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I am starting this article by asking two of the most serious questions you will ever be asked. Is God satisfied with you and do you please Him? If you and I are totally honest, then WE have just been humbled. We still have a conscience which acts as a guide to our behavior of right and wrong. If you ever want to understand God, then you first must start to understand this” “God is infinite; man is finite. Therefore, it is impossible for man to comprehend God fully–and I am exceedingly thankful for this great truth, for if man could understand God, then God would be no greater than man. I am so glad that the God whom I love and serve and in whom I trust is greater in power, love, and wisdom than any mortal!”

We have the old saying, “No one is perfect, we all make mistakes.” There is much truth in that. As long as we are in this flesh body (body of sin), we will always make mistakes and sin. I know of no one who ever conquered the flesh except Christ.

TELL ME WHAT YOU DO THAT MAKES YOU GOOD

How many times have you heard this statement, “I am a good person.” I work hard, I love my wife and kids, I pay my bills, I am a good neighbor. I try to treat everyone right, I will help anyone I can.

Those are nice qualities and standards many reach for. The truth is what is your motivation for doing all these good deeds? Being honest, trustworthy and faithful. When most people say this, they are talking about what I am doing.

They proclaim their own goodness by their own standard and behavior. In other words, this is what makes me a good person and why I am accepted. I have a good reputation and I am well thought of. This makes me a good person.

Let’s see what Jesus said, “17 And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?

18 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.” (KJV Mark 10:17-18) Jesus states No One is good except God.

Let’s see what the Apostle Paul said, 10 “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.

12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” (KJV Romans 3:10-12).

According to Jesus and the scripture, none of us are good and none of us do what is right all the time. I can simply say, that our standard of goodness is NOT God’s standard of goodness and righteousness.

GOD ACCEPTS ME JUST AS I AM

I have heard this statement, “God accepts me just as I am.” I am sorry to inform you that is not true, that is not correct and that is not Biblical. “If God accepts you just as you are,”  there would have never been any need for Christ to come, die on the cross and pay the penalty for sin. GOD WILL SAVE YOU JUST AS YOU ARE, THEN HE CHANGES YOU. God changes you to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. In simple terms, He wants to make you like Christ. So how does God accept you?  Ephesians 1:6  To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.” God accepts us in Christ and on the basis of His payment for sin.

(KJV Romans 8:29) “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”

God NEVER saves anyone “WITH” their sins, God saves sinners “FROM” their sins. Jesus Christ paid the price for sin with his own blood. WHY? Because sin had separated us from God. We were NOT accepted by God because we are sinners.

(KJV Isaiah 59:1-2) “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:

2.But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.”

(KJV 2 Corinthians 5:17) “17 Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

Here is the real problem today in our unbiblical society. Society has become a politically correct society. They want to make everything right in their own eyes. Modern society will determine what is right and what is wrong. Modern society will determine what is acceptable or unacceptable to them. Modern society will set their own standards.                                                                                                      

Now, modern society, wants to carry this over into the Church and make God politically correct. Mankind wants to make God in his own image. Give me the god I want. I want a god of love. I want a god that will let me live any way I want and accept me just as I am.

I want a god that looks over my sins and just say it is ok. My god will love me no matter what I do–my god will accept me, no matter what I do. I can be anything I want to be and my god will allow it and accept it. THIS IS THE ATTITUDE OF TODAY. You cannot make God politically correct and set out to have your own god made in YOUR image.

If God is God, (and He is), then God has the right to make the rules. YOU COME TO GOD HIS WAY, OR YOU DO NOT COME AT ALL–END OF STORY! You can try to remake the real God into the god you want and accept, but it will not work. Unfortunately, too many people want a god of love only and do not want or accept a God of judgment and wrath.

WHAT IS GOD LIKE

I am always amazed at the answers I get when I ask this question, “What is God like?” 99% of the time I hear, “Well, God is love.” That is true, but God is much more than love. Too many only know that answer and have no real concept of who God is or how God is. Maybe you simply do not understand that: GOD IS ETERNAL AND GOD IS SELF-EXISTANT. 

I want to talk about God’s attributes or in plain language, God’s very nature. This is who God is and what God is like.

1. God is Perfect. God is perfectly PERFECT. There are no flaws with God. Because God is perfect, He DEMANDS perfection. God cannot ACCEPT anything less than perfection. Are you perfect?

2. God is Holy. God is perfectly Holy all the time. Because God is Holy He CANNOT ACCEPT or look upon sin. (Habakkuk 1:13).

3. God is Just, God is Righteous. God does what is just and right all the time, we do not. God does not sin, we do. Gods Perfection and Holiness demands Justice and Punishment of anything that is not just and right. Only God is totally Righteous. We are sinners because we do not do what is good or right all the time. God cannot ACCEPT anything less.

4. God is Immutable. This means that God is UNCHANGING. We may change in many ways but God does NOT change and never has. It means God’s mind and opinion have never changed. What God has said, He meant and still does, regardless of what Modern Society thinks or says.

5. God is Omniscient. This means God knows everything and His knowledge is complete. God knows everything, He knows the end from the beginning and He alone knows the total future of mankind.

6. God is Omnipotent. This means God is all Powerful. There is no limit to His power. Only God can limit His own power if He chooses to. God has the power to create or destroy at any time. Only God is Self-Sufficient, we are not. We depend on God and all that He has created for us to survive.

7. God is Omnipresent. This means that God has the ability to be present at all places at all times. God can be in heaven, here on earth or all through the universe at the same time.

8. God is Sovereign. This means God is in total CONTROL all the time. This is how God rules His creation. God has also given us free will with the ability to obey or reject His leading. This is God’s Authority and gives Him the right to do whatever He chooses.

9. God is Merciful. This means God has mercy on us and does not give us what we deserve. God offers Salvation and all that goes with it when we deserve Hell and punishment for sin.

10. God is Love. God’s love takes in his mercy, grace, and loving-kindness to us. It allows God to have a personal relationship with His mankind and creation.

HERE IS AN ADDITIONAL LIST OF THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD.

Maybe you have never seen or understood God in this way. This is God’s nature and how He is. What you really need to understand is this. ALL of these attributes are TRUE AND EQUAL. God’s love is equal to his perfection, holiness, justice, righteousness, and wrath. God does not love more than He hates. God’s love for sinners is equal to his hatred for sin.

IS GOD SATISFIED WITH YOU-DO YOU PLEASE HIM

Mankind still thinks he can WORK his way to heaven. Too many think their good works will get them there. It is like God will put their bad works on one side of the scale, and their good works on the other side of the scale. If your good works outnumber the bad works then you get into heaven.                                                                                                    

The Bible and God say differently. (Titus 3:5-7King James Version (KJV) “5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;

7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

(KJV Ephesians 2:8-9) “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

Your own good deeds and works are not enough to satisfy God, or be accepted by God. All the right things or good things you do are like filthy rags in God’s eyes. God is not pleased or satisfied with any of the things we do to obtain salvation. You cannot work your way to heaven with your works.

If you could work your way to heaven, then you would be able to brag and say, “Well, I made it, I earned it, I worked my way to heaven. I earned God’s acceptance. I deserve to be here in heaven because of my works and what I did.” THAT WILL NEVER HAPPEN.

So what will satisfy and please God? Let’s see what God says about this. (KJV Matthew 3:17) “And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” God is pleased with the work of Jesus, not our work.

(KJV Mark 9:7) “And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him.”

We are humans with a sinful human nature. We are born this way. We are in a body of flesh that sins and this will never please or satisfy God. As previously stated, God cannot look upon or accept sin. It is contrary to God’s very nature.

Neither you nor I will ever become good enough to be accepted by God. None of us will ever reach perfection in our bodies. The truth is, God gave up on the flesh in the “Garden of Eden.” Why do we die? (KJV Romans 3:23) ” For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”

The Bible says, (KJV Romans 6:23) “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” We are sinners by nature and sin kills up. Sin has separated us from God. Sin has made us an enemy of a Holy God.

GOD HAS A STANDARD THAT IS BASED ON HIMSELF. GOD’S STANDARD IS NOT BASED ON US OR OUR PERFORMANCE! We live in a performance generation. Our performance will never be accepted by God. Salvation is based on what God provided and the work of Jesus Christ only.

WHAT GOD DEMANDED ONLY GOD COULD SUPPLY. God cannot and has never winked or looked over sin. Sin is contrary to the very nature and attributes of God. Because no human or angel could ever measure up to God’s Holy requirements, God Himself, had to supply the payment for sin that would satisfy Him.                             

Gods holiness, justice, and wrath demanded payment and punishment for sin. Our payment for sin is death. God sent his only begotten son (Jesus Christ) to become our substitute and pay for our sins. Christ came to do what we could not do, and that is to pay for sin, and SATISFY GOD!

(KJV 2 Corinthians 5:21) “For he hath made Him (Christ Jesus) to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” Only Jesus paid for sin and SATISFIED GOD. Read that again, please. Only Jesus Pleased and Satisfied God. Not we sinful human creatures.

HOW DOES GOD SEE US

The Bible says, (KJV Colossians 2:9-10) ” For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.

10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power.” God see’s us COMPLETE IN CHRIST. God ACCEPTS us completely IN CHRIST. God poured out his holy wrath on our substitute (Jesus) for sin. All of God’s holy requirements and justice was PLEASED AND SATISFIED.

In Christ, we have been redeemed and reconciled to God by the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. We are accepted on that basis only. Christ did for us what we could never do and that was please and satisfy God.

Let me prove this to you. Isaiah 53 shows Jesus Christ on the cross dying for sinners and making the supreme sacrifice for sin. Let’s see what God said about this horrible death and payment that was made for us.

(KJV Isaiah 53:3-11) “3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes, we are healed.

6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep, before her shearers are dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.”

God made the very SOUL of Jesus Christ part of the sacrifice for OUR SIN PAYMENT. Look at verse 11 again. God said, “When He shall see the suffering of Christ very soul as payment for sin, HE (GOD) WILL BE SATISFIED. What a great and glorious Price was paid for us. The innocent dying for the guilty.

THIS WAS GOD’S LOVE ON DISPLAY, HERE WAS GOD’S RECONCILIATION WITH MANKIND. THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS WAS GOD’S STAMP OF APPROVAL SAYING, “I AM SATISFIED WITH THE SACRIFICE OF MY SON ONCE AND FOR ALL.”

My dear reader, please understand a few things. God accepts us because of what his Son did for us. God has never “Accepted” us because of what we have done, or ever will do. WE are ONLY ACCEPTED in Christ.

Too many want to say, “God is a God of love.” That is true, but they stop short and do not understand. God is much more than a God of love. All His attributes are TRUE AND EQUAL. On the cross of Jesus Christ, God showed his love for mankind and also poured out his justice, punishment, and wrath upon our substitute. On the cross Gods, holiness was satisfied. ALL THAT GOD IS, WAS SATISFIED!

Our very Salvation and Reconciliation was planned and provided by God Himself. You come to God His way, or you do not come at all. God chose the payment method for sin and God chose what it would take to SATISFY AND PLEASE HIMSELF. WHAT GOD DEMANDED HE HAD TO SUPPLY HIMSELF. THANK YOU, JESUS!

If you think any of your personal good works or your own righteousness will ever please God, then you have fooled yourself and believed a lie. God made a way to pay for sin and a way for us to be in heaven and it is HIS WAY.

Jesus said, “If you believe not that I am he (THE MESSIAH) where I am you cannot come.”

Why is that? Only Jesus Christ paid for sin, pleased and satisfied God. God accepted that price and payment. Can I prove this? Jesus said in John 10:1 “If any man tries to come to God any other way, he is a thief and a robber.”

CONCLUSION

Our modern society has set out to “REMAKE GOD”. Let’s make God in our image. Let’s make God who WE want him to be. Let’s make God the one, I WILL ACCEPT, THE GOD THAT WILL BE ACCEPTABLE TO ME. What society wants is a God of love only.

Society wants a God that will love them with and accept them, WITH their sins. Their god will love them only and never judge them or their sins. Society wants a God that will allow them to live any way they want, commit any gross sin they want, but never condemn or judge them for it.

Modern society wants a Politically Correct culture and a Politically Correct God to go with it. The “new god” they want, would never offend anyone. Modern society will set their OWN STANDARDS and expect God to adapt, live by their worldly standards and change His own standards.

(KJV Romans 1:25) ” Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.”

Things are turned around backward. The Creator is not subject the created or the creature. We are subject to the Creator. Salvation is not about pleasing you or being accepted by you. It is all about Pleasing God and being accepted by Him.                                   

You have the free will and the right to Accept God’s way and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. You also have the free will and the right to REJECT God’s way and reject the payment Christ made for mankind. This is YOUR CHOICE. But know for a fact, there are ETERNAL CONSEQUENCES that comes with your choice.

Are you IN CHRIST? If you have not been saved by the sacrifice of Jesus then you are only 1 prayer away from Salvation, and a home in heaven for eternity.

HERE IS IT: “Lord, I have done wrong things and sinned just like everyone else. I now know and believe that my sin separated me from you. I believe you sent your son Jesus to pay for my sin and dying on the cross for me. I ask you to please come live in me and save me. I want a relationship with you, so make me your child and I will thank you and praise you for that-AMEN.”

God is pleased with this and accepts you. Have you come to God His way? Is God pleased and satisfied with you? Or are you trying to make God into the god you want, so YOU will be pleased and satisfied?

Your thoughts, comments, and opinions are welcome, so leave them below. RAY