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Mar 26, 2024 06:00am

My Way or His Way

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This ain’t Burger King.

For years, we’ve heard the commercials, “At BK, you can have it your way.” They promise that if it’s your burger, it should be made the way you want it. You don’t like onions? Ok. No onions. You don’t like tomatoes? Ok, scratch the tomatoes. No sauce? No problem! Because you can have the burger your way, however you like it.

Well, friend, let me tell you, this ain’t Burger King.

What am I talking about?

The real King – the King of Kings – God Almighty.

John 5:27-30

“And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.
28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.
30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.”

In this passage of John, Jesus claimed to be God’s Son. By doing so, He was making Himself equal to God.

Many people want to believe in God, but not ALL of God. I mean that they want to pick out the parts they like about God – such as Heaven, God is love, peace, forgiveness, no shame, freedom, and blessings. But they want to leave out the parts that don’t appeal to them, like those in this passage.

Jesus is our Savior – yes. But He is also the One who executes judgment. He is the authority over our lives; whether we bow to Him on earth or at the judgment, we will bow to Him.

Judgment. That’s the part people want to skip over, leave out, or pretend doesn’t equate with a loving God. But how can a righteous God allow wrong to go unpunished?

Let’s talk about this judgment. Jesus said death wasn’t the end. All will go before the Lord in judgment. For those who are evil, the lost, the ones who decided they didn’t need Jesus or tried to add their own works in with what Jesus did on the cross for them, those are the ones who will face judgment and eternal damnation. But those who died believing in Jesus as their Savior and Lord of their life will be before God, all of their life laid out before Him, and He will be prepared to judge them too. BUT – Jesus steps forward and proclaims that the debt of our sins has been forgiven; it has been paid by the only One who could – Jesus Himself. And we will live forever with the Lord.

For years, what I believed about God was simply what I would hear from others. If I liked what I heard, it was part of the god I was worshipping. If I didn’t, I thought, nah, let’s leave that out. That’s not a loving god… I was creating an idol. I was not worshipping the One true and living God.

It was only when I began to search the scriptures that I found the truth and the real God, the only One worthy of our praise and surrender.

Why does God have the authority to say “My Way?” Because He is the Only Way. He is the creator of the world, of every person, the breath in your lungs, the heartbeat in your chest, every single detail He created. He is in control because, without Him, it would be chaos. He knows what is best for my life, just as a parent knows what’s best for their own child. He does not withhold things to torment me or out of spite; He does it to protect me.

We must decide if we will follow Jesus, the Son of God, the One who is God, and accept ALL of Him.

Or…

Are we going to try to order up a god to worship that is our way?