At some point in every person’s life, they have sought something. It may be the right higher learning institute, the ideal career after completing their formal instruction or a career later in life. Then there are always wants and desires like where to live, the right automobile, or an assortment of other material pursuits.
One thing that every human being seeks is the means to fill a void of separation. This separation causes much anxiety. Jesus, while on the cross felt the greatest sense of separation than any human being as He yelled out to the Heavenly Father as recorded in Mathew 27:46, “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
This is noteworthy for a few reasons. First, Jesus along with the Holy Spirit have enjoyed fellowship with the Heavenly Father since eternity past. In fact, in the Genesis account, Moses makes it clear that all three persons of the God Head were pivotal during creation. Furthermore, during Jesus’s life, He was in constant communication with God and during His ministry consistently prayed and always sought the Father’s will. While on the cross, Jesus became a curse as He took on the sins of all mankind and became completely unrighteous thereby breaking fellowship with God.
No human being will bear the guilt that Jesus did while on the cross as He bore that excruciating agony as a substitutionary atonement for His people’s sins. (2 Corinthians 5:21- God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.). However, every human being will nonetheless feel separated from God. We are all descendants from Adam and with him being the federal head of humanity, we inherit his guilt from breaking God’s command not to eat from the tree of The Knowledge of Good and Evil. That original sin corrupted all of creation. David said in Psalm 51:5, Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Genesis 6:5 speaks to our nature in a much stronger way, The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Adam and Eve faced separation from God after their sin when He banished them from the Garden of Eden. This is a common theme throughout scripture and during our lives. The more we sin the more separate from God we get. Thankfully, Jesus, the Great Shepherd brings His sheep back to Him when they go astray. Luke 15:4, “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?
With the corrupt world we live in stemming from original sin, all mankind finds that there is something that is not right. Anxiety arises from living in a world in which every person starting at conception has been completely corrupt and worthless as we see in Romans 3:12, “All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” Psalm 14:2-3 further demonstrates what it means for human beings to live by a nature in which they were conceived in iniquity, The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.
The implication of this is that man’s life is meaningless. Thousands of man-made religions have surfaced over the years that have been a by-product of manmade rationalizations as we have seen with different forms of mythological worship notably in the Book of Acts with reference to Zeus and Hermes whom Barnabas and Paul were mistaken for, respectively (Acts 14:12). Except for one religion, man has created methods by their own devices to set terms that will bring them closer to God or in some cases bypass God completely.
Biblical Christianity recognizes that man has no possibility for redemption or to find meaning in life without God coming to him. John 6:44 tells us, No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. Colossians 1:13-14 says, He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. While many people recognize that Jesus performed wonderful miracles, was a great teacher, and was a loving and kind man, Paul clearly states His reason for coming in 1 Timothy 1:15, The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. Jesus made clear the will He had in His disciples lives in John 15:16, you did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. Despite our waywardness and corruption mentioned here, while on the cross Jesus demonstrated His great mercy by saying the following found in Luke 23:34, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
So, we are all seeking something, but none will seek God without His drawing or compulsion as some translations say. God’s compulsion of man equates with Him circumcising one’s heart (Deuteronomy 30:6), providing a new spirit and heart (Ezekiel 36:26), regeneration, renewing (Titus 3:5), and by bringing about a new birth (John 3:3-8).
God provides faith as a gift which we do not earn by works and are completely unworthy to receive. It is through faith that a person receives grace, His unmerited favor. (Ephesians 2:8-9) By faith alone in Christ’s atoning sacrifice a person is made just in the Heavenly Father’s eyes. By placing faith alone in Christ’s atonement, a person understands that they bring nothing before God for personal redemption and know that due to their wicked ways do not deserve eternity with Him. It is only by God’s mercy that Jesus’s perfect record of righteousness is transferred to the sinner’s account. Only then will the sinner or better yet righteous sinner at this point seek after God and desire His will. As a final note it is important to observe that the verses here refer to God’s work and man’s dependency resulting from his depraved condition. Therefore, the lifelong response to God’s sovereign work in a person’s heart is to Glorify God and enjoy Him forever as He deserves all the praise. *Shorter Catechism Question 1.
In His Image 