Why you should trust in Christ
We must put our unwavering trust in Jesus Christ. The Bible teaches we are all sinners that need saving from eternal damnation. Jesus says in the book of John that all unbelievers are condemned already. Jesus was sent to save the world and cover our sins. Through belief in Him, along with repentance, we are saved.
John 3:16-18
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
God is Holy, and cannot allow us to dwell with Him after we die unless we have been cleansed of our sins. Before Christ, there had to be animal sacrifices to atone for sin. Once a year you’d have to go to the temple, or an alter, and present a goat or a lamb for a sacrifice to God to cover your sins. This was a picture of the coming Messiah that took away the sins of the world – Jesus Christ. Once Jesus came, we entered into a new covenant with God, and animal sacrifices are done away with. Jesus’s death was a once and final sacrifice sufficient for all sin in the world. That’s whey Jesus said right before He died “It is finished”
We must be reconciled to God. Through grace, and Christ being the propitiation, we now are brought back to God.
Propitiation-the act of gaining or regaining the favor or goodwill; specifically, atoning sacrifice
1 John 4:10
Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins
2 Corinthians 5:18-21
And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the minister of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God to him.
We are all sinners, with God’s law written on our hearts. In conversation with unbelievers, a lot of times they’ll admit to being sinners. They know they have lied, stolen, fornicated, and other moral sins. We understand we aren’t morally perfect, and that’s because God has put it on our hearts, a moral law, that we know we have broken. Once we understand we need to be saved from hell and damnation, we can humbly bow down, and ask for forgiveness and accept the free gift of salvation through Christ.
God’s name is jealous
Deuteronomy 4:24
For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.
Exodus 34:14
For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God
Many places the Bible speaks of God being jealous. He wants our life’s dependency solely appointed to him. The first commandment given to Moses, concerning the 10 commandments, was, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” He doesn’t like to share His desired relationship with us with any other things, people, places, or devices. He commands us to seek Him first in everything.
In a world full of human inventions designed specifically to capture our attention, putting God first has never been so difficult. We wake up, and first thing we do is pick up our phones and scroll social media, check our emails, or look at our messages. Are we seeking the attention of others first before God? What we should be doing is getting on our knees in prayer, worship, and praise. God gave us another day waking up, and we should thank Him for it. Instead of prioritizing time before our day starts to read the Bible, we often set our alarm with just enough time to get ready for work, and out the door we go without putting God first by reading His Word.
Our phones are a major distraction, but not the only pathway we use. Substance abuse is very high on the list as well. The Bible teaches us to be sober-minded, yet many Christians drink alcohol, take pills, and do drugs. When we succumb to substances that effect our minds and bodies we can’t think properly or make Spirit-led decisions, in my opinion. I’ve been high or drunk, and I feel like I’m operating strictly according to what the flesh wants. I’ve also felt shame from being under the influence, which kept me from praying because I wanted to hide from God.
I battled a Marijuana habit soon after I started walking with the Lord. I was still finding out what exactly sin was, and part of me didn’t think smoking weed was that bad-or even a sin, for that matter. I fell out of church due to my habit because I felt dirty and ashamed to be there. I found this rather peculiar because it conflicted with my worldview of marijuana not being a sin. I would justify it and say things like, “Its a plant that God clearly made,” or “I feel so much calmer and less angry,” or “What’s the big deal if I get high”. Well, God answered all those justifications with correction through Scripture. I won’t get into the entire story here, but God showed me that my smoking habit was taking His place, and it was a idol in my life.
Those are examples I wanted to illustrate my point in why we need to put God first. To circle back to the main topic of trusting God, it’s impossible to put our full trust in Him if we aren’t putting Him first. If we are consumed with work, social media, substance abuse, identity, physique, or others, our focus is no longer on God, and therefore we are not trusting Him to lead our lives.
Trusting God means we put Him first. Trusting God means we sacrifice somethings and trust that He will bring into our lives the things according to His will, that will overall benefit the kingdom of God. Our life isn’t all about us. We are called to lay down our lives for Christ.
Trust God like a child trusts his Father
Romans 8:14-17
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not recieved the spirit of bondage again to fear; buy ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Once saved, we are “adopted” into God’s family as children. We must become like children to enter the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 18:3-4
And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
I like to compare trusting in God to the story in Exodus, where the Israelites had to trust God to feed them daily. I think that’s how we should conceptualize how we ought to trust God. In the story of the children of Israel and Manna, God told Moses that he will rain down bread from heaven. He commanded that each person gather a daily rate-and no more or no less.
Exodus 16:4
Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.
It’s important to go through life as if we are children and God is our Father. This view does a lot of good for us. Pride cannot compete if we’re viewing life this way. If we are dependent on God and not our own understanding, humility reigns supreme. We will be reliant on God daily to feed our, souls, bodies, and minds. Let us not live off manna from weeks ago, but seek daily manna as children.
Proverbs 3:5-10
Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones. Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.
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