We must let God be the sovereign God He is. It is He who has created heaven and earth, and it is He who upholds all things. When we try to take over His functions, trying to control things we are not supposed to control, we are bound to get into trouble. Even the thought of comparing ourselves to God is the opposite of Christianity.
A walking trip in the Swedish mountains gave me a strong realisation of this. It is God who made those mountains. I had nothing to do with it. God is supreme. Giving up the thought of being even a little god, was a relief. It felt so much better to acknowledge that God is in control of the universe and everything else. He is a great God and does not need to prove it. Realising that God is ruling this universe, one can only bow in reverence.
Taking the Christian faith seriously means taking the Bible seriously. However, it seems to be possible to take the Bible, or at least parts of it, seriously and still end up in error. The focal point of Christian truth is vital. The grace of God through the death and resurrection of Christ has to be in the centre of all Christian activities and Bible interpretations.
The love of God should be the driving force of what we are doing as Christians. In order to understand the love of God, it is necessary to understand the awful state of fallen human beings who are without a relationship with their Creator. One needs to understand that we all deserve to be separated from God and severely punished, because we, as part of the human race, have all taken part in turning our backs on our Creator and rebelling against Him.
It is only when we realise that our sin separates us from Him, that we can fully appreciate the atonement of Christ on the cross. He has taken our sins away and received the punishment that we deserved. If we are to understand what Jesus has actually done for us, we cannot avoid the dreadful subjects of sin, and of Satan and hell. The whole of the message of the Bible needs to be taken seriously while, at the same time, we must keep the love of God and His grace through Christ Jesus central.
Finally, our most important message is that our God has shown His love for us by dying for us on the cross. This message should be in the centre of everything that has to do with our faith. The words “for us” are central in the Gospel. God has done it all, and there is nothing we can add to it. The Gospel is for those of us who have failed. Turning away from our own efforts we may receive His forgiveness and a relationship with Him, by simply turning to Him. It is this message about His death and resurrection for our sake that we are called to proclaim boldly, without neglecting that He has given us many warnings against being led astray.
