It’s great to have you back for blog number five. If this is your first time joining us, we have been doing a series called “What is the point of Christianity?”. In this series, we’ve been looking at five answers to Christianity’s purpose.
In last week’s blog, we discussed what it means to have a broken relationship with God, and how that relationship is fixed. This week we want to take a look at how we have a restored relationship with God.
So let’s start with some of the basic questions.
What’s The Point Of Christianity If God Already Knows And Loves Me?
As we have said many times throughout this series, the point of Christianity is to have a restored relationship with God.
However, maybe your view of a God who already knows and loves you has been tainted by the acts of men and women in your life who did not love God. Or perhaps they do love God but were acting out of sinful nature and not according to the ways that Jesus has outlined for us in the Bible.
When we are presented with hurts by others, it is easy and, quite honestly, understandable to ask questions like:
If God loved me, why did He allow me to be abused by that person?
If God knows me, why does He allow me to struggle with my addiction?
If God knows and loves me, why did people say horrible things about me that are untrue?
If God loves me, why did He let me get cancer?
If God knows me, why did He let me get fired from the job that provided for my family?
If God knows and loves me, why would He let me witness all the horrible things going on in the world?
Or even most importantly,
If God knows and loves me, why do I need a relationship with Him anyway?
If He is really a loving God, won’t He forgive me in the end, and I can live my life however I desire?
These questions and thoughts are all normal. Even more so, I would say that a loving God who knows you would want you to ask these questions.
I would challenge you and say that God put these questions in your life to bring you to Him and to ask Him these questions.
However, do not let these thoughts and desires stop here. God’s answers to these questions can be found in the Bible.
Most of the answers to your questions are spelled out clearly in the Bible. However, even the ones that are not can be answered with principles that are outlined in the Bible.
The gravity of knowing that God is loving is weighty.
However, the Bible clearly spells out How God feels about us. One place where we see this theme over and over again is in Psalm 139.
Psalm 139:13 specifically says
“For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb.”
This was written by King David. This whole passage describes how intimately God knows and loves us. Even down to the finer points of our life.
Think of the work that a weaver does to complete a project. Think about all the time and intricacies it takes to complete a piece like a scarf, a blanket, or even a rug. Each piece starts off as raw material, is cleaned, perfected, and then spun into yarn.
The yarn is then taken to a loom, where it is completely and totally transformed into a beautiful piece. By making each passing move, the yarn becomes intricately woven together to create a beautiful masterpiece.
God does just that with us when He creates us.
He takes the cells and weaves them together to make a complete and totally unique person, just the way He wanted them to be.
God knows and loves us so much that He created the innermost parts of us. He knows where we go, where we rest, and thinks of us all the time.
While these ideas show us what we commonly refer to as love, it is the true nature of God.
Why?
Because God is the Author and Creator of love, He is the Author of life itself and knows the complex ways in which we were designed. Only God is able to show perfect love to His creation because He has created both the concept of love and creation itself.
In this way, we can see that the point of Christianity, when God already knows and loves us, is to experience the love that God has for us in an intimate and relational way.
So experiencing the love of God and being known by God is great. In fact, it is at the core of being a Christian.
However, what is the point of Christianity if Jesus fixes my broken relationship with God?
What’s the point of Christianity if Jesus fixes my broken relationship with God?
The point of Christianity, if Jesus fixes our broken relationship with God, is that we don’t have to fix the broken relationship with God on our own. We can rest in Jesus’ work alone and not ours.
The theological term for placing your faith in Jesus and Him alone fixing our relationship with God is Justification.
The theological concept of “justification” is like paying your entire mortgage. There is no more owed. In our case we have a penalty of sin hanging over our heads and Jesus paid that penalty by dying on the cross. We can now be free, not because we never did wrong, but because the penalty is completely paid.
We see this concept laid out in scripture for us when the Apostle Paul writes to the people of Rome, stating:
“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, “
As we mentioned earlier, the Bible clearly lays out many of the questions we have about God in the very text of scripture.
This text shows us that God sees Jesus instead of us and our sins. We are seen as being justified, just as if we never sinned. This appearance is solely based on the work of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.
In hearing this exciting news, a common question that is asked by others is,
Can’t I just have my own relationship with God?
The answer is Yes, you can, but it’s not exactly what you may think it is.
What’s the point of Christianity If I can Have My Own Personal Relationship With God?
The point of Christianity, even if you can have your own relationship with God, is so that you are not held accountable for your relationship with God.
Isaiah 53:6 says,
“All of us, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the LORD has caused the wrongdoing of us all to fall on Him.”
We can have our own relationship with God. Our inclination is to wander away from what God has in store for us. We are so easily enticed by the things of this world that we forget the importance of honoring God above all else.
You can’t earn a good relationship with God.
You can’t buy a good relationship with God.
You can’t be righteous before God on your own.
You can’t be sinless before God.
The only personal relationship you can have with God outside of Jesus is where He sees you for who you are. Someone who has sinned against Him and by nature will wander away from Him.
However, since God knows and loves you, He created a way for your relationship to be restored. That restoration only takes place because of the work of Jesus.
Jesus takes on your sin, unrighteousness, and wandering heart. For that reason, we are able to say, Christ is magnified over our sins.
Your acceptance of Jesus’ justification is the only way to have a personal relationship with God that is restored.
Otherwise, your relationship with God is based on your sinful nature and not the grace available to you through Jesus’ sacrifice.
So if your faith is in Jesus, you will have a restored relationship with God, so what is the point of Christianity if you have a relationship with God through Jesus?
What’s The Point Of Christianity If I Have A Restored Relationship With God?
The entire point of Christianity is to have a restored relationship with God. It may seem like a basic idea, but that is the crux of Christianity. God created a solid plan for us to be returned to Him all through history.
History shows us this:
Humanity wanders from God.
God creates the Law to bring people to Himself.
We are unable to fulfill the law.
God prophesied Jesus’ coming through people called prophets.
Jesus comes to the world and fulfills the prophecies foretold of the Messiah. Including His death and resurrection.
He ascends to heaven, where he advocates for us.
He sends the Holy Spirit.
Now we wait for His return and the fulfillment of the second comming.
So to drive it home one last time, the point of Christianity, when there is a knowing and loving God, is to have a restored relationship with Him.