There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. - Romans 3:10-12 NIV
Spirituality is very much in vogue. Christianity, not so much.
Mostly it’s because we are sinful, fallen thinkers who have gone our own way, rejecting God’s way and lordship. We don’t want to submit to His authority. We want to do it our own way. And this is what sin is ... me doing life my way. Not willing to submit to God's authority. I will do what I want. I am in charge of me. I am the center of my universe.
I like to tease and poke fun at the flat earthers, believing the nonsense they believe. They can believe anything they like, gravity will just keep doing its thing as it has since the beginning.
When we reject God and go our own way, we are doing the exact same as the flat earthers, only with deadlier consequences. Because to reject God is to reject your very life.
We can believe anything we want. That God doesn't exist. That we are in charge of ourselves. That we can handle our own affairs. But like gravity, God's not going away. He is a fact. And He knows the true facts, that He created and sustains us. That we cannot live apart from Him. That we are spiritually dead apart from Him. That we will be eternally separated from Him when we die apart from Him.
In the 1600’s Galileo found himself in some serious trouble with the “church”, because he had figured out that the earth was not the center of the solar system. God had led him to a wonderous discovery about our universe, but bad thinking by Christians who hadn’t allowed God total lordship over their hearts and minds rejected the revelation.
This is what sin does, warps our thinking so that we think we're the focal point of it all.
And the created shakes its fist in the face of the Creator and rejects the Truth. A foolish and fatal mistake.
Human beings are designed to be self-aware, to have identity and to have purpose. As individuals and as a collective we are on a constant quest to discover what is our reason for existing. Some of us discover our meaning early and spend our lives living it out. Some of us live and die without ever finding it. We just want to know that our existence means something.
While some will never believe in anything they can’t see or touch, I’d venture to say that most folks believe in a God and an afterlife. Recovery and counseling programs encourage clients to engage their “Higher Power”. Most health care professionals readily admit that people with strong religious beliefs are healthier and happier physically and mentally, and that they recover quicker and better after injuries and surgery. We are perfectly fine with believing in personal angels, reincarnation, karma, mojo, aliens, various deities and paths to eternal bliss and many seek out the wisdom of prophets, alive or long dead, who can lead us to those paths and teach us about the meaning of life.
Eventually in our search for answers we come across the Bible and, while we do like parts of it, there are other parts we can do without.
We like the parts that tell us how much God loves us, and all that He's done for us. We like hearing Jesus giving those religious folks their comeupance. But then we're told terrible things like take up your cross and follow, and there's only one path back to God, and savoring a lustful sin in your heart is just the same as committing the act. What?!
We want to feel better, not worse! So we reject the God of the Bible and go looking elsewhere for answers.
Because 400 years later, even though we know that Galileo was absolutely right, we still think we're the focal point.
We want God to pat our sweet heads and tell us all is well and how much He loves us. It is true that He loves us ... He loves us enough that He died for us. Because real love does what's necessary to solve the problem, not just smooth it over. It's not a "love" problem, it's a "righteousness" problem.
When Christ died on the cross, and rose from the grave, He conquered sin and death, He satisfied God's requirement for justice, He bought us out from bondage to the enemy, and clothed us in His righteousness so that we can stand, undeserving, before a holy God, and go on to live and reign with Him for eternity.
It's all true. It's all real. It's the best thing that can ever happen to a mortal being.
But the enemy doesn't give up territory so easily. He blinds people's minds so that they cannot see or understand the truth.
But Truth is not "found", it is "revealed". If the Holy Spirit pricks your heart, it may not be so comfortable at first, because initially He will convict you of your sin and unrighteousness and your need of a Savior. Then He will open your spiritual eyes and show you what Christ has done for you ... join with Him and LIVE!!