Making the List
Blessings or curses. Wrath or favor. Heaven or hell. Why did we all grow up believing that either God rewards or punishes us based on our behavior? Where did we hear about this God? Was it our parents, using God as a “threat” against us for misbehaving? Maybe somehow the threat of eternal damnation was good enough to keep us in line… So they hoped. But did they even believe it was true, or was it just a tactic their own parents may have tried?
Santa Claus has become pretty much the same thing. Parents have latched onto the idea of Santa (as a God replacement) as some magical being who holds their children’s fate in his hands (or sack). Based solely on a child’s behavior, they can look forward to receiving that long-awaited gift… or the dreadful lump of coal. And because of this idea, kids the world over attempt to “win back favor” with Santa to stay on or get back on the “Nice” list during the last days before Santa shows up and their fate is decided. Christmas morning, they rush to the foot of the tree to discover whether or not they were “good enough” to be in the Christmas Club, praying they are not a tragic recipient of the dreaded Coal Award.
Just like Santa, we’ve come to believe that we’re either in or out of God’s grace because of our deeds.
And since we all know (deep down) that we are inherently failures according to God’s glorious standard
Many, however, are unwilling to play the game, equally failing to understand who God is, and:
The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and their ways are vile; there is no one who does good. God looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. Everyone has turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.Psalm 53:1-3
So we despise God because we know we don’t qualify, and despise those who claim they have been somehow granted a free pass. Because, by definition, that seems unjust to us, especially when we judge ourselves as being as good as or “better” than them. This perception makes God out to be a charlatan whose “rules” are so fluid that one can hardly keep track. So we reject even the idea of God, and everything He represents. If we’re not good enough to get into his stupid club, we reason, then we don’t want to be in it anyway! Instead, we look for other clubs to which we can more readily belong, seeking out others who will accept us as we are (or will at least pretend to), without the imposition of His will on our lives.
With God out of our way, we can go about our own lives without regard for His worthless approval. We can then fill our time with idle activities, busying ourselves with work, play, hobbies and “causes” so that we don’t have time to be alone with our thoughts and contemplate either the meaning of life or what happens to us after death. Because once we’ve dismissed God, then Heaven can no longer be an option. And without that possibility of Heaven, however remote, then how can life be worth living?
This is why everyone has a religion. Everyone is attempting to understand: 1) where they come from (origin and identity), 2) why they’re here (purpose and value), and 3) where they’re going (life after death). All religions attempt to answer these questions, including atheism (which, is by definition, a religion) yet all are riddled with problems, and most all fail to answer any of the questions, using circular reasoning to sidestep those problems.
But at the core of each religion is one major theme: it is an effort by man to reach God or become like God. Just as is recorded in the biblical book of Genesis, men attempted to build their own tower to Heaven (the Tower of Babel). In their own power, in their own wisdom, they tried to reach God. But He scattered them and said “No, you can’t get here from there”
Long ago God introduced a “payment” system for the Israelites (Jews) to atone for their sins, which is anything opposed to God’s law. But what this really accomplished was to demonstrate the Jews’ inability to keep God’s law, showing that—even by jumping through the hoops they were commanded—they still were not “good enough” in God’s eyes. He showed them that just by “offering sacrifices” or “paying penance,” they still were not good enough. And that’s because they were offering such sacrifices in order to “get right with God,” instead of having a relationship with God that would bear fruit naturally in the way they lived their lives.
You see, on the scale God will use on Judgment Day, our good deeds do not carry the same weight as our bad ones. Each sin we commit has infinite mass. This means that no good we do, even if our good deeds outperformed our bad a million-to-one, that one sin overwhelms the scale. How then can anyone ever be considered good enough for God?
And this is where we usually fail to understand who God really is. When He’s seen only as the Grand Puppeteer or The Watchmaker, nothing about Him makes sense. But when we see God as Our Father in Heaven, everything changes.
As parents, we instinctively give our children gifts and love them unconditionally, regardless of their words or actions (I do recognize that there are broken parents who aren’t this way, but you are!). In fact, in spite of their words or deeds, we shower our children with love and affection, bestowing gifts upon them (even if Santa doesn’t), living to demonstrate our love to them in every way we can. Even if our child were to commit murder, we would still love them, and we would still visit them in prison.
An earthly parent who may entirely reject the idea of God will still surely lay down their own life for their child. Even if they claim their own life is meaningless, they will not bestow that moniker on their child. For surely, their child’s life has value even if their own does not.
How much moreso does God—the creator of the universe, designer and creator of all living things, the One whose spiritual likeness we share, the perfect Father who invented love and every good thing—love His children? Even those of us who shake our fists at Him? Even those of us who have disowned Him and refuse to acknowledge His existence? Even those of us who have turned our backs and live lives that dishonor the very ground we walk on? And still:
Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.Romans 5:7-8
In fact, He adores us so much, that even in our wickedmost state (which we consider to be good, by the way), He searches for us and pursues us. And He is relentless in that pursuit. But then, just when He’s got us cornered, He hides His face so as not to overwhelm us. He shows us just enough that we can know He’s there, but not so much that we are compelled to respond. He needs us to retain our freedom. He wants us to want Him. He wants us to know Him. Because if we knew Him, we would most certainly love Him.
And so, unlike “religion,” Christianity is God’s effort at coming close to us. Instead of building a tower to God, God built a “bridge” to us. As we noted earlier, the sacrificial system God established for the Jews of old failed to make them “right” with God for more than a day. And so they needed to make sacrifices regularly in an attempt to stay in “God’s good graces.” But later, when God’s own son, Jesus, died on a cross, His sacrifice atoned for all sin for all mankind for all time. “Once for all,” God would no longer hold His childrens’ sins against them.
This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.Romans 3:2-26
However, one’s righteousness (or “rightness”) was and is still NOT POSSIBLE without the “life” of Jesus living within us. While Jesus died to remove the weight of our sin from the scales, we also find that there is no such thing as “goodness” apart from Him. And so, without the goodness of Jesus to stand on the other side of the scale, there is nothing left of value to measure. Before Jesus, our sin was overwhelming. Now, without Jesus, our lives are indeed valueless. For if there’s nothing to tip the scales in our favor, then we will be thrown out.
“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.”Matthew 5:13
But with Jesus, we become “priceless,” but then only if we accept the truth of what He’s done. If we choose to continue in our freedom and reject Him and reject God, then there is no hope for us. Yes, we remain free to live our lives apart from God, but then why would we want to go to Heaven when we die? Is God unjust for keeping out of Heaven those who have rejected Him? Consider that if we don’t want anything to do with Him while we’re here on earth, why would a loving God force us to spend an eternity in a place where we would continually be in His Presence?
Instead, He lets us choose, and He lets us be. But He is patient with us:
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.2 Peter 3:9
And so, just like Santa’s “Nice List,” Jesus has His own “Book of Life,” and anyone whose name [is] not found written in the book of life [will be] thrown into the lake of fire
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”John 14:6
Likewise, once we’re on The List, there’s no way to be removed, since our failures also have no effect.
“Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”Acts 2:37-39
Once you put your faith in Jesus Christ, and that He died and was raised to new life by the very power of the Holy Spirit that then lives in you as a result, your name is written in the Book of Life. There is no longer any sin present on the scale to be weighed, and the perfect goodness of Jesus tips the scale in His favor. Then the great Judge steps down from His bench, and with tears in His eyes and joy in His heart puts His arms around you, pulls you close and whispers:
“Welcome, my child. Welcome home.”
