- May 15, 2005
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God created us in His image, and we are all created to seek Him, to seek fellowship with Him.
Whether or not one agrees that Jesus is Lord, or claims to not believe in any One God, all people have been created with the hunger for relationship with Him. All seek to fill a void that only God can fill.
I've heard it said quite aptly, that everyone is born with a God-shaped hole in their soul.
Many seek all their lives and never realize what is missing. Sadly, they try to fill up the emptiness with alcohol, or porn, or wrong relationships. Many seek to feel 'whole' by the very short burst of feeling good that comes from taking drugs, or from shopping. A new thing often brings a 'high', and a momentary sense of peace.
A momentary release from the bondage of guilt and fear which comes as a result of sin:
Many other cultures have worshipped gods in the stars, or gods in volcanoes, or gods of the weather, and have offered sacrifices to these poor imitations. Many cultures killed their own children in a desperate attempt to make things right, to feel justified.
But justification comes only from God, as many Christians have been blessed to discover!
The hole which each person born in the flesh feels, senses with all the pain of longing for what we know is there, because we have been born in the image of God Himself, can only be fed by Jesus, the true Bread.
Jesus fills the hole, makes us right and gives us Peace that only right-standing with God through Christ can give. People don't need to be judged and condemned by others; they need to be set free.
Even Jesus Himself said He didn't come to condemn but to save the world.
And then we too can say, "I am here to preach the good news, to announce release to the captives!"
Whether or not one agrees that Jesus is Lord, or claims to not believe in any One God, all people have been created with the hunger for relationship with Him. All seek to fill a void that only God can fill.
I've heard it said quite aptly, that everyone is born with a God-shaped hole in their soul.
Many seek all their lives and never realize what is missing. Sadly, they try to fill up the emptiness with alcohol, or porn, or wrong relationships. Many seek to feel 'whole' by the very short burst of feeling good that comes from taking drugs, or from shopping. A new thing often brings a 'high', and a momentary sense of peace.
A momentary release from the bondage of guilt and fear which comes as a result of sin:
People have always sought God, in one form or another. The Israelites insisted on a God they could see. Whether in the form of a golden calf, which they bowed down to and worshipped as the form that brought them out of Egypt, or whether it was insisting on manna to eat, when they had God with them (Emmanuel). They had no need for anything else, but they didn't recognize it and insisted on a poor substitute.
Many other cultures have worshipped gods in the stars, or gods in volcanoes, or gods of the weather, and have offered sacrifices to these poor imitations. Many cultures killed their own children in a desperate attempt to make things right, to feel justified.
But justification comes only from God, as many Christians have been blessed to discover!
The hole which each person born in the flesh feels, senses with all the pain of longing for what we know is there, because we have been born in the image of God Himself, can only be fed by Jesus, the true Bread.
Jesus fills the hole, makes us right and gives us Peace that only right-standing with God through Christ can give. People don't need to be judged and condemned by others; they need to be set free.
Even Jesus Himself said He didn't come to condemn but to save the world.
He fills the hole in our souls with righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit:
Once Believers have experienced the amazing and lovely peace and joy that come from the Holy Spirit indwelling, they learn the meaning of God's words: I desire mercy [love] and not sacrifice. Once filled with the True Bread, the hole in our souls is mended, and we are able to live victorious lives with Christ, whole and in peace (nothing broken, nothing lacking, wholeness, unity with God).
And then we too can say, "I am here to preach the good news, to announce release to the captives!"
