Jesus Is Our Savior, Not Our Genie

Romans 10:9. “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

I’m not sure where the past two weeks went but I am back! I wanted to share a couple of thoughts about why we should follow Jesus.

Our culture isn’t too big on the concept of sin. In a very pluralistic society where freedom is the paramount value, we generally say that everything that is specifically not prohibited by law is okay. While our culture gains much value and strength from diversity, we have difficulty agreeing on what is right and what is wrong. If something is allowed by the law (or close) and it feels good, do it.

So talking to people about the consequence of sin is a tough sell. Instead, we often talk about God as someone who will make our lives better. That message resonates more with our culture. Unfortunately it’s not always true. Followers of Jesus experience grave illnesses, have relationships that fall apart, lose their jobs, and so on. God’s desire is not for our comfort and convenience. God is interested in a deeply personal and loving relationship with us – and in that relationship, he promises to care for us through life’s ups and downs.

As the verse above suggests, the primary benefit of following Jesus is that we will be saved. From what? From the consequence of our sin (any activity inconsistent with God’s standards). That consequence is death – permanent separation from God.

So while God does in fact love us, we shouldn’t think of him as a genie who will grant us our desires and make our lives better. We need a savior, and his name is Jesus.