beside God, turns to God and says, "Hey, so-and-so is sorry. They want to apologize, but they can't. Take my apology instead. It's perfect."
And at that moment God looks down into our hearts to see if our rebellious days are over and instead of seeing a self-absorbed little insurgent, he sees Christ there forever apologizing, forever presenting a changed heart, forever teaching us the way to live like children of God. And God accepts that apology.
Second: Jesus took the punishment for our crimes. Jesus went to hell for us. When he was dying on the cross he said, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me." At that moment, Jesus was totally separated from God in death. We don't have to go to hell anymore. Jesus did that already. And Hell could not keep Jesus there.
Third: Jesus made restitution for our failures by living the perfect life and by being the perfect human. That life reimbursed God for the life we owe him.
Our relationship with God has been made right.
Every single day, you have a choice to believe either, "I'm going to make things right with God, today. I'm going to do better today. I can do it!" Some of you, especially the girls, who've gone to church all your lives are easy prey for this trap. You still think you can
OR
You're going to believe: "It's hopeless. I can't ever make things right with God. I'm too terrible." Those of you who have been abused or mistreated so you think you're worthless and no one would want to save you. are easy prey for believing truth.
OR you're going to believe, "Jesus is making things right with God for me."
You have a choice on whose side you're going to be on.
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