Matthew 23:29-36

Matthew 23:29-36 
English Standard Version (ESV)

  How good of a person do you feel like you are? 
  If you're like me, you probably feel pretty good about yourself.  Now, I certainly have my weaknesses, and there's plenty of fault in my background, but overall, I'm doing alright.  I follow almost all of the laws, minus a few traffic laws that I'm not very fond of.  I pay my taxes and am generally pretty nice to everyone.  I work hard and am honest, and I'm a faithful spouse and an acceptable parent.  When I read the newspapers and see some stories about people who have made different choices than I have, I feel pretty good about myself.
  Without Jesus Christ, I'd still be destined for hell.

  That's one of the hardest things for people to wrap their minds around.  On our own, we're not good enough for Heaven.  We never will be.  We may be generally good, but we're not perfect, and our hearts are a mixed bag of emotions and motivations, some pure and good while others are selfish and greedy and vicious.  Going to church on Sunday and being generally nice and giving some money to good causes isn't enough -- we are all tainted by sin, broken beyond our own repair, destined for destruction on our own.  The scribes and Pharisees couldn't grasp this -- they thought that their actions and their sacrifices and their own righteousness was enough.  It isn't.  And if theirs isn't, ours isn't. 

  What is the hardest thing for us to accept?
  The central truth of the Gospel -- that you don't have to do anything to change your eternal destination.  Christ has done it for you, because he loves you more than you can possibly understand.  Sin's power over you is broken, and because of God's great love for you, he rescued you from sin and death and destined you for heaven, for life, for salvation.  That's the good news.  Whatever had to be done, Jesus Christ did it for you, because he knew you couldn't do it on your own.  It's like when I reach up to a cupboard and get a plate down for my son -- I know that he can't do it on his own, so I proactively do it for him, because I love him and provide for him.  It's like that, only fifty billion times better. 

  God loves you.  No matter what.