I have attempted to deliver a lot of helpful sports training information on this site. However I feel it is necessary to also share the hope of eternal life found in Jesus Christ, the most important message anyone can ever receive. The following is a summary of a biblical worldview using mostly scripture and a few words of my own:
- In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth... And God said "Let there be light," and there was light... And God made the two great lights, the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night, and the stars. -Genesis 1
- By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their stars. He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap; he puts the deeps in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him! For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded and it stood firm. -Psalm 33
God is not some dude sitting up in the clouds. He spoke and made the universe exist. Consider that power! God is not an elected official. He is not comparable to my boss at work. He is not like any human authority figure I can imagine. He is not the god I think should exist. I cannot even comprehend him.
- Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, or what man shows him his counsel? Whom did he consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice and taught him knowledge and showed him the way of understanding? ...All the nations are as nothing before him; they are accounted as less than nothing and emptiness. To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with him? ...Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers to him; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them like a tent to dwell in; who brings princes to nothing and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness... "To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him?" says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name; by the greatness of his might and because he is strong in power, not one is missing... The LORD is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. -Isaiah 40
- The Lord is the true God; he is the living God and the everlasting King. At his wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot endure his indignation... It is he who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding stretched out the heavens. When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain, and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses. -Jeremiah 10
- Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? ...Who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb? ...Have you commanded the morning since your days began and caused the dawn to know its place? ...Have you entered into the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep? Have the gates of death been revealed to you? ...Where is the way to the dwelling of light, and where is the place of darkness? ...Has the rain a father, or who has begotten the drops of dew? ...Can you bind the chains of Pleiades or loose the cords of Orion? Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season, or can you guide the Bear with its children? Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? -Job 38
How do I relate to a God like this? I stand utterly witless before him. I have no choice but humility.
- But he is unchangeable, and who can turn him back? What he desires, that he does... Therefore I am terrified at his presence; when I consider, I am in dread of him. God has made my heart faint; the Almighty has terrified me. -Job 23
- I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes. -Job 42
- O LORD... let me know how fleeting I am! Behold you have made my days a few handbreaths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! -Psalm 39
- When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. -Revelation 1
I am powerless and hopeless before God. When I die I am not going to approach God and argue my case. I am not going to question him on how he runs the world. I cannot stand before him. I cannot speak before him. And on top of this, I am guilty of sin.
- 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. -Genesis 6
- God looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all fallen away; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one. -Psalm 53
- For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. -Romans 3
- Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. -Psalm 51
- For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want; but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing... Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? -Romans 7
We have an all-powerful, all-knowing, everlasting God. He is unwavering in his justice and holiness. So what happens to a sinful man in the presence of this God?
- "Now I will arise," says the LORD. "Now I will lift myself up; now I will be exalted... And the peoples will be as if burned to lime, like thorns cut down that are burned in the fire." Hear, you who are far off, what I have done; and you who are near, acknowledge my might. The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling has seized the godless: "Who among us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?" -Isaiah 33
- As wax melts before fire, so the wicked shall perish before God! -Psalm 68
- The wages of sin is death... -Romans 6
If my fate is determined by my own merit, I am headed for certain death. And some good deeds thrown into the mix do not change anything. Charity, volunteering, and moral efforts do not satisfy the character of God. Religious practices cannot save me from his wrath. He is uncompromising. Sin must be punished.
But good news! God is also loving and merciful and kind! He has compassion on those who fear him.
- Bless the LORD, O my soul... who forgives all your iniquity... who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy... The LORD works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed... The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love... He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him. -Psalm 103
How does God do this? How can he be uncompromising on sin but also forgive me? Jesus, who is God, put on human flesh, came to earth and lived a sinless life, and offered himself as a perfect sacrifice to pay the price for sins. On the cross, God the Father poured out his wrath on Jesus instead of me. Jesus died the death I deserve, so that I may live. This is the gospel.
- But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. -Romans 5
- For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. -Romans 6
- For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin (Jesus), so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. -2 Corinthians 5
- For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. -John 3
- But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ --by grace you have been saved-- -Ephesians 2
- Surely he (Jesus) has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows... he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that brought us peace, and by his wounds we are healed... by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. -Isaiah 53
After atoning for sin, Jesus rose from the dead, conquering sin and death. He returned to fellowship with God the Father and reigns forever as king of the universe.
- Christ Jesus... did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, born in the likeness of men... He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow... and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is LORD. -Philippians 2
- When Christ had offered a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. -Hebrews 10
- I saw in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. When I saw him I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, "Fear not. I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and The Grave." -Revelation 1
Jesus is not done yet. He is going to come back to judge the earth.
- Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. -Revelation 19
When that day comes or when I die, I cannot possibly think that a few good deeds are going to change my standing before God. I must come to him with humility, a plea for mercy, and trust in the work of Jesus, not my own.
- He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted. -Luke 18
- Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! ...Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow... Hide your face from my sins, blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. -Psalm 51
The salvation that Jesus worked for us does not just mean forgiveness. God does not merely tolerate those who believe. Rather we are credited with the righteousness of Jesus and adopted as sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father!
- But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. -John 1
- God sent forth his Son... to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. -Galatians 4
- See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. -1 John 3