“My child, listen and be wise: Keep your heart on the
right course. Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I
am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my
victorious right hand.” – Proverbs 23:19, Isaiah 41:10 NLT
Because Jesus Christ was sent into the
world as an image of God (John 1:14) to be crucified for our sins
once for all (Colossians 2:13-15)—we ought to become the
righteousness of God (1 Peter 2:24-25, 2 Corinthians 5:21), for this is the reason
why Jesus was crucified (Hebrews 2:14-15) as He is the way of the
life and the truth (John 14:6). This is because He wants us to
live truthful lives to the full (John 10:10) so that we are able to enter
the kingdom of heaven, where we are supposed to belong (Genesis 1-2) satisfyingly and successfully.
However, ‘satisfyingly and successfully’ does not mean in worldly ways, such as
we get very rich, enough to buy everything that we want. Nevertheless, ‘satisfyingly
and successfully’ in this context means to follow Jesus Christ fully with no
doubts. Thus, for this reason, Jesus declares,
If any of you
wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your
cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But
if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit
if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than
your soul? For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his
Father and will judge all people according to their deeds. (Matthew 16:24-27)
Because following Jesus Christ would be too
hard for us, due to the fact that we have been sinners (Romans 3:23)—God, the Creator (Genesis 1:1) and our heavenly Father (Ephesians 4:6) has given us His Word, which
is in the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16-17), and the Holy Spirit,
which is in our hearts (Ezekiel 36:26-27). Thus, they can be our
guidance to walk with Him until the end of the age. In addition to this, we do
not have to feel afraid to follow the Lord. This is because the word of God
states, “Have I not commanded you? Be
strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord
your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9) Furthermore, we do not even
have to be scared of the Lord when we have sinned against Him as well, even
though we feel guilty about not becoming the righteousness of God. This is
because God is the forgiving God as well. Otherwise, we could not have been
saved, due to the fact that He already knew that we are going to sin even if we
have committed to be followers of Jesus Christ. Thus, when we truly repent
before the Lord in our humilties, then God is able to forgive us and forget
about our sins (Hebrews 8:12). This is why the word of God
proclaims,
If we claim to be
without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our
sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from
all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a
liar and his word is not in us. (1 John 1:8-10)
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