From condemnation to….
Boy, what a weekend at the health expo in Vejle. We had so many great conversations with people, and it is awesome experiencing how a few words from God go straight into people’s lives. It is so transformative!
We experienced time after time how people were extremely reluctant to hear about Jesus Christ from the Bible, and a few were almost ugly about it… but then, if – after talking to them for a little bit – they allowed us to bless them with God’s peace, they did a complete turnabout. For often, when you bless people and experience how He brings words of wisdom and other good things into people’s lives, then they change from being dismissive to giving us great big hugs before leaving.
When you talk to people about faith and about Heaven and hell, many people actually feel condemned… But deep down, this is because they have no idea what it’s all about…. Because Jesus actually came to SAVE the world – to talk to people’s hearts – to make us whole as people – to take our disease, our guilt, and our shame…. Jesus did NOT come to judge us… because we humans do that all by ourselves. Back when Adam and Eve rebelled against God, they and their descending generations placed themselves under God’s judgment… in spite of the fact that they knew there were huge consequences BEFORE they broke the law about eating from the tree of knowledge. In spite of that, it was/is the desire of God to SAVE everyone….!!
God does not want to judge – He wants to save us / redeem us from the judgment we all came under because of Adam and Eve. But for us to be saved, it is necessary for each of us to receive Jesus with a sincere heart, be baptized in the Holy Spirit, and turn from everything that is unclean in God’s eyes (sin).
Back in the day (all the way back in the Old Testament), you had to wash/bathe (the whole body) every time you had touched something unclean, so you could wash off the unclean. The bath that used to wash off the unclean was the predecessor to baptism. But not only that – baptism is actually a spiritual manifestation of choosing holiness – to wash of sin – to bury the old life and rise to a new life without sin, where Jesus is Lord. It is also a spiritual manifestation, where you choose actively to submit to Jesus Christ…. And not only does the baptismal water wash away sin, but we read in Galatians 3:26-27, that through baptism we put on Christ… I suppose that must mean that everywhere on the body where the water has washed us clean from sin and from our old lives, we put on Jesus Christ, as if He were some Spiderman full bodysuit – only with the power and protection of God. Thus, baptism is an extremely important act in converting FROM sin TO Jesus.
Imagine that in this way we are no longer judged for all our faults and deficiencies, but rather when we actively choose Jesus, we can be SAVED from the judgment leading to hell on the day we die.
God really DOESN’T want to judge anyone at all….! I believe He weeps for every single soul that is lost. God will never PUSH through a relationship with you. It must be voluntary… And if you don’t choose Jesus as the only Lord in your life on this earth, then He won’t be chosen on the day you die… And in that case, God is not judging, it is you choosing to go without… Precisely like you choose for yourself, if you want to speed or not, even though you know it can have serious consequences.
At the health expo, we saw how people would go from feeling condemned to feeling thankful… The choice was presented to them, so they THEMSELVES could make the decision.…
When God saves, rather than judging, then we as Christians also shouldn’t judge, but inform about God’s truth, so people can accept or reject Him for THEMSELVES… And yes, you MAY feel judged listening to it, if you don’t understand the consequences. But then ask Jesus for answers yourself – and read in God’s own word and not in human interpretations…
Andreas Slot-Henriksen
6 March 2018
Translated from Danish in 2019
by Lisbeth Agerskov Christensen
