This is something I wrote a few weeks ago with the intention of sharing it with the youth Sunday school class at my church. Unfortunately, I never had the chance to present the lesson. Interestingly enough, a spontaneous conversation started tonight at the youth group meeting, and my "lesson" suddenly seemed incredibly relevant. Here it is:
What is the one thing that excites you the most?
Do you read the Bible
regularly? Why or why not?
What is our ultimate
purpose?
Our purpose is to “glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” Isaiah 43:7
What does glorify
mean?
To make God look as great as He really is with the way we
live, act, speak, etc. 1 Corinthians
10:31, Psalm 72:19.
Why live my life for
Christ when I can simply live for myself and do whatever makes me happy?
We were created to bring Him praise; therefore the only
thing that truly satisfies and fulfills us is to live in right-standing with
God. One act of disobedience was enough to separate us from Him forever and
bring the wrath of God upon us. Once we
have trusted in Him for salvation, we automatically want to make Him happy! Jesus says in John 14:15, “If you love me,
you will keep my commandments.” We obey Him when we love Him. If we don’t obey
Him, we don’t really love Him and we don’t actually belong to Him. 1 John 2:3-4, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20,
Ecclesiastes 12:13.
Why must God punish
sin?
Because He is holy & just! Sin is breaking God’s perfect
law. A just judge cannot simply pardon a crime (i.e. murder, theft, etc.). The
law demands that the criminal be punished, just as the Law in the Old Testament
demands that our offenses against God must be punished. The Old Testament Law
(the Ten Commandments) was written to show us that we can never measure up to
God’s standard on our own, therefore we need Jesus, God in the flesh, the only
man who lived a sinless life, to take our sin upon Himself at the cross. This
is what is known as atonement, the
reconciliation of God and humankind through the sacrificial death of Jesus
Christ. Ephesians 2:1-10, Philippians
3:9-10, Romans 3:23, Ephesians 2:8-9, Matthew 5:17.
Therefore…
When we understand how much we
desperately need Jesus, all we have to do is trust in His atoning work on the
cross on our behalf. When that happens and we begin to realize all He has done
for us and how much it cost Him, how can we not want to live for Him? When someone does something kind for you, don’t you try to do everything you
can to show your thanks, and to repay them by any means possible and to make
them happy? (Not that we could ever repay Jesus for what He’s done for us!)
This is why I have chosen to live for
Christ! John 5:24.
If you’re a believer already, you
represent Jesus wherever you go and with whatever you do, so act like it! Don’t
cause others to curse God because of your behavior. Instead, live in such a way
as to bring honor to Him; cause others to want to have that same hope that lies
within you. Let the light of Jesus shine in you, and let others see Him in you.
You only have one short life to
live, and the choices you make right now matter. Don’t waste what you have been
given. When you come to the end of your life and you stand face-to-face with
God, what’s going to really matter? Live for the glory of God!