Drawing Near: Embracing God's Invitation to Relationship

We can never make up for our sin. We can never right the wrongs that we've done. It is only what Christ has done for us on the cross that can cover our sin. And so as, as we come before God, we're not worthy on our own. So don't misunderstand what I'm saying today. I'm not saying that we can come boldly to the throne of grace just because we're a human being. That's not what I'm saying at all. We can come boldly to the throne of grace just because we're a human being. We can come boldly to the throne of grace because of what Jesus has done for us. Okay. It is in his name that we come to the father. So let us hold to him. Let our, let's, let our faith be in him because he has come to us. [00:15:37] (43 seconds)


The first reason we can come to God boldly is because He came to us. Friends, He took the initiative in coming to us. We can approach Him because He first approached us. You know, the reality is many people are fearful of God. They... Many think that God is looking for a reason to zap them. They think that God is just waiting for them to mess up or to do something wrong or so that He can bring down the hammer. Friends, I want you to understand, while God is holy, He's just, and He must punish sin, God does not want to punish us. [00:08:08] (43 seconds)


Friends, God wants us to become part of his family. He wants to have a relationship with us. And as proof of that, he has initiated a relationship with us. He's come to us. So let's draw near to him. Amen? Number two, not only can we draw near to God, not only we come to him boldly because he took the initiative in coming to us, but the second reason we can do that, friends, is because he knows what we're going through. God knows what we're going through. Jesus knows what we're going through. [00:20:23] (36 seconds)


He can identify with us because he became one of us. The word sympathize means to be affected with the same feeling as another. And friends, because Jesus became a man, because Jesus became human, he therefore went through all the things that we do. Just think about that for a minute. Almighty God went through the things that we do. Amen? He experienced all the struggles of humanity that we do. Friends, he went through troubles. He was troubled by the things going on around him, right? [00:21:51] (40 seconds)


And friends, because of Jesus, God's only begotten son, the second person of the Trinity, the scripture says God himself, because of Jesus, friends, almighty God's throne of judgment, you have the opportunity for that to turn into a throne of grace. And I said, turn into a throne of grace. Not because of what you've done, but because of what he did for you. You can draw near to the King of kings and the Lord of lords. [00:35:08] (34 seconds)


And maybe you're still wrestling with that. Listen, if you're not ready, I'm not. But what I want to tell you is, friends, there is no other way to be right with God. We are sinners. Our sin separates us from Him. And the only way for that sin to be paid for is through what Jesus did on the cross and by trusting. And God says that if you'll just believe that He did that for you, His throne of grace is open to you if you'll receive Him as your Savior. [00:38:11] (28 seconds)


And so today, for you, what that means to draw near to God means that you need to surrender everything to Him. That there are some areas of your life that you've been holding on to. No, you need to give them to Him. You need to surrender those to Him. You need to, may I say it, stop playing games with God. For some of you, it may mean getting back on track. You know Christ. You've been saved for many, many years. And you've genuinely been saved. But for whatever reason, it's kind of like in a game, you're sitting on the sidelines. [00:39:30] (42 seconds)


You know, I think, and listen, I understand God's the one who saves us. God's the one who draws us to Himself. And sometimes because of that, we can sit back and wait for God to do some miraculous thing in our life. And friends, but what God calls us to is God calls us to come boldly to the throne of grace. He's already done everything you need to be in a wonderful relationship with him. [00:40:25] (32 seconds)