Is That All There Is?

The final lines of a very melancholy song sung by Peggy Lee in the 1960’s concluded with the following as she exudes a total sense of hopelessness and finality to life. “I know just as well as I'm standing here talking to you, when that final moment comes and I'm breathing my last breath, I'll be saying to myself Is that all there is, is that all there is, If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing let's break out the booze and have a ball If that's all there is.”

Unfortunately it is the sad song of all those dying of despair and who are perishing, doomed to an eternity in the “outer darkness where there is wailing and gnashing of teeth” because they refuse to acknowledge God and His Christ. Depressing as it is this need not be the case for those who wish to turn their life around and discover the alternative which begins when we seek God’s face. 

Suppose for an instant that you were to die tonight and find yourself standing before the Creator of the Universe and He asked you, “Why should I let you have a new life and enter my perfect heavenly new world?” It’s an astounding thought isn’t it? So consider for a moment, what would your answer be? There are many who might say that they have lived a good and decent life on this earth and have followed the laws of the land and did what they always thought was right. That is commendable but unfortunately it is not even close to meeting the criteria that God has established to become a part of His kingdom. I want to share what that is, but first there are a few things to consider.

The bible says concerning God: (Habakuk 1:13) Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look upon iniquity.

Concerning man in contrast to God: (Matthew 5: 48) You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

God had said according to (Ezekiel 18: 20 - 21) “The soul that sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son; the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself. “But if a wicked man turns away from all his sins which he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die.”

Consider this: You suddenly find that you are facing a meeting with a very important person, one who holds your entire future in his hands. So on short notice you decide to make him your favorite when he comes to dinner, a nice stew with lots of choice meat, vegetables and seasoning. You assemble all the ingredients but find that you have come up short on the necessary amount of meat, so you take leftover meat from last weeks dinner that has been aging in the refrigerator. Unfortunately the meat is soured and slightly spoiled, the ingredients in the stew doesn’t sufficiently cover it and the guest finds it unacceptable and offensive. It turns out that you have done to this man the same thing that you have been doing to God by serving up your life with some good elements along with that which is spoiled and polluted, then expecting God to find your life acceptable. The following verses show how pathetic and lost all of mankind is naturally:
(Ezekiel 18:4) Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sins shall die.

(James 2:10) For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all of it.

(Romans 3: 23) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Romans 3:10)  as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one.

Obviously God has set a standard that has put himself as well as all of mankind in a quandary. Man is constitutionally incapable of keeping just ten simple commandments perfectly which means that man is incapable of saving himself from the due penalty of sin which is eternal death, a separation for eternity from God and from all those whom He has saved. So God has taken the initiative upon himself to save His creation from it’s own miserable shortcomings. Immediately following the fall of man in the Garden of Eden God slew an animal for the skins making coverings for Adam and Eve’s nakedness. With this act He made it clear that henceforth He would require a blood sacrifice as a cover for man’s sin. This was later confirmed when Adam’s son Able sacrificed a lamb and it was found pleasing to God as He looked ahead in time and saw His own Son, a Lamb without spot or blemish nailed to the cross, the final sacrifice for all time for the sins of all of mankind. With this God has established His criteria that the only thing from man that He will find acceptable, is a contrite heart and an acknowledgment that nothing we can ever do on our own is sufficient, and that the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ His only begotten Son, is sufficient coverage for our sin as He becomes our Lord and Savior.

(John 3:16 - 17) “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

(1 Thessalonians 5: 9 - 10) For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.

There are times when it’s natural to think that there are things we need to do to get in good stead with God, this isn’t the case at all as it is so typical in all the false religions of the world whereby their adherents believe that they can do good works to achieve a place in the next life. None of their false gods have ever died for the sake of their adherents and then come back to life again.

(Proverbs 14:12) There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.

(John 14:6) Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

(Ephesians 2: 8 - 9) For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

So here are the promises to those who take this to heart and not just simply believe it as a historical fact but act on it and ask Jesus into their life right now. Today is the day of salvation!

(Romans 10: 9 -13) if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

(John 1: 12) But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.

(2 Corinthians 5:17) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Do not be dismayed when the old nature occasionally resurfaces, we are all still human and live imperfect lives in an imperfect world and God knows this and has provided once again for man's shortcomings.

(1 John 2: 1 - 2) I am writing this to you so that you may not sin; but if any one does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the expiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.