No More Religion

God so desperately wanted a real relationship with His people that He gave His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, as a sacrifice to fulfill the demands of the Law for the atonement of sin.  It is through that sacrifice that we find more than acceptance from God.

The Old Testament is full of examples of how human beings continually fall short of maintaining all the rules and requirements of religion.  Our selfish sin nature always keeps us from being good enough.

Through our faith in Christ, we have all been made sons and daughters of God.  We become part of His family as one of the kids.  Our connection to God through Christ is the fountain that feeds and nourishes our life. 

               But He was wounded for our transgressions.  He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities; the chastisement [needful to obtain] peace and well-being for us was upon Him, and with the stripes [that wounded] Him we are healed and made whole.
                              Isa. 53:5 Amplified

Jesus fills in all the missing things within us, He repairs our brokenness, and His blood washes away the guilt and condemnation we deserve for our sin.  The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross repairs the breach that existed between God and man because of sin.  He becomes the bridge that allows us to come close to our heavenly Father.

When Jesus said He came to give us life and life more abundant, He was telling us that the only way we can have real life is through a connection to God.

Jesus did not come to give us another religion, He came to give us a personal relationship with God.  God has never wanted our obedience based on allegiance.  He wanted us to know Him and to love Him. 

What did Jesus say the greatest commandment was?  It was not to follow all the rituals and regulations of religion.  The greatest commandment is to love God.

We cannot love God without knowing Him and in order to know Him we have to go across the bridge that Jesus has made for us through the sacrifice of His life. 

Live connected to God, not religion.

Heidirn