“God created us to live with a single passion: to joyfully display his supreme excellence in all the spheres of life. The wasted life is the life without this passion. God calls us to pray and think and dream and plan and work not to be made much of, but to make much of him in every part of our lives.”

Most people, especially young Christian people, slip by in life without a passion for God. That’s not to say they don’t have passion, but mostly, that passion is for worldly things like, music, movies, television, friends, family, sex, food, studies, computers, cars, bikes etc., and sadly spend their lives on insignificant pastimes, living for comfort and pleasure, and perhaps trying to avoid sin. Too often we get caught up in a life that counts for nothing and end up wasting our lives. If you are born again (a true Christian who has repented of their sins and embraced Christ in faith) and believe that to live is Christ and to die is gain, then your life must make an impact for the glory of God. Do you live and die boasting in the cross of Christ and make the glory of God your singular passion?

Jesus said to His disciples in John 4:34, “My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to accomplish his work.” In this passage, after a long day with Jesus, the disciples left Him at a well to go find some dinner in the city of Samaria. When they arrived back with the food, Jesus said, “No thanks, I am full. I’ve been eating. My food is to do the will of my Father and to accomplish His work. I just spent the last half hour talking to a Samaritan woman about her need for salvation. And I’ll tell you, brothers, I am full.”

Jesus Christ had wrestled with the soul of a prostitute and brought her to saving faith in Himself. It was such an exalting joy to Him that He could say it was like food and drink. “My weariness is gone. My thirst is gone. My hunger is gone. I’m satisfied. My food is to do the will of Him that sent Me and to finish His work.” What did He feast on? The will of God. Our Lord’s passion was to make the glory of God real in the lives of people He met. Yes, even prostitutes. To reconcile people to His heavenly Father through His sacrificial work He would perform for them on the cross of Calvary.

All through the Gospel of John, Jesus said things like, “I came down from heaven not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me” (John 6:38). In John 8:29, “And He that sent Me is with Me, the Father hath not left Me alone for I do always those things that please Him.” In John 10:18, He said, “I’m laying down My life of Myself, I have the power to lay it down, and take it up, this commandment have I received of My Father.” Then He climaxed it in John 17:4 when He was on the cross and said to the Father, “I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do.”

You know what occupied the whole life of Jesus Christ? The will of God. God’s will in His life. And you know, He’s a great example to us of what our lives should be, isn’t He? Our lives should be the will of God, constantly never ending, always doing the will of God.

Before Jesus ascended into heaven for the last time He left his disciples a command, which we call the Great Commission. Matthew 28:18-20 says, “And Jesus came to them and spake unto them, saying, All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth. Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.”

What do you feast on? When last did you share the gospel with somebody? When last did you share with an unbeliever about the wonderful saving work that Jesus has accomplished in your life? Is it wonderful to you? Do you cherish and love the gospel? Are you thankful for what Christ has done in your life, or does music, movies, television, friends, family, sex, food, studies, computers, cars, bikes etc., take the first position in your life? Would you rather talk about these things, than Jesus Christ? Are you ashamed of the gospel and of Jesus?

Let me finish with a true story about Mahatma Gandhi, from his book, My Experiments with Truth. He recalls, while in South Africa, “I came in contact with another Christian family. At their suggestion I attended the Wesleyan Church every Sunday. For these days I also had their standing invitation to dinner. The church did not make a favourable impression on me. The sermons seemed to me uninspiring. The congregation did not strike me as being particularly religious. They were not an assembly of devout souls, they appeared rather to be worldly–minded people, going to church for recreation and in conformity to custom. Here at times, I would involuntarily doze. I was ashamed, but some of my neighbours, who were in no better case, lightened the shame. I could not go on like this, and soon gave up attending the service.”

What a shame! What a tragedy! What a difference it would have made if the Mahatma went to a church full of passion for Christ instead of a nominal church! Suppose someone from that church had taken the time to share the wonderful gospel of Jesus Christ with Gandhi. Can you imagine what an impact that would have had on India, for the glory of God?

We need to ask the hard questions. How many of our own churches in India are full of “undevoted souls and worldly minded people”? How many of us go to church for recreation and because of custom or tradition? How many so-called “Christians” have no passion for God or little interest in pursuing His will for our lives? How many of us are simply religious and have no relationship with Jesus? How many of us church going Christians will stand before our creator at the judgement seat of God after our life on this earth and say “Look, Lord. See my shells,” or “Look, Lord, at my DVD collection,” or “Look, Lord at how much RAM my computer has”?

Hebrews 9:27 tells us that “it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment”. Jesus said in Matthew 10:33, “Whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father who is in heaven.” We have one life to live, let us not waste it. Let us make much of Christ in every sphere of our life. Let our food be to do the will of God our father. Let us use every opportunity we have to share the wonderful Saviour, who died for our sins (that we should have paid for) so we could enjoy eternal life in heaven with Him, our resurrected Lord. Let us live to hear Jesus say, “Well done my good and faithful servant.”

This is not the gospel or what the Bible teaches. Biblical Christianity never has and never will teach pluralism. Why will people not believe Jesus or His gospel? Jesus asked the skeptics of His day “If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me?” Man is willing to believe nearly anything and everything, but why not the gospel? Read the newspapers. Watch TV. Surf the Internet. The rumors run rampant. Look at the false religions. Make one up, and someone will believe it. But give them the truth—that Jesus Christ is the only way, and the only truth, and the only life—and they will reject it as foolishness. Why? Jesus tells us in John 10:26-27: “But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” Again, “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14). And Romans 8:7, “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.” Until the Holy Spirit of God works on the heart and mind of natural man, the truth cannot be understood.

The Jews in John 8 even went so far as to call Jesus demon-possessed. In their argument Jesus had gone from being an illegitimate child to being a non-Jew and then being possessed by a devil! Despite the evidence, the world refuses to believe that Jesus is who He proved to be. He is perfectly holy (Hebrews 4:15). His enemies couldn’t substantiate any accusation against Him (John 8:46), but still today the opposition and the distortion to the truth of Christ has not ended.

Consider what the Bible says about Jesus and the gospel.

Jesus is the Holy God

Jesus said, “I and My Father are one” (John 10:30). He claimed to be nothing less than God in human flesh (John 1:14). Jesus is the one who came as God to save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:21). He lived the perfect life that you and I could not and would not live. He obeyed the law perfectly (Galatians 4:4) and could not commit or approve of evil (James 1:13). He loved His Father and neighbor perfectly (John 8:29) and ultimately gave His life as the payment for sinners like us (2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:13; Philippians 2:3-11).

C. S. Lewis observed, “You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”[1. Mere Christianity (Macmillan, 1952), pp. 40-41.]

Many people today, especially in India, are content to think of Jesus as little more than a great moral Guru. But even His enemies understood His claims to deity. That’s why they tried to stone Him to death (John 5:18; 10:33) and eventually had Him crucified (John 19:7).

The New Testament reveals that it was Jesus Himself who created everything (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16). Therefore He also owns and rules everything (Psalm 103:19). That means He has authority over our lives and we owe Him absolute allegiance, obedience, and worship.

Jesus is the Only Way

If you take poison, thinking that it’s medicine, all the faith in the world won’t bring you back to life. Similarly, if Jesus is the only source of salvation, and you are trusting in anyone or anything else for your salvation, your faith is useless.

Sadly people like the Archbishop of Canterbury assume there are many paths to God and that each religion represents an aspect of truth and it doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you’re sincere. But Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). He didn’t claim to be one of many equally legitimate paths to God, or the way to God for His day only. He claimed to be the only way to God—then and forever.

Jesus said it clearly: “He who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me” (Luke 10:16). People and religions that reject Christ reject God. Do other religions know the true God? Here is the test: Do they reject Jesus as the only Savior for sinners, who was crucified and raised by God from the dead? If they do reject this, then they do not know God in a saving way.

Without trivializing the text, this is the biblical meaning of what Jesus said in John14:6, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” This is what He meant when He said in John 5:23, “He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.” And the same meaning is found in John 8:42 when He said to the Pharisees, “If God were your Father, you would love Me.” Contrary to popular belief, Jesus alone is the path to God.

In the Bible we read Jesus repeatedly explaining Himself to be the exclusive means of forgiveness. Jesus does not give room for any other paths to God. He is clear that things such as love, forgiveness, joy and heaven are found exclusively in Him. According to Jesus, any other “way” is not a way at all but a deception; Jesus claims nothing less than exclusive authority and ability to save sinners (John 14:6; Matthew 7:13-14).

Jesus is the Only Savior

In order to be saved, to be in Christ, we must trust in His righteousness alone. That is, we must come to the point where we see the futility of our works before God. We must see that we are altogether unclean, devoid of righteousness, and in fact unrighteous altogether before almighty God. Our failure to obey God (to be holy) places us in danger of eternal punishment (2 Thessalonians 1:9). God’s holiness and justice demand that all sin be punished by death: “The soul who sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:4). The Bible calls our rebellion “sin.” According to Scripture, everyone is guilty of sin: “There is no one who does not sin” (1 Kings 8:46). “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). And we are incapable of changing our sinful condition. Jeremiah 13:23 says, “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Then may you also do good who are accustomed to do evil.”

In this pride smashing, somewhat painful self-awareness we realize that we need His righteousness (Romans 3:19).

In Christ alone, God extends the perfect blood and righteousness of Jesus as the only suitable payment for our sin and standing place before him “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Our faith needs to be in the person of Jesus Christ and His work (sacrifice) alone for us and our salvation.

Even though God’s justice demands death for sin, His love has provided a Savior, who paid the penalty and died for sinners: “Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit” (1 Peter 3:18). Christ’s death satisfied the demands of God’s justice, thereby enabling Him to forgive and save those who place their faith in Him (Romans 3:26). John 3:16 says, “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” He alone is “our great God and Savior” (Titus 2:13).

Jesus is the only one who can forgive and transform us, thereby delivering us from the power and penalty of sin. “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

Jesus is Your Only Hope

While many people try to justify themselves before God on the basis of their religious activity or their good works, the Bible clearly tells us that the only way to come to God is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone. Too often, faith is misunderstood. The Jews misunderstood it, and so did Mahatma Gandhi. Some 15 years before his death, Mahatma Gandhi wrote: “I must tell you in all humility that Hinduism, as I know it, entirely satisfies my soul, fills my whole being, and I find a solace in the Bhagavad and Upanishads.”

Just before his death, Gandhi wrote: “My days are numbered. I am not likely to live very long—perhaps a year or a little more. For the first time in fifty years I find myself in the slough of despond. All about me is darkness; I am praying for light.”

Mahatma Gandhi was indeed a man of faith, but not in Christ alone. He believed, like the Archbishop of Canterbury that Christ was just another way. It isn’t enough to believe certain facts about Christ. Even Satan and his demons believe in the true God (James 2:19), but they don’t love and obey Him. Their faith is not genuine. True saving faith always responds in repentance and obedience (Ephesians 2:10).

So the question must be do you have saving faith? Or is it the temporary faith like the Jews, who turned away from Christ once they understood their need to bow their knee to the sovereign Lord Jesus Christ? Is it a cultural faith, a faith rooted in family or heritage or baptism, or church membership, or a profession of faith? Is it a faith in faith, instead of a faith in Christ?

In whom do you trust? If it is in anything other than the One and only Savior, turn to Him. Repent of your sin of not trusting in Him, and trust in Him and Him alone. He alone can redeem you—free you from the power and penalty of sin. He alone can transform you, restore you to fellowship with God, and give your life eternal purpose.

The good news of the gospel is that no one else but Christ died for sinners like us. And He rose physically from the dead to validate the saving power of his death and to open the gates of eternal life and joy (1 Corinthians 15:20). This means God can acquit guilty sinners and still be just (Romans 3:25-26). “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18). Coming home to God is where all deep and lasting satisfaction is found.

Will you repent and believe in Jesus Christ alone as your Lord and Savior?

Terror attacks in Mumbai in November 2008

On November 26, 2008, terrorist started their killing spree, killing 195 people and injuring over 300 people in the Mumbai terrorist attacks. On the same day in Brazil, devastating floods left 84 people dead and forced 53,000 from their homes. And on that day it was reported from Zimbabwe at least 3,000 people had died from the cholera epidemic. On the same day at least 11 people were killed after a ship sank in the Philippines. At least 10 people were killed by severe floods caused by a tropical storm in the southern state of India. On that day, in South Africa one person was burnt to death and more than 145 people left homeless after fire destroyed their homes. On November 26, 2008 approximately 35,000 people died of starvation.

We know this sad story from experience and from God’s Word. Not only does the Bible describe a flood that wiped out the earth’s population, battles in which 100,000 and 185,000 men perished (1 Kings 20:29; Isaiah 37:36), an epidemic that killed 70,000 Israelites (2 Samuel 24:16), and coming wars and earthquakes and famines (Matthew 24:7), but it also describes the origin of these calamities. “Sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned” (Romans 5:12).

The entire creation (including man and this universe) was designed to give glory to God, but when man sinned, the creation was made incapable of doing this properly. God punished man when Adam sinned: and the curse on humans, animals and the world formed part of this punishment (see Genesis 3:17-19). That is why we have such natural disasters today like the tsunamis, earthquakes, floods and the like. Before the fall, creation posed no threat to man. But since the fall, the world has become a dangerous place to live in.

Let us not think that God is removed from this danger and suffering, sitting on His throne in heaven and just watching us like a spectator would watch a cricket match. No, the Bible says “we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tested as we are” (Hebrews 4:15). In other words, when God subjected the world to futility, he had in mind to send His Son into that very futility to rescue people from this sin and death, for everlasting joy.

Remember the terrorism that took place when Christ was an infant child? The wicked King Herod ordered the death of all babies below the age of two in order to try and kill the legitimate king of Israel. While on this earth, Christ’s torture and sufferings were excruciating. The Romans had devised no worse punishment than crucifixion. That’s what God chose for His Son (Acts 2:23; 4:27-28), and the Son willingly embraced it (Mark 10:45). It was sin that put Jesus to death: “The LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6). Therefore, the sins that brought about the terrorist attacks in Mumbai were the sins that put Jesus on the cross. Sin caused the terrorism and sin caused the cross.

Why did such a terrible attack claim the lives of all those innocent people? The answer to that question is because of original sin. God is judging sin, and moving history towards a better day. The God spoken of in Scripture claims absolute sovereignty. We must conclude that He is either sovereign of all, or He is not sovereign at all. It is impossible to say that God is sovereign, but that he had nothing to do with the Mumbai terrorist attacks.

Yes, the sovereign God that allowed the attacks in Mumbai could also have stopped the calamity. We will never know how many attacks God has stopped, but the designs and purposes of God are unfathomable. “How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” (Romans 11:33). Someday the curse will be lifted, but not yet (Revelation 21:4).

Amos asks, in time of disaster, “If a calamity occurs in a city has not the LORD done it?” (Amos 3:6). After losing all ten of his children in the collapse of his son’s house, Job says, “The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD” (Job 1:21). After being covered with boils he says, “Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?” (Job 2:10).

How God governs all events in the universe without sinning, and without removing responsibility from man, and with compassionate outcomes is mysterious indeed! But that is what the Bible teaches. God “works all things after the counsel of his will” (Ephesians 1:11).

This “all things” includes the fall of sparrows (Matthew 10:29), the rolling of dice (Proverbs 16:33), the slaughter of his people (Psalm 44:11), the decisions of kings (Proverbs 21:1), the failing of sight (Exodus 4:11), the sickness of children (2 Samuel 12:15), the loss and gain of money (1 Samuel 2:7), the suffering of saints (1 Peter 4:19), the completion of travel plans (James 4:15), the persecution of Christians (Hebrews 12:4-7), the repentance of souls (2 Timothy 2:25), the gift of faith (Philippians 1:29), the pursuit of holiness (Philippians 3:12-13), the growth of believers (Hebrews 6:3), the giving of life and the taking in death (1 Samuel 2:6), and the crucifixion of his Son (Acts 4:27-28). From the smallest thing to the greatest thing, good and evil, happy and sad, pagan and Christian, pain and pleasure—God governs them all for his wise and just and good purposes (Isaiah 46:10).

Lest we miss the point, the Bible speaks most clearly to us in the most painful situations. Two disastrous events occurred in Judea within Christ’s lifetime (Luke 13:1-5). In the first event, Pontius Pilate, an ungodly Roman procurator, had murdered several Galilean Jews as they brought sacrifices to their God. In the second event, a tower had fallen upon 18 men, killing them all. The Jews of Jesus day had come to the wrong conclusion: that those killed must have been guilty of some terrible sin to warrant such judgment from God. But Jesus pointed out how mistaken they were, urging them to stop seeking answering for others and to begin answering for themselves. They could not look into the hearts of those who had been killed in these disasters, but they could look into their own hearts to make sure that they were right with God.

God “works all things after the counsel of his will” (Ephesians 1:11). We cannot presume to speak for God, where He has chosen to keep quiet.

Rather than jumping to unnecessary conclusions, let us focus on the fact that we all face certain death because of sin. Our death may not be as “traumatic” as the terrorist’s victims, but it is sure! And just as those who were killed have already stood before the Judgment Seat of Christ, so we will do the same when we die.

No one on earth has a promise of tomorrow. You may not be killed by a terrorist, but you may be killed by a heart attack, HIV, or in a car accident. Everyone faces death: are we ready to meet the God who created us?

Such catastrophes call us to think soberly about sin and its effects. Every disaster that takes place in this world is evidence of God’s judgment against sin.

Furthermore, we should think soberly about the holiness of God. “It is,” wrote the author of Hebrews, “a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31). And again, “our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29). The judgment of God is a severe reality that we must all think about, for we will all one day stand before Him.

In the midst of catastrophe, we must find our hope in Christ alone on the cross. He took the holy wrath of God upon Himself for the sin of men. Though He knew no sin, He literally became sin for us, that we might be counted righteous before God (2 Corinthians 5:21). He took the punishment that we deserve. And he rose again from the grave, victorious over sin and death. Now He promises eternal salvation to all that come to Him in repentance and faith.

Statisticians tell us that somebody in this world dies every second. That makes sixty deaths per minute, 3600 per hour, and 86,400 per day. Most of those will probably die unexpectedly: are they ready to stand before Jehovah God? Are you? The greatest concern we should have is that we might die today and stand before the judge of the earth. And when we stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ, what hope will we have?

For now, everyone suffers and dies. The hope God gives is not escape from, but triumph in, suffering. “Who shall separate us (believers) from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?” (Romans 8:35). The answer is nobody and nothing. “In all these things we are more than conquerors” (Romans 8:37). The cross of Christ calls us to suffer and secures our triumph. Suffering is certain. Salvation is sure. And the cross makes all the difference. Our hope is that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ, not even suffering and death. Our hope is not for an easy or comfortable or secure life on this earth. Our hope is that the love of God will grant us joy in the all-satisfying glory of God which will continue through death and increase for all eternity. The only lasting hope is that if you will trust Christ as your precious Savior and your supremely-valued King, then you will be folded into the love of God in a way that no terrorist, no torture, no demons, no disasters, no disease, no man, no government, and no grave can destroy. That’s the hope of the Christian life.

Oh, that every Indian would say, “Far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Galatians 6:14). One day you will stand before Jehovah God. Your only hope is Jesus Christ; will you turn to Him today?